OV expense refund request from coach

Athletic Recruits
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<p>I know of two (or three) athletes where a problem occurred between step 10 and 11 at an ivy:
10) coach presents athlete’s application to the admissions committee
11) athlete is officially approved and given LL </p>

<p>In one case (school with ED), the student was later admitted RD but not after a lot of anxiety; in the other case, there was a drop to a C in a very tough class. The coach “was stumped,” “completely out of the blue,” “has never happened before.” The student scrambled and went to another ivy (ED). In the third case, admission wanted to wait for first semester grades. Recruit went with LL to another ivy. At least one of these athletes was one of the top recruits in the country.</p>

<p>In our case, the coaches also knew when the last of 4 OVs had occurred and wanted to know about the decision ASAP. So, there was no way to string them along for a few weeks. Rather, our kid decided, put in his application, and emailed the other coaches, all within 2 days of the last OV (one school already earlier). Two of the coaches responded to give them a call if things wouldn’t work out . All this happened early October, and admission called within 3 days that the LL was on its way.</p>

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<p>“I cannot ever imagining calling all the coaches you had OV ‘s with to tell them you are putting in an application at XYZ ivy”</p>

<p>the coaches called my D wanting to know her decision. She called them back and told the truth. But she would have called them even if they hadn’t called, it’s the polite thing to do.</p>

<p>I think we are from different planets, in my world when a coach offers you admissions and money-(excluding ivy), to Yale, Columbia, Princeton, UCLA, USC, Cal, Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, UVA, Michigan, and Harvard you call back and tell them the truth, as my daughter did to all 3 who she went to OV’s on (and all her teammates did the same).</p>

<p>So, I really differ with those who think it’s OK to not even “imagine” calling coaches back. I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t, it seems classless. </p>

<p>further, if you’re so sure your daughter can go anywhere she wants, why wouldn’t you have the decency to let coaches you’ve been corresponding with for months know you’ve chosen a different school.</p>

<p>I really don’t get this, my daughter was recruited; months of emails, phone calls, 1 of the college coaches had coached her on a US team abroad…so I don’t understand not calling these people. These people are at one level friends. </p>

<p>I think this is a very important topic in the sense how people are raising their kids, I’m teaching my kids to go through life respecting others and building relationships. A few of the people posting here have an almost mercenary approach to the (lack of) relationship and respect their kids have with coaches.</p>

<p>and “choosing the school” not the coach. everyone knows how I feel about that:) My D chose a coach not a school/building. If you have a math whiz I recommend they choose a math prof, not a building. Schools are buildings. Your life is with people. You choose people.</p>

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<p>rundoctor and short, I re-read your posts. I can’t disagree more. </p>

<p>not telling a coach that you’ve committed to another school is wrong. </p>

<p>Waiting a few days before an OV to cancel, when you’ve known for weeks that you’re going to a different school, is wrong.</p>

<p>And being so insecure that you wait until you have a LL in hand (or in mail) to tell other coaches what you’re real decision is, is wrong.</p>

<p>there’s a phrase for parents who advise their kids to behave this way, bad parenting!</p>

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<p>rundoctor–you didn’t include me in your list of posters who you believe understand the process clearly. What part of how I explained it was inaccurate in your opinion or experience? Since we both have daughters of the same age, in the same sport, both ranked top 15 or above nationally in their event, and who likely dealt with the some of the same coaches, it would be instructive to learn how or why we interpreted the process differently.</p>

<p>You pointed out that NCAA rules allow a student to receive more than one LL. Did YOUR D receive or request more than one? In my experience, that would have been difficult to manage without being deceitful. The Ivy coaches we dealt with all explained the process as I outlined: once the recruited athlete tells them their school is their #1 choice and has submitted a completed application, only THEN would the coach present it to Admissions with their support and obtain a LL for the student. Despite being highly ranked and with top academics, none of the Ivy coaches were just throwing LL’s my daughter’s way. In other words, they all wanted a commitment from her first. As we understood it, she wasn’t just applying, she was committing to that one school. (Granted, I suppose she could have told more than one Ivy they were her first choice, but we would have considered that unethical. Furthermore, we were told by coaches themselves that they all know each other and talk to each other, so that plan would have been risky in addition to being dishonest.)</p>

<p>It’s true that my D did end up getting an Ivy LL without an absolute commitment to that school, but that was because of a non-Ivy Div. 1 OV that couldn’t be scheduled until January. She had, however, already given her definite “no” to the other 3 of her Ivy OV schools. And when I discussed that issue here on CC, the posters who weighed in seemed to think that the Ivy school’s willingness to provide her a LL without an absolute commitment was pretty unusual, since the Ivies almost always want a firm commitment to their school first. And even though such a commitment isn’t legally binding as you point out, we took it seriously and so did the school. When D ultimately decided not to attend the Ivy who had given her a LL, she was asked by the coach to send an official request withdrawing her application from the school. Why? Because the acceptance of her application and issuance of a LL was contingent on her verbal commitment to compete for them, and she no longer was planning to do that.</p>

<p>Lastly, I don’t think pacheight is hung up on his D’s athletic level. Rather, it was other posters who first suggested that her very high skill level might have led to her having a difference recruiting experience than others who might have been more in the middle of the recruiting pool. My D was not as top notch as his, yet she also had a greater sense of security about the process than others seem to have had. After the OV’s were scheduled and taken, she felt she was now the one doing the choosing of the school more than the other way around. The coaches wanted her to come and the ball was in her court.</p>

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<p>Worked pretty much this way for our student----though the FA pre-read happened about same time as OV -which was fine. Coach had to ask FinAid for pre-read…FinAid does not do pre-reads early unless coach asks for it for a recruit.
Full app went directly to admissions through electronic submisison/Common App plus supplement and not through coach–though our student was somehow flagged as a recruit in admissions for the LL.
Admissions contacted to coach when full file was there to begin reading application.
After read by admissions, coach called to say student was approved for admission and LL would be put in the mail. </p>

<p>This varied a tiny bit from the same univerisity’s policy of several years ago…when I compared notes with another parent here on CC…so I gather the admissions/coaches’ methods of evolves/changes as admissions finds what works for them from year to year.</p>

<p>FWIW Our student chose to not take lots of OVs–academics, athletics and ECs etc made the fall busy enough that lost of trips to schools that weren’t “first loves” we deemed not necessary. Our scholar-athlete was also very honest about the process with the coaches—
Our student’s hs coach told us of some horror stories where the kids haven’t been honest with the coaches or have backed out of LLs. Part of our responsibility in the parenting is guiding our kids to be people of integrity…so we counseled to be honest…as did the hs coach. The first choice school was the first and right match.</p>

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<p>Yes, D submitted her application electronically, and then told the coach she had done so as per coach request. The coach then met with an admissions committee on a pre-scheduled date a few weeks later to “present” her application, and presumably those of his other recruits who had committed and finished their applications. D received a phone call from admissions the day after the committee meeting. The officer told her she had been accepted and that the LL was in the mail.</p>

<p>Columbia at the time did not use the Common App, and if I recall correctly, the Columbia coach told D they’d want the application sent to them, not to Admissions. I think all the others also had the student send or submit the app directly to admissions, but I’m not 100% sure since D did not apply to more than one Ivy.</p>