IMO the coaches are very interested in good grades for the recruits as they don’t want to worry about them missing classes, struggling academically if they are on a trip, becoming academically disqualified from playing. Things like being a scholar athlete show that to the coach immediately. D’s coach had two sisters on her recruit list for 2 years, but the older sister wasn’t admitted academically to the school (so the younger sister left too). They were good players (went to another school in our conference so we did end up playing against them) but weren’t a good academic fit for the school - and the coach should have realized that.
I read an article by the Yale coach in D’ sport that said her first point of elimination was academics. She could coach a student with subpar skills, but not subpar grades. Kids that had a lot of tardies or absences? Not interested in that work ethic.
I don’t remember if my daughter had a resume, but she had a list of her awards that she put on her recruitment questionnaires and on her applications. Coach would care about ‘defensive player of the year’ but administration wouldn’t.
You know who did care about all that stuff (although updated from hs awards to college awards)? Interviewers for her first job. Most of her interviews focused on her playing, being captain, playing in the NCAA tournament, etc. There were only so many questions they could ask about civil engineering, so they asked her about her college sport.
A couple of questions as we gear up for the last month before my 2023 D’s pre-reads at her top two NESCAC choices. One of the schools has told her they’ll need her final transcript (they already have her resume and school profile) at end of June. She has a phone call set up with this coach (likely her #1 choice) in another week. The other school (#2 choice) has told her what they want her to send at the end of the school year. D’s school goes right until the end of June. So, I’m guessing she just sends it all (final transcript, test score, school profile) when she gets her final transcript at the end of June. I guess that’s it? Somehow I thought there’d be more to it than that, but I guess not? Is this similar to what your child has experienced? Did communication change at all leading up to 7/1? So far, seems the same. Very positive messaging and regular contact and D feels good about that- I guess maybe I (erroneously?) thought there would be a more dramatic/ change in things in the lead-up?
Second question- D was considering going to a showcase in 3 weeks; 1 week before official pre-read. She was thinking of going only due to a selection opportunity from it, though she’s not overly excited at the thought of it. However, in looking at coaches in attendance, the only 2 she cares about are her #1 and #2 choices who have already seen her play multiple times and seen a ton of her videos. In my opinion, there could be an opportunity for more harm than good from going to this. It’s not like they’re saying they need to see her play more…Thoughts? I’d rather save the $, if it’s not necessary.
I’m not seeing anything out of the ordinary re: either of the coaches’ requests or timing. I wouldn’t expect anything dramatic or earth shaking leading up to 7/1 because they have already said they are presenting your D for a pre-read.
How quickly will your D’s HS turn around final transcripts? Our HS easily took 2-3 weeks for that, so if your D doesn’t finish classes until end of June I would find out exactly when your D can get the final transcript to the coach as it sounds like it will be later than 7/1.
I want to reiterate that it can take weeks to more than a month to hear back about the results of the pre-read. The waiting is difficult to be sure. Once the pre-read results are in, your D will then be waiting for coaches to make their final decisions and extend a verbal offer. At that point, your D will have some amount of time to make a decision, and that deadline may or may not work with the timing of the other pre-reads and/or the coaches’ final decisions.
I probably don’t see a reason to go to the showcase, but your D might ask the two coaches what they think.
Super helpful! Good reminder about her speaking with her guidance counselor now about how quickly they can turn around transcript. We’re in NYS so she has to take NYS Regents exams, with her last one being 6/23. I believe NYS finishes later than most other states, which is frustrating.
The July 1 date isn’t magical. Not everyone can get everything in by that date and not every school is staffed on that day. This year July 1 is a Friday, the holiday is Monday, and I really doubt anyone will pick up the files first thing Tuesday morning.
Patience, patience.
If your daughter doesn’t want to go to the showcase, she shouldn’t go. My opinion is that those things are rarely a waste of time or money. They are supposed to be fun and most usually are, the kids like playing, there might be a coach that sees her from a school she’s never considered. Who knows? If she has the time, she should go. If she has something else to do, she should do that.
The pre-reads are indicated by the coaches, so they are just handling the administrative aspects of that. They may want to hold off on sending the pre-reads until your final transcript is available.
