<p>Hello all, after lurking and absorbing all your wonderful advice and suggestions the the past few weeks, this is my first post. </p>
<p>My son is being recruited as an athlete at the schools he's applying to. Although this doesn't involve an athletic scholarship, he will be getting tips, and according to the coaches, his chances of being accepted at their respective schools are excellent. </p>
<p>The concern I have involves ED. Although he visited all the campuses in question over the summer, he feels he needs to see them while school is in session to get a better sense of his "best fit" both athletically and academically. There probably isn't enough time and room in his calendar to accomplish this before ED applications are due.</p>
<p>In this situation, what is the potential downside of not going ED? And assuming he doesn't, what's the best way to keep his options open without alienating any of his suitors?</p>
<p>My daughter was a recruited athlete - she did not apply ED because we needed to see how the financial aid would shake out at the end of the day. We made it clear financial aid would be a factor in her final decision - a legitimate reason for not committing immediately.</p>
<p>However, I know other students have said some coaches at schools - especially the selective ones - wanted the athlete to commit as early as possible, preferably by ED.</p>
<p>As a parent, I would definitely recommend overnights at the schools he's most interested in. Those experiences really helped my daughter with her final decision - she got a good feel for how the team felt about the coach, whether the athletes were friendy and supportive vs cutthroat with each other, etc. </p>
<p>The coach will be more than happy to organize an overnight visit for your son if you can find some time to get there before applications are due.</p>
<p>It really depends on the sport and the school(s). In some sports the recruiting slots are essentially full; in others, not yet. I'd talk to the coaches about their time frames and expectations for commitments. I think you'll find that most of them are pretty straightforward about the process.</p>
<p>Also, he can only apply ED to <em>one</em> school. If he does plan to go ED, definitely find time to visit - if he finds the fit is wrong, he won't want to apply anyway. It will save him the loads of trouble that will be caused by him having to back out of an ED acceptance - or transfer down the road.</p>
<p>If the schools have an Early Action (EA) option, it will be OK to apply to as many schools as you want, and your son will not be locked in to only one.</p>
<p>Our son was in a similar situation last year. The potential downside to not going "ED" is that the coaches may have used up all their influence and may not be able to give that tip at a later point. That's the question I would ask if I were you - "If our son is not able to commit to ED, what's the likelihood that you will still be able to influence the admissions decision during the RD process?" Coaches we talked with told us their influence dwindled significantly over the admissions process as competition increased for the remaining spots over time. Of course it depends on how desirable your son is to the coaches. I'd encourage you to make those fall visits if at all possible. Our fall was crazy last year with competitions on Sat., flying or driving out to visits Sunday morning, returning late Monday night, but that was the only way to get the visits in and get the information our son needed to make his decision. Good luck!</p>
<p>I agree with Runners2. If your son can isolate just a few schools he's likely to prefer, try to go in the fall for a visit. Often there are recruiting weekends that coaches set up and invite propective students to, but since those are pre-scheuduled it may work better to figure out where there are opportunities for you to visit at <em>your</em> convenience and at a time when you can visit the most schools efficiently.</p>
<p>And ask the coaches outright about how applying RD versus ED affects the recruiting/admissions process. Some coaches will be more open than others, but you'll get a cumulative sense of how it's likely to affect your son's applications.</p>
<p>Based on our experience, I would say that IF you and your student feel confident about a first choice school and an ED application is do-able with financial aid considerations, etc., then definitely consider an ED app. It's a very different level of committment on the part of the student and consequently also on the part of the coach.</p>
<p>At lots of LACs, this is how athletic recruiting works. If you don't want to commit ED, you can always try to get accepted without the coach's help, or with limited help. My neighbor's son just started at his first-choice college that way -- he couldn't make up him mind about what he wanted in time for ED, but things worked out well for him anyway. (Although it may have helped that he's a good class above the rest of his team at that college; the school was his dream school academically and socially, not athletically.) If you want to use an athletic hook to lock down a place you might not otherwise get in the regular admission pool -- then you can't always have your cake and eat it, too. You have to choose and commit, however you go about doing that.</p>
<p>My son was also a recruit and did apply ED to the school he is attending. It was strongly encouraged. That said, in his sport a number of the recruits did NOT apply ED for the very reason you are stating- they were involved in their sport in the fall and did not have time to do all the visits.</p>
