My D is going to a swimming overnight visit at one of the top NESCAC colleges. She has done admission pre-read and received a very positive email from Coach after Coach’s meeting with Admissions. It appears to us there will be a lot more swimmers invited to the overnight visits than the final freshman class swimmers. Will my D need to ask Coach again about her chance of admission before ED1? Thanks!
If it’s her #1 choice make sure the coach knows, and ask if she’ll have a spot on the roster.
Well there is another piece to this. Some of the swimmers invited to the overnight will choose other schools, so there is bound to be more there for the OV than will ultimately matriculate.
Nevertheless, I believe RC is correct. Ask. It never hurts to ask, and one of the reasons that recruits can be disappointed come decision time is that there has been a miscommunication with the coach. Before applying, a recruit should feel pretty sure about the answers to these questions: 1) will he or she be accepted, 2) what the level of influence the coach has with admissions, and 3) the try-out rules – i.e., are there cuts and will he or she have a spot on the roster.
I went through the same thing last year with my daughter in swimming and water polo. It sounds like your daughter is in a good position. However, there are no guarantees unless admissions has provided a written likely letter. So the coaches court many potential athletes. My daughter planned accordingly and applied to a number of schools early. She was ultimately admitted to the school of her choice and will play water polo with them next year. Good luck!
Thanks! Quite helpful! This school does not send likely letters, but has received an email from coach saying pre-read was very positive. If she applies ED and maintains grades, she will be very likely accepted. This is the best guarantee Coach is permitted to give. Is this the same as other schools’ likely letters?
– There are no likely letters issued by NESCAC schools. The coaches cannot ‘guarantee’ admission, so there’s nothing that’s the same as a likely letter (from schools that issue them). That all said, if the pre-read was ‘very positive’ and the swimmer has the coach’s support, it’s as close to a guarantee as one can get for a NESCAC swimmer. What you want to elicit is a statement from the coach that goes as follows, “In my experience I’ve never had an applicant with this positive a pre-read and this level of coach support be denied ED acceptance.” It is not in any way unreasonable to ask for a statement with this level of clarity.
– Furthermore, the slots for the overnight swim recruiting weekends are limited, and not handed out lightly. In our personal experience (and those of numerous club teammates and posters here on CC) it is rare for a NESCAC coach to issue an invitation to the swim recruiting weekend to a swimmer unless he/she is willing to support that student with admissions. The exception would be if the ‘fit’ isn’t right during the visit. I am aware of a couple of instances where kids were invited to the recruiting weekend (at non-NESCAC D3 academically select schools) and were not subsequently recruited, but these schools (at the time) did their formal academic pre-read AFTER the recruiting weekend.
So, I think that you should view it as a very very positive sign that the coach wants your daughter at the weekend, especially after a good pre-read.
– If and when your daughter knows that this school is her first choice, as mentioned above she should clearly let the coach know as soon as she has made that decision. Not many, but some coaches will try to elicit this from the recruits at the recruiting weekend, but she shouldn’t feel pressured to make that decision prematurely. She should be honest. If she has another recruiting weekend lined up she can/should say so, and tell the coach that she’ll make her decision shortly thereafter. If it’s the case, she can tell the coach that his/her school is her top choice, but she’s not ready to make a final decision until she completes that other recruiting trip. She should give the coach a pretty good idea of when she’ll let him know. If/when she does choose that school she should stress that it’s not just the swimming piece, but that she feels that it’s a great academic fit as well, and that she feels like she’ll bring a lot to the school.
In this give-and-take session from the coach she should get as clear a statement from him/her where she stands with him/her. Most NESCAC coaches are really good about this, and make it a relaxed and straightforward conversation.
– Stating the obvious, she should follow up the meeting with an email to the coach thanking him/her for the invitation, and should mention something specific (not generic) about the weekend that she enjoyed. If she liked the other swimmers she should mention that too. Swimmers at many NESCAC schools hang pretty tightly together, and this sort of fit is important to both sides.
Congratulations. She’s obviously a good student in addition to being a good swimmer. Again, I think that she’s in very good shape here. All those pre-dawn practices and two-a-days will be deservedly rewarded.
Thanks everyone! Really appreciate it!
First I would like to congratulate both you and your daughter for getting to this point. Went through this process twice with NESCAC swimming and it can be very nerve racking but the outcome is so very much worth it. Yes, as others have said , there are no likely letters so you must try to ask the most efficient questions you can ask and then take a leap of faith with regard to coaches responses.
Its obvious to see based on her times where she fits within the team swim wise. Teams take 24 to champs but also ask how many travel to away meets.
She will love the visit no doubt. Very rare to hear of coach support and then not get in ED but it does happen.
