Hi!
My son was invited to an overnight visit. He is trying to be recruited for a Div III soccer team. His GPA is okay but his ACT is 1 pt lower than what they could typically push through. The coach told him to take the test again. He said my son is borderline. He is going to take my son’s info to the admissions person to see if he would be able to push it through. He said if he gets a green light then he would offer him a spot. If not, then we would see if they said to raise the test scores or whatever. So it does not sound like they would completely give up on him. He does want my son to do an overnight for their first game. Is it normal for them to invite a player with potential challenges to an overnight visit? I thought that they might wait until after they got a green light from admissions. My son is over the moon happy about this overnight visit. He knows a few of the team members. He has had an opportunity to play pick up soccer with some of them over the summer. He really likes the coaches. He clicks with all of them. And I do believe that they really want him on the team.However… It is just this admissions thing that has me so stressed out. Thankfully my son seems to be taking it all in stride. He has left each meeting feeling hopeful.
Allboyz,
The stress thing about admissions is normal, not that it makes things any easier on the parents. Although it has the potential to drive you crazy, use it to energize your son to improve his application (i.e., test scores). Then, have back-up options in place. If things work out, great. If not, then still great!
The invitation for an overnight is a positive sign. It is not, however, definitive that your son will be admitted or play for the team simply because he was invited for an overnight. I do know of kids who were invited for an overnight, had the promise of coach support, and were deferred in early admission.
There is quite a bit of variation between D3 schools, and I always suggest to listen very closely to the coach, particularly if he has been the coach for a while. My sense of this coach is that he is on the level. He wants your son, but your son could help his cause by increasing his ACT score. You should sign your son up for the next ACT test and spend some time now with a tutor trying to squeeze the last bit out of the lemon. If the School superscores the ACT, you may not need to have every sub-score improve to result in an increase in his composite by 1 point. Focus on the sub-score that is the lowest, and see if that can be improved. Who knows, getting that improvement could make your son’s application slide right through admissions.
It is not unusual for a coach to offer an overnight visit to a recruit that is a marginal academic candidate. If the coach is interested in the player, depending on what expenses are covered and the coaches budget, there might not be much downside for the coach.
It is good to encourage your son, but DO NOT let him fall in love with the school. Make sure you both parse the coach’s words very carefully. If the coach is saying “I might be able to push him through if he raises is ACT by a couple of points” that sounds to me like the coach is saying “I want you to play for me, but it is going to be hard for you to get in even with better scores.” Sounds like your son has a lot of ACT prep to do if he wants to get to this school.
It is natural for you son to be optimistic. If this is his dream, get him to understand the time he needs to put into this right now, while there is still time to prep.
Thank you @gointhruaphase and @Dreadpirit !
I had a long talk with my son after I read your posts. We will focus on trying to improve his chances instead of worrying right now. My son has been prepping for the next ACT test. However, I think I will become more involved in that process. We still have about a month before school begins.
The coach is going to try to push him through before he takes the ACT again. However, he wants him to take it again regardless. He said they will either give him the green light now or they will tell him what needs to be improved (most likely the ACT score).
He is already in love with the school. It is a local school. He has always said he wanted to attend that school. We have spent a lot of time there over the years. We had relatives that used to play college soccer. They used to play against this school so we have spent a lot of time there. I also graduated from this school.
He attended a soccer camp this weekend at his #2 school. Unfortunately, this coach is not as enthusiastic as school number 1. He always responds to our messages but does not really offer feedback. Anyway, my son said the camp was great. He said that towards the end they selected the players that played the best during the camp. Then they allowed those players to play against some college players. My son and two of his teammates were selected to play. So it seems like it was a good opportunity to be seen. Hopefully, school #2 or one of the other colleges there will contact him. We will just have to wait and see…
The thing that complicates his situation is that he wants a relatively small school and he wants to be fairly close to home. School #1 is only about 20 minutes away. School #2 is about 2 hrs away. The two schools are very similar in size and feel. Admission standards at school #2 are more in line with my son’s current gpa/test scores.
