For those of you have had pre reads from
The admissions office as athletes requested by the coaches who are recruiting you, how long did those take.
We went through what appeared to be a series of academic vetting for our son at his LAC.
Here’s how it went for us:
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initial pre-read to continue being recruited? Literally found out the following day that he had the green light once he sent the transcript/SAT’s.
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Once he indicated that the school was an ED possibility, we provided all of the additional info. they needed and within about 2-3 weeks total, the coach contacted him with the pre-read results.
To us it seemed like a super fast process. It helps that I’m also a coach, and knew what sorts of things they would need. Be prepared with a print out of test scores, senior year schedule when available, final junior transcript, school profile…all important in the process.
Hope that helps! We found that even providing a junior mid-year transcript and first SAT score was great to get the ball rolling when looking last spring. Coaches were impressed when that info. was readily available at the first meeting.
Good luck!
Oh ok. Yeah I meant the read following the preread since the coach specified gpa/sat requirements to me but he did not get me checked by admissions yet. He called it an “early read”. Good to hear that it took only about 2 weeks. So based on the read will I know whether I will get in? like with the coach’s slot of course.
The decision to admit is made solely by the admissions department. Pre-reads, in my experience, typically occur during the recruiting process (junior into senior year). In my experience a coach does a pre-read then the coach works with Admissions to confirm the pre-read. This is done to inform the coach of the student athletes chances and influences their decision to continue the recruiting process. Depending on the timing and the school, if a students stats are strong enough a “likely letter” might be sent by Admissions to the student indicating that the student has a high likelihood of admission if they apply under certain circumstances. These likely letters typically go out before ED deadlines in the fall. If the schools you are looking at use a band system to assess students and assign slots then the coach may be able to use an available slot to influence Admissions. The coach in Div III has no final say once an application has been sent and Admissions makes the final decision. You may get an indication from the coach that all signs are positive based on conversations with Admissions but you will hear about admit status from Admissions directly when everyone else does.
The official pre-read can, sometimes, take a little longer depending on the time of year. The admissions department liaison was traveling when DS submitted transcripts, so it took a few weeks, but the coach told us that would be the case.
I would vote for two weeks for an admissions pre-read or what @Indianmamba4 called an “early read.” The initial kicking of the tires – or what @Indianmamba4 called a pre-read – shouldn’t take more than a second. Most coaches are able to do that themselves, although some seek input from an athletic department admissions coordinator.
If you don’t hear back from the coach within two weeks, I would suggest an email to the coach to ask about the status of the pre-read. Sometimes coaches just don’t get back to the recruit if the pre-read doesn’t go well, and you want to make sure admissions has given positive feedback before applying ED.
School have different requirements for admissions pre-reads, as @Cornellian88 suggests. Some don’t need the “unofficial, official test scores,” they rely on the applicant to provide the number. Virtually all want to see the unofficial transcript because it reveals much more than a single test score (achievement in difficult classes). We did have one school that kept coming back for print-outs of ACT and subject test scores, but of course, you can print that off the website so it shouldn’t take long to assemble. It can take some time to get the unofficial copy of the transcript from high schools, especially coming into the summer months when they are spending their time getting official senior transcripts off to college and then going on vacation. That is one thing you should request no later than early June, for sure.
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@gointhruaphase Although I have a low gpa of 3.2 my SAT of 1450 is high. The early read should be finished by next Monday. Based on the preread he told me I was a competitive applicant and that he would offer me full support in admissions(Slot) when he was recruiting he was looking for athletes with 3.0+ and between 1300-1600 SAT . Do you feel I would have a good chance of getting in? another athlete he recruited with a 3.75 gpa and 1370 SAT got in.
None of us have any idea whether or not you will get in. While the coach may not know for sure either, he or she has a far better idea than we do. So, in this process, you want to listen very carefully to what the coach says and what he or she doesn’t say. Ask very specific questions. You have been specific with us, asking: “Do you feel I would have a good chance of getting in?” Why don’t you ask the coach this specific question. Ask how many supported athletes with your scores and GPA have been admitted. Similarly, ask how many supported athletes with your scores and GPA were denied.
You also should have a back up plan at the ready, in the event that you don’t get in.
This is why my D applying to a D3 LAC did not announce til she got the letter in December. D did specifically ask the coach “how many athletes with my stats did not get accepted after a positive preread by admissions” You need to ask the question. Also ask the coach if he has had student athletes rejected and what their stats were. And as @goingthruaphase says, have a back up plan. My D had 2 schools that would support her through ED2 if ED1 fell through. She also had a backup plan in case she did not get in ED anywhere. Good luck
I agree 100% with @gointhruaphase and @mamom. Have the backup plan. We did for a couple of reasons: 1) in case he didn’t get in and 2) in case th FA offer wasn’t what we were hoping it would be. Ask the questions suggested to the coach - I’m sure you won’t be the first kid to ask them. But, as others have said, keep in mind that Admissions always has the final decision. Also, I think it helps to know how long the coach has been at the school.
A newer coach may not have the feel and rapport with Admissions that a coach who’s been there 20 years does. While we were optimistic for our son, we didn’t believe it until the acceptance was posted from Admissions. Good luck!!!
Ok so admissions told the coach that I was a competitive applicant but there was concern about a C I received my junior year. He said overall it was a pretty good early read and he should know more over the next 2-3 weeks. At least my grades for this mid-year report are pretty good as I have a 4.0 weighted GPA. The mid-year report has not yet been taken into account. Hoping someone can decipher this language and let me know if I should be optimistic.
Also he told me has had athletes with under a 3.5 on his team.
Sounds like you have a good chance but it’s not a slam dunk. Since it’s RD they/he may be hedging their bets based on what they encounter during the normal,application review process. Hopefully your mid year report will address their concerns. You may want to clarify his previous remarks about utilizing a slot. Since you don’t reference it here it may mean his initial hope of using an open slot might be hampered by what they saw.