@OldbatesieDoc as this thread is titled ‘Bowdoin…’ and we are now on thread 79, can you kindly remind me if your final heeding is Bowdoin, and directed at a particular sport/coach, or another NESCAC referenced in the long thread, thank you.
Bowdoin in general, as the women and man I posted about originally all played different sports.
Admitted ED1, thankfully.
So glad it worked out for you! Anyone who it didn’t work out for, please post.
@OldbatesieDoc I’m not sure what your intent is with maligning Bowdoin. It just seems as though your child didn’t get into a selective school where they don’t want to guarantee tons of spots to ED athletes. I think this is probably the case for most elite d3 schools, not just Bowdoin. The real message seems to keep your options open whether you’re applying to Bowdoin or not imho.
Congrats! @bigfandave
Thank you @wisteria100 !
@jcdy73 I would have been fine if she had been rejected outright. That’s what was really damaging.
And if you read the entire, very long thread, other coaches were more forthcoming about how poor the odds were, and with my DDs 34 ACT and 97 average, leadership and fabulous tecommedations, it seemed more likely than it was. So it’s a long cautionary tale about D3 recruiting at highly selective schools in general, and Bowdoin in particular.
The article is somewhat mistitlrd and directed at Bowdoin. Having just gone through a heavy recruiting season which included the top 5 NESCACs, Centennials, Ivies, Claremonts and the Midwest LACs, we heard it all…from written emails of “you’re 90-95% in if you go ED1l”, to “raise your SAT 10-20 points and you’re in”, to “you’re my #1 overall recruit and I’ll do all I can” to “that high school grade you got in your So year means I cannot advocate for you in admissions” to “I’d love you on my team but I just need to fill other positions first” to “you will be accepted if you apply” to “you will get full support whether ED 1 or 2 or RD” to “submit your full app now non-binding and we can flip it to ED if we get the thumbs up from Admissions”, and more.
Bowdoin, of ALL the schools was the most straightforward and clear cut process of them all. From Overnights at other schools with drugs to other recruits acting like idiots, S saw it all, with nothing but warm and cordial behavior from Bowdoin students. From Coaches who had to be pressed hard and then harder when push came to shove to go back and do another, stronger and more thorough pre-read where they once said AdCom said “you’re all good” only to find out they really wanted Sr Semester grades and ED2 instead of ED1, and those Coaches who were pressed to go back only to get a thumbs down after saying all is a OK. And we heard, “ I’m sorry even with my full support which I’ll give you, I have little pull” from very well-tenured Coaches. The bottom line is every coach and staff has their own means of working with AdComs and with recruits. Start early, know what questions to ask and keep a record of your communications. Make all phone Contacts accurate in your phone. Be responsive. Share updates with video. Have an interview even if off Campus. Start early, no later than April Junior year. Scan the rosters for possible departing Sr. holes you can fill. Make thank you calls when you’re all set on your first choice. Bowdoin, again, was a smoothe process and I’m sure your mileage may vary depending on the Sport and who’s running the show.
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@bigfandave, thanks for the informative post. My fifth is starting the recruited athlete process as a sophomore (emails, clinics/camps) and I found your insight simultaneously encouraging and intimidating. I guess my daughter’s biggest issue is sifting the legitimate emails from the semi-spam, the authentic interest from the feigned, the actual pull from the counterfeit. Of those responses you catalogued is there any correlation of particular comments, keywords or phrases to actual, meaningful coach-help on admissions? Secondly, and also to anyone else here with perspective, my daughter is a very-good-but-not-D1-great lacrosse player so we’re wondering how deep they get into the recruiting class at DIII before any significant influence evaporates. I get that the top stud gets max weight but what about the third or fourth? She’s a straight-A, intense student so she doesn’t need a miracle, but in the Bowdoin category schools (to which she is drawn) there’s nothing remotely assured. Just hoping for a thumb on the scale.
@bigfandave Thanks for your post. S19 is being recruited at some LACs but also has gotten responses from some NESCACs that he can run for them if he gets in. Coaches praise his grades and ECs and basically say they think he can get in on his own and they hope he does so they can welcome him onto the team. So, in those cases, no support. Bowdoin is one of them. So, we flew out from the midwest and visited and he interviewed with admissions and has kept the coach updated. What I’m most glad to hear in your post is your positive experience with the kids at Bowdoin. S19 has visited a few schools and didn’t feel like he fits with the team with the drinking or drug culture he picked up on. And sometimes the kids just weren’t very nice. I was surprised since XC is typically the “nice kid” sport here in Illinois. I didn’t expect it to be hard for him to enjoy any of the college teams.
I really hope he gets into Bowdoin. It’s all on him and not the coach. Fingers crossed.
@OCDaddy I would have to add that sifting through emails is a good problem to have…assuming you’ve already identified 10-20 schools that she’d consider attending, pick up the phone and call the D3 Coach, after sending a return reply with interest that’s unique about that achools’s academics and/or programs, a video or resume, academic top-line stats, and leave a phone number. Have her do it, not you, of course. Then call in 3-5 days. In season contact can be more challenging. Work your way up to Head Coach as quickly a second possible in learning his/her interest not just position or recruiting coordinator coach. Then keep a decent pulse. Then plan a visit. Then meet with a few team members. Then hope for an overnight. Then have an on or off campus alum interview. Then figure out where you’d really be satisfied attending and narrow down your top ED schools. Then ask “do I have your full support and what does that mean exactly and how might that compare to any other recruits you’re looking at, and when can Admissions review my academics?” Then ask for the feedback if it’s specific. No special language. Be aware of new coaching staff who may be less familiar with nuances in process. Each sport can have its own as well.