<p>My D was in a similar situation last year. The advice on this thread is spot on. In my opinion, there is a huge upside in going ED, unless your S has not identified priorities (three or four schools of primary interest) -- and is a strong enough candidate academically and athletically to wait it out. My D did three visits, despite a very hectic schedule. Five would have been too many for her, but kept options open in case she didn't find the right fit. It was draining but made a world of difference in clarifying the picture. We found that it enabled her to make an informed decision and lessen the stress of coaches calling, etc. Coaches have a real incentive to lock up recruits early. Like others have said, it depends on the sport and where you S fits on the academic/athletic spectrum. Feel free to pm if you have specific questions.</p>
<p>Ditto with ninos. It very much depends on which sport your S is playing. In my D's sport, all the tips are used up in the ED/fall rounds and few walkons can compete. She crammed in 3 weekends at the top contenders prior to the ED deadline.</p>
<p>NB - you really need to do these in September/1st week of October at the latest. Your S needs to be able to communicate to his 1st choice school by Oct 15, when coaches are finalizing their lists.</p>
<p>OP: "In this situation, what is the potential downside of not going ED? And assuming he doesn't, what's the best way to keep his options open without alienating any of his suitors?"</p>
<p>The second part of your question hasn't really been addressed here, but it's a really interesting one. If your son does not apply ED anywhere, then there is a difficult dance between prospective students and coaches. If the student has a few top choices, then he/she has to find some way to communicate their sincere interest without making pledges to attend that they're not sure they'll keep. And of course, coaches would take such pledges with a grain of salt anyway in the RD round. It's like juggling multiple suitors, and it gets really weird. We experienced this only in a tiny way because my son did apply ED, but he didn't really want to tell interested coaches at other schools about his ED app until he got his actual acceptance, because it suggests (rightly) to coaches at other schools that you had enough reservations that they weren't your top pick to begin with... and that suggestion could leave a coach less-than-eager to use up what influence they might still have in the RD round on a student with reservations.</p>
<p>So my son applied ED to his first choice school, and when he was accepted he immediately informed the other coaches he'd been communicating with about his decision. All but one were very gracious, but the one was ticked off because he didn't know my son had applied ED anywhere... not that my son had even submitted any other applications yet, let alone one to the ticked-off coach's school, but it's just an example of how delicate the communication can become. Coaches know this. They have their own game they play, and students must play the cards they have, too. This is another big reason why an ED application makes a recruit so much more appealing to a coach. As soon as a student applies ED the dancing around stops.</p>
<p>If a student doesn't want to apply ED for any reason, I think the best thing is to have some idea of which school would be his/her first choice and let the coach there know that, and that they are being 100% sincere about it. They can let the coach know that things like financial aid could be a factor in their final decision, but as things stand at the moment this is the college they'll attend even if they're accepted everywhere else they apply.</p>
<p>As for the rest of the coaches, just be polite and express their general good feelings about the school and their appreciation of the coach's interest... and leave it at that.</p>
<p>One cannot apply EA to as many as have it. Yale and Stanford are SCEA, you must choose. Back to the OP, my D was a recruited and did not do ED at any school, but did SCEA at one. If you know (flatland is correct, visit the most probably choices) then choose. Also, be careful about coaches. Make sure they are as good at keeping and being able to deliver their word. One thing that may help in the Ivies is the fact that Harvard and Princeton did not have early ED or EA this year and coaches made use of Likely Letters, which tended to scoop other schools. This may change the face of recruiting in time and give the student better leverage with the coaches. Good luck.</p>
<p>Agree with above experiences, having gone through this process exactly one year ago. </p>
<p>I'd add that timeliness is rewarded: it's a little like musical chairs, and the music stops several times: Nov 1, Dec 1, and then maybe later when rosters are full. Some athletes take a seat early, and the odds for the others don't improve over time. The analogy breaks down if your child is one of the best in nation in their sport (and not just according to mom :))</p>
<p>Cram in the Sept/early Oct visits if at all possible. The relieved look on your kid's face when they step off that last plane, and know what they want is worth it.</p>
<p>my d was a recruited athlete and did not apply ED because, like flatlander, "we needed to see how financial aid would shake out at the end of the day." she made her final decision on where to attend in late April. she applied to about 15 schools. at some schools she would have competed in collegiate sports and would likely not at others. she was in contact with coaches at some of those schools and had not contacted coaches at others. </p>
<p>not sure what level you are looking at, but our experience with d3 coaches was that they know that athletes are applying to multiple colleges and that the athletes are waiting until the admission acceptances and the financial aid packages arrive before they make their final decision. </p>
<p>there was a series on recruiting..........i think it was n.y. times and haverford college.........google for that and you'll get some good information from reading the series of articles.</p>
<p>johnqcustomer.......keep in mind that scholarships may have early deadlines, i.e., Nov. 1 and so your son may want to be sure that he gets a few applications in prior to any scholarship deadlines. some schools will require that application for scholarships be made separately.
