<p>I know there are a lot of do-it-yourselfers on here, but what are the arguments for hiring someone to assist with the athletic recruiting track? What is a reasonable cost for the assistance they can provide? I've been running across this lately as a basketball Dad as they seem to be at every showcase with a 20-30 minute recruiting presentation. Alternatively, what are the most effective things a parent can do to assist his son in jumpstarting the college athletic recruiting process? What reference material (besides the one Varska has written) do you recommend? For background purposes, my son started varsity last year as a freshman (NEPSAC) and played well. He also plays for a good AAU team and appears at most of the showcases/camps etc. He would probably be very happy to play in the NESCAC or NEWMAC or similar league but may have the potential to go D2 or low D1 (e.g. Patriot League, UNH, Maine, UVM, etc.). He is currently a B+ student and a pretty good test taker (and we're hoping he's going to improve on both of those fronts).</p>
<p>I couldn’t tell you on price, but for a sport like basketball I’m sure they could assist with a pretty professional DVD of your son’s skills. </p>
<p>Food for thought: a recruiting book I read (Put Me In, Coach) states that if you only have $500.00 to spend getting your kid into college, the best place to spend it is on a test prep course. There is so much more $$$ out there for academics than athletics. </p>
<p>The biggest thing I’ve been able to do for my son is a TON of research, 'bout ready to start my own recruiting biz at this point 
I have also provided templates for phone messages and suggested contacts to make.</p>
<p>If your son is playing AAU he will get exposure to coaches, especially if he is on a great team. I know one family that used a recruiting service for their son who played football. He is playing in college, they insisted it helped them quite a bit. The place we are from is not a high profile athletics area so it is tough to get noticed, so in that regard I suppose it helped them. Neither of my kids used any recruiting services and both are in college athletics, one at the D1 level and the other NAIA D1. Very different routes to get there in two very different sports. I think that as a family if you work together you can cover a lot of ground on your own. Lots of info out there on recruiting websites about what you can do on your own. Take advantage of the free material and you might be surprised how much you can accomplish on your own. Best of luck.</p>
<p>Recruiting services are big business. If you have an athletically talented kid you may feel you need someone with experience to show you how it works. </p>
<p>I spoke with with D3 XC coach of the year and asked him about paid recruiting services. His answer was that he wanted to talk to athletes that specifically sought out his school because they knew the program, knew the school and wanted to go there for a reason. He wasn’t interested in clicking on a profile of some random kid.</p>
<p>Another coach said the most important person he talks to is the HS coach. A paid recruiting service agent can’t tell him anything meaningful about the character of the athlete.</p>
<p>Bottom line - if you can send an email or make a phone call, you don’t need them.</p>
<p>Thanks all. I’m leaning toward the do-it-yourself route but it’s hard to escape the fear that you may be overlooking something or becoming the dreaded “helicopter” Dad that coaches shun. I want my son to do as much as possible on his own (e.g. initiating contact with the coaches of the schools he’s interested in, etc.); but let’s face it, a 15 year old boy has other priorities. Any other parents been down this road before?</p>
<p>WellMeaningDad,</p>
<p>I think you are asking a good question and one that many of us DIYers have asked ourselves. I’ll make a couple points that were important for us to “keep in house” vs outsource.</p>
<p>1) THere is very little that a Recruiting Service can do that you can’t do on your own with some reading and research. There are many message boards that are sport specific, free, and create a network that you can also use while your son or daughter is playing the sport. College Confidential was one of two message board resources that I leaned on heavily for opinions and answers.</p>
<p>2) Nobody is going to work harder than you. This is your kids future, and this will be one of the biggest decisions he/she makes in their lifetime. Trust me, you will put in the effort and learn alot ALONG with your son or daughter. This is a time to share a unique experience. My son committed to an Ivy school 3 years ago. That experience has some of my fondest memories that my son and I still talk about.</p>
<p>3) Control. I’m not a control freak, and my oldest son is an introvert. As a parent, I taught my son life lessons (how to get recruited,how to find a job). He’s applied and received two summer engineering internships while in college. He knows how to seek and secure emplyment. He learned how to deal with the adult world and communicate with coaches (bosses) because of his recruiting experience. I would not want someone who doesn;t have a a genuine interest in my son, representing my son. You need to maintain control of the recruiting effort IMHO.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I’ll weigh in with just a couple of more cents, if not sense. ;)</p>
<p>For the record, as of this moment, we have decided so far not to use a recruiting/consulting service.</p>
<p>I have talked to a couple of (rowing) coaches and read a few interviews and it does seem that college coaches would rather get the plaque than talk to a consultant (or a parent). Yes, the student should conduct all of the communication (except maybe money).</p>
<p>But perhaps the recruiting/consulting firms can help while staying in the background. Maybe they can offer some advice. Maybe they can give some informed input on which programs are realistic, which schools are a better fit, which coaches’ style my D might respond to better.</p>
<p>One can do all the research in the world but there is a lot of “inside” information that is either very difficult or impossible to obtain. (My D and I, for example, have been tracking down one piece of information for several days.)</p>
<p>And here is one more thought - there is a lot to be said for just having an “outside voice.” Teenagers are teenagers. Direction or suggestions from their parents are not, how shall we say, not always warmly received. 
