Hi. I’m sorry if this already exists, but I couldn’t find one. Who’s applyed ED with me? I’m nervous!
I applied ED yesterday!!! you’re not alone Im very anxious now!
My son finishing his application this weekend. 4.3 GPA, 1450 SAT and a coach’s recommendation. Visited College this summer and setting up a telephone interview. Will be nervous until Dec15th. Good luck to everyone!
25% if the wait is over. By the time we are done with Thanksgiving left overs we should be halfway there.
Applied one day before the deadline and soooo nervous for December 15!!!
OMG i also applied ED. 18 days to go!!!
Just about halfway there and keeping our fingers crossed. My son takes it in stride but I am a wreck. One site gave us a 30% probability but hoping that was just to sell their test prep services and we are more like 50%. Good luck to you other EDs.
13 days. So nervous!
Ps please refrain from posting test scores it’s unnecessary thanks 
I have no more scores to post lol and did not think it was a big deal since they are just in the middle of the pack and we are not boasting. I had frequently seen test scores posted on this site and frankly they were much better than my kids. I would delete them if there was an edit button.
Posting stats just isn’t the “Haverford way” just like talking about your grades isn’t while there.
Exactly my point doschicos! Well said
djphaneuf: If you haven’t already done so, please ensure your son has a backup plan. Haverford is one of a small number of colleges at which the coaches’ recommendations carry neglible or no weight with admissions: the others include MIT, Caltech, Swarthmore, and the Claremont schools (Harvey Mudd, Pomona, Pitzer, Scripps, and Claremont-McKenna). The Ivies and NESCAC schools, by contrast, all have some form of set-aside program for athletic admissions. My son was recruited and had grades/scores/extracurriculars consistent with the admitted profile of classes before his and was indeed admitted ED. One-third of the athletes recruited for his sport did not get in, however, which is a fairly consistent number year-to-year. Once he committed to apply ED to Haverford, my son contacted other coaches that recruited him and let them know. Several were familiar with the difficulty of getting into Haverford and stated they would have spots for him if Haverford didn’t work out. There are vitriolic posts every year from parents whose student-athletes were turned down after getting a positive pre-read; the pre-read only indicates that your son/daughter is in the ballpark academically. The current coaches are, from what I’ve heard from other parents, all straightforward about admissions and the problems typically stem from parents hearing what they want to hear. The holistic admissions review will include the interview, essays, campus visits, etc., that will help determine whether Haverford and your son are a good match; Haverford is a very small school and places a premium on admitting students that it perceives will contribute positively to the campus community. (You will find students from all kinds of backgrounds there, including representatives of the entire political spectrum.) Kids with stellar credentials are rejected each year for one reason or another. I have heard that there have been cases where recruited athletes have hurt their applications due to some transgressions committed while making official visits. Best of luck.
o2bdownsouth Good advice overall, but I would qualify your statements about some of the schools you identify above that offer “negligible or no weight with admissions.” My DS was a national level swimmer who looked mainly at D3s like those you identify above. He was recruited by most of those schools and ended up at Williams College.
I would agree with Harvey Mudd and Caltech. Neither offer much help, and that’s reflected in the caliber of their athletics (though Mudd actually combines sports with two other Claremont schools, CMC and Scripps), but all of the rest certainly do offer their athletes a significant advantage in the recruiting process. MIT has changed on this in recent years, and that’s reflected in a big bounce – at least in men’s swimming. MIT will be a top 3-4 team at nationals this year. Swarthmore recruited my son pretty aggressively, and the team is much better than in earlier years. Pomona also recruited my son, and the head-coach actually hinted at a likely letter though he may have been anticipating a change in Pomona policy that never happened. Claremont-McKenna certainly offers a significant boost to recruited athletes, and its sports teams are very good.
In general, I would say that these schools are a little less reliable than the NESCACs or Ivies when it comes to the certainty of an athletic boost for admissions, but we would very comfortably have taken the coach’s (clearly stated) word of full support at Swarthmore, Pomona, or CMC. Yes, you always have a back-up plan in place because, short of a likely-letter, it’s never a sure thing. But I’d bet 95% of students offered full athletic support at those schools are admitted. Compare that to the admission rates for non-hooked students (10-15% or less).
SwimDad99: I went out of my way to avoid addressing some rumors that have been circulating the past couple of years regarding the schools I mentioned, all of which still officially abide by no extra help for athletes. But, since you opened Pandora’s Box…
Our sons play different sports, so maybe we can share some insights. Except for Harvey Mudd, the Claremont schools have been rumored to allow some leeway for swimming and water polo (have friends whose kids play both sports). On the other hand, they, like MIT, have been able to successfully recruit distance runners over the years without any set-asides, as has Haverford. There have been rumors that MIT was trying to ratchet up program athletic success as some of the older coaches retire, but connections I have at MIT (admin; I also know some student-athletes) told me they officially provide no boost. MIT has always been good at traditional braniac sports such as rifle and distance running; swimming success at that level is new. Sounds almost like basketball at Swarthmore, which suddenly got really good in a hurry. Washington U. in St. Louis, U. Chicago, and Johns Hopkins (in everything but lacrosse) are also rumored to periodically have set-asides. I was recruited and accepted by MIT a looong time ago; the coach told me he liked me and thought I would be a great fit, but he wouldn’t say anything further until I got in; I went somewhere else for a variety of reasons (such as avoiding being the least intelligent person on campus). A friend of my son’s is at MIT now and confirmed that he was told the exact same thing by the current coach: we like you and hope you get in; let us know if you do.
