<p>Yes, we have heard. But frustrating because other than “it looks good–but anything can happen…” and the coach’s reputation, there’s no guarantee. Her high school coach did speak directly with the D3 coach to ensure D was interpreting the post pre-read convo accurately. High school coach believes the D3 coach is being responsibly cautious in his feedback and that D is in as good a position as she could be at this time. High school coach was a college player AND had two of his own kids go thru the recruiting process–so we trust his judgement.</p>
<p>D actually decided that her #2 school would be her ED choice–that’s where the pre-read is happening. Interestingly, #1 school is still in play. Higher ranked D3 team so obviously waiting to hear which top recruits are going Ivy or not. Coach of #1 says he will give her an answer this week. He did not ask what is going on with other schools–so D did not volunteer the information.</p>
<p>Question now is when to come clean with #1 school that they are no longer #1 and that D is already half way down the aisle with #2?</p>
<p>With all due respect, you know nothing more now then before the pre-read. While the result may end up just fine, for the moment you are being strung along. Keep racing after other options - you have nothing yet to rely upon.</p>
<p>Agreed, in our situation at a NESCAC, the word we got from admissions was “no red flags”
Then DS specifically asked the coach directly “will you support my admission with your tip?”…coach replied yes, son got in and now is a NESCAC graduate, good job and coaching his sport at his old prep school</p>
<p>Need clarification.<br>
Is there a difference between a “tip” and “strong support”?
Because even a “tip”, in NESCAC land, is not a sure thing, correct?</p>
<p>A “slot” means the student will be accepted. Coaches get a certain number agreed upon by the entire athletic conference. For example, Amherst had 4 slots for mens and womens swimming altogether. Coaches will want transcripts before offering.</p>
<p>A “tip” would probably be the same as “strong support”. Ask if s/he means a “slot”. A tip means that the coach tells admissions they would like to see the student accepted. Admissions may or may not pay any attention to it. To quote a Carnegie-Mellon Coach-“We tell admissions who we would like, but they don’t seem to pay much attention to it” A recruited football applicant to Amherst was rejected 2 years ago after being given a “tip”. Recruited athletes are accepted 80% of the time in the NESCACs. Those are the tips and the slots together.</p>
<p>The term at Williams is “band” rather than “slot.” There is, as I gather, much discussion back and forth between admissions and the coach. Once the pre-read has been given as positive then the coach can use his/her allotted “bands.” in my D’s case her college counseling office made sure that the AO was “on board” before allowing her to apply ED (remember that to apply ED the high school counsellor has to agree as well–not just the student and his/her family). If the coach has a relationship with the student’s school, then to make a representation (that the high school’s counsellor would have to have received as well in order to agree to the ED) that did not come through would be to slit his or her throat as students would be told that the coach is toxic. </p>
<p>Remember for coaches, once their reputation is shot (and word gets around very quickly…), they have much much harder times getting good kids to commit for the rest own their careers. The breakdown when it occurs is either because the student did not hear what was being said (and the high school coach or counsellor did not follow up to ensure what was being reported to be said was indeed what was said…) or something happened–most frequently it is athletes who treat the application without the respect it deserves and so come across as arrogant.
But yes-- big difference between a slot/band and a tip.</p>
<p>Each school has a certain number of tips - the same for each school (can’t remember what that number is) and the athletic department chooses how to allocate them. Those are what OBD referred to as a slot. A protect is used either for a student who has the credentials for admission, but would not otherwise stand out in the pack, or for a student who is not in the coach’s top group of recruits and he or she is willing to take a chance in the process. The admissions office knows for both tips and protects and has the final say, so a coach will usually advise a protect to apply ED. Remember, in the NESCAC there are no financial incentives, so a coach wants to be sure about a recruit before a tip is used. The academic rigor of the school also fits in - coaches at Amherst and Williams will use tips and protects differently than coaches at Conn and Trinity.</p>
<p>Been waiting for the actual acceptance letter from admissions, even given coach’s call asking him to apply ed ii with full football program support. S received the good word this happy morn that there will be an OLB for the Middlebury Panthers coming to a NESCAC backfield near you soon. I’ll post about our entire experience for everyone’s edification in a few. Suffice to say right now we’re just basking in the glow; so happy.</p>
<p>Hi 3xboys - Interesting post and strategy. My S. is being approached by several Ivy’s and has had official visits to some and unofficial visits to some. Your strategy above assumes that you apply early but RD to your top schools? Since LL come from admissions, it seems they can only come when an app is complete and submitted - either EA or RD? </p>
<p>Looking in the rear view mirror always makes this an easier process than actually going through it. You have to remember that coaches are going through the same kind of thing as the kids. They will have their reach, match and safety athletes. They are trying to vary the encouragement they give the kids and at the same time not turn anyone in range away because they will lose kids, just like the kids won’t get into every school to which they apply . As far as the tip and slot process at the NESCACs, just remember that the coaches don’t make the admissions decisions – ever. If they have been doing this long enough, they know how to work with admissions. Admissions may say, “this kid’s application is strong enough - she doesn’t need your support.” Or, “this kid is a long shot.” So they can walk away with a decent picture of where admissions is going to go. But, any NESCAC coach will say, there are outliers. There are times when everything is all lined up and someone in admissions sees something, and things don’t work out. Everyone has a story, but usually the story has a happy ending, even if it was not the story as originally planned. Pretty much, there is nothing a NESCAC applicant can do after the coach says that “everything looks good” except sit on pins and needles until the “congratulations” letter is received. </p>
<p>One more thing – my experience is that NESCAC coaches do expect applicants to go ED if the applicant is receiving admissions support. I cant say I blame them. If they only have 2 slots and 3 tips, why would they waste one on a kid that is not going to attend. </p>