<p>Two of my friends, one who is decently smart (3.7~ish GPA) and the other...not so much (3.0-3.1 maybe) have been getting athletic recruitment letters from places like Columbia, Princeton, and MIT. What does this mean? Are they guaranteed acceptance next year when they apply?</p>
<p>letters mean nothing.</p>
<p>when a coach comes into their home and has coffee w/ friends and parents…</p>
<p>that is being recruited.</p>
<p>and next year…if no likely letter…no acceptance.</p>
<p>good luck.</p>
<p>Letters of interest do not mean anything, as they are sent en masse to top athletes across the country.<br>
The athlete needs to actually contact the coach, and the coach will tell the athlete face to face whether or not the athlete will receive a likely letter the next year (i.e. will be recruited)</p>
<p>the generic initial letters are sent out to tons of athletes across the country. the coaches then go through the whole recruiting process what with learning more about the athlete and promoting their school to the athlete and then a decision is reached from both ends. on the school end the athlete has to be sufficiently qualified academically so that the coach can get them in and the athlete has to be someone that the coach wants competing for them. on the athlete’s end, they have to choose where they want to commit from the schools whose coaches want them and will get them in or will give them the best offer, etc.</p>
<p>Coaches do not all make “home visits for coffee”- athletes living a huge distance are courted by phone, letters, then an offer for a visit paid by the college. That is when you know they are seriously interested.</p>
<p>The Ivys only send a small number of their recruited athletes likely letters.</p>
<p>Mass mailings do not indicate a great deal of interest, but they are a first step. If you get one and are interested in the program, fill out the reply form and send it in with a copy of your grades, test scores, and your athletic schedule. A personal letter addressed to the coach should be included. If they are interested they will either write a personal letter (handwritten notes asking you to give them a call are good) or let you know they will be watching you at one of your events. They will show up wearing the school logo and make sure you see them, but they are generally not allowed to talk you up. Depending on your year in school, they may not be allowed to call you, but you are always allowed to call them. Coaches used to write my son notes asking him to call them at a certain time or day. When you are being seriously recruited, you will know it. Good luck, your friends are off to a good start.</p>
<p>All the above responses are very accurate and should be required reading.</p>
<p>fauvre</p>
<p>i beg to differ…phone calls are made to dozens…inhome visits are the real deal</p>
<p>It depends on the sport. In the non-revenue sports, visits to the home are virtually non-existant. Lots of D-1 programs don’t have the budget for that.</p>
<p>fair enough, that makes sense…i was talking about football.</p>
<p>The reason some athletes who are not highly recruited get accepted into college sports programs every year is because the athletes contact coaches whose limited recruiting budgets do not allow them to go out and find kids who are flying a bit under the radar. Football is the exception to every rule at schools with big football programs, but even some football programs fall short budget-wise. My advice to prospective athletes: do not be afraid to contact schools you are interested in. They cannot say yes if you never ask.</p>
<p>I was lucky enough to get recruited this year…It all started with an email. A simple introductory email from the coach, saying he has been talking to my coach, and he wishes I fill out a recruit form so he can look at all my stats.</p>
<p>Then the emails (same coach) kept coming for everyone I sent. Then in late summer I started to get phone calls then talk of a house visit (fell through due to my family’s vacation). Next was a unofficial visit (I was in town wanted to look around), then a official visit. During the official visit I committed after the coach said he will pursue admissions support</p>
<p>Congratulations, visionquest. </p>
<p>My daughter is a D-1 recruited soccer player, and I could not agree more with the advice to contact coaches. She had some interest from several schools, but there were two she reallly wanted that we contacted, had her current coach contact, and even went to their camps. She ended up with a solid offer from one of them and that is where she will be in the fall.</p>
<p>In football and basketball, they may do things differently, but in the rest of the sports, you are often talking partial not full scholarships, and a lot less money spent on recruiting. You need to actively pursue it.</p>
<p>Jdjaguar- I suspect the policy of home visits vary widely by sport, school, and conference. My DD was recruited for track by most of the Ivies, and while they offered expense-paid trips for her to visit, the coaches did not travel themselves. </p>
<p>As noted by above posters, high revenue sports have totally different recruiting programs and budgets.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>we are in agreement.</p>
<p>“In football and basketball if you are any good you will wish the recruiters stop calling and great scholly money is available.”</p>
<p>Well, I guess it depends on your definition of “any good.” Money is only available if you are a DI or DII player.</p>
<p>Actually, in addition to NCAA divisions 1 and 2 which provide athletic scholarships, and division 3, which does not, there are also NAIA schools. They do give athletic money and tend to be smaller schools. Many of the Christian schools are NAIA, but we also saw some secular schools in there. Maybe another poster knows more about that.</p>
<p>There are some top D3 programs that would trump on lower division 1 and 2 teams. A lot of the LAC are divison3 but that doesn’t mean they suck. I was recruited by big division 1 programs (UCLA, Cal, Arizona) and also by Ivy league schools but I decided to chose Williams which is smaller and I like the environment more. Does that mean I suck? No it means I value my educational environment over any perceived athletic power. Even with that said, Williams is the best athletic program in divison3. It was the best combo of academics and athletics.</p>
<p>The NEPSAC’s do offer excellent academics and tend to also field some strong athletic teams. I don’t know about every sport, but even though they are one of the top DIII’s in soccer, for example, they still do not compare with many of the DI programs. (We have seen them play). Reason being that most of their players truly are DIII level players, with a handful of kids who could’ve played for some better DI schools thrown in. </p>
<p>My son’s high school basketball team (prep school) plays Williams preseason and crushes them. So…even though people say division doesn’t matter, it does (at least in sports I am familiar with). </p>
<p>Again, there are some excellent academic schools in DIII, and if a small LAC is what you want, then that should be your first consideration.</p>
<p>Error in my last post…I meant “NESCAC”, not “NEPSAC” (my son’s high school conference)</p>