Having them be engaged in the process with an impartial interlocutor instead of with you might help maintain a higher level of peace in the household.</p>
<p>Note: I have absolutely no connection whatsoever with any recruiting or consulting company.</p>
<p>Thanks fenwaysouth and GolfFather. As a do-it-yourselfer is it a good idea to use the online services where you can create a profile and upload videos, etc.? Is this part of casting as wide a net as possible while doing as much direct contact with the target schools to get a “relationship” started? Looking back is there anything you can point to that clearly paid big dividends in helping gain traction for your child’s recruiting efforts?</p>
<p>WellMeaningDad,</p>
<p>If my son were to be recruited today (baseball), yes I would create a profile upload some video and send the coach the link. I would not use it as THE marketing tool, but it would be a point of reference for the coach to see. </p>
<p>Over the course of our recruiting process (18 months) our target schools changed from D1 Mid-Majors to D1 Ivy/D1 Patriot/D3 NESCAC. So HOW we targeted and showcased at these schools changed. No matter how it changed, something like a URL to a video would have been useful to either initiate interest, follow up on interest, or reinforce interest. In baseball it is more about what the coach sees (in person) that counts most. The other stuff such as a video is icing on the cake IMHO.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>His travel coach opened some doors for us and we learned how the process works. Basically, we learned what schools we weren’t interested in. In my son’s case, we switched from leading with his baseball skills to leading with his academics. When we did this many more doors opened up even though my son is a very good baseball player (1st team all confernence last year). If your son or daughter has strong academics and is leaning toward an academic school, I would lead with academics. It seems like common sense now, but when you are in the middle of recruiting sometimes you don’t see the forest when you are in the middle of trees. Good luck.</p>
<p>As far as recruiting services and video - the NCAA doesn’t allow college coaches to view any video except regularly scheduled (regular season) high school games. No practices, championships or non-scholastic events if they’re posted on a subscription-based recruiting web site. That’s for basketball and football. </p>
<p>“The way I understand it, if they offer [nonscholastic] video and it’s packaged with other content, you can’t subscribe to it, because it doesn’t meet our criteria.”
The problem with recruiting services surfaces when they operate as third-party aides, Illinois coach Ron Zook said. Several third-party scouting services rose to prominence for charging thousands of dollars to provide college programs with information about prospects."</p>
<p>A kid can still send a video link to a coach on his own.</p>
<p>Thanks fenwaysouth and Varska. So Varska, it sounds like the video is best kept on an athlete’s personal page (i.e. not affiliated with a service) or a link to a youtube video (perhaps kept private to eliminate random views and comments)?</p>
<p>^ Right. If you have footage from a championship game, or a showcase event - you’re not allowed to put that up on a paid recruiting site. (D1 football and basketball)</p>
<p>Put it up on youtube or vimeo, set it to private and send the coach the link.</p>
<p>Just have him transfer to Northfield Mount Hermon. If he is truly talented, his exposure there will take care of itself ;)</p>
<p>[Boys'</a>; Basketball | Northfield Mount Hermon](<a href=“http://www.nmhschool.org/boys-basketball]Boys’”>http://www.nmhschool.org/boys-basketball)</p>
<p>"…NMH 2012 New England Champions! </p>
<p>The Northfield Mount Hermon boys’ basketball team plays in the prestigious New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) AAA, considered the premier prep conference in the nation. Over the past 10 years, NMH has sent more than 50 players to Division I college programs and others have gone on to great collegiate careers at Division II and Division III levels.</p>
<p>NMH is considered the best combination of academics and basketball in the United States. In 2012-2013, NMH will have 12 players in the Ivy League, more than any other school in the nation, with players at Cornell University, Yale University, Columbia University, two at Borwn University, three at Dartmouth College, and three at Harvard University. In all, NMH will have over two dozen Division I players in 2012-2013 at the University of Louisville, three at the University of Vermont, Fairfield University, Boston College, Seton Hall University, Bucknell University, University of Maine, Siena College, University of Michigan and others. The 2012-2013 NMH squad will continue the Ivy League connection as Zena Edosomwan '13 has already committed to Harvard University.</p>
