<p>My S is dealing with 3 NESCACs. Two have had his info for months and say he is their top recruit and have invited him for visits. But both still say he is in the admissions pre-read stage but are really pressuring him to visit. I have been in discussions with the financial aid offices of both schools trying to get some idea of where we fall (parents are divorced so calculators are not helpful). The third, who my S contacted most recently, already sent a specific email stating that he has cleared admissions but they prefer that he not submit his test scores. I take that to mean they don’t want him to lower the school average.</p>
<p>Hey - we went through this last year. Being from the west coast and dealing with college and the NESCAC recruiting with our first born, you can imagine it was confusing. As a family, we did it together - especially since we are paying. We had two school in the NESCAC among other conferences interested. They approached it differently, but both NESCACs got serious only after we visited the campus and met the head coach for a meeting. We did not mess with an OV as it wouldn’t work out and be in season (when son was in HS still). We met in the late summer after junior year, after film reviewed. We got all of our stuff into them and via email stayed in contact. Your 17 year old should not be alone to interpret an adult and all the miscommunication that can take place. Bottom line, you need to contact the coach as a parent professionally and point blank say - “we are willing to use our ED on your school - what did the pre-read say - yes or no”. The right answer is “we cannot officially tell you, but you will not have any issues”. Your follow up is then “have you ever had a recruit not get in with the communication you have had back from admissions?” The coach will say something like "no, or we only had one because the kid failed two classes in the spring after admissions or ? " This is a huge investment - more for the parents than the coach. If you have more than one school interested, ask them point blank. Both are only interested in ED, unless you are a D1 player. If they really want you, they will tell you to use your ED. If not, then you need to really pick the school you want (which you should do anyway at D3). My kid is now a NESCAC freshman, playing football. Just trying to help you with my experience. The whole thing is competitive - so compete! Coaches may turnover in the future too so be bold now…</p>
<p>If it helps, thanks to this forum, we knew when talking with d3 coaches who said they wanted to make our kid an offer to ask if that meant he was being offered a slot (for nescacs) or a full team admissions spot (for other league) and if he had passed an admissions pre-read. Some schools called it an “ETR” or early transcript read.</p>
<p>Our kid did not end up completing all his overnights scheduled because he ended up being firm about his feeling in a particular school, and he is now committed to that school. We also learned not to burn bridges and feel like he has at least two schools he could turn to for EDII if necessary.</p>
<p>Mom222 for the school asking not to submit scores, is that a test optional school?</p>
<p>If a school is a test optional school and the athlete is interested in attending, should they not send their scores (if not expected to be exceptional) with the 4 free reports? (As a junior.)</p>
<p>Crazymomster - I think any school interested in recruiting your player will want to see all scores and transcripts before proceeding. Even for test-optional schools. </p>
<p>I asked Mom222 about whether they were test-optional schools because we just reported all son’s scores no matter what. They’re his scores. He’s getting in as an athlete, if he gets in. If they want to disregard anything, they can unring the bell I guess. We heard this a while ago - adcom can selectively throw scores out, as long as it’s within their school’s policies, to pull an admit into better sync with an admit class.</p>
<p>However, while in the recruitment process, I don’t think you can just not report scores, especially to schools that are higher on the academic pecking list. They’ll want to make the decision as to whether they’ll use the scores or not.</p>
<p>I looked and it is a test optional school. They have seen his scores because S emailed them to them. And most of his scores are just slightly below the school’s average so maybe they don’t want to officially get them since they have determined they are unnecessary. We have not officially sent scores to any schools yet. I am waiting for the final list before I do that. I just thought it was curious that they made a statement to the effect that you may not want to send in your scores.</p>
<p>Hi all. First post, just joined though I’ve been reading for several months. My S visited a top NESCAC in early Fall and stayed overnight with a HS teammate who now is playing football there. In our meeting with the Coach he asked how my S liked the school, said they really like him, he was in the middle of their banding, told him what position they envisioned him playing in their scheme, said his junior reel was excellent and that they wanted Sr tape and his application RD in asap. Coach said then he would take it to Admissions “and if I tell you to change it to ED, you’ll know what that means; and this could all happen in 7 to 10 days” My S left the meeting levitating and said he did not have to go see another NESCAC we had planned on visiting.
