To be honest, if we all took truth serum we would all admit how bewildered the process was while we were going through it. It was just as hard the third time that it was for the first. Now looking back, we are temped to say “what was so hard about all of that.”
The parent’s job is to help your kid set goals. You need to swallow hard and figure out where athletics figures into all of this. I will say, I was more karma oriented. We followed where recruiting led us – to an extent at least.
In your case, I would encourage your kid to go on that school visit. You really don’t know what is going to shake out, and besides, have you ever heard of anyone getting a job when they declined to be interviewed?. IMHO if you are wondering why someone with lower grades, scores and times could get recruited over someone who is better in all categories, it could well be the amount of effort the kid put into being recruited. You are right, the NESCAC is D3 and the coach never knows who will back out or not apply ED. But, the odds are far better that the kid who has been emailing twice a month, went on an unofficial and an OV, and has been returning calls will apply ED compared to a kid who just submitted a recruiting profile.
As noted, there are both tips and slots in the NESCAC. Slots are for the kids that fall below the A band. Tips are for kids in the A band. A kid with a 36 ACT and 4.0 can (and if he is recruited will) still get coach support as a tip. The tip is used when you are just the kind of student that the college would really like to admit, but there are so many of those of students, you could get overlooked. The point is for the coach to let admissions know not to overlook you.
I would ask for a pre-read. Once you get the pre-read, you have a pretty good sense of where you stand with the coach.
Thank you! This was a very helpful reply. We’ve had the pre-read at all our top schools and visits at almost all. One may be in the works but late in the game. 2 coaches have been very very forthcoming. 1 top recruit with “tip” other we believe is also a “tip”. Both asked us to hang tight for another week until all priority visits are finished. The final school was top of list but coach notoriously slow with “tip” candidates so we wait. However, until the letter arrives as far as we’re concerned every school is in play plus others for RD.
No likely letter from NESCAC schools. Most likely, you will receive an email from the coach saying words to the effect that the pre-read “looks good,” but there is no guarantee of admission. That is a positive pre-read. Usually this is a very positive sign. If you get such an email from the coach, you usually will be expected to apply early. Respond to the coach with an email that you will apply ED provided the coach agrees to support the application. Getting an email confirming in writing that the coach will support your application is as good as you are going to get. Beyond that, nothing will change the two-three months of jitters you will experience.
Slow is fine. Some schools work faster than others. Others are trying to figure out who will commit. Who cares when you find out, as long as the arrangement is positive for your kid. Stay chill.
@gointhruaphase I am not sure a “tip” is only for A bands, unless it is just a matter of semantics and a tip for an A Band kid is as good as a slot. S was A Band and was one of the top recruits for a team sport at 2 NESCACs. Both coaches said that if he applied ED, his chances were 99% with their support. That sounds like more than a tip to me since the schools are both highly selective. It also doesn’t make sense for the AO to not let a coach use a slot for an A Band kid. The AO is always looking for the most highly qualified academic class.
@bewilderedmom, hang in there. Don’t be shy in politely pushing the coaches. They understand the game and pressures on the recruits. Also be skeptical of soft support if they also insist on ED. There is a thread here from @OldbatesieDoc which provides a cautionary tale on reliance of soft support. http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/bowdoin-college/2093947-prospective-bowdoin-athletes-beware-the-soft-support-p1.html. Best of luck to you and your child.
@BKSquared, the A Band reference is to illustrate the purpose of a tip. What constitutes A band stats varies depending on the school. An A band at Williams is going to be different from an A Band at Conn College. So, I do agree that there are no absolutes in NESCAC recruiting.
The purpose of a tip is to support an athlete with admissions who has the academic chops to get in without athletic support, whether that recruit falls squarely within the A band or is on the edge of the B band. The purpose of a slot is to support an athlete who in all likelihood would not be admitted without athletic support – a recruit below the A Band. Tips can be equally powerful in the final analysis as slots, I agree. I have had discussions with a NESCAC coach, in which I was told me that they were guided by admissions not to use the slot on the no. 1 recruit because a tip would do it. The slot was used on a less, but still highly, desirable recruit who had lower stats. As the story was told to me, Admissions did not tell the coach, “don’t do this.” Rather Admissions said, “do you really want to do this? Your no. 1 player will get in without using the slot.”