<p>NMH basketball has been ranked among the top five teams in the country both of the past three years and was the national championship finalist in 2010 and has qualified for the national tournament for 3 consecutive years. . NMH has been among the top 10 ranked basketball programs for the past nine years. In 2007 and 2010, NMH won a then school record 23 wins.</p>
<p>The 2011-2012 NMH basketball again distinguished their program as the best combination of academics and basketball in the country. NMH was ranked the #3 team in the country and set a school record with 29 wins finishing the season as The NEW ENGLAND CLASS AAA CHAMPIONS. NMH remained undefeated for the history of the 8 School tournament and also remained undefeated at the Scholar Roundball Classic. NMH moved their record to 3-1 All-Time vs teams ranked #1 in the country when they knocked off then #1 Brewster Academy in the NEPSAC semi-finals on their way to the championship.</p>
<p>NMH has qualified for the NEPSAC Class A tournament 21 out of the last 22 years. Featuring an up-tempo offense and an aggressive man-to-man defense, NMH teams are consistently made up of talented student-athletes who value an exceptional private school education and can compete at the highest level, with the exposure that NEPSAC basketball provides. The role of the student-athlete is stressed by the coaching staff."</p>
<p>It all depends on your son’s talent level. NEPSAC competes a 6 different levels. The champions of each level for last year are detailed below:
Boys Basketball: C
Class AAA: Northfield Mount Hermon
class aa: St. Marks School
class a: Salisbury School
class b: Beaver country day School
class c: hyde School (ct)
class d: hoosac School</p>
<p>The AAA division teams typically send a good portion of their seniors to D1 programs - some high major, some mid major, many low D1.</p>
<p>While recruiting service perform a function, the best platform is a prep or high school program where the coach has demonstrated that he can attract college coaches to his gym and place them in collegiate programs.</p>
<p>NMH is a good example of a program where the coach, John Carroll, has developed a niche in developing players with the bball skills and academics to be place in high academic colleges, from the Ivies to the Patriot League to America East. He also often has a player with the skills to get placed at high majors - Seton Hall, Notre Dame, etc.</p>
<p>Each school and their division has their niche. New England Recruiting Report:
[NERR</a> - New England Basketball Recruiting Report -](<a href=“http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/]NERR”>http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/)
covers the NEPSAC in detail and you can quickly get a sense of the success your current school has had in placing its players. </p>
<p>AAU Programs are also a platform for exposure. Carefully select the program you participate in. The program should have a history of placing players in the school at the same level you believe your skills, athletic ability and academics dictate. The program should demonstrate a history of stable relationships with its players and that return for multiple seasons. Check with other parents regarding coach temperment. The Rhode Island Hawks would be a good example of such an organization. There are more competitive and less competitive organizations, but they do a good job of helping their players get recruited and placed.</p>
<p>A recruiting service is very supplemental to the above two recruiting aids. If your high school coach and your AAU coach don’t see promise in you and have the relationships to get you seen and placed, a service won’t help much.</p>
<p>Thanks MaryOC and bballdad. We are considering other school options but it is not something to take lightly. We are really torn about this for a variety of reasons. Any successful recruiting stories from kids who went to non-powerhouse prep schools?</p>
<p>My senior son plays soccer instead of basketball, at a large public high school. We have opted not to use a professional service and have had pretty good results from D1,2 and 3 schools. We put together a video of highlights ourselves, and that has been the biggest plus so far. I don’t know of any rules for viewing videos for soccer- apparently unlike football and basketball- and so far plenty of coaches are viewing it. We have posted full games and highlights on YouTube. We did opt to place his profile on a recruiting website that includes all of his academic stats, athletic stats, references, and videos. We do not use that site to auto-generate letters, as we have found it is better to be very specific about the coach and team in each letter, and stay away from generic letters. When we first started, we jointly came up with a basic letter, which my son then personalizes after he researches each school and team. Once that initial letter goes out, he always follows up with a phone call. For the top 10 schools on his list, he calls each coach every week to every other week to keep them posted. Only one coach has sounded slightly annoyed, but he did end up coming out to 2 of my S’s Club games and knows him by name, so I guess we won’t stop what we are doing. At least in soccer (since it is