<p>Over the summer, I reached out to a bunch of coaches. My top choice is Penn, and the most contact I've had was a call from one of the coaches. I told him that I definitely would be applying ED regardless of the circumstances. He asked for my school profile, GPA, test scores, APs, etc. and he told me he forwarded them to Penn admissions. We planned to meet up and talk after my championship summer meet at Pittsburgh, but it never happened. I couldn't find him, and my club team traveled as a team and I had to go before I could seek him out.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I didn't have a good end of the season meet, and I haven't heard from Penn since then. I know my times aren't competitive enough to be a locked-in recruit, as I wasn't offered any OVs, but I recently found out that coaches could support your application even if you weren't a locked-in recruit by listing you as an athlete they would like to have if they could. How many athletes are on this list? Does it really help, or is it just recognition that you would be able to participate on the team, with no bearing on admissions?</p>
<p>Is it worth it for me to pop another quick email to the coaches with an update? I recently found out that I am a National Merit Semi-finalist, and my midterm will be ending in 2 weeks with good grades.</p>
<p>*Here is a brief summary of the academic stuff I sent last summer</p>
<ol>
<li>School profile: private Catholic all-boys school in NJ</li>
<li>GPA (/12.0): *12.0 = A+, 11.0 = A, etc.
-9th grade: 11.2
-10th grade: 11.6
-11th grade: 11.8</li>
<li>Test scores
-SAT: 2310 (780 math, 740 CR, 790 writing)
-SAT Math IIC: 800
-SAT Physics: 780
-SAT US History: 780</li>
<li>AP Scores (All 5's)
-Sophomore: Calc AB, Euro
-Junior: Calc BC, US History, English Language, Physics B</li>
<li>Senior Year Schedule
-AP Latin Vergil, AP Macroeconomics, AP English Lit, AP Art History
-Linear Algebra (post-AP course after all other AP math courses)</li>
<li>High School Transcript
-As and A+s in every course taken /33 including religion, with one A- in AP Physics, which is weighted as an A anyways</li>
</ol>
<p>I would probably not bother. By now, most coaches have already given out their overnight visits to the swimmers they are interested in. The Ivies are looking for swimmers with Junior National times or better. The good news is, your grades and test scores are stellar! You should still have a very good chance of getting into the school of your choice. You can always try as a walk-on if you still want to swim in college. Good luck and I hope it works out for you.</p>
<p>You have nothing to lose at this point, so why not. You can use the National Merit announcement as an excuse to reach out . . . and to reiterate your interest.</p>
<p>limdelbarton,</p>
<p>This is crunch time. You have a lot to offer. Absolutley reach out to Penn, and all the other schools you’ve previosuly made contact with. That would include schools that have returned your calls and emails as well as those that have not. This is not a time to be shy or to hesitate. As Minofrau suggests, reiterate your interest and your recent award. Best of luck!</p>
<p>I agree with the two previous posters. Spots that may have been taken can always open up, either because a recruit changed his mind or wasn’t admitted.</p>
<p>You should really look at some of the highly selective D3s-Midd, Amherst, Williams etc. The OVs are next weekend, it isn’t too late.</p>
<p>I thought D3 couldn’t offer OVs? And I’m going on a recruiting trip to MIT this Thursday, my second choice.</p>
<p>Also thanks for the replies everyone. I decided in the end to shoot the coaches an email after all. I figured it couldn’t hurt either way.</p>
<p>Many D-3 schools have a variant on the Ivies’ OVs. They just don’t pay your way to and from them. They also don’t issue Likely Letters.</p>
<p>The OVs are invited visits with a group of recruits and meetings with the team, coach etc as well as some group activities. You pay to get there, they put you up and give meal tickets.
You also, if recruitable, will find the coach happy to meet with you and arrange for you to stay over with a team member anytime convenient for you to visit. But the travel is on your dime.
Good luck with your D1 schools. If you are borderline d-1 level, you might find yourself highly recruitable for d3 is just my point.</p>
<p>S2 is hitting up every coach again before he hits ED on an application. Of course, I had to tell him I wouldn’t pay if he didn’t : ) He needs to get a few questions answered before hitting “ED”.</p>
<p>I don’t think D3 coaches have that much pull other than getting a pre-read from admissions. I could be wrong and leave that to fenwaysouth.</p>
<p>**I don’t think D3 coaches have that much pull other than getting a pre-read from admissions. I could be wrong and leave that to fenwaysouth. **</p>
<p>orangemom12,</p>
<p>I think your playing it very smart to “play your cards”, and get all your questions answered before you submit ED. It is a huge committment, and something I would want to be 100% sure of before hitting that send button.</p>
<p>Our experience was that D3s run the gamut n terms of coaches pull. We had one NESCAC coach tell us that he had a lot of influence with Admissions, and another top D3 school in Virginia claim that he had no influence whatsoever. It just depends on so many factors. The challenge then becomes figuring out what factors are in play for that particular school, and their situation. In our case, there is no doubt in my mind that the NESCAC coach (mentioned above) had a lot of pull as I know he wanted my son in his program badly. Frankly, I’m not sure my son needed a boost from the coach as he probably could have got in without support…but I know he wanted him on his team and he tried too pressure my son. Reading between the lines, I think he was pressuring my son because was one of his top recruits and he wanted to know quickly if he was going to get him or lose him to an Ivy. My gut feeling tells me the VA school is just not going to bend admission as much for an athlete, and that is why the coach tell his recruits this up front. Each schools is well known and presitgous but they have differing policies and tolerances for student athletes. As it turned out, my son decided to go in a different direction with a deep and wide engineering program that offered him more engineering options.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>^^^depends on the school and if a “slot”-like a LL without the L, some coaches will tell you they are putting their full support behind your child, others less forthcoming.The numbers are limited. Most coaches have several “slots” depending on the sport and the school.For example, Amherst swim coach told us 4 “slots” for the men’s and women’s team.</p>
<p>A “tip” means the coach tells admissions they would like to see your child accepted, but it’s all up to admissions. If a left-handed Taiwanese nose-flute player has the same stats as your child, and admissions thinks that candidate will make the environment “more interesting” than your son the 2nd string point guard, the nose-flute-player is IN.</p>
<p>Coaches should tell you how likely a “tip” will be, and the “pre-read” is key. CMU swim coach: “We don’t seem to have much influence down there”-I’ve heard it is similar for MIT-other coaches more optimistic. Went ED Midd with “everything looks good” from the coach for the pre-read. Still crossed our fingers til Dec.</p>
<p>I agree with those who say reach out. You never know what is going on with a coach. If it is the coach I am thinking of, he’ll have no problem speaking frankly. And lucky for you, your stats are all impressive. Not just “locked in recruits” get invited on OVs, also … my daughter had a friend who had to ask for a visit to Penn but got one (then went somewhere else because the spot was guaranteed).</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I sent the Penn coaches an email a couple days ago. They haven’t responded yet so my hopes aren’t too high, but it’s better than nothing.</p>
<p>And wilberry, the coaches I emailed are Coach Mike Schnur and Coach Marc Christian.</p>