Hi, I’m not really sure how to look at Pre Reads.
In an Ivy,NESCAC or Patriot are pre reads just a way to see where you fit in their pool of athletes academically? If a Coach has 10 or so athletes at the same academic level will he then go down the list to see which he feels is the best athlete or is their a high chance of getting recruited if you pre read well?
Thanks in advance!
The pre-read is how the coach determines if you are potentially within range academically and is required before the OV offer is extended. Once you have met this standard, the coach will be looking for the best athlete he can get. There is not much incentive for a coach to favor a very high academic recruit over a better athlete (who has met the academic standard) other than keeping the team AI high (Ivy)
As said above, coaches want the best athletes but know they have to get them through admissions, so strong academics are important at academically selective schools.
In the Ivies recruited athletes as a group have to be within a certain distance (one standard deviation) of the student body as a whole on Academic Index. In Ivy football there are four AI bands with so many players allowed in each band, and the limited slots in the lower bands are generally going to be reserved for star players.
There is a high chance of being recruited if the pre read was positive at schools in any of the three conferences you mentioned. Remember though, that recruited is not the same thing as offered. There are stages to this process. The fact that you have received a positive pre read means that you have passed the first stage. You are academically recruitable, and the coach is intrigued enough by your potential to have checked. It’s the first big step, but there are several more to go yet.
Also, in the Ivy League, and if I remember correctly the NESCAC, the “pre reads” going on now are really just the coaches or someone in the athletic office taking a look at your numbers to see if you are within range for what they can recruit. I don’t mean to make light of that process, and at many places where the coaches/admissions people have worked together over a number of years, these early pre reads can be very accurate. But a “real” pre read, meaning an actual look at your stats by an admissions officer, at least in the Ivy, can not be done by rule until July 1 before your senior year and before you have that pre read, the coaches will ask for all of your test scores, senior schedule and an unofficial transcript. I seem to recall a couple NESCAC coaches telling my son that this level review by an admissions official (the NESCAC coaches called it an “academic read”) happened later in the summer/early in the fall, but I am not sure about that since my son did not go that far with the NESCAC schools.
I don’t really remember how the Patriot schools did pre reads, if they do them at all. I do remember sitting next to my son when a Patriot coach asked him for his stats. When my son told him the coach just said, “You’ll be ok”.
In any event, the academic part for my son happened in four distinct phases:1) coach’s pre read, 2) official pre read, 3) offer/accept, 4) application/likely letter.
Thank you for the clarification!
I do still have a way to go then, from what I understand the information is being collected for the July 1 official pre reads.
In D’s case 1-2 years ago with several NESCACs, prereads told the coach whether he/she needed to use a tip or a slot. Things may have changed, but we were specifically told this by one NESCAC coach.
I have 3.8 gpa, 1850 SAT, and took like 5-6 AP classes. The coaches at universities like NYU, William and Mary, Brandeis, etc wanted to do a pre-read on me. Do you think i will pass?
Ilovefood777,
I actually received this in an email about a year ago:
“On an end note, the sterling reputation of NYU makes it a very challenging school to be admitted into. We therefore look to recruit student-athletes with a cumulative high school GPA of 3.4 and higher. In addition, you should have a score of at least 600 on each section of the SAT’s, which is equivalent to a 27 on the ACT.”
The other schools don’t have wrestling so I have no idea.
FLWrestler123, did you have to give the nyu coach your transcript, sat scores, etc? i gave nyu and my other colleges my academic records for pre read i have not heard back from them yet. I’m freaking out right now.
Ilovefood777, I have heard back from some but not others. Actually, come to think of it, I have not heard back from one D3 yet and most told me they really can’t work on it until August 1. That was from a coach in the NESCAC and in the Centennial conf.
What I posted to you was from the first email I was ever sent from NYU just to let know recruits what the school needs from the athletes.
I have tried to follow up quite a bit and I don’t think it reflects negatively at all so you might want to email or call.
Heard from a NESCAC coach that after a pre-read my D is “on the bubble” but that the coach would support D through admissions as best she can. Also told her that ED is a good option if school is her top choice. D has a 3.7 with 3 APs taken and 3 more her Sr year. She also has a 31 on the ACT. What more do these schools want?
Did the coach clarify if she is on the bubble athletically or academically? Sometime coaches want more recruits than they can support through admissions and they will negotiate for an extra spot (often by giving up a slot the following year).
On the bubble academically. There is no problem athletically based on the pre-read response
@mcr976, I would be concerned by a coach using language like “on the bubble” and “as best she can”. I understand that all coaches at serious academic schools waffle a bit about admissions but even so that sounds like a coach being intentionally vague. If this is a school your daughter is interested in, I would suggest to her that she try and get more specific information from the coach by asking questions like “What can I do at this point, either athletically or academically, to improve my odds of success?” “What percentage of students with stats similar to mine that you have supported in the past few years have been admitted successfully?” Things like that.