really not recruited at a high school level), it is almost mandatory to play on a high-level Club team and to include a lot of college showcases. We are finding that with all of the budget cuts, many of the colleges are not traveling to as many games and rely on video and showcases. There is no doubt that this process is very time consuming, but we feel we can do a more personal job than any recruiter and save a lot of money at the same time. At this point he has had success with his top choice D1, as well as with a D2, and a D3. We will not quit until everything is in writing, but are feeling good at this point. One thing that someone else mentioned, is that we have never relied on Athletic Scholarships but instead have emphasized grades as there seems to be a lot more money there. It has paid off as we are finding coaches would rather recruit a kid with top grades so they know they don’t have to babysit to keep them eligible. I think I have read that only 2% of college athletes get athletic scholarships (which can sometimes be very small)- we figured we were safer going with the academics! Good luck!</p>
<p>Competitive basketball can be both rewarding frustrating. I am sympathetic to families that have their DS/DD in a good school and community situation, but it may not be fully supporting their athletic dreams. I guess it comes down to a family discussion regarding priorities and tradeoffs. Our family had many of the same feelings. I have attached my response to a PM from another basketball dad last year. Maybe it will be useful. Our outcome in spite of another senior year injury, his earlier exposure and play, together with strong academics, got him placed in a high academic D1 in New Hampshire. Alls well that ends well.
p.s. Use the search function for more info on your interests. These bbs feature whats new today, but many questions have been answered in the past and much good advice and experience is available.</p>
<hr>
<p>It was an interesting process for DS looking at boarding schools. My son had missed his freshman and sophomore school basketball seasons due to a broken wrist and ankle (soft growth plates, he grew 8 inches in two years). He had been playing competitively since he was 9 (AAU, 5 Star Camps, Eastern Invitational, middle school ball). We were referred to the school (NE Top 25, good academics and basketball, good placement in Ivies) he wound up attending by an Ivy asst coach that had been recruiting his brother (who wound up attending a D2 school). In addition to this school, my son also applied to a HADES school and two very good mid Atlantic boarding schools. He was accepted at 3 of the 4. He chose to attend the school to which he was referred.</p>
<p>After the referral, my son met the school coach at Hoop Mountain’s All Academic Camp and the coach saw him play several games. We had subsequent good conversations with the coach and arranged to visit the school in September. My son scrimmaged with the team for 2 hours on that day. At the end of day, the coach told my son that he was of interest to him and his program. He invited my son to apply. He also traveled a significant distance to visit my son’s school and met with his high school coach and his guidance counselor. He then met with son’s AAU coach. In essence, our process was one of an introduction, due diligence by the coach, and invitation to apply with an assurance that there was a spot on the team for him. His school’s varsity is entirely made up entirely of invited recruits. In recent memory there have been no walk-ons or promotions from the JV. The only questions are can you get accepted by admissions and what will your financial aid be. FA is need based, but it is common for the neediest players to also be among the best players and receive full rides.</p>
<p>So, are you good enough? This is a simplistic, but telling test. Go to Google and put in your name, city, state and the word “basketball”. For most players in the better basketball programs that place their players in the Ivies, Patriot League, or other D1 schools, there should be a page or two of listings. Articles or box scores from your middle school and AAU performances, tournament listings, camp honors, etc. Good players often get identified this early. This is not true for everyone, but is true for many of the kids you’ll be competing against. The hardest thing is to get an informed, objective opinion of where you stand and an estimate of your future upside. Search out high school or prep school coaches in your area that have a history of placing their players in the Ivies or Patriot League. Ask them to evaluate you and listen closely.</p>
<p>If you believe and they concur that your athletic goals are within your reach, then get started. Play AAU with a competitive club. Attend Ivy Elite camps and All Academic camps at Hoop Mountain or Hoop Group. Contact the coaches at the schools you are interested. Send them an athletic resume (search Google, there are templates). Give them your schedule of games and camps and ask them to come see you. At the end of the summer, follow up with them.