He really fine tuned his essay so it was more than 10 days after the visit that he submitted the Common App with only that school checked. However, when there was no word after another 10 days, he called the Coach one Fri. on his own and asked, if he changed to ED would the Coach support him? The reply came that they should have word for him the following Mon. and that they really like him. That date, two weeks ago passed and I emailed his school’s college counselor who got back to me the same day, this Monday, to say she had just spoken with the NESCAC and they had just then finally downloaded all the Common App info and so there had been zero pre-reads done for any sport. Tech glitches, anyone? We feel a lot better, knowing that we have time before the ED deadline, though obviously not a whole bunch. But long enough for a click.</p>
<p>^Keep us posted on the result. I know that there have been problems with the new Common App. That said, when a coach doesn’t keep touch I feel he’s doing what coaches do: juggling as many recruits as possible without offering anything. If I were you, I’d continue the recruiting race full speed.</p>
<p>Here is a NESCAC football dilemma. </p>
<p>Son has been recruited by most of the NESCACs for football. Pre-reads were all positive, He applied to 2 in Mid-October (after visiting both to attend games and meet the players and coaches, etc) and did not indicate ED or RD on his Common App (as they each suggested). NESCAC # 1, his top Div III choice, after months of reassuring phone calls and emails told him this week he was not among their top few choices, and that he should move on. This same NESCAC told him there were issues with the Common APP and admissions impacting all applications, and they took over a month - after his application was submitted - to get back to him with anything definitive on his candidacy (ostensibly, they ran the first several dozen applications by admissions to get initial feedback); curiously, there was no mention of academics in this last call. It appears for his position, the coaches had other players ranked higher.</p>
<p>Son has moved on to NESCAC #2, which he really likes. He has told the coaches he would like to convert his application to ED. Unfortunately, because of the slow walk of NESCAC # 1, the ED I deadline has passed, and his application will go in under ED II (January 1). Coach has told Son that he is one of their top recruits, and that barring a complete collapse in grades or a serious disciplinary issue, he does not foresee any problem with Son getting admitted. Of course, he acknowledges there are no guarantees, but in all his years as a coach at the school, he does not see an issue.</p>
<p>Herein lies the dilemma: Should Son submit additional applications at other schools RD just to cover himself in the event that NESCAC # 2 does not pan out - despite the coaches’ assurances? While he has been told he is one of their top guys, he is a little shaken by the NESCAC # 1 experience.</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any advice.</p>
<p>^until you are accepted into a D3 school, recuiting should continue full speed. Actually, recuiting should continue until a player signs the NLI or receives a LL (for other divisions).</p>
<p>I would like to think that reassurances by NESCAC football coaches at this late date mean something. I think its been beaten into our brains that they are not admissions, but they do have experience with the process to know better. I am sure based on the info you provided that your son is good to go with his new #1. I don’t think the “top recruit” discussion is thrown around casually. NESCACs can only offer their reputation. There is no merit or athletic scholarships to entice a player to attend. </p>
<p>For piece of mind, it is nice to know there are a few apps out in the universe. It doesn’t necessarily ease the anxiety of getting word from #1. But, at least it takes some focus off of it being the only one.</p>
<p>My son also had pre reads done through 4-5 NESCAQ’S and a few things…some schools do not offer overnights (more and more) and I do not at all agree with “no news is good news” you need to ask the tough questions and follow up, coaches are busy and they have many kids they are “courting”…my son heard directly from the coach that admissions gave him a thumbs up and all looked good (he also told my son he was his #1 recruit0 but there were 2 schools, 1 that wanted him to get test scores up and another that felt he was borderline. You cannot guess here, there is no time and a lot to lose, your son/daughter needs to ask for feedback from admissions. Just my two cents based on this very emotional journey!</p>
<p>I have to disagree if a school is score optional, its just that. My nephew went to a very good school that is test optional (smart and accomplished student but weak test taker) scores were never mentioned, never on the table. He got in and they knew he wasn’t submitting scores. Most schools (more and more) that implement this policy do so for just that kind of student.</p>
<p>Hi Stemit et al. Herein a summary of our experience for S who will be playing NESCAC football this Fall. S and we had tunnel vision with the first school visited last September. Everything was picture perfect, a beautiful late September New England afternoon, the host team won an exciting contest, he went off with his former HS teammate who was now playing for the school and had a great overnight, sorry “Awesome”. Our individual meeting with the Coach that Sunday was very positive as described above. Then the waiting game. In hindsight the Common App glitches did exacerbate a situation which has all the clarity of crossing the river Styx without boatman Charon as a guide. When the ED deadline came and went w/o a call to change his RD application, S was so down. The Sunday after the Friday which was the ED deadline, the Coach called to say “we still like you, you’re still in the running, we’re waiting to hear from a couple of other players in your band who are ahead of you who are waiting to sort things out with some Ivies.” Much appreciated pretty direct talk from a veteran coach. The roller coaster headed back upward.<br>
We activated our other RD and ED II applications (this was around Thanksgiving) and I set up an itinerary for campuses S had yet to visit. One change in S’s perspective was that his first NESCAC was a bit of a surprise since warm weather had been an ongoing theme in his preferences up until then. However, when actually visiting the schools in CA and the South, S really only liked Stanford and my alma mater in Durham, NC, both of which might have been possibilities had we revved up his profile after Freshman year of HS. But they were still a stretch since they both have the pick of top Student/Athletes, one for quite a while and the other, happily, finally in football, lately. Also, S’s graduating class of 140 coed and perceived lack of league-wide strength generally doesn’t provide enough support for a Coach’s decision, I feel. After several weeks, the list was pared to a mix of Ivy, Patriot and NESCAC’s, five in all. However, when it came to camus visits, a Christmas trip to China to visit his sister, the D1 dead period and snow all conspired to put off all visits save one until after the New Year.
