I was wondering if anybody could shed the light on how athletic recruitment works at WPI for team sports?
WPI does not offer Early Decision which a lot of schools/coaches use as a bargaining tool to get prospective athletes to commit to their institution. With Early Action, which is not really binding in any way, how do the kids know they they will have a roster spot come Fall semester Freshman year? How does the coach know if the kid is really coming to the school or not until May 1st decision day?
Does the coach just invite a bunch of kids he thinks might fit his team to apply and hope some of them pan out, and if he gets too many of those kids does he just hold a Fall try out of sorts?
^^. Hey, wow, thanks for the brilliant insight. I’m asking because my child has already been in communication and just wanted to hear from other parents/kids that have gone thru the process there and get some insight from them.
It probably depends on the sport. My child is on a larger team. The coach’s policy was any ‘recruited’ athlete could not be cut freshman year. I don’t know if that’s the policy across the board. Your son should ask the coach if he holds try-outs in the fall or if all freshman make the team. It’s possible the coach accepts everyone on the team but not everyone travels with the team.
In our case there was an official visit and frequent communications from the coach. But it’s definitely a handshake agreement without an NLI. I agree with @retiredfarmer that the coach can give you the best guidance. The coach we were dealing with told my daughter exactly what she should expect in terms of how deep she would go into league and NCAA championships.