This is how the boarding school search process will go. If they are interested in you as a future player, they will invite you to visit the school and work you out. They will follow up and touch base with your current school. By mid fall, you should let them know you intend on applying and ask if you qualify for a spot on their varsity. You’ll get a yes or a no. If they are not interested in you from the beginning, they will compliment you and encourage you to still apply. They will point out the strengths of their school and note there are JV or other teams so that you will have a chance to participate at an appropriate level. You can ask directly if there is a chance to work your way up to varsity. Ask how many players in the past five years have done this.</p>
<p>Regarding Hotchkiss or Deerfield, you can have a good playing experience at either. However, Deerfield is simply not as competitive and rarely place kids at the next level. They were blown out by the competitive schools they played this season. They have nationally ranked teams (lacrosse, soccer), but they are just not serious about men’s basketball. Hotchkiss is better. They won their league this season and have a player going to Ga Tech next year to play and a 6’11" center going to Harvard. However, they lost to the four competitive schools they played this year (Blair, Tlton, Findlay Prep, Brewster, blown out by the last two). On the other hand, you to wear the big “H”. In your prior posts, you narrowed down quickly to these schools. The big queston is basketball and school rep aside, where will you be happy? What kind of school environment do you want - traditional, ties everyday or more casual. Visit the schools, talk to the kids, and decide where you want to be. Most of these schools have very distinct personalities. My son had no doubt which of the four schools he wanted to attend after his visits, and the decision was not basketball driven.</p>
<p>The last thing I would tell you is that basketball is here for fun, regardless of the level it is played at. Everyone has their own gifts. Basketball demands specific gifts. After you get past passion for the game, high basketball IQ, great conditioning, etc., it still comes down to first step quickness, exceptional hand/eye coordination, vertical leap, height, speed, arm length, etc. And for the Ivies, you have to have the academic performance. My son wants to use basketball to get a better education that might be available to him otherwise. And its fun!! He has a passion for it. With his orthopedic history, we are painfully aware that he is one injury away from being a formal basketball player. He is currently just beginning the Ivyrecruiting process and is being invited to elite camps and getting writeups on the recruiting services. I hope he gets his college dream. At the worst, however, he is getting a great high school education that will provide opportunities and a return for him for the rest of his life.</p>
<p>Reclassing was a good thing for him. He is repeating his sophomore year, gaining strength and skills in academic areas that will be critical for him to master and perform in an Ivy League academic setting. He was fortunate enough to get assistance from this prep school to help with the added expense of this extra year. Every family cannot afford this expense.</p>
<p>Invest some time and money in getting evaluated and put yourself in the camps where you can get exposed to prep school coaches. Then take your shot and see if they have an appetite for someone with your skills.</p>
<p>And if it turns out that basketball is just for fun with you, enjoy the fun that you get out of it and continue to develop other interests and passions, both academically and athletically.</p>
<p>Best of luck!!!</p>
<p>Update: my son kicked off the “initiate contact” phase of recruiting by sending off introductory emails to a bunch of coaches and including a writeup from a recruiting service on his performance at a recent showcase event and he’s already gotten several responses including invitations to elite Ivy and NESCAC prospect camps/clinics. It can be done!</p>
<p>Thanks takeitallin and bballdad for your sage advice.</p>
<p>Glad WellMeaningDad’s S is getting good results. We too are not at “powerhouse prep school” and did not use recruiting service. Still, lot of interest from D1AA and Div 3 schools, including multiple schools urging ED application.</p>
<p>As a parent, I went through this process with my S (at NESCAC colleges for a helmet sport) last summer. I would HIGHLY emphasize on having a broader reach/approach with all your NESCAC/IVY college coaches and recommend that you methodically go through this long process since you ARE in charge of the process (BTW, I am just using the NESCAC/IVY in this context as an example of two groups of great schools, and as all the readers know, there are many fine schools that play in other divisions.)</p>
<p>My experience is based on casting a wide net and heavily market yourself, get to know the head coaches, assistant coaches, and most importantly the recruiting coaches responsible for your geography. As others pointed out on the CC, you need to stay focused on your academics and make sure that your ACT is north of 30-31 (although some LECs super score the ACT). You need mostly As in AP courses and should take at least 3 APs in your senior year (the general rule of thumb is to take as many AP courses that you can score A in them). You also need to take your ACT (or SAT) test in early spring of your senior year, in time to have the score ready for upcoming summer camps (see below).</p>
