<p>Does the coach need the full application for the preread or only for the likely letter? In other words are the sats and gpa sufficient for the preread?</p>
<p>My daughter had prereads at four Ivy League schools. Each required a full transcript and copies of test results for the preread. Her understanding is the full application would be submitted after the Likely Letter was given.</p>
<p>My S did prereads-full transcript with grades, SATs, recoms-Only lacking his essay.</p>
<p>Preread: scores, grades. If you want, also financials (but that can be a mine field for the unwary).</p>
<p>Likely Letter: given after submission of full app (essays, letters of rec, scores, grades, etc.). Likely Letter given after full review of completed app by an admission committee.</p>
<p>Relationship of pre-read to Likely Letter: preread is a guidepost which offers some comfort to all parties to continue the process. Do not put any more faith into a sucessful pre-read then that. Likely Letter is basically the equivalent of an offer of admission.</p>
<p>why are financials “a minefield for the unwary”?</p>
<p>Here is a repost related to financial aid preread from last year:</p>
<p>A few tips about pre reads. The most important is understand what the financial aid office is really evaluating. The more you understand about the process, the fewer unpleasant surprises await you.</p>
<p>I will give specific examples. </p>
<p>Yale – very difficult to deal with. Yale insisted on using the wrong year to render its pre-read (e.g., our son is a 2010 hs grad. Yale used our 2008 tax returns to give us a pre-read instead of 2009 (projected) numbers. [When you think about it, it was a useless exercise designed to either frustrate you or lull you into a false sense of security. Why? Because the ultimate financial aid for S would have been based upon 2009 financials.] )</p>
<p>Yale’s Financial Aid office seemed totally out of step with the athletic recruiting process. After we received our pre-read (which included submitting actual 08 numbers and projected 09 numbers [but 09 was nearing the end so we had really accurate 09 numbers], we could not understand how the financial aid number could be so much lower than the Yale calculator had indicated. As we peeled the layers off the onion (not an easy task with Yale), we realized that the 08 numbers were used (and if anyone remembers, the recession really bit in 09). When we asked them to use our 09 numbers, Yale was
extremely patronizing –“you really don’t know what the last months of the year will bring,” “we know your income better than you do,” were some of the responses. We asked the coach to intervene (because we were getting pressure from another Ivy to make a decision and the financial aid might be the tie breaker] and he did. We spoke to the FA officer who informed us that Yale took your 09 numbers and ADDED 25% to your income (again, because they “know better” than you did about your income and assets). When we insisted that they use our 09 numbers (without any patronizing changes from Yale) they came up with a number that was so much lower than the competing Ivy (and that IVY had received the exact same numbers) that the decision was an easy one for S.</p>
<p>Princeton – what a pleasant experience. P used our 09 numbers (they did tell us that P’s financial aid was indeed contingent upon those numbers being correct [but we’re all adults and understood that]). They gave us a number in writing. Our ultimate return matched that number. The financial aid which appeared in the acceptance package matched the original FA. We were happy.</p>
<p>The moral of this story – really understand the FA process. Do not be afraid to ask questions of the FA officer in charge of your package. Know what year they are basing a pre-read. Know if they added income (because they may “know better”). Know your numbers (income and assets) for the tax year the school will use to evaluate your FA needs. Above all, use the correct numbers – if you underestimate your income or assets only you are to blame for a nasty surprise. Insist on getting a pre-read in writing which is concrete (e.g., P’s pre-read included our income and assets numbers). Understand how to evaluate your assets (Ivy’s for example do not include your home equity or the value of a small business; they do include all the ROTH money your S/D has accumulated); fair market value of commercial real estate has one value, but a forced 30 day sale of the same asset has another value, etc., etc. You can do some financial planning which can greatly impact your eligibility; conversely you can do some things which will really reduce your eligibility (unknowingly).</p>
<p>Knowledge of the process is the key.</p>
<p>^^^stemit is right about timing of application. Pre-read just involves transcript and all scores. Once you and the coach have committed to one another (before, during or after your OV), you send in your full application (often directly to the coach or the sport’s admissions liason)- all essays, recommendations, everything - and that is what admissions needs to review BEFORE approving your placement and generating the Likely Letter. </p>
<p>Good luck with it all!</p>
<p>Yes, the application must be submitted in order to get a likely letter. The pre-read tells the coach and the recruit that the student is admissable based on the raw data. However, the student still needs to pass muster at the OV, which could include an admissions interview, and also with the completed application.</p>
<p>Thank you for that answer. I had no idea about the specialty athletic recruiting subtopic on CC till last week and having stumbled on it, I see that my son might be a desirable recruit so I am grateful for all the info on this site. Several of his junior class fellows have been recruited already for lacrosse by ivies and some of his teammates have been given LL as seniors last week.</p>
<p>^ Interesting.
I thought the earliest the Ivies could do likelies is Oct 1…
They must be at the top of the list if they got letters Friday! Thats very exciting.</p>
<p>Friday was October first</p>
<p>Are SATII scroes required for pre-reads? Can they be added after Oct tests?</p>
<p>S did only two SAT II’s in a school which would have required three. For the pre-read, the admissions officer told him the school would take the average of the two he took in assuming the third (he didn’t choose that school so the point was moot).</p>
<p>I do not know whether they would pre-read without a single SAT II. But, ask the coach. And keep in mind that the more “stuff” which is missing from a pre-read, the more uncertainty in the accuracy of the reading.</p>
<p>An Ivy just gave us a pre-read based solely on SAT and GPA, no SAT IIs.</p>
<p>Makes me nervous if required-my S was sunk on his SAT2s…</p>
<p>What are the chances of getting a likely letter once someone submits his/her app for the pre-read? Any chance of rejection? (My test scores are in the 75% range for the school and I’m top in my class of 500. My essays are going to be good, but not stellar…)</p>
<p>If I were to commit to a school, I’d like to be admitted as well…</p>
<p>@Jumper</p>
<p>If
- you’re at the top of your class of 500,
- your test scores are in the 75% range,
- you’re a strong enough recruit that the coach is willing to request a LL on your behalf, and
- you have no “skeletons in your closet”,</p>
<p>then I think you’re as good as in.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Our student’s pre read for all ivies HYP, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth UPenn and MIT, UVA etc etc required
ACT w writing or SAT1
and 2 SAT2s
full transcript
besides obvious ath stats etc</p>
<p>;o)</p>
<p>@ Sherpa, thanks so much. Do you think I would have to write spectacular essays even if the coach is having my app “read” for a LL? </p>
<p>Juggling with five AP classes is definitely not fun and so I have a limited amount of time to work on my 3 essays. Plus, my common app essay is about my sport so it’s not very creative, but I HAVE put work into it…:/</p>
<p>^ I think a good but not spectacular essay is probably good enough.</p>