I am very discouraged by the recruiting process and am struggling to understand it. If a coach is not going to support your application because you don’t swim the stroke he needs, why invite you to campus for a visit in the fall? Can you still apply early and get in? Is this a game to see who is really interested and will apply? How does a NESCAC coach know for sure a prospect will actually apply? Don’t academics matter? What happens when the kids they want apply elsewhere? I have a very bright swimmer who had a lack luster Junior year but still has very competitive times at the schools of interest.
If you do not get formal support from the coach, you are the same as any applicant. Coaches often extend OV’s to prospects in excess of their recruitment quota. Not all prospects will end up applying and not all prospects will be supported. The quid pro quo for support almost always is a requirement that the athlete apply ED, that way the coach knows that his/support will only go to athletes committed to his program.
Academics do matter. NESCAC schools for the most part use a “band” system. In general (schools and sports may vary in the details) a coach’s quota of recruit spots that the AO permits is dependent on academic qualifications of the recruits (usually measured by gpa, rigor of transcript and test scores) which are set into “bands”. The higher the academic qualifications, the greater number of spots for that band.
There is a lot of good info in the Athletic Recruits section of CC which provides more details, including specifically on swimming and NESCAC schools. http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/ If you have further questions, especially about specific schools, I’d post there.
I feel your pain and frustration! My DS is in the same position. He has the academics and his times would score points at conference. But unfortunately the coaches at his first choice aren’t recruiting his events.
Unfortunately the coaches only have so many slots for recruits. They have to prioritize who they offer slots to based on what their needs will be when the seniors graduate.
I would have your son ask the coach if any swimmers have been admitted ED without a slot. I have read in another thread that soft support (a letter from the coach to admissions) doesn’t mean much. But it doesn’t hurt to ask.
Good luck! I can’t wait until this process is over.
Thank you for your thoughts. I too cannot wait for this to be over. The musical chairs must be a challenge for the coaches as well. However, when I look at who has graduated and who committed on college swimming, things don’t add up. Good luck to you as well.
NESCAC schools are DIII, right? Even with a likely letter for a DIII team it’s not a done deal until I see an acceptance letter, and only then would I announce on collegeswimming.com where I had committed to.
My guess is that the coach has limited slots and he filled those slots with kids higher on his recruit list.
We are in the thick of it right now too - one more OV scheduled, an intriguing phone call with another school that may throw the whole thing into chaos and a kid and parent who just want this to be all done already. Not knowing if the school we pick will confirm back to us until December is killer, and that’s the way this game is played at the DIII level.
The entire NESCAC Swim recruiting process is extremely nerve racking to say the least. Traditionally, the student athletes who are invited for a recruiting weekend have gone through an academic preread and the admissions office did not see any red flags with the preread. You are correct in worrying as the positive preread does not guarantee admissions. For swim most of the schools only have two or three slots that they can offer to top recruits whose academics are marginal. Others can get help by the coach but it is not as strong as those 2/3 slots.
The best thing you can do is email the coach and ask he/she how many of his swimmers were denied admissions when applying ED. If the answer is one that you find acceptable, let the coach know that you will be applying ED.
Unfortunately, it really is a leap of faith. Two of my sons went through the swimming process at a NESCAC School and waiting for the ED date and praying for that acceptance online is nail biting for sure.
Best of luck
It is such a roller coaster. My DD was told by a Patriot school that we shouldn’t fill out the FAFSA if we don’t think we will get financial aid (I was just hoping for loans) because the school isn’t need blind. While the Patriot league school is her first choice, the need blind NESCAC schools are looking better to me!
Was it an admissions officer who told you that, or a coach? I don’t think coaches are always as informed.
However, if you just want the loans you can submit the FAFSA at any time, even during the school year.
It was a coach. I wonder if the college factors in the amount of aid. We may be eligible for a small grant ($5000ish) and loans. I hope that amount wouldn’t negatively effect admissions.
Factors in the aid for what? If it is a need blind school, it shouldn’t matter.
Ok so I have read as many relevant entries here on CC about selective NESCAC schools. What I think I am seeing is that a student with a 36 ACT, 4.0 with other outstanding extracurriculars and top two or three times in their strokes who passes pre-read with flying colors, and is offered an overnight is NOT likely to get a “slot” or “tip” because the coaches are using these for academic bubble kids who are fast and fill a need. While I respect and understand how challenging this must be for coaches, imagine how upsetting it is for the kids who have missed parties, taken the most challenging courses possible and gone to 10 swim practices a week all because they hope to increase the likelihood that an amazing school will want THEM. I saddened that so many of the students and parents (including me) are wasting so much energy and time worrying about the future rather than living in the moment. And yes, despite everything I promised myself, I have been caught in this vortex of uncertainty. I watch my child who is very resilient having done this with a diagnosis of dyslexia, who was never expected to be a mainstream academic kid feel defeated. Something is wrong. While I know that everything will somehow work out, I wonder if giving up all the things for the last 4 years was worth it? As a fellow teammate’s parent shared, the kids who have messed up, been kicked off the team, have had relationships with other swimmers despite team rules, have used drugs and are mean…BUT SWIM REALLY REALLY FAST are being inundated with offers from prestigious schools to come swim for them. This is messed up.