Anyway, we will just work on what we can control. I told my son that he needs to really buckle down if this is what he wants. Many of his friends are beginning to verbally commit (other sports) so I think it is beginning to feel real to him now.
@allboyz – the less enthusiastic vibe from the coach at school #2 may be more style than substance. If you two are seriously interested in #2, esp if he’d prefer it to #1, it’s very reasonable and SOP for your son to speak to the coach and directly ask him where he stands. If he were to tell the coach that he really wants to go there, but is being courted by another school and has to start making decisions, the coach could/should give him an idea of whether he has a shot of being recruited. Some coaches simply don’t communicate that well, and need a push.
If your son goes to #1 would he live in a dorm or at home? For me that would be an important factor. He really needs to live on his own at this point for personal growth, etc.
However it breaks it looks like he’s going to have some good opportunities. I’m sure he’s done a lot of hard work to get this far, and deserves a lot of credit.
Thank you for the kind words/advice @AsleepAtTheWheel ! He prefers school #1 in every way (school and the team). He will live in the dorm regardless of the school that he attends.
I think he will have some good options for college. However, I am not sure how it will work out with soccer. He might end up playing club soccer at a different school if things do not work out with school #1.
Meanwhile he has been working hard on something that he can control (ACT prep).
@allboyz – Do they superscore the ACT? Some do, some don’t. If they do, he needs only to concentrate on the sections for which he has the best chance to improve.
A pitfall worth mentioning just for the sake of completeness: he should be sure that school 1 won’t be so demanding academically that it would be an issue. Doesn’t sound like it, but there are stories where athletes who were far more marginal academically that were pulled in by the coach, only to wilt under the workload.
But the coach’s enthusiasm is a really big deal, and it certainly sounds like they’ll make it work. I don’t think they’d want him got an overnight visit if they thought it unlikely that he’d get in.
Finally, good to hear he’ll be living on campus.
Post a note here when the end of the story is known.
@AsleepAtTheWheel No, this school does not superscore the ACT.
I will post an update once we have an answer. Thanks again.
I just wanted to post a bit of an update. First of all, he did attend the overnight visit with the team. He enjoyed it very much. He said the members of the team are very nice. And he really likes all of the coaches.
First admissions did a pre read and said that they wanted him to take the ACT again. Then they wanted to see his first report card grades from senior year.
My son took the ACT again and he got the score that he needed. So far he has all A’s and one B in his classes. He is working very hard to keep his grades up.
He heard from one of the coaches several days ago. He told my son to let him know as soon as he submits his ED application. He said he want to tag his application.
So at this point we are cautiously optimistic. I will feel better once he can verbally commit. I understand that that does not guarantee that he will be on the team. However, if they were not interested I think they would have stopped recruiting him when they realized that he might have issues with getting through admissions.
@allboyz How did you know that the ACT was exactly 1 point below at the time? I recently had a similar conversation with a coach. Wants to overnight. ACT on the low side but not too far. Did you ask the coach directly? Is that ok to do? Thanks!
@fbislife My son asked the coaches after he attended the first camp. They told my son the lowest scores that they would be able to push through admissions.
My D recently had a D3 overnight where the coach told her she has her full support and to apply ED. I assume that is good news but she still needs an official from admissions?
@mcr976 That is great! Sounds like good news. I think most coaches have a pretty good idea regarding what the student needs to get through admissions. Good luck to your daughter.
Long story but we just found out that my son has been verbally committed since August(before the original post). lol We are still learning this whole recruitment thing. LOL Anyway, we are over the moon happy. My son is putting in the hard work (raised his ACT and is working hard academically). I have never seen him so motivated. We are still keeping it pretty quiet (my son has told a few close friends and his high school coach). I will be so happy once December is here. He has already been admitted to his back up in case things do not work out. He will play club soccer if he ends up at that school. Anyway, he is busy trying to juggle school, work and club soccer. I am trying to keep myself busy with my work, other son’s activities and looking for scholarships. I think the weeks will fly by once the busy holiday season begins next month…