My son was recruited by nearly all of the NESCACs (all of the Little 3) and most of the Ivies for his sport. Both have conference guidelines that give the schools some control of a couple of parameters. Our sense from going through the process (which, admittedly can vary from sport to sport…a friend’s daughter swam for an Ivy and had a slightly different admissions experience) was that there was more fluidity (i.e., things can change in a hurry) in the Ivy, D1 process due to how verbal commitments are managed and how the schools put together financial aid pkgs for athletes in lieu of athletic scholarships. My son went D3 due to what he wanted to pursue academically long-term (STEM). Would agree with you about the NESCAC coaches: if they want you and you are close (5-10% of GPA/test scores depending on school) to meeting the admissions criteria for that year, they can get you in (although financial aid, if you need it, can’t be guaranteed outside the normal process).
Most of the schools do a solid job of admitting the right kids. Williams is an example of being successful in the classroom and athletics if you get the right kids on campus. There will always be people who get upset because of set-asides, either actual or perceived. If you haven’t read Daniel Golden’s “The Price of Admission: How America’s Ruling Class Buys Its Way Into Elite Colleges–and who Gets Left Outside the Gates”, I highly recommend it; very enlightening.
Did your son look at Kenyon or Denison? Great swim programs and excellent schools, although not on par with Williams academically.
A recruitment from swat means almost nothing to the admissions team
wolfy321: SWAT parents I talked with at last year’s rivalry game for my son’s sport said the same thing; their acceptance rate among athletes was about same as Haverford. One parent’s son was friends with several basketball players; according to their son, the SWAT coaches got really lucky with a couple of current players who had D1 potential but wanted a smaller school and a focus on academics. FYI, SWAT recruited my son and told him the same thing Haverford did: they would love to have him, but he had to earn admission like everyone else. Best of luck with your application. ED decision emails have gone out at 7pm Eastern time on 12/14 the last couple of years.
I really respect colleges with policies like Haverford and Swarthmore.
Me too. I love how it treats everyone equal regardless of athletic ability (I’ve rowed crew since freshman year, so I’m not just saying that because it doesn’t apply to me lol).
12/14 at 7pm. That’s nerve racking
o2bdownsouth
Great thoughts. I was surprised to hear that there are schools that officially indicate “no support” for athletic recruits. I assumed that the vast majority schools with varsity athletics confer at least some favor to highly qualified athletes – that it was just a matter of how much. Given that, I probably pushed the discussion too far in the other direction. My son was not recruited by MIT, so I probably should not have spoken with such certainty on it. I have heard – hearsay, really – that they’ve slightly increased the support they give to recruited athletes, and it fit with what we’re seeing in the men’s swim program which is now among the best in D3. My DS was, as I indicated, recruited at Swarthmore, WUSTL, Chicago, Johns Hopkins, and Kenyon among others; and I just assumed that coach support at all of those schools would be pretty solid. But we never really tested those waters. In the end, it came down to two Ivies (which offer Likely Letters) and several NESCACs which also have a path in place for supporting apathetic recruits.
So this really comes down to exactly how much support Swarthmore, WUSTL, Chicago, and JHU (et al) offer recruits. While it must certainly vary by school and by sport, we certainly walked away from all of those coaches with the sense that their support would likely be sufficient. My son had a very high GPA and pretty solid ACT scores.
And, yes, my DS loved Kenyon, had several times attended their very strong summer swim camps, and was pretty assertively recruited by their wonderful assistant, Doug (now elsewhere). But we really liked the NESCAC conference and, given the cost of these schools, decided to go to a top ranked academic college (not a knock on Kenyon – also a great school). But I have no doubt that my DS would have loved Kenyon. He has a former teammate at Denison.
As @SwimDad99 said…
I think all schools absolutely consider need when evaluating athletes. It’s pointless to have a soccer or field hockey team with no goalie, or a softball squad with 6 players. Schools know who are graduating and they do their part to support athletic team needs.
The issue you have with highly competitive schools is they have numerous students to choose from when filling needs. As the parent of a Swat athlete and a Haverford student, the one thing I’d tell any athletic parent is that a LOT of the students I know from these schools are proficient and active at something else besides their sport. Music, art, social organizations…the majority I’ve met are VERY talented at more than just their sport.
Grades and stats and athletic ability are table stakes at this level: being a solid, interesting, engaging, well-rounded person is what makes the difference. It also takes a bit of luck…being the best applicant for a position of need is a great feather to have on your app.