@bewilderedmom - I’m not sure what you say is absolutely true. Sure - some coaches use their slots to give kids who are not quite as qualified a boost. But if a coach really wants/needs a particular athlete he will got to bat for him and give him the slot even if he has a perfect ACT score. And there is more leeway in sports like football than in other sports. Certain sports like tennis and XC, there are enough high stats high performers where the school doesn’t need to lower any admission standard to fill the team w/ strong athletes.
@bewilderedmom, I understand your frustration but I think you are drawing an incorrect conclusion. My understanding of how the band system works generally is that a coach has a total number of slots for his/her sport. The slots he/she can use for lower academic bands are more limited than for the top band, but if the coach’s top 4 recruits in terms of athletic ability are all within the top band, and he/she only has 4 slots, then the coach can use all 4 slots on these 4 recruits, and the AO would be thrilled. The coach does not have to use the lower band slot for a lower band kid. The situation you describe might occur if you have a lower band kid who is either better athletically than the higher band kid or the 2 are very close athletically and both on the athletic bubble with the high band kid having a decent chance of getting admitted without the slot, in which case the coach is gambling that the lower band kid will be accepted and the higher band kid will still apply and get in. Remember, the coach’s primary drive is putting together the best team athletically. I can’t speak to how “tips” work because our experience has always been about slots. If tips are something less than slots, I can see how a coach might game the system by using a tip for a top band kid and using an allowed lower band slot on a lower band kid who otherwise would have a hard time getting in.
I just wanted to chime in here, even though I know virtually nothing about swimming recruiting. One thing that I think translates across sports though is to realize that coaches don’t always see the same things more casual observers see. I could cite a dozen examples of kids who I thought were exceptional at their sport who ended up either without offers or at schools lower down the athletic ladder than I assumed. I have also seen plenty of kids who I really didn’t think were all that and a bag of donuts go on to sterling careers at big time D1 programs.
I do understand that swimming is a timed sport, but I really think it is dangerous to try and compare one recruit to another. And I say that fully acknowledging that I was as guilty as any one of doing the same thing when my son was being recruited. But the fact is that none of us really know what the coach sees when evaluating a recruit or what he or she is looking for in any given recruiting class. If you let it, it will drive you nuts trying to figure out why kid x is getting the love from a particular school and kid y is not.
I am so sorry that you are so frustrated. It is very hard to see your kid going through this. But we have no control over if they will be recruited or not.
We only have (some) control over where our kids apply. My DS is so focused on his number one choice where he is not currently being recruited but kept on the coach’s hook with comments like a slot might open up…(even though the coach couldn’t even take the time to meet with him during the OV, only the assistant coach, that he’d met before).
It is our job to steer our kids away from where they aren’t being offered slots and help them see positive things about where they are being recruited. There are a lot of top academically D3 schools that aren’t as competitive at swimming that could be a good fit.
If you think your son will have a great senior year and drop a lot of time, you could wait and not apply ED to anywhere. I know of a senior last year who had committed ED to a top D3 and then dropped a lot of time and was approached by the Ivies (to no avail as he had already committed) so it can happen.
Try not to take any of it personally or think about other recruits or what if scenarios as you will just drive yourself crazy. Congrats to your DS on all his accomplishments!
Thank you everyone for your thoughts. Some times just knowing that others are tackling the same challenges is helpful. We all want the best for our kids and to not see them anxious or frustrated, but that is life. My goal in reaching out to this group was to vent just a bit of frustration so that I am able to the best supportive mom I can be. I have promised myself that I will not share my concerns with my child.
@bewilderedmom said, “Ok so I have read as many relevant entries here on CC about selective NESCAC schools. What I think I am seeing is that a student with a 36 ACT, 4.0 with other outstanding extracurriculars and top two or three times in their strokes who passes pre-read with flying colors, and is offered an overnight is NOT likely to get a “slot” or “tip” because the coaches are using these for academic bubble kids who are fast and fill a need.”
I have been through the recruiting process multiple times. I don’t think your assessment is accurate: The slots and tips are not reserved for the “academic bubble kids who are fast and fill a need.” The slots/tips are reserved for the top athletic recruits who pass the pre-read.
Depending on the sport, the coach is able to support a certain number of recruits. The coach is going to give his support to his top athletic recruits that pass the pre-read. If the student with a 36 ACT and perfect gpa is one of the coach’s top recruits, he will be offered coach support because the coach would not want to gamble on his recruit going through the admissions process (even with perfect stats) unprotected and end up rejected.
Good luck to your son.
The other thing to remember is that at many of these schools the coach is talking to lots and lots of kids. Many, many more kids than they have roster spots for. Some fall out due to grades or scores or athletic performance or because the coach thinks the kid wouldn’t gel with the team. Some kids end up not interested in the school. But in the end it is possible that the coach still ends up with highly talented, high academic kids for whom there are not enough slots for.
There might be a different way to look at this. My first child had a 34 act c gpa uw 3.98 and she took option to attend top 10 university with soccer and is doing well socially academically and athletically. Only way in was to take offer, there was only one offer. If that is only option and your child wants it great…My other child is a swimmer and has multiple offers but she also is one of those gifted students with all the accolades and has chosen to apply RD( not sure which one she wants and would like to see recruiting class first) to all the schools. In response she has received offers for free visits, and free admission aps if willing to apply to ed2. Several top program coaches have insisted she might not get in… She probably wont get in to some of them, but I bet she gets into several and I believe the fear is there’s that they’ll lose my child as a swimmer, time will tell. I believe that fear is being used way too much. Consider our country.
I find it very interesting that you all assume I have a son. 