Do the NESCAC schools allow walk-ons for swimming or do you need to be recruited? Assume student is in A band but doesn’t swim desired stroke. Are teams filled entirely during ED?
Some are, some aren’t. Some coaches have promised spots to those who get in on their own.
Can you be more specific? Which schools have walk-ons in NESCAC?
No, I can’t be more specific but you can contact the coaches and ask what the procedure is and if they have try outs for your events.
Once you are in, what “band” the student would have been no longer matters. For the most part, NESCAC teams are pretty open to walk-ons. I would think for a “timed” sport this would especially be the case where the assessment can be made fairly quickly and objectively . Best thing to do though is to email the coach directly on his/her walk-on policy.
My D was told they were in the A band and that the school didn’t really differentiate between recruits and walk ons. Basically, if you get in on your own (and coach suggested ED) you have a spot on the team. They way she figured out that she wasn’t a top recruit was that there was no mention of an overnight (where she was offered trips by other NESCAC schools). The coach did say they supported 3 B band swimmers and if one of those decided not to apply, they might move their support to her (because I suspect she is on the bubble between A and B band).
Wow. So frustrating. I wish you luck. I’ve been told that as things shake out everything can change. Perhaps swimming is should no longer be a factor. Just so silly because so many recruits perform better in college with better training.
Do coaches really get upset with swimmers who they are recruiting that decide to apply RD rather than ED?
Yes. Recruits who have committed ED are recruits they can count on. Recruits that apply RD may be applying to multiple schools that they can commit to. How is the coach to know you will end up at their school?
D3 generally, not swimming specifically – but yes, for an athlete to have a spot on the team, they typically are expected to apply ED. If the coach is going to hold a spot on the team for the student, the coach needs to know the student is committed to attend through ED. Otherwise, the coach needs to keep looking for someone to fill that spot because the RD applicant could go anywhere.
To get an idea about walk ons, take a look at the size of the roster. Schools with bigger rosters are likely to have walk ons. And if they are graduating a little of seniors, they may have more of a need as well
Ok. This is now making more sense. Being a coach at these schools must be challenging. Thank you
In my post #10, I meant a ‘lot’ of seniors not a ‘little ‘
For what it’s worth – consider D3 recruiting as having safety/match and reaches for both recruiting and admission. The student should continue to stay in touch with the coaches to see where they are on the list. As coaches get news from other prospects that they have committed elsewhere, that can open things up. It is exhausting, for the student and the family, as there can be a lot of uncertainty even as the ED1 deadline approaches.
My advice is, if continuing to compete is an important part of the student’s goals for college, then have some “sure thing” recruiting and admissions schools in the back pocket, hopefully that offer EA, so a student knows they can compete somewhere. Then again, my D3 athlete was not using recruiting to get into a “reach” admissions school, as we knew we needed merit money to make our full pay status work for us, so he pretty much knew he would be accepted to the schools that were on the list, the question was where he would have a spot and if that was his preferred school for all the other reasons other than sports.
@Midwestmomofboys I cannot agree with that. My D was recruited at a lot of D3 schools. Swarthmore, Wellesley and others. No way. Wellesley and Swarth are not safeties for admission. Period. All the schools recruiting my D were up front about having to be able to be admitted without the bump due to athletics. One school challenged my D because she did not have all A’s. I may be missing your point, so please correct me if I am wrong.
@mamom – I would have never considered Swat etc as safeties for admissions or recruiting. I was saying, if a student is set on having D3 sports as part of the college experience, then consider moving down the tiers of schools in terms of competitiveness both for sports and admissions, in order to have some “goldilocks” schools where the student will be accepted and has a spot on the team. Once you move further down the rankings, there may be LACs which are a “sweet spot” for both admissions and sports. They may not require ED because they can’t demand it of prospects. Having that assurance that something is a sure thing can help with the tension of the recruiting process, while the musical chairs continues for the student at the higher ranked, admissions and athletic, schools.
I indicated that all my kid’s prospect schools were admissions sure-things because he needed merit to make our full pay status do-able. So NESCAC and other schools (such as Haverford, Swat etc.) which do not do merit came off the list by spring of junior year.
@Midwestmomofboys , Thank you for the clarification! The process stinks for those who will need additional money and would like to be able to compare offers. There are always teams looking for players after ED runs it course. Either the coaches bump was not enough, the money isn’t enough, or players change their mind. When my D told coaches of the schools she was not committing to, two of them told her if she did not get in ED1 to reach out to them and if they still have room they would support her ED2 app. Two very good players on D’s AAU team were not committed til RD in the spring. They are both in good places and happy where they landed, but at schools they were not considering in the fall.
The problem I see is being asked to apply ED, yet not knowing how much, if any, aid you would receive. No way I could full pay NESCAC schools, yet EFC says I could.
Well that was my kid’s dilemma. We are full pay, without full pay resources. For him to go to a LAC, we identified schools which give substantial merit, and he focused his attention there. NESCACs, Vassar, Haverford, Swat all came off the list as possible schools because there is no merit. Schools like Dickinson, St Lawrence etc. became target schools, where merit was not merely a possibility but, given his profile, pretty much a sure thing, based on his meetings with coaches and with admissions.
We decided we would not pursue the strategy of “if he gets in to the “dream school,” we’ll find a way to make it work.” Because we knew we couldn’t. So we sidestepped that whole dilemma and focused on schools where he would get enough merit and he had a spot on the team.
There really are plenty of schools, coaches, and teams that are open about the process. Those schools will do pre-reads or have NPC that will give a very good idea about the cost and the merit aid available. If you or your child do not want to consider those schools that’s up to you, but the process can’t be blamed.