Hi, I was just wondering whether you would request for a likely letter if you are being recruited by a college that issues out likely letters (ex: University of Chicago). Also, if the UChicago coach told me he was strongly supporting me (a top recruit), do you think I should submit an early decision school as well? The ED school I am thinking of is also a very selective LAC, and I would be happy attending either the LAC or Chicago. However, Chicago is my dream school, but at the same time, I’m worried I may lose my chance at getting accepted to either school (both of which I could not get in solely through my academics). Thank you in advance for any advice you have!
First, I have no independent information that UChicago issues likely letters, and my limited experience indicates they do not. But if you say so, let’s go with that.
Here is the sequence of events: coach decision to provide support in the admissions process–Admissions Office decision to accept, reject or defer–Admissions Office decision (possibly) to issue a likely letter in the case of acceptance.
So, if the coach is a nice person, there is probably no downside to asking for an LL. If the coach is an honest person, the answer should be something along the lines of, “My support does not guarantee that you will be admitted, that is up to Admissions. So is the possible issuance of a likely letter.”
As far as applying non-binding EA to UChicago and ED somewhere else, you have already acknowledged the risk. If you get accepted to the ED school you are bound to attend, even though UChicago is your dream school
Although you will not be violating application rules by applying to both schools simultaneously you will have to mislead the coaches at both schools who will provide you with a slot with the understanding that you will attend if admitted.
Last year there was a long thread about a student (non-athlete) who applied to UChicago EA and ED to some other desirable school (Cornell?) and go admitted to both. He wanted advice on how to weasel out of Cornell acceptance. You may find yourself in the same position except both coaches would burn a slot on you. This is not ethical. Keep in mind that coaches talk to each other and also change jobs.
This situation is possible because UChicago EA is not restrictive while all other comparable schools have either Single-Choice EA, REA or ED. UChicago EA policies potentially create unnecessary temptations.
@fenwaypark thanks for your thoughts. I see…I wonder if you know anything about Chicago’s athletics program. Do you know if most athletes do get accepted with support from the coach when applying EA? or would it depend on what sport I play (ex: more support for football recruits than tennis).
@CCDD14 thanks for your advice!
At least in our kids’ high school (private, northern CA) when you sign what is essentially a contract to attend your ED school, so does your high school’s guidance counselor. Don’t even think of trying to apply somewhere ED, and then go to Chicago if you get in EA. You very well may end going to neither of those schools.
The Chicago coach should be able to be explicit with you regarding what his support will or will not buy you in terms of admissions. Ask him directly, “For recruits with my academics and the level of support that you will be giving me how many have been rejected?”
@AsleepAtTheWheel Thanks for your thoughts on the situation. I was actually considering pulling out from my ed commitment if I did receive a likely letter. I heard there are no repercussions for pulling out from the ed commitment before the results come out in decemeber. What I was planning to do was to pull out from my ed commitment if I did receive a likely letter from chicago in early or mid november. Do you think I should notify the chicago coach that I will be ED’ing a school as well but will pull out from the ED commitment before the results in december by switching my application regular(which is fine I heard, I talked to my counselor about it and I go to a pretty intense prep school + I’d never try to weasel myself out of an ED commitment after the results come out in Dec. because I know I’ve promised to attend through the contract) if I receive a likely letter from Chicago? I’m very close with both coaches, and I know they will be disappointed when I do attend a different school. However, from my recruiting experiences this year, two coaches were at the point of trying to recruit me, invited me to attend an official visit but afterwards found a better recuit than me and decided to stop contact with me as a whole, which really led me to open my eyes to the harsh reality of recruiting. I’m not saying anything bad about the college coaches. I understand it’s their job to find the best prospective athletes for their team. Again, thanks for any feedback you have!
@grandprime – Now I get it (in terms of applying ED, but withdrawing the app prior to notification if you get a likely letter).
First question: Are you SURE that Chicago actually issues likely letters? I’ve seen references to that effect this year on the Athletic Recruits thread, but that’s the first time that I’ve heard about it (having read the thread for over a year). Obviously that’s a critical element of your plan.
I’m not expert or experienced enough to offer an opinion on the question of notifying the Chicago coach about your applying ED elsewhere. I do agree however that there’s no loyalty in all this from the coaches’ standpoint, although clearly there are some that more honest/ethical than others. We personally know of a number of cases where coaches who ‘loved’ an athlete withdrew their love when a better/faster athlete presented themselves. It’s pretty late in the process this year for something like that to happen, but I personally don’t see a problem withholding this information (the other (ED) school) if it’s in your best interest. I think that the more relevant question is, if the coach knows that you are setting up a more viable option would it push him (if he truly wants you) to get that likely letter issued? Again, I don’t know enough to answer that and I don’t want to lead you astray. Hopefully someone else can weigh in here for you.
