At this point in my college search, I have seen two colleges, both DIII, that stand out from the rest. Both academically and athletically (I run track and cross country), my stats are slightly above borderline at my top choice and decently above average at my second choice. I have spoken to both coaches, and the coach at my second-choice school seems very enthusiastic, while the first-choice coach seems less so.
I don’t want to ruin my chance at going to my second-choice school by saying they are not my first choice, but I also want to be able to go to my first-choice school if at all possible. What (if anything) should I say to the coaches at both schools so I can get a better idea of what the recruitment/application process might look like?
My kid used the phrase “one of my top three choices.” It worked well as she never lost interest from any coach during the official visit process.
That makes sense. Was there anything specific said to the coach of the first-choice school?
I would tell the second choice school that it’s down to two schools (i.e., your top two), including that one. I would tell the first choice school that it is your first choice.
Ih1198, she didn’t finalize her decision until the end, after taking official visits and having offers in hand. Ask for an academic (and financial if necessary) preread from your top choice. We had most of those in hand by mid-July. If Admissions green-lights your application, you have a good shot at admission. Also inquire as to how many recruits were not admitted even with coach’s support. Some coaches have more influence than others.
Personally, I wouldn’t say anything to either other than that you are very interested in that particular school, and that you would like to know what the next steps in their process are. If they are interested in you, they should provide fairly specific information as to hopw the process works at that particular school. There is no real advantage in saying a school is a top choice, or in the top two or whatever until they begin pressing you for a commitment.
One of the coaches asked what other schools DD was looking at and when I named a top LAC that was a D3 the coach sort of freaked out because she knew daughter would be asked to apply ED. I think that made this D2 coach want DD a little more and when I said I needed time to play with the numbers, she upped the scholarship amount. I wasn’t trying to play games, I’d just expected a little more in the offer and I needed to see if I could make the offer she made work with some other merit and state grants. Increasing the offer helped the decision a lot.
I really think being honest is the right way to go. Ask the questions you need answered. I asked one coach how she awarded scholarships and she told me she didn’t give awards to freshmen. That’s her choice, but the school was crossed off our list as we just couldn’t afford it without some money. Most coaches know that the students are confused, the every school does it a little bit different than others even in the same conference, so there is no issue with asking, in general, how it works and as you go along in the process, how the coach sees you in his system (scholarship, Likely letter, slot/tip, walk on if you get in).