And here’s a different twist regarding athletic applicants that I recently heard: It seems commonly accepted that an athlete is only attractive to a coach/school if they fill a specific need on the team. But someone recently suggested (i.e. this is just a rumor) that coaches may support the admission of athletes that aren’t necessarily needed on their teams in order to keep the athletes from going to competing schools.
Hmmm…
On a different note, if an applicant is admitted, you/your kid may be contacted by current students in the kid’s sport, parents of current athletes and/or alums of the sport to encourage the kid to attend the particular school. As always YMMV depending on the school/sport. Parents of admitted students may find it particularly helpful to speak with a current parent if they have questions.
Some things you may want to ask of coaches and/or others described above, include:
Who else was admitted in the sport? How many are likely to accept? Any specialties under- or over-represented?
If you are going to revisit a school you may want to ask if any other new admits will be there that day.
Are there tryouts/cuts for the sport? If there are, how likely is it that the student will make the cut?
If playing time and/or playing a particular position is important, ask about it.
What about off-season training?
If the kid wants to try a second or third sport, find out about tryouts/cuts/playing time. If the student would likely be on JV or a 3rds team or lower, find out how the experience differs from varsity in terms of practice and competition.
I’m sure I’m missing some other things you should be asking about; perhaps @GoatMama or @MAandMEmom or others will chime in ;