Where tips do not have the same effect as slots is at the margins. If you are recruit no. 7 on a list of 7 with a tip, and the coach gets 6 recruits, a tip will have less impact than a slot
@gointhruaphase You are confirming what I have heard. So many sports have only a few “slots” and in some cases no slots. The original purpose of a slot as I understand at D3 schools was to diversify recruiting a bit and give kids a chance who may not shine as bright as others in a regular admission pool.
However, I wish schools/coaches would be clear without a conversation which sports took walk-ons vs. which sports did not. For instance, you cannot “walk-on” or “tryout” following admission to be on the Kenyon swim team if you were not part of their recruiting pool - per the coach. However, you can walk-on/tryout for the Denison swim team - according to coach. This is very very important for applicants to know up front.
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@gointhruaphase, that makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.
@bewilderedmom,I would describe slots just a bit differently. Rather than “to give kids a chance who may not shine as bright as others in a regular admission pool,” I would describe the purpose as getting highly skilled athletes to attend the school that would not be admitted without their athletic prowess. I think we are saying the same thing. You just have a nicer way of describing it.
Walk-ons are another interesting topic. It depends entirely on the school and the sport, as you have noted. Even at D3 schools that have open tryouts, I don’t think the chances for a non-recruited athlete are great. For a number of reasons, if a recruit and a walk-on are equal, the coach will go with the recruit. Others will know way more about swimming recruiting than me, but I suspect that a sport like swimming the facilities for which have natural size limitations (you only have so many lanes for practice) are less likely to welcome walk-ons than for example a soccer team at a NESCAC school that also has a B team. Either way, if you can get being recruited, it is far better than relying on open team tryouts.
If a team gets only 2 or 3 swimmers through the recruiting process, it takes walk-ons. Sure, ask what the process is for tryouts, but most have bigger rosters than 8 to 12…
Swimming is your time. Swim faster, you are At the meet, no matter how you got there. So much less subjective than a team sport!
Everyone has been so helpful! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences. This journey can feel lonely.
If there are usually 6 freshman on the team and the coach has 3 slots, are the other 3 walk-ons? Tips? What language will the coach use to confirm that you are a “tip”?
It may work like this. Coach gets the 3 swimmers highest on her list through ED commitments. Then needs a few more swimmers who apply either ED or RD. There are likely a lot of kids (many more than the 3 other swimmers she needs) the coach has been talking with who she would love to have on the team. Coach doesn’t have a lot of sway with admissions at this point, though the applications are likely flagged as potential athletes. Coach may or may not have favorites in this group. Then the coach waits to see who gets in. Terminology may vary by school, but some call it a preferred walk on.
I think you may need to pull apart using swimming to get an admissions preference and being able to swim.
After being accepted RD at several schools where he had not spoken to coaches, DS heard from the coach and talked about playing the next year. Different sport (and harder to evaluate fit because it involved more than timest) but at 3, he was told that if he enrolled, he’d have a roster spot.
So while you are working all out, know that not being recruited doesn’t have to mean not swimming. Ime, coaches love to have depth because it means everyone has to stay on top of their game. And there is also no guarantee that everyone who is on the roster this year will want to stick with it next year.
On a slightly different note, when unhooked kids are deferred ED while athletes are admitted, it’s easy for them to feel (legitimately) a bit bitter about that. There are lots of those stories out there. What most of them don’t realize is how hard it is to find a school and team you like that also wants you. In other words, kids have hooks but they don’t necessarily get to say where they’ll work. You’re experiencing that now, so hang in there.
@bewilderedmom One of my kids is at a NESCAC school. When he went through the process, I asked about tips/slots because I had read that terminology here. The way it was explained to me was that the coach is given a certain amount of “currency” that he can use with admissions. Depending on the recruit’s stats, one recruit may require the coach to use more of his allotted currency than another recruit. However, we were told that all the recruit needs to worry about is whether the coach will support his application- how much currency the coach needs to use is an internal issue between the coach and admissions.
My NESCAC son’s coach does permit non-recruited students to try out for the team as walk-ons. I have another kid who plays in the NEWMAC and his team does not hold try-outs for walk-ons.
If you child is not guaranteed support by the coach, but wants to swim on the college team, you will definitely want to ask what the coach’s policy is regarding walk-ons because the policy will vary from school to school.