As @bigfandave alludes, these situations are really dynamic, so what a coach says in August may differ from what the same coach will say in October. Or January. Recruits changes their preferences (i.e., negative pre-read, bad OV) and this shifts all the pieces for the coach (especially in position sports) who in turn change their preferences.
My sense is that most coaches try to be ethical and honest, yet have to keep their options alive. Imagine an NFL draft in which the players have to pick one team before it starts without knowing what other draftees are doing…
It’s lousy when you end up lower in the pecking order and even worse if you don’t know you are that far down.
Thanks @bigfandave for your info. My daughter sounds a lot like @OCDaddy in that she’s a 2021 lacrosse player who is capable of D1 but really wants top D3. We’re from Maryland where most of her peers are focused on Ivy or Duke/Vandy etc but she really loves many of the D3 schools like Bowdoin. She’s already gotten a good number of coaches responding to her outreach and saying great things about her film, so we plan to keep the dialog going. Of course, it will get harder if we have 20 or more coaches to maintain dialog with - how often was your child calling them once junior/senior year rolled around? Or was it mostly emails with a few calls to clarify? I see that you suggest calling the coaches but I’m not sure they’re open to that sophomore year (even if it’s “allowed”) because they’re focused on juniors right now. She will be attending a number of camps/events this year with lots of NESCAC coaches so I think that will help get the coaches more familiar with her. Every sport is different but I think with lacrosse that’s key.
Did you notice a big change in frequency of coach communication come fall of junior year?
I’m happy to PM with you or anyone as I do not believe the title of this thread serves its present purpose, nor is it generally accurate as I’ve referenced previously. The questions presented presently are general to…”The Athletic Recruiting Process…Personal Experiences and Recommendarions”. Thanks.
Although the thread has morphed beyond athletic recruiting at Bowdoin into a broader discussion of athletic recruiting at colleges in general, the accuracy of the original postings by @OldBatesiedoc was spot on in terms of experience with Bowdoin athletic recruiting…an experience unfortunately shared by others and which provides a helpful and circumspect backdrop against which to consider applying ED.
Bottom line @lifelesson3 and others is that “soft-support” is ineffective and unreliable. One is not being “recruited” for admission via athletics without 100% full support. This is relatively common knowledge. It is not Bowdoin, nor any other campus-specific attribute. So let’s call it: “Prospective ED Athlete Applicants: Beware of Soft-Support”. I am sorry about your experiences and the “lessons” afforded I am sure were painful, and hopefully, resulted in a bruise and not a broken bone.
I have no direct experience with Bowdoin so I can’t speak to their recruiting but I will say that some coaches are more forthcoming than others about what level of support they’re offering and some seem to play more games than others with the slots they do have. D3 recruiting is always a delicate dance in that even with a positive pre-read coaches can’t guarantee admission. That said (and I’m not specifically addressing Bowdoin here) if I were hearing of multiple kids who thought they were being actively recruited and had positive pre-reads from admissions but weren’t admitted I’d be concerned.
I disagree with the caution about schools with multiple favorable pre-reads that do not translate into admittance. A favorable pre-read simply qualifies the recruit for the coach’s further consideration.
Of the multiple NESCAC coaches recruiting my child, none suggested a positive pre-read represented support of any kind. However, they all indicated a positive pre-read was necessary to continue the recruiting process.
With just two available slots (and the number of slots varies by sport), a coach will not submit just two pre-reads to Admissions; rather, the coach might submit a half dozen, accounting for negative outcomes… or favorable outcomes where the recruit may choose another program. Just like recruits, the coach will cast a wide net.
Thus, it should not be surprising when a favorable pre-read does not translate into an offer of support; in fact, it is inevitable that many recruits will obtain favorable pre-reads without obtaining support or admittance.
With a positive pre-read and the coach’s full support, admission is extremely likely but still not guaranteed. With a positive pre-read but not full support, the recruit assumes greater risk. In our experience, multiple NESCAC coaches were very clear about this.
While Bowdoin was my son’s first choice, and while he obtained a favorable pre-read, he would have applied elsewhere had he not received the coach’s full support. In our case, the Bowdoin coach was very clear about the level of support being offered and the likely outcome, as were the other NESCAC coaches we dealt with. Familiarizing oneself with the process and asking direct questions will lessen the chance of surprise and disappointment (the CC Athletic Recruiting forum offers great guidance on the process).
The more things change. The more they stay the same. The partying on recruit weekends is nothing new. And more about kids than a school culture. Imho.
My personal recruit weekend at Middlebury was my first introduction to grain alcohol and grape soda. And the coach went from very excited beforehand to “i can only do so much”! He obviously didn’t think my dance routine to the Rick James medley was that great. And his last name was Heineken (not kidding).
And my Colby weekend was highlighted by the starting QB and host. “It’s a really good school if you don’t want to meet girls for the next four years”. Or that’s what I heard anyway. That came off the list too. No pre read necessary. And obviously a dumb thing for me to believe. But the party for us was great too. They hadn’t won a game in a few years I recall, would have been fun to play.
Wondering if the parties were part of the test, now that I think about it. Maybe a cautionary tale for future recruits to small schools
Ended up applying to a couple of d1 schools based on the applications sitting in gc’s office because they looked nice. Two weeks as walk on led to a shoulder dislocation and a walk off. No wonder they didn’t recruit me.