I am a track recruit looking to run either D3 or D1 in college. I have been in contact with coaches from a couple Ivies and Pomona. Pomona gave me confidence that if I apply Early Decision I will get in and both Ivies also encouraged me to apply ED. However, my top school choice is MIT and the coach told me he would support my application. Although he told me that he has confidence in my academics, considering how selective MIT is, I don’t feel very confident in his “application support”. I’m afraid that if I don’t apply ED to my other choices and then I don’t get into MIT then I will no longer get application support during Regular decision from the Ivies and Pomona. Does anybody know if coaches generally still support recruited athletes during regular decision? Thanks
Do either of the schools do early reads? That is, send your academic information (grades, test scores) to admissions to get a “read” from them? It’s not a guarantee of admittance, but might give some perspective. You can ask the coaches about that. Pomona coaches will usually do an early read of recruited athletes.
You are right that you will not get application support for RD. At least not that I’ve heard of. Especially at a D3, coaches that “support” your application want you to apply ED as your sign of ‘commitment’. I’ve heard from others that D1 schools will also ask supported athletes to apply ED.
Remember that ED is binding. It should be a school you really want to go to, regardless of the sports. The coach could leave, you could get injured (hopefully not)…and a number of other things. So you’ll want to make sure if you apply ED that you really want to be there and it’s a good “fit” (academics; your major – or breadth of offerings if you aren’t sure what you’ll major in; vibe, social, location, size, etc.)
For my daughter (who was a div 1 gymnast), she was encouraged to apply ED by the coach. Three girls were chosen ED and two were chosen RD, but there were like 8 girls who were recruited RD (campus visit, etc.) and only 2 of the 8 were chosen.
Only the coach will be able to answer your question. I know of athletes who were told they’d get support at Ivy even if they waited until RD. However, they were looking at P5 programs and ended up going that direction. Not sure if coach had extras that particular year, was willing to gamble for that level of talent, etc. And what was true then might not be true now. Are they asking you to decide now? Why not wait until after the OV?
The Ivy and Pomona coaches have limited “bullets” to support recruits. They will rarely reserve a bullet for a student who will not commit ED or EA, as the case may be. In some cases, they may not fill their slots after ED (recruit bails out and doesn’t apply last minute or ends up being rejected), in which case they may still have a slot(s) for RD, but don’t count on it. S was told by the MIT coach he was one of his top recruits and he had stat’s at the median of MIT students, but he was only giving him 50/50 odds with his support. He ended up not applying to MIT. However, a close of friend of his from the HS class prior got in as a recruited track and field athlete. If MIT is your clear number 1 school, go for it. If you would be just as happy elsewhere where you are being recruited, lock that one in.
Pomona has EDI and EDII. So you need to verify with the Pomona coach whether they can support your application through EDII application.
That would give you an opportunity to apply EA to MIT for their EA deadline and put in an application EDII at Pomona if MIT says no or defers.
Tough position to be in. MIT support is not a guarantee. I would ask that coach (and we have experience with him if it is who I think it is) what percentage of his supported applicants receive admission. Our experience with the schools that push you to ED is that once you indicate unwillingness to apply ED, they lose interest and commit the money to someone else. You can still apply RD and they’ll be happy to take you, but there may be no $$. If MIT is your first choice, I’d pursue that. I’m sure that the MIT coach has told you that in exchange for his support, you are making an agreement to participate in the sport for all 4 years.
^No athletic money for D3’s or Ivies. The consequence of no ED is likely no coach support. They have limited bullets to use with admissions and they want to lock in their recruits. It may be possible that they still have some spare ammo after ED or REA if they don’t fill their spots or have some high band availability for schools that use bands for athletic recruiting.
You will often hear people in the D3 recruiting area talk about being “committed” to a school. Although committing is oral – and therefore is not worth the paper it is written on – there is some quid pro quo involved. Usually, it means that a coach will agree to give admissions support in exchange for applying early.
There are exceptions. Some of the Midwestern D3s don’t push for early decision as much as, say, the NESCAC schools.
Some folks want to apply RD for financial reasons. It is true that you will not be able to compare financial aid offers from different colleges if you apply early. But, if you have decided to go with the best financial offer regardless of the athletic program, you really aren’t “committing” to a school or athletic program. I also have heard – I don’t know whether or not it is true – that there may not be as much financial aid money available to schools for the RD round.
There are posters on this site who have applied RD to D3 programs, were accepted, and are on the roster. But, I have also heard of disappointment from RD applicants who were good enough to get recruited, but were not admitted due to the lack – or reduced value – of coach support in RD. In this respect, I would say it is very important to listen to the coach closely. If he or she says you have a positive pre-read, but you have to apply early, I would not accept half of that comment and disregard the rest. If the coach says to apply early, and you want to go to that school, you should apply early.
I have no experience with MIT, but its reputation does proceed it as one of, if not the most, lukewarm coach support colleges around. I would be very careful to ask specific questions about coach support – like, how many of your supported athletes are admitted each year. Anything less than 50% is a crap shoot. I would also ask how many athletes the coach is giving support to. If the coach supports more than other schools, that tells you that his or her support with admissions is minimal (e.g., if a basketball coach recruits 10 athletes a year, and a typical basketball coach recruits 3-4, that tells you that the coach doesn’t have much influence).
You just have to ask the coaches at the other schools if they will only support you in ED. It probably makes sense to tell them why. Just tell them you are leaning MIT, but admission isn’t a guarantee. (they all know this about MIT) I think they are more likely to give you RD support if they know the situation and that you are committing to them if MIT falls through and they give you RD support.
It might depend on where you sit as a recruit. If your are a 4 year multi-event conference placer you are going to get more leeway than an average recruit. If you can be easily replaced with someone else, they will probably take the sure thing. If you are a great catch for the coach, they may be more willing to gamble and hope you get denied at MIT.