A friend has been emailing with a couple of UAA coaches for the RD round, more specifically the Carnegie Mellon coach. He is going to visit in February, and the coach said in an email that he would talk to the admissions committee and ‘notify them of your interest in our program and of our interest in you as a potential contributor to our team’. He is applying to the Mellon College of Science with a 2150 SAT (680 CR, 750 M, 720 W), and mid 700s subject tests with a decent GPA. Are his chances increased dramatically of getting in due to the recommendation from the coach, or is it just like another letter of rec? The sport is XC/TF
It depends on school and sport. For RD round at D3 schools, coach support often (though there can be exceptions) has little to no significance – it won’t boost an applicant in who otherwise wouldn’t get in. The admissions benefit to being a recruited athlete typically (but again, not always) happens with ED, when recruit commits to that program and coach tells admissions the student is a recruit.
So – a coach communicating with admissions usually does not have much impact in RD round and will not dramatically increase admissions chances. Your friend should ask the coach directly what coach support means in the RD round at that school, in that sport.
Back in the day, I was a UAA athlete, and my son has had contact with two UAA programs. I would be surprised if a UAA coach could do anything more than put in a “good word” for a recruit, and even if he does that, I would be surprised if it carries very much weight. The UAA schools I can think of off the top of my head (WashU, Emory, Carnegie Mellon, URochester, Case Western, UChicago, NYU) have fairly selective admissions criteria, and the UAA as a conference is well known for its emphasis on athletes being students first and athletes second. Consistent with that philosophy, UAA schools want students first. I’m not saying your friend’s sport won’t matter at all, but I’d be willing to bet that his participation in a sport will probably be looked at the same way the admissions office looks at anyone else’s extracurricular - how committed is your friend to it, does he show any leadership in it, does his talent in that sport make him a “pointy” candidate, etc. But I don’t think UAA schools are likely to be all that swayed by the fact that a coach wants your friend if he doesn’t otherwise fit in, statistically and otherwise, with the applicant pool.
Granted it was a lot of years ago that I was admitted to my UAA school, but I was told back then that the coach’s interest in me wouldn’t be considered as part of the admissions decision. Instead, when I interviewed on campus, they asked me a lot about what I learned from the international travel I did as part of my sport, how much time I devoted to the sport, whether and how I displayed leadership in the sport, etc. Some of the UAA schools even say on their websites that coaches can make their interest in a recruit known to the Admissions Office but that a coach’s interest will not give a recruit a considerable advantage. (see e.g., www.apply.emory.edu/apply/athletics) And, when my son attended an ID camp at another UAA school last summer, the head coach told a group of parents and their sons at an orientation meeting that he doesn’t have any sway in admissions decisions.
That said, I think anyone would be really lucky to play a sport at a UAA school! The sports are very competitive; the facilities vary a little bit from one UAA school to the next, but are generally really good; they put you up at decent places when you travel, and most travel is by air. Best of all, the expectation is that your academics come first, no matter what. In a conflict between practice and an afternoon biology lab, for example, you go to your biology lab.
Regardless of whether the coach has some influence in admissions athletes at UAA schools are still expected to have test scores, and academic records that make them competitive for admissions. You will not get admitted if you would not otherwise be competitive for admissions.
When my son was being recruited I remember the coach at U of Chicago telling the parents that he has less influence on admissions than coaches at other selective institutions.
2150 is equivalent to a 1490 +/- so he has solid chances at CM without the coaches recommendations.
UAA coaches do have slots, which if he is given would pertain to a supported roster offer. These slots in the EA and ED rounds definitely help and will get talented athletes acceptance offers with within one or two standard deviations from the norm of the representative grades of the pool.
The issue is as the EA and ED rounds are filled, the application pool gets incredible competitive. The HYPSC defers and rejects dictate the pool.
I’d make sure they visit and contact the coaches atleast weekly.
Good luck.