<p>As an athlete how do you balance applying "early decision" to a school so they know you are interested, without knowing what your chances are at other schools?</p>
<p>rowingparent,</p>
<p>Welcome to CC. I’m not sure I fully underdstand the question and situation, but I’ll try to answer as best I can. You would apply ED if the coach is going to sponsor your recruited athlete through the admissions process. I can’t think of any other reason you would apply ED. If you are applying ED, they know you are interested because ED is binding. You would have had a discussion with the coach about this ED approach. Some schools offer ED, some offer Early Action which is not binding.</p>
<p>Did this answer your question?</p>
<p>It sounds as though this student-athlete has not been recruited and is using ED as a way of showing interest.(?) Has your child contacted the coach at the school he/she is interested in applying to ED? Is he/she been recruited by any other schools?</p>
<p>ED is not intended as a way to show interest; ED is for that one dream school above all others, whether the reason is athletics or something else.</p>
<p>My daughter has had official visits, as an athlete, at two schools. She is going to meet with another coach (3rd school) this weekend. Since they are all highly competitive, one has said she should submit an app. (the only option for her as an athlete at this school is through early decision) and the coach said she will be supported. The other two she is still waiting to hear what the coach’s find out from admissions. I realize the coaches are probably waiting to hear from other athletes as well regarding what their first choice is and looking at the grades to see if they will pass admissions. Since the deadline is getting down to the wire, how do you find out what your options are without either actually submitting an application or waiting until the last minute to apply?</p>
<p>We’ve got the same issue. My son has a clear number one, but is waiting on the early read. So, what do you do if coach says it’s going to be tough, but apply EDI for best chances. Or do they give you just a go or no go with the idea that you’ll get in if you’re cleared on the pre read?
And if they say go, does that mean you shouldn’t apply anywhere else until you know? That seems risky to me. And, do you tell the other coaches that’s what’s happening or do you continue to show your interest? Sorry so many questions, but this pre read thing is tricky.</p>
<p>If you are not likely to hear back on early read until close to the ED deadline and it’s a school your S/D probably would apply to anyway, have the app ready to go ir even submitted by the ED deadline, but submit it RD if before the ED deadline. Then, if coach has the green light from Admissions, convert the app to ED. </p>
<p>photogirl – I think it’s good to be straightforward with coaches, just as you want them to be with you. A coach usually will give an athlete info about where the athlete stands in the coach’s eyes compared to other recruits and coaches want to know where their program stands compared to other options the athlete has.</p>
<p>It depends on the schools and their deadlines: If it’s an Ivy, they can get you a likely letter at any time.
Quite frankly, I’d be leary of any coach who says, it’s going to be tough but give it a try and apply ED. Coaches usually have a very good idea of how many students they get admitted. Find out where your child is on the coach’s list and how far down the list they get their recruits in. I’ve gone through rowing recruitment twice now and am very familiar with it. PM me if you want to discuss.</p>
<p>Pre read approval and coach support is all you need…that’s a committment !
There no fireworks or bands, as a parent u can miss the fact that your kid just got the real nod in!</p>
<p>Unfortunately, not. I have experience with crew where students were given the green light to apply ED. In one case, a few days before the ED deadline, the coach called to say that ED wasn’t going to work. The student then applied somewhere else and is now at another ivy. In the other case, the student did not get in ED but during the RD round. However, student did not find out until the ED or EA deadlines at other schools that had expressed strong interest had passed. Needless to say, it made for several months of anxiety.</p>
<p>Maybe this is too obvious to state, but since the OP is a new member and it hasn’t been mentioned on this thread…
Don’t even think about applying ED unless you are able and willing to pay whatever it takes to go to this school. See many other threads of athletes not getting the athletic or need-based aid they expected.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. My daughter is racing back East this weekend. She will be seeing the coach, where she applied early and has gotten a verbal nod but also seeing a coach at another Ivy, who says she has a “chance”. I think she is intimidated by this school BUT without any official confirmation, we are trying to keep her options open.</p>
<p>“Don’t even think about applying ED unless you are able and willing to pay whatever it takes to go to this school.”</p>
<p>Why not? If financial aid is needed, what happens if enough is not offered? Usually the student says thanks but no thanks, and applies RD elsewhere. Is it different for athletes? If school B wants the athlete at RD time, what do they care if school A wasn’t able to offer enough financial aid at ED time?</p>
<p>There is a great group of posts in the Financial Aid section about the relative merits of ED vs. RD when Financial Aid is a high priority. If it’s not an issue for this poster, no need to go into gory details. If it is, reading through those posts would be a good use of time before submitting an ED application.</p>
<p>I didn’t want to hijack this thread from recruiting to financial aid, just wanted to keep the big picture in mind.</p>
<p>“just wanted to keep the big picture in mind”</p>
<p>That’s fine, but “Don’t even think about applying ED unless you are able and willing to pay whatever it takes to go to this school” goes to the heart of this thread for the student needing FA. I suspect that you refer to the usual myths of the dangers of applying ED needing FA. 
Does your statement refer to dangers? If yes, what dangers? If no, to what do you refer? I find the other threads equally vague.</p>
<p>Rowingparent, if one of the schools is HPY, go to the Yale financial web site and pluck in your numbers. Also, try the Princeton site. Thsi will give you some prety godo idea about FA. Depending on your circumstances, one may be more advantageous than the other. In that case, the other school will probably match if you ask them.</p>