<p>You need to make highlight films of your junior and senior years (take a look at [Easy</a>, affordable, powerful coaching software - Hudl](<a href=“http://www.hudl.com%5DEasy”>http://www.hudl.com) site if your school coach has already signed up, it is the easiest and most cost effective way to produce your highlights). You should also fill out the athletic recruit form on every NESCAC/IVY college web site before you sign up for their one-day summer camp. This is one way for the NESCAC college coaching staff to build their recruit data base (they have access to other data bases as well). Once you send your information to the colleges, you will receive form responses and often get updates from the coaches. A typical NESCAC helmet sport recruit data base has as many as 1,500 names to start with, and they end up actively focusing on selected 60+ per helmet sport. They go from 60 to even a lesser number of spots, supports, and LL (in case of IVY only). It is a grueling and long process but you just need to stick with it if you are utterly determined to use LAX as your hook. At the end of the day the NESCAC/IVY coaches are looking for highly motivated and great students that can equally play well on the field! It is not the other way around for these very selective colleges.</p>
<p>Sign up for the NE, Harvard and individual LEC/IVY one-day sessions (as many as you can afford). This is your marketing opportunity but you need to be physically, skill wise, academically, and mentally ready for these camps. It takes a lot of effort and coordination to hit these summer camps. As luck would have it, lots of enthused parents and student-athletes leverage the summer before senior year as an opportunity to visit colleges and these sports camps. These camps are sometimes oversubscribed (and feel like a zoo) but this is how you get noticed by the coaches. You need to prepare your profile (consists of resume with your picture on it, transcript with list of courses you will be taking in your senior year, ACT/SAT test score, and AP test scores if available). Once on a college campus, make sure you introduce yourself to the coaching staff, have a 15-20 seconds introductory speech ready, hand out your profile and show energy, enthusiasm, and as much team work as you can during your short visit. Your parents also need to get to know these coaches and start a dialogue. As they say, it takes a village! Once the camp is over, send a thank you note to the coaching staff and identify with them how much you learned, and how you feel about their program. Now you are ready to send periodic updates in response to the emails that you will receive from college coaches (see above paragraph). Make sure you have your thumb nail photo as part of your signature block. All these coaches are overwhelmed with emails and voice mails. A photo will jug their memory about who you are (every little thing counts).</p>
<p>You can also be invited for a recruit day before and/or after your one-day camps. Some colleges (like Middlebury) will go to different camps but they dont have a camp of their own. Instead, they invite some student-athletes to attend their recruit day and this is when they put out a very nice dog and pony show to further their recruiting process. If they are interested in you, they may ask for your commitment and encourage you to apply ED. (Please read the next paragraph for details about how to qualify their interests).</p>
<p>Now the waiting game starts around late August (for football and Spring of Junior year for LAX). Coaching staff will start to contact student-athletes that fit their needs. Of course, by now you should have a good feel about the level of interest that you received during one-day camps, recruit days, or simply your visits. Be aware that if they are really interested they ask for your stats (GPA, ACT, SAT, AP scores, number of AP courses, and transcripts) for a pre-read at the Admissions office. Also be aware, that most good coaches keep their cards close to their vest and dont volunteer too much information about where you stand on their priority list, unless you are on top of it. That said, you need to understand when and under what circumstances they will send your academic information to the Admissions office for a pre-read. Again, most of the coached dont commit to you unless they get thumbs up from the Admissions. They equally encourage you to do ED I because they have the most pull. However, you need to ask probing questions about the coaches track record and their past performance with the Admissions office before you commit to any ED. As you may have read on CC, there are a number of cases where a student-athlete thought s/he is in but the opposite happened. To hedge your bets, dont burn bridges with other schools that have an interest in you but be honest with them because honesty will go a long way in this process. Dont forget to do a quality essay! Some student-athletes think that because there is a favorable pre-read and the coach really wants her/him that means that they are in. Well, the ultimate decision will be made by the Admissions office and the committee that reads your application materials. Remember that these are very selective colleges and there is no shortage of great and qualified applicants waiting at their door steps. Do yourself a favor and work on your essays as if you dont have any athletic hook. </p>
<p>If you decide to do an ED with school of your choice, and there is one (or more) school that is trying to recruit you (and they also did a favorable pre-read), let their coaches know. That does not mean that they will keep a slot open for you indefinitely but the coaches are in the same position as you, and they are trying to get commitment from student-athletes at the same time. College coaches also lose good student-athletes to competing colleges, so in a way it is like a game of musical chair! At the end, you need to have a fall back plan and have your application ready in a stand-by mode for other colleges in case your ED does not pan out. As I mentioned above, get in touch with other coaches that may have an interest in you. If so, submit your EDII and/or RD.</p>
<p>There is still time to do EA, or RD with other fine schools. Have your application (and all supplemental essays ready). There are only two weeks between 12/15 (when ED acceptance/rejections/deferred news comes out) and when most RD, or EDII applications are due (on 1/1). You are in charge of your destiny and cant afford to miss the opportunity for RD. Good luck.</p>