there are also some colleges that have earlier regular admission deadlines than others. you might want to start a spreadsheet and track the scholarship deadlines and admission deadlines. this would help in prioritizing your son's visits.</p>
<p>visits - these were tough to schedule.......so d usually did one day visits with no overnights. d didn't visit her current college until spring of senior year..........and after receiving the acceptance.</p>
<p>there are reasons though that some students apply ED and it could be that ED is an option that may work for your son given his particular circumstances. he can only apply ED to one college and if accepted, he is bound to attend that college.</p>
<p>My S. was an athletic recruit and squeezed in fall overnights (Thursday nights) at his two top choices. He chose a week day, wanting to experience the academics. The top choice became immediately apparent and he applied ED and was accepted. He has never regretted his choice. The coach indicated that in addition to the " athletic tip" his application was strengthened by attending classes and demonstrating strong consideration of the academic experience.
S. was injured the end of his freshman year and has not been able to compete in his recruited sport. We are so relieved that he made a well thought out decision regarding academic fit.</p>
<p>The Haverford series of articles is fascinating. The recruiting process sounds quite unpredictable. It almost makes you wonder whether recruiting is overrated as a 'desirable' step in the admissions process. </p>
<p>Even applying ED - with a coach's support and scores/grades within an 'acceptable' range - offers no guarantees. Students give up quite a lot when they apply ED: choice/flexibility later on, and the ability to stay in favor with the 'spurned' coaches. Some coaches seem to have systems where students learn where they stand well before the application deadline - ie likely letters. At other colleges, students are left trying to figure out the coach's coded language as to where they stand, and then even if with the coach's support, admissions may choose to accept or reject based on other (non-athletic) factors. Of course, academic achievement should be most important, with athletics of secondary (or even lesser) importance. But other factors seem fairly random: a student could be a strong applicant, but not be from the right geographical area, etc.</p>
<p>peonies.....good post.......it really does seem to be a very complicated process with lots of ups and downs. i think something d learned as the process continued was to start asking more direct questions......finding the answers out sooner rather than later (even if it's not the answer you want to hear)........ and it allows the student to move forward rather than sitting around and spinning their wheels. the whole complicated nature of the process is why i think you see students applying to many schools (10 to 14). there just seems to be so much uncertainty that goes on throughout the process and a lot of waiting.......waiting for admissions decisions, waiting for financial aid packages, waiting to know where they stand with the coach in the recruiting process, etc.</p>
<p>i agree that the haverford series of articles is fascinating.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you want to use an athletic hook to lock down a place you might not otherwise get in the regular admission pool -- then you can't always have your cake and eat it, too
[/quote]
If your favorite school is a reach for you, or a tip top school that is a reach for anyone, ED will help. A lot.</p>
<p>Do keep in mind, though, that coaches are looking out for their own best interests when encouraging an athlete to apply/commit ED. I think it's rarely in the student's best interest.</p>
<p>The athlete in our house ultimately applied and was accepted ED. There were no doubts that the ED college was the #1 choice - for education AND athletics. The September official visit was clutch in helping to determine this. </p>
<p>This visit also included a meeting with the admissions director who reviewed all pertinent application info available at that time (grades, test scores, ECs, etc...). It was basically confirmed that all the right pieces were there, and that along with a coach's backing, this would make for a very strong ED application.</p>
<p>Some students spin their wheels until the very last possible moment while others can make a decision and stick with it - no regrets or backward glances. I can't begin to explain what a wonderful feeling of relief it was to have the decision so early in the usual process! But it isn't for everyone (though even some of those who drag it out to the bitter end will no doubt end up following through with the first early instinct - but hindsight is hindsight).</p>
<p>Neither financial aid or scholarship had any role in my athlete's decision. And the school would have been the first choice without athletics, though it's been a good thing so far in spite of major changes between the time of acceptance and the first day of classes. I will continue to caution to be sure the school is absolutely a good fit with or without that sport or that particular coach! </p>
<p>And I, too, recommend the Haverford series in the NYT.</p>