Son has passed pre-reads and has received invitations for official visits at several NECSAC schools. Does this nearly assure an acceptance if there’s a fit with team/coach at the visit? In other words, has the AO agreed to accept him if coach wants him? Son is a good but not super strong student (GPA 3.75), will not be submitting scores and his stroke specific times would currently put him #2-3 with the current Sophomore and Junior swimmers who would still be there next year. I’m kind of surprised that there is as much interest. Just trying to prepare since he wants to apply ED.
I would recommend you edit your post of the identifying factors like stroke and school names - leaving it more vague. Just my opinion.
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Sent you a DM in response to your original post.
Here is what I know based on NESCAC soccer recruitment (probably similar?) At Middlebury, for instance, the coach told a group of parents that he “gets” 8 recruits per year. What does that mean? He is in contact with them and their families. The student MUST apply ED to Middlebury. Admissions has his list and, as long as the student has a reasonable expectation of success at the school, they will be admitted ED. Why ED? Because they want to make sure Midd is the student athletes first choice and ensure they will accept. Personally, I find the entire system a bit shady, but that is how NESCAC schools game the system, since there are no official athletic scholarships.
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My understanding is that it is not just NESCAC schools that expect an ED application if the coach is going to bat for the recruit.
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Exactly. This is how it works at most highly selective colleges. Not sure NESCAC schools are “gaming the system”.
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No unofficial ones either. Division 3 schools treat all students, athletes and non-athletes, the same for financial aid.
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My son has just finished his official visits to several NESCAC swim programs and in other conferences. My advice is your son needs to determine how much support any given coach will provide and keep in contact with his top choices if he’s not a top recruit. Ask the coaches if he EDs, what level of support can he expect. There’s a trickle down effect. Coaches offer lots of pre-reads, then select number of official visits. Generally, not all that attend official visits be given support by the coach. The coaches hope their top recruits will commit it if not they move down the line. From info provided, your son is a strong swimmer but not a stand out. He’s not likely to be a top recruit at most schools, some have more slots than others. For us it was bit of a rollercoaster, he was/is a top recruit at all of the NESCACs he visited, except for one but that school’s top recruits declined so he rose to the top. He was given that opportunity partly because he kept in contact with the coach. As it turned out, he had just committed to another school, a non-NESCAC. And plans to honor that commitment. A major component for his decision was the quality of academics as well as the quality of the swim program. Good luck. It’s a nail biting process for sure. And even with coach support there are no guarantees in D3.
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Thank you all for the input. My son has just been offered a spot on the roster at one of the most academically and admissions competitive NESCAC schools, his first choice. As long as he can keep his grades up, that’s where he’ll go. We’re ecstatic but honestly I’m a bit worried that he’ll be able to handle the academics and swim commitment. I guess if the AD and coach thinks he can, I shouldn’t be so worried but he’s nowhere near the academic standards that the college claims and his swim coach didn’t even have this college on his recommended list. Best to everyone else.
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That’s awesome. Good luck with the rest of the process. My son committed to a little Ivy and we are on pins and needles about grades. He’s doing great and should be fine but I’ll be glad when mid-December comes along. He’s slightly jealous of a friend who decide to go D1 because his grades aren’t so important at this juncture. My son wanted small liberal arts, so it was D3 for him.
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Make sure that you understand what the coach is offering. At highly rejective colleges, a slot on the roster usually means there is a place on the team if you can get yourself in. This is not the same as admissions help. Furthermore, the pre-reads are usually in the context of what happens if the coach offers full admiasions support. Passing pre-reads doesnt necessarily mean a student gets in without the full suppprt of the coach.
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A very valid point.
Why is it shady and how is gaming anything? Coaches have limited slots … if they use them on a recruit, they are well within their rights to ensure the recruit is coming. There are no do-overs for the athlete or the coach. If a coach rides with a kid until the bitter end, only to find out that the recruit was using him/her as back-up and goes with their first choice (if it works out), they’re kinda screwed for that cycle.
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There is nothing shady in the quid pro quo in athletic recruiting (i.e., coach support with admissions if you apply ED). In the NESCAC, the basic rules are 2 slots (lower academic standards than the usual cohort of admitted students), with American football getting 14. The rest of the recruits are “tips,” whose academic creds are good enough to be admitted without coach support but, as we know, many many well qualified applicants are rejected from NESCAC schools. The “tip” will tip the admission decision in their favor.
What is shady about this? Did you want no slots, which would at least in theory mean that the teams would be worse? Did you want no athletic recruiting at all? That would leave little room for schools who are trying to compose well rounded classes that include athletics.
If you think it unfair that athletes usually need to apply ED, I disagree. Many athletes have been working on recruiting for years. In contrast, some high school students are utterly without direction. Perhaps they need until April to decide, but athletes have been attending showcases, visiting colleges, meeting with coaches for quite some time. As a group, they have a much better idea about what they want than many other high school students.
Look at it from the perspective of the school. If you let all the recruits apply RD for a team that needs 5 players, the AO might need to admit, say, 25 athletes to reach the target of 5, knowing that many will choose to go to other schools. Imagine some of the results that could happen: 1) all or most of the 25 admitted recruits decide to go to the school, meaning that fewer other types of applicants (e.g., drama or music stars) would be admitted and some of those recruits would have to be cut from the team; 2) none or few of the 25 recruited athletes choose to attend, threatening the viability of the team. What happens to the coach who desperately needs a goalkeeper? Does the college need to admit 4 keepers to ensure one additional keeper? To my mind, there is nothing wrong with coming very close to hitting admission targets for athletes and using ED to get it done, particularly when some NESCACs have over 20 sports offered.
BTW, many D3 schools other than NESCACs want recruits to apply ED.
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I am guessing that you do have an offer, but if you aren’t 100% sure, I would make 100% sure that in exchange for your son applying ED, the coach is supporting his application. And I would ask what exactly that means, i.e. is he 50/50 to get in, or is he all but assured admittance.
My guess is that he is closer to 100%, but it’s always smart to clarify with the coach. My son’s coach was laughing at me by the end, because I asked him several times several ways if he really had an offer. He basically said as long as he keeps his grades in the same general place they have been and doesn’t stab anyone he should be fine.
He is at an Ivy, but it’s pretty similar to a NESCAC. I have a daughter (non-athlete) at Amherst. He is also solidly below the 25th percentile at his college. He is not getting great grades, but good enough, in a relatively difficult major. Also he is training and competing year round in his sport. It hasn’t been easy, but I don’t think he would change anything if he had it to do over either.
If you want to talk about that more, feel free to dm me.
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That stabbing habit will trip you up every time.
I repeat that one a lot because I found it funny when the coach used that line!