<p>I think we’re actually very close philosophically, and I agree with your offense/defense metaphor. What you’ve done is to closely consider your kid’s interests–both academic and athletic–and made as careful and thorough a search as you could with those criteria in mind. I agree that the size of that list should be as wide as possible–within the parameters set by (realistic) academic and athletic goals. Absolutely, it’s hard to determine that without taking a long careful look around. Ultimately, though, for some kids that may mean talking to 30 coaches and for other kids 6 or 7. So much depends on the high school, the student, the sport…</p>
<p>I’m reacting here to the more general (and well-founded) hysteria I think many of us feel right now about the current state of college admissions. Faced with incredibly steep odds, on the most extreme end, we can push our kids relentlessly to top the next kid with endless e.c.'s, extra sport stuff, AP’s, SAT retries, so that he/she will win the race, and aggressively push them to contact coaches just to be safe, even if those schools may not be good places for kids to be. I’m NOT saying that anyone here is doing that, but I cannot explain the current insanity in application numbers as anything but parents and kids are so worried about getting in to certain schools that they cannot take a step back and make more thoughtful, measured choices.</p>