You have a call scheduled so everything seems to be proceeding as expected.
I would avoid the clinic unless you feel like these coaches do need to see her play again, especially if no other schools you’re interested in are attending. If you ask, they may say sure, which then puts you in an awkward position, so only ask if you plan on going.
That’s what we’re thinking! The only two coaches she cares about who will be there are her top 2 who are doing pre-reads. Both have seen her play multiple times and have a ton of video. Neither have expressed the need to see her play again. This is one of those situations that could have potential to do more harm than good, so we see no reason to go.
Assess the potential upsides of the clinic against the downsides. Since you have pre-reads promised, I don’t see the upside other than maybe interesting new coaches as the coaches of the desired colleges already are interested. The downsides are having a bad day, spending more money, travel costs, potential injury, fatigue, etc.
I know I’m getting ahead of myself, but with 7/1 only a few weeks away, I’m thinking about additional questions for D to ask down the road. You hear about NESCAC school admissions using the “banding” system. Do all NESCAC schools use this and is this something she should ask about in terms of what band she’s in? If so, when is appropriate to ask that- at time of offer or when given results of pre-read? If so, what to ask? Does that even matter if the coach is offering a fully supported slot and she is top 1 or 2 on list?
Thank you for sharing your D’s journey. So, I will share what I can.
Don’t waste your money on more showcases. The girls are that going to be recruited or in the recruitment pipeline are known for the 2023. CSP selection or ODP? Not really necessary at this point. Now, the showcases are for the 2024 and 2025. Spend on the money on a fun, family vacay after all this is done. Showcase only if there are schools where they didn’t see her and she wants to go. Always ask if they are still recruiting for 2023 or are they done. Blunt and straight forward.
My D has pre-reads from T20 schools and they all want final grades, test scores (if taken), resume, and school profile. Now, it is a waiting game and stack ranking post pre-read. Bad things can happen here. “Impact player” “Top recruit” blah blah blah. Acceptance emails from the school are the only things I believe.
Many NESCACs (and other top schools) have their pool and now in the game of picking up free agents on the cheap post pre-read. This is where things can bad or good. Coaches told her that they will set up a zoom call when they get the results and go from there. My D is on the short list for a NESCAC, but who knows what will happen. My D was just ghosted from a school where she was a “top recruit” since fall 2021. Now, nothing. Not even an email reply. This is after zoom calls, ov, etc. Staggered my D was a bit, but she is all good now. Good luck.
My opinion is that you want to know if the coach is supporting her and what level of certainty that provides in terms of admissions. I think you have to rely on the coach for a lot of that info. You can ask questions like: what are my odds of admission with your support? Have any of your supported recruits not been admitted? How many? Why?
Getting too far into the details isn’t very actionable in my experience. The coaches know how things work at their respective schools so you really are better off tapping into that knowledge. I talked to a NESCAC coach a few years ago in a different sport. He had tips and slots and some sort of conference standard he had to juggle. Never shared any of that with recruits. Just told them he’d support them and had a 100% track record. I doubt it would’ve helped them to know whether he was using a tip or a slot, etc, and they wouldn’t have been able to confirm that anyway.
Others here have a lot more experience with NESCAC and I do see the occasional thread with disappointed recruits who at least thought they had support. I think the question is whether they asked the questions I mentioned, and whether they’d have gained more actionable intelligence digging deeper into the nitty gritty of internal institutional processes.
It sounds like your daughter is in a great spot. Good luck!
I really appreciate you sharing your (and your D’s experience) thus far. It is helpful. Your D sounds like she’s in a similar position. My D is waiting on 2 NESCAC pre-reads on 7/1. She has repeatedly been told for past year she is “at the very top of the list” for her top choice, and “top tier” for her 2nd choice, though we don’t put much stock in '“top tier”. She is really hoping her top choice works out. She has other options, but none as appealing to her, academically or athletically. I have heard other posters say their child’s communication increased with the coaches leading up to 7/1, but I don’t see that happening here. She communicates with these coaches every week or two, but I don’t anticipate that changing; not sure if that’s good or bad. She knows what documents they need, and they already have some. This last month is going to be brutal. D has a phone call with her top choice in a couple of weeks. She is planning on asking how long pre-read will take, what coach’s timeline is for offering supported slots, etc. Hoping for a little more piece of mind leading up to 7/1, but who knows? Good luck to your D!
