alright so i somehow managed to get an ov at my dream school idek how(is an ivy).
However, I’m worried my academics will bar me from admission.
The coach told me my scores where right around the average but raising some points would help.
What if i cant raise them? am i done?
also, how many people are invited on ov, and who gets the slots?
does legacy help?
i have around 3.78 and 4.29ish weighted, but im really worried about my uw bc there are a sizable amount of b’s T.T however im in top 8% but idek if that matters tbh
Thoughts? im really scared sorry
Okay, before he could extend the offer for an OV you submitted your test scores and transcripts. Congratulations, your academics are within range to be a potential recruit.
Raising scores will benefit both you and the coach. You, because you’ll look better to the adcom - and the coach will have a higher team AI.
How many get invited compared to slots? Hard to say exactly and it depends on the sport, but since each recruit is allowed to take up to 5 OVs, coaches will ‘overbook’, knowing they won’t get everyone they want. I have heard around 3 times more athletes get OVs than spots available. (Very generally speaking)
Congrats, you’ve cleared the first hurdle!
Google the Academic Index and see what formula is used. Test scores are what you can go for at this point, if necessary. gpa should be okay. See how SAT and SAT II affects your AI.
Nothing to be scared of. You are in the mix. If the coach told you to raise those scores I think you have your answer right there. That would strengthen your position. If you are legacy that will definitely help too. I am sure if you do something impressive in your sport and if you keep raising your grades so the GPA goes up and not down, all that will be in your favor. Regarding the question about invites vs slots, you should be able to figure out slots…so when you go on OV you will have your answer. Do your best and be positive. Good luck going forward.
Ivy coaches are not going to waste their precious recruitment budgets on official visits for athletes who are not qualified for admission, as others have said.
You will not be able to figure out the OV:slot ratio on your visit because all OVs for a sport are rarely on the same weekend.
More important, and I mean this sincerely, is whether you have the…uhhh…mental fortitude…for Ivy sports. You are on the line for the winning free throw…you’re up with two outs in the last inning with teammates on base…deuce in a tiebreaker…you get the point.
And here you are, “really scared”, “worried”, and fearful you “might be done” after the coach told you your scores are average but raising them would help.
I am going to take a slightly different tack. It is ok to be nervous right now. The recruiting process is often very unclear, and it is in many ways the first big decision that a teenager should be making primarily on his or her own. Especially for an athlete, who is used to pretty clear guide posts measuring success, and who is generally the person in control of their own performance, being in competition with other athletes you do not know for a spot where you aren’t even sure what the coach is looking for is a whole different kind of stress.
That said, you would be well served to apply some of the lessons learned in situations like those described by @fenwaypark and recognize that you can only do what is in your power, and can only control what is right in front of you. The recruiting process can be a grind, particularly in the Ivy League. You have to take it in pieces, and focus on what is in front of you, not what may be two or three steps away. Right now, you know two things.
Academically, the coach has told you that your grades are acceptable. In the Ivy League, they will also do an admissions pre read on your file sometime after July 1 and before they can actually schedule your official visit. When that is done, you will know how the admissions committee feels about your transcript and test scores. That will tell you what if anything needs to happen in the fall before you will be considered for a likely letter.
Athletically, you know that the coach thinks enough of your skills to spend some money to bring you out to campus. That is a pretty big deal, although it is not the end of the process. Leaving aside the financial part, which is a huge piece of this, by NCAA rule (and maybe Ivy rule, I don’t remember) schools are only allowed so many slots for official visits. Now, they get more slots for visits than they do for actual likely letters, but official visit slots are valuable resources for the coaches, and they are not going to spend them on someone they do not think highly of. The fact that you have been offered an official visit this early makes me think you are one of the coach’s targets. But again, until you have the conversation with the coach where s/he says “we want you and will support you for a likely letter if you want to come here” there is still more work to be done. Good luck.
One other thought re Ivy League official visits (and the recruiting process more generally) is to take a look at a book called The Essential Guide to Ivy League Athletic Recruiting. It’s focused on the Ivies and some of the content is specific to those schools (such as how Academic Index works) but some should be helpful for other academically selective schools. It’s a pretty quick read and was written by a dad based on his daughter’s experiences with Ivy League recruiting.
Indeed, a dad who actually participated in this thread in fact 
And it is a good read, well worth the effort.
^ I understand he’s a remarkably intelligent and articulate fellow. Not to mention humble to a fault.
Oh, is that you Ohiodad51? That book is the best compendium of information on Ivy League recruiting I’m aware of and I think all athletes and parents interested in these schools can benefit from reading it.
LOL, the humble part should have given it away. It is Varska.
Haha, good thing I’m not a detective. Great book varska and your website/blog too.
Thanks!