Write a good essay with out writing about a controversial topic. Do not give admissions an opportunity to raise a concern and all will go well.
Once again congrats and good luck
Any questions you can PM me
I also encourage you to gather some contact information of the other recruits. As an anecdote - my daughter is now at a D1 swim program that was interviewing a new assistant coach from a club team in another state. Turns out she met one of that coach’s club swimmers on an OV, at a different school entirely. My daughter was able to ping her and get her thoughts and help in recruiting a new coach for her program.
“Write a good essay with out writing about a controversial topic. Do not give admissions an opportunity to raise a concern and all will go well.”
This is REALLY good advice (both parts).
FWIW, the coach said to my son, “I hope that your (common app) essay isn’t about swimming”. It was. But it apparently wasn’t an issue. However, my son did omit a couple of EC’s on his application that could’ve been considered controversial.
My D attended the first of the two OVs. She loved it! Should she let coach know her interests in applying ED right away (and getting a confirmation of support again from coach) or she should wait until both OVs are over so coach will have a better idea who he/she wants?
If she is sure, then I don’t see any advantage in waiting. If the coach needs to see the other athletes in order to make a decision, then let him or her tell your D that. I believe expressing interest right away can only be a positive. Good luck to your D!
I would email the coach, let coach know you are planning to apply ED but that you are interested in knowing if coach is going to support the application through the admission process. Ask the question directly so the coach has to answer the question. You will know where your daughter stands from coaches response. As mentioned before, NESCAC coaches do not have final say or likely letters with admissions but generally if they will support your application admission is most likely to follow. With such competitive schools that support is really needed.
Congrats and good luck
Go for it. Early bird gets the worm, and anyone in the other group could have gone to the first OV if she’d wanted to. The coach may want to wait, but your daughter doesn’t need to wait to express interest.
Agree with the ‘early bird gets the worm’ aspect to her situation. That said, BEFORE she applies ED she needs to elicit a statement from the coach that in his/her experience, no recruit with a positive academic pre-read (as she’s received) and the level of coach support which he/she will give her has been rejected ED. Before she uses her one ED ‘coupon’ she is entitled to this level of assurance.
If she does decide to apply ED she should give up her slot at her other scheduled recruiting trip. Open up the opportunity for another swimmer.
Thanks! Anyone has a rough idea on the percentage of recruits applying ED? D told me there were quite a few recruits on the OV trip.
Overall, a much higher percentage of recruits apply ED. That’s the benefit, and maybe the only benefit at a D3 school, getting the coach’s support I the ED round. If you are asking how many of the girls on the OV will pick that school, that’s harder to know. Are those girls going to other OV’s? Can the coach support all of them? You just never know.
In the NESCACs, you apply ED1 if you want coach support. The coach will generally use all of his/her support on ED1, and for non-helmet sports, that’s fewer than 6 prospies per sport.
The Coach may have some support(more like tips) for ED2, or he/she may bargain away some of the future year’s quota if an exemplary recruit didn’t get a likely letter, or was let down by their number one choice on ED1.
My S-a swimmer-had Carleton pretty much promising to pick him up ED2 if he didn’t get his number one choice ED1. Of course I don’t know if that would really have happened, but it seemed likely at the time.
The coaches generally have enough prospies who will fill their needs on ED1, so they don’t need to wait around for those who don’t feel able to commit.
In my son’s experience, less than 20 prospies were invited for overnights at the 3 schools he attended for that reason. Obviously, everyone was attending more than 1 overnight and I’m sure there was a lot of hierarchical scrambling going on right before the deadline. He cancelled 2 overnights after he made his choice, as much so he could do his schoolwork and keep his grades up as anything else.
Good luck!
Asleep, I agree that all assurances of support should be obtained (hopefully in writing) before applying ED. I don’t, however, think there is only “one ED coupon.” To my knowledge, each NESCAC school has two ED application sessions with different deadlines. That said, of course Ted should take every precaution possible to ensure there are no miscommunications. By all means ask about support, the coach’s experience with supporting applications, where the coach sees D fitting in and whether there are cuts.
While the schools offer ED2, the risk to the athlete of not being admitted in ED1 round at #1 choice is that rosters/spots at other schools for ED2 may be full, and coaches are no longer looking, at least at the more competitive programs. So, while a recruit can, in theory, apply elsewhere ED2 after, for instance, a deferral, their choices may be much more limited. Other programs may have had some drift too, so there may be some spots still open, but it is not predictable. That is why the positive pre-read, and clear signals from coach/admissions, as much as possible, are important, so that the ED1 “chit” is used wisely for maximum benefit.