FWIW, my son (also a senior) and I were very impressed by Chicago in a whole variety of ways. What a wonderful school. When my son attended presentation by the local admission rep, he all of a sudden pointed to my son and said, “OK. You must have a question, Ask me a question.” My son responded with, "How would you address Univ of Chicago’s nickname of “the place where fun goes to die.” The rep did a great job with his response. My son’s just a hair to slow to be recruited by Chicago, so the school is not a consideration for him.
Best of luck. Make sure to come back on this thread and let us know how it turned out, as I’m sure everyone who’s read this thread is pulling for you.
I think I’m one of the ones that has mentioned the UChi LL in previous posts. I should probably clarify that my source was a UChi wrestling recruit who was given a LL * after * being deferred EA. I know, it sounds a little strange. I don’t know how widespread the practice is at UChi and I don’t believe the process is anywhere near as straightforward as it is in the Ivies
Others here may have more experience with it.
Consistent with what @varska said, someone posted on the UChicago board a while back - I believe it may have been @hcrump - that UChicago backs a couple of hundred applicants for track each year in hopes of getting 25. I assume that’s for men and women combined but am not sure.
That’s a pretty different proposition from an Ivy track program, which may support around a dozen men and a dozen women each year with the expectation of getting pretty much all of them.
I assume there’s some gradation of the long list at UChicago, but still it sounds to me more along the lines of a place like MIT - where some recruits get in and others don’t - than the Ivy process.
That said, I know a football player (now playing at UChicago) who had some kind of early indication of acceptance and participated in his high school’s signing day ceremony in February.
Obviously he wasn’t really signing a national letter of intent at the ceremony, but that’s true of lots of high school athletes at signing day events who are bound for Ivies, D3 schools, or scholarship D1 or D2 schools but not on athletic scholarship.
To add another strange case to the one varska mentioned, I know another high school football player who was being recruited by UChicago but didn’t want to play college football. He applied as a regular student and was either deferred or waitlisted, but also got a communication saying if he wanted to reconsider playing football, they’d take another look at his application.
Yes, University of Chicago does issue likely letters - take it to the bank, no ifs ands or buts.
Whether they will issue one to you is another question, one that should be presented to the coach. (What sport do you play?)
Assuming you have the requisite coach interest/support and acceptable academics, here’s the scenario:
You apply EA:
coach gets a read/okay from admissions;
coach asks you to commit (verbally) to the coach, telling him you are going to Chicago and will play his sport if/when accepted (this includes withdrawing any ED or other binding applications you have submitted);
coach tells admissions;
you get a likely letter (possibly within a few days);
then when everyone else gets their admission/waitlist/rejection letter, you get an admission letter (but at this point it’s anticlimactic, you knew you were getting it).
The likely letter is a “provisional invitation” to join the class, and provides that as long as you maintain your current level of academic performance and there is no negative change to your record, you can expect to receive your official admission letter in March. Chances of rescission are as unlikely as having a regular admission rescinded.
I hope this clears things up.
The real question is why you haven’t asked the coach the procedure or, if you did, why he hasn’t explained this to you. You are entitled to know the procedure of any school and should always ask up front. Coaches may be reluctant to give you a firm answer on their level of interest in you at any given time (which can change based on your abilities and what other recruits may be interested), but no coach should hide the school’s procedure for admitting athletes.
@AsleepAtTheWheel Thanks so much for your insight on my situation. I hope your son gets to attend his first choice, and I’ll make sure to update everyone on where I decide to attend!
@varska I see…thanks for the clarification.
@bluewater2015 The statistic on the number of track applicants they support seems unsettling…but I’m not sure if that is the case for all sports. The coach has been quite up front with me on whether he would be able to support me or not out of all the colleges I’ve contacted. Thanks for your thoughts.
@choozinacollege Thanks for your advice.I swim. I’ve never asked the coach about likely letters as of now, and I’ve been in contact frequently for around 1 year (4 emails/month). I did ask the coach for a pre-read, but he told me that chicago doesn’t do pre reads. However, he did tell me that I am a competitive applicant with admissions academically…Do you possibly know if likely letters are issued out for early action candidates as well? or are likely letters issued out only to the regular pool? In other words, does chicago send out likely letters twice? (once during the early around and once during the regular round).
@grandprime, I was just reporting what someone else posted. Much more important is the specific information you’re getting from the coach and it’s great that he is being clear with you.
@grandprime, D is not a swimmer, and perhaps coaches of different sports have different sway with admissions or ability to get admissions to issue likely letters, but the coach told her if she had any interest in U of C then she should definitely apply EA, so she did.
Also, D is a senior, and I think two years ago U of C got a new athletic director so maybe the policy on LLs has changed?
There is no harm in applying EA, even if you apply ED elsewhere (unless you apply SCEA elsewhere), so my advice would be that if you any interest in U of C you should consider applying EA and proceed from there.
@choozinacollege thanks for your thoughts!