@ Varska - Thank you for all your insightful posts! They are super helpful! I have a question that you may be able to answer…My daughter is a recruited student-athlete starting her senior year of high school this Fall (Class of 2016). On July 1, the coach told my daughter that admissions gave her the “green light” on her pre-read packet and the next step is to file her common app EA and that Likely Letters will be sent out early October. My daughter is scheduled for her “official visit” in late September. Considering that the Yale specific essay question is not available until August and her official visit is in late Sept., the timeline suggests that my daughter should file her EA application sometime between Aug & early Sept. Does this mean that the regular Nov 1st deadline for EA applicants does not apply to recruited athletes? Is there anything that precludes an EA applicant to file her application as soon as the Yale specific essay question is released/posted? Also, how long does it typically take for admissions to make a decision on a tagged (recruited athlete) EA application? We’re trying to figure out if by the time she is at Yale on her official visit, she will already “unofficially” know she has been accepted. The thing that is throwing us off here is that her “official visit” is happening the week before the Likely Letters are reportedly being sent out. My daughter has been on the road (out of state) most of the summer participating in softball tournaments w/ her travel team. She plans on calling up the coach to get these questions clarified when she gets back home the weekend before school starts. But I’m getting a bit anxious looking at the calendar and seeing that she won’t have much time to work on these essays if in fact, she’ll be expected to file her EA app by early September. Any insight would be greatly appreciated! : )
@SoftballFan – On a public forum like CC it’s a bad idea to name the specific school that is recruiting one’s son or daughter. Either deal in generalities, e.g., “a top Ivy”, or private message (once you have enough posts) @Varska to ask specific questions.
Don’t want you to think that you’ve committed a fatal error, but you should avoid mentioning the name of the school in your future posts.
@AsleepAtTheWheel - Good looking out! Thanks!
@SoftballFan , thanks for the shout out. I’ll be happy to give you my opinions but there are several other posters on this forum who are also very familiar with Ivy recruiting - some of whom may have specific softball knowledge (that’s the beauty of a community like this).
Okay, your D submitted materials and coach told her she was given the ‘green light’. That means they determined she is within range and can come out for an OV. It doesn’t mean that she’s green-lighted for admission, of course.
Coach has outlined a pretty quick timetable to her, ‘get the common ap in as soon as she can and LL goes out early October’. Of course the coach wants all his recruits to get locked-in asap before they have a chance to take a bunch of visits and talk with a lot of coaches. Honestly, I don’t see the sense of urgency. I would be reluctant to pull the EA trigger before I went out for an official and got a feel for the team.
It’s true that LLs can be sent out starting 10/1, but they continue to be sent out into November. (Again, maybe someone with school-specific softball knowledge may be able to tell you if all the softball recruits get LLs in the first wave. I kind of doubt it.
This whole process is very much a buyer-seller relationship. Sounds like the coach in this case is trying to close pretty hard, but that may not be in your daughter’s best interest, especially if there are other schools in play. This is a great opportunity and you shouldn’t blow it by playing games, but I don’t think any coach is going to pass her by just for taking some time to do her due diligence during the recruiting process. Just my .02
I agree with everything Varska has said. In addition:
Is Yale the #1 choice? If so, more reason to go with the flow.
Is Yale the #1 choice, but you want to see how the OV goes? If so, plan to take action after the OV.
Is Yale not the #1 choice but just among the top tier? If so, more reason to draw the process out longer.
Here is what you said the coach said:
I do not see that the coach urged your daughter to rush her application. He said it is the next step for her. That is true. Yale has done all it can at this point by reviewing her credentials and offering an official visit.
Next step is for her to file the application–LLs may start to be sent out October 1 (did the coach really say they “will be sent out early October” or that they may be sent out early October?).
I think the coach is correct that the ball is now in your court. How soon do you want the LL? Want it close to October 1, then file in mid-Sept. Happy to wait to mid-November, then wait until November 1.
@Varska & @Fenwaypark - You guys are AWESOME! Thank you for your speedy replies! This is so helpful! My kid has been attending camps and unofficial visits at her top 3 Ivy’s and top 3 Pac12 schools since freshman year (Pac12 schools since middle school - she’s always played up, so since the older teammates were getting on radars during showcases, she benefited from getting noticed very early). She’s very familiar with these schools’ coaching staff, teams, fields, campuses, programs, etc… and it has been painfully (for lack of a better word) hard to “drag” along the process of “verbally committing” because she’s “waiting” to hear from the Ivy’s. She’s been very lucky that she’s developed good relationships with all these coaches (particularly Pac12) and they have been willing to “wait” until she makes a decision. So, hearing the latest update from her #1 Ivy school (the school in New Heaven ) on July 1 literally sent her to cloud 9!! 
…and she does not want to “play games” (unless it’s softball! Hehe) or “wait” any longer… She identified her #1 Ivy last year and since then, that’s the only school she thinks about, talks about and reads about. I think her mind is pretty set to go there. So, as soon as she gets back home, we’ll probably follow your advise and file that app EA asap and “go with the flow” as she would LOVE to get that LL ASAP!!! I’ll keep you guys posted! THANK YOU AGAIN!! I’m so glad I found this forum!
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