The one school visit before China was to a NESCAC which ranked lower on the list than others and which S had visited the previous Summer. Their Coach began the full court press to get S to apply ED II. This coach told my son when asked, 1. I won’t support you if you apply RD, 2. I want to have my roster in place by Jan. 1 and 3. the Jan. 1 deadline for applying ED II is hard and fast. With so much pressure, all of which I found less than admirable and subsequently untrue, he applied ED II, against my counsel, while overseas even though he had a visit to what I was sure would be his first choice once he visited this past January. Worried how that would go down with the school I thought he should see before making a decision, I called his college counselor who said if he likes his upcoming visit school, then just withdraw the one and submit ED II to the other. Sure enough, an hour into his visit I received a text from his Mother who had taken him on this visit, S wants ____. S is a very straightforward individual and when he met with the Coach on the Sunday of this January visit and the Coach asked how he like the school, he told him he loved it and that he would be pulling his ED II from the other NESCAC. This set off red rockets, warning bells and alarms. The head Coach was unaware of this other ED II application prior to his inviting S and a subsequent phone conversation with S and my conversation with an asst.coach the following weekday also made clear that they were nonplused. The phrase “gentleman’s agreement among coaches” came up in that conversation and here is where I’d like to focus for a moment.
The real crisis was one of appearances. The other school has had problems with their program that have been foreign to their NESCAC sibling for some time. I am not sure if the image problem that concerned the school was with their Coaching brethren in the league and not wanting to be seen piling on or being a reverse Robin Hood of talent or with their own Admissions office. And that is my bone of contention with this process. ED’s are binding but only after there has been an acceptance from the school which as we know can only come from Admissions. We were beside ourselves and in large part because we had done nothing untoward. Coaches’ enthusiasms for a player and consequent contact and availability to players and parents ebb and flow minute to minute. Yet there is a protocol that seems to go one way when it comes to commitment to a school that offers ED. There have been several discussions here that only speak of pulling back from an ED after acceptance if the financial package is not enough. There is another tipping point when the Admissions office sends notification of acceptance and by the way that deadline for ED II application anyway, we found to be severely squishy. When a coach tells you or your child that a deadline is a certain date I would ask if that is and has always been the case. I see no reason why an ED cannot be withdrawn prior to receiving official notification of acceptance. While I understand that using ED’s are one of the few arrows in DIII coaches’ quivers, EA or SCEA is much more equitable. Anything else has roulette as its paradigm.
Meantime the first NESCAC continued their heavy duty “courting”, which began to feel like the way Putin is courting Ukraine. That Coach even put in a call to me. I spoke with the head Coach of the school Robert had loved and asked him directly “is this a lost cause?” He said ‘No, that it had complicated the situation but it was not a lost cause, it’ll take a few weeks and let’s stay in touch.’ After the conversation I thought “it’ll take a few weeks” for what? For them to tell him No? That didn’t seem logical. However, the ensuing pressure was palpable and S and I had more than one conversation about waiting the full couple of weeks and how I felt the one Coach was someone whose word could be trusted. And sure enough, while S and I were talking to one another on our cells, the Coach called on the house land line to tell him that he would have word for him the next day and hang in there. He did and he did. S is an OLB and will be coming to NESCAC backfields everywhere the Autumn. Quite a ride.</p>
<p>In our experience there is no method to the madness with NESCAC football recruiting. The school he ultimately selected definately fell in the category of “no news is good news”. We were very honest about our needs/concerns regarding financial aid at all of the schools he was doing the recruiting dance with and all of them were extremely respectful of that. </p>
<p>We’d need to compare FA packages so can’t go ED. Does that mean S would lose the coach’s tip? Or would a school that wants you to go ED ever discuss the FA beforehand? Is this something you should bring up with the coach early in the recruiting process?</p>
<p>NJ SoccerParent - You can walk away from ED if the finances are not manageable. You can also appeal financial aid packages. I know several athletic recruits who have said “thanks but no thanks” to NESCACs (ED) based on finances. This is tricky territory. I’m not sure if there are special rules that apply to the binding nature of ED for athletic recruits, but in general it is acceptable to decline an ED admission if, after all attempts at appeal are exhausted, the finances remain impossible.</p>