We have a good indication that tomorrow my child will be getting an offer from a NESCAC. If that were to happen, as parents, we have some questions I would want to ask the coach…Is there anything we are missing?
Does he have a fully supported slot?
Timing of application
In your experience, with a fully supported slot, how often has admissions declined a recruit? And for what reasons?
Announcing rules, should we wait until admitted or can you use language like “committed to the admissions process” at x school?
Is there any confirmation in writing of the supported slot?
Are you looking for financial assistance? If yes, see if you can get a financial pre-read. Not all schools will do it, but worth asking if you need money and don’t find out until too late.
Great list of questions - and many more experienced posters with NESCAC recruits on CC and hopefully they will chime in.
It sounds like this is a first choice school? If so, fantastic!
@Publisher I love you, but I have to disagree here. This parental conversation is the time to ask any and every question you might have so you understand what’s going on. Of course, be diplomatic, but ask your questions! I think asking why someone was rejected after passing a preread and with coach support is totally legit. And the coach will know why, too (S/he will want to know what the heck went wrong with their recruit too!)
(Not legit questions: will you guarantee my child playing time? sorts of questions, having to do with the coaching – vs admissions questions).
My son got all his offers verbally, and the one he accepted (also verbally) never had anything in writing.
And it’s best to wait to tell the public until you have that ED acceptance in hand. Because that’s when it’s official.
People in the know will know your child is an athlete and was going through the recruitment process, so if you say “he’s applying ED to xyz”, they’ll know what that means. This is, first and foremost, polite and second, it leaves space should anything go sideways.
Ask whether your kid will need to try out or if he will have a roster spot (at least for the first year).
Ask what admissions said about the pre-read.
Ask how many other recruits the coach is supporting, and where yours falls onto the list.
I wouldn’t bother asking about the announcing rules. Coaches are not permitted to announce commitments before admission, but probably would be happy enough to have the commitment announced by the recruit (it’s no skin off their back if you do the announcing). The admissions folks are the ones who are not thrilled with commitment announcements, and I doubt that you would get the admissions go ahead on announcing before actual admission. In fact, I don’t think I could muster up the nerve to ask that question of admissions before submitting the application or the admission decision was made. I also agree with @gardenstategal that not making a big deal out of the commitment protects your kid in the unlikely event that something goes wrong.
I would also skip the question about writing. I sympathize with the concern that commitment be in writing, although the concern that the commitment is set in stone tends to counsel against a commitment announcement. I would simply confirm the conversation in a separate email initiated by your kid. You don’t need to go heavy-handed. In other words, you don’t need to say "this email confirms our conversation that you will provide admissions support. . . " Rather, say something like: “Thanks so much for reaching out on Thursday. I am delighted that you asked me to be a part of the ________ college team. I appreciate your support of my application with the admissions committee. As a result, I am pleased to say that I will apply early.”
If you are concerned about making the writing yourself, just ask the coach during the call if he minds if you send an email to him about the commitment.
Seems like you have the bases covered. As far as getting something in writing, you can take some of the advice offered so far if you feel more comfortable that way. But ultimately at some point, even with emails and such, there’s a leap of faith required and your son will need to trust a coach to do what he says he will. I’d just have him listen very carefully to what’s being promised and how the process is explained. Best of luck and congrats.
Maybe I should rephrase my question: at this stage of the process, how much time will coaches (NESCAC, Centennial, UAA) typically allow recruits to decide if they want to make a verbal commitment? Sport is soccer. My observation of my child’s (Class of 2022) recruiting process is that schools lower on the wish list are moving the process forward more quickly than the top choice, so I’m anticipating a situation where an offer will be extended soon, while we are still waiting for a decision from the top choice.
It depends. Only one of the schools my son had an offer at gave him a short deadline (one week). My son told his 1st choice school of the deadline, and asked that they make a decision on him within that time frame (he made it clear that they were his 1st choice, and he would accept, if they made him an offer). The 1st choice school understood, and made their offer 4 days before the deadline expired.
The school with the deadline was NESCAC; other NESCACs had no deadline, and the one UAA school also had no deadline.
I agree it depends…on the coach, on the school, and where the calendar is in terms of the process (meaning if an offer comes in July, one might have more time to decide, whereas if an offer comes at the end of October, well, there’s not much time left assuming an ED required app). D19 had an offer to accept a full support slot with about a two week deadline, another one she had a couple of days to decide.
It can become a bit of a game, especially if a lower ranked (your kid’s ranking) school offers first and gives you a short deadline. The best thing to do under most circumstances (like @cinnamon1212) is to contact the higher ranked choices and see if they will give you an answer before the other school’s deadline. This may give you valuable intelligence on where your kid is on their ranking chart. I would not be overly concerned about seeming to be pushy with the higher ranked schools. They know the musical chair dynamics well.
It would be really helpful (and kind) if people going through this process right now could post any updates they felt comfortable disclosing…I’m on tenterhooks today but guess it could be weeks before we hear anything…
@outofmydepth what you are feeling is totally normal for this time of year! Right now was the absolute most stressful time during the whole journey for our family. Keep the faith!
I agree that feeling anxious is normal. If your kid knows where they stand on the coach’s list, that should be helpful. If in the top couple of recruits, you will likely hear sooner rather than later (it does take time for AOs to do the academic pre-reads…it’s unlikely they will get through them all today, as they may be receiving materials on a handful of recruits from every coach). If your kid isn’t in the top couple of recruits, the wait could be longer…measured in months.
Thank you both. We have a couple of NESCACs and a couple of Ivies in the mix but don’t really know the ranking…Is the July 1st date just NESCACs? Get the feeling the Ivy process is much more drawn out…maybe because they have the power?
Any of the processes can be drawn out, as recruits make their decisions, and the dominoes start to fall. Ivies can start pre-reads July 1 too…but that doesn’t mean they do, same as NESCACs.
Because coaches haven’t seen some athletes compete in person, things might be slower this summer…as all coaches can now travel to evaluate students before they do pre-reads and give offers. Lots of showcases and recruiting events happening in many sports all summer long.