Thank you! We think she’s in a great spot with her top choice, but of course, we won’t know for sure until she receives an offer. Struggling with how much she should press coach about her level of support to D (she has said in past she will give “extra” support D as a top recruit) BEFORE the pre-read, or at time of offer…
I would say after pre-read. If the pre-read doesn’t generate the green light, it doesn’t matter anyway. After a good pre-read, it’s time to talk turkey. As long as you have plans B and C in motion, I’d always lean towards practicing patience. As I’ve said before, we tried hard not to cross the line at which point we could be viewed as pestering. Coaches are alway thinking, “what are these people going to be like for 4 years? Will they be in my ear if their D doesn’t play or if we’re losing games? Will they be complainers?”
After the PR, it’s decision time and then it makes sense to really get down to brass tax.
@Crosbylane, re your banding question, all NESCACs use bands, but the bands differ at different schools. For example, a B band at Williams will be different than a B band at Conn College.
While I think it is important to understand the banding process, I am not sure that it matters much which band your daughter falls into, provided that she will be supported by the coach. It probably would be better to ask the coach how the coach support works at the given school and how your daughter fits into it.
Yes, that makes sense. In your opinion, is it best to ask that coach support question now (ie, before preread, or after a positive preread/time of offer)? D had a call with the coach a few months ago and asked coach if her test score was ok, and coach said yes, because as a top recruit they’d be giving her “extra” support. So, not a direct question about it, but similar info. She has another call with the coach next week and is going to ask preread questions such as how long it typically takes, etc. Wondering if she should broach the support question at all, or wait until after preread? Coach has indicated to her repeatedly (with most recent being this past Friday- unprompted, in case anyone is thinking D asked her) that D is at the top of their list.
So, let’s assess where your daughter is right now. She has a school that she likes and the coach likes her in return. All good for this phase. Now she is waiting for admissions to the green light on the pre-read. Technically, she hasn’t received an “offer” yet.
The point of questions to the coach is to confirm coach support and to nail down the final odds of admission. In my view, you aren’t there yet because you don’t have the pre-read results. Once that happens, all systems are go and you need to understand fully admissions chances. Ask: 1) how many are in your recruiting class (if you ask this too early, the response may be fluid), 2) where is your daughter on the list (is she no. 1 or no. 5), 3) how many times has a recruit in this spot been deferred or denied admission, 4) why did that occur, 5) what could happen to cause your daughter to be deferred or denied admission. If you want, you could ask whether there are open tryouts (probably yes) and whether your daughter has a roster spot.
Once you get that “offer,” consider giving your final decision by email. We said something like, " I would love to play for your team and I will apply ED provided that you give me with full coach support with admissions." Honestly, this isn’t going to help much if something goes wrong. The agreement with the coach is applying ED in exchange for support, not in exchange for an admissions guarantee, but it prevent a coach from changing his or her mind about support and it may put your mind at ease.
Super helpful, thank you. When you say once she has pre-read results and all systems are a go, do you mean she should ask support questions with just positive pre-read results, or positive pre-read and offer? I’m guessing you’re saying when she is given “green light” and offer, before accepting, ask the questions you noted.
I think a bit too much game theory at this point. Sometimes when we have uncertainty in outcomes that matter greatly to us, we spend alot of energy trying to think through every scenario and angle. What else is there to do while we wait, right?
I suggest you do something that will prepare you for all outcomes, good and bad…step back. Stop thinking and writing about it. MOST importantly, stop talking to your daughter about HER decisions.
You really have done everything right, as has your daughter. Truly. At this point that is either enough, or not. And both of these are OK. There is not a win or loss at the end of this- just a destination. Admittedly it could make dreams come true, or dash them. But I am amazed how quickly kids bounce back when things like this don’t work out.
Please don’t read judgement into anything I am saying above- everything I write is in the hopes that you can enjoy this very precious period of time, which will be over before you know it, never to return.