<p>I am really confused about our situation and don't know what to do. Please help! </p>
<p>We visited one D3 school and stopped at their Athletic Dept. Coach happened to be available, so we had a tour and talk. Coach said their recruiting standard is such and such, which is higher than my D's PR (But we looked at their records, their best score last year is same as my D's PR, that's why we approached). Coach is nice and shown interested especially when he heard D got into this sport only little over a year ago, and we are confident she will show more progress when the season starts (Track). The coach asked her to send in transcript and test scores. </p>
<p>That was 2-3 weeks ago, and we never heard back. Does this mean coach is not interested in D at all? Obviously we are not the crown jewel that everybody wants to grab, but coach did say if D tries out, she will definitely make the team. So, in our case, shall we pursue this more aggressively and try to get some support from the coach, or we are not recruit-able, should give up this approach completely?</p>
<p>BTW, D's academics should meet their admission standards. But these days, for those competitive schools, there are always more qualified applicants than they can take, so I'd say we only have 50% chance to get in on our own. </p>
<p>Is this her only choice for a school? PR’s are one thing, the coach also will be looking at “averages”. Also, the coach knows that girls can and do slow down in senior year, which, since she is a marginal recruit for them already, he probably isn’t going to throw his support her way. With D3, since there is no money involved, by all means apply and have her try out for the team if she gets in but track teams have a lot of kids on the team and the coach only gets to support so many kids.</p>
<p>I think I understand your dilemna. Your daughter needs the coach to get behind her (possibly ED) app to have a chance for admission otherwise it probably isn’t worth the time. If that is the case, I would have your daughter call the coach and follow up with email…yes I would be aggressive about it if this is one of your daughters top choices.</p>
<p>The meek do not inherit the earth in this recruitment process. Good luck.</p>
<p>When you say his recruiting standard is ‘higher’ than your D’s PR, and she has only been doing the sport for a little over a year - I’m guessing we’re talking about pole vault?</p>
<p>If that’s the case - vaulters are usually ‘one trick ponies’, meaning they can only score points in that single event. Distance kids run track and XC, sprinters and mid-distance kids do relays in addition to their events, etc. So sometimes coaches are less excited about using one of their slots on a vaulter unless she’s at a caliber where she’s going to be money in every meet.</p>
<p>But as fenwaysouth suggests, ask the direct question and you will get the only answer that matters - the coach’s.</p>
<p>If your d is interested in this school, she needs to call the coach and ask…if she sent in transcript and scores, that sounds like a pre-read. I feel that when you send personal info like that, you can expect an answer of some kind. If your daughter is really interested in this school, she should definitely follow up. At the very least, she can gain some valuable insight on how this coach recruits, and if she passes a pre-read she knows she is competitive for admissions. It’s a great chance just to get some exposure at the school and to pick up some knowledge for yourself as you go through the process. And check out the other schools in that conference as well…I would think they are all at a similar level?</p>
<p>Just because a student is qualified to be a recruited athlete does not mean it is a slam dunk in admissions. It all depends on the importance the sport has to the school, how aggressive the coach is in recruiting, how much pull s/he has with admissions as well as how much the student is wanted at that time on the team. My son was a swimmer, and there were schools where his best strokes were already well represented so the coach was not at all interested in him. He already had that covered and was recruiting heavily where he had his needs. The other thing that you don’t know, is what he already has in his pocket or thinks he does. We had an incident where the coach was sooo disinterested. He had just closed the deal on an0other swimmer and we found out shortly only because my son knew he guy. On the college team where he ended up swimming, the coach had a son on the team. You don’t know who is already interested. </p>
<p>So, you need to do your homework, and also have a number of schools on your list. Some will be interested. There will be schools where she will be a pick. Usually, sports have an internet board these days and you can see who is looking where and what the competition is, some idea, any ways.</p>
<p>Varska is right. One D1 coach told her that they almost never “waste”(my word) their recruiting slot on such one event contributor,which i understand.</p>
<p>What I don’t understand is that, since D3 coach does not “guarantee” any addmission, why can they be more “generous” to support more people? It’s not like we are asking a coach to bring us from “disqualified” to “qualifed” group, which I understand will need a lot of coach’s support, we are only asking coach to influnce admission officer to pick this (us) over another qualified applicant. Does this make sense to you? Is that if they “support” you, you will have to be admitted, otherwise, it will damage their “support” image, therefore, they do not want to “casually” support you. Is that the case?</p>
<p>Love the PV, hope it works out for her. I know what you’re saying, SpringShower - but the coach has x number of support slots, and they all have to be academically qualified to pass muster with admissions at a highly selective D3.</p>
<p>It’s really not a casual ‘put in a good word’ scenario. The coach may need 6 athletes to stay competitive in the conference, admissions tells him to submit his list and they all need to be in range academically with the rest of the student body.</p>
<p>But have your D call him - reiterate her enthusiasm for the school and her sport and ask if there’s any way she can improve her chances of being admitted.</p>
<p>SpringShower–again, the coach can only support so many students. They can’t push through their entire team, in any sport. It just doesn’t work that way, especially at the D3 level. It sounds like she will just have to take her chances or look elsewhere for a team that needs her. Like others have said, even kids at the top of their sport don’t always get coaches support through admissions and even kids with the coaches support don’t always get admitted. Each school has their own policy on this. For one school DD is applying to, the coach gets to support ONE candidate, which happens to be our DD. We know of a couple other kids that are applying there and won’t get coaches support and have to take their chances.</p>
<p>I see. Now I understand the game better now. </p>
<p>To illustrate the process, I over simplify it to one single standard -SAT.</p>
<p>If the schools’s admission standard is 2200. People with 2000 would not normally be considered. But with coach’s support, you can get in, that’s where coach is saving all his “slots” for. If you are 2300+, you will get in anyway, so you don’t need coach’s support. The iffy group is the 2200ers, too many people are in this band width, so who gets in is kind of “luck”. I thought that’s where the coach’s “good words” will make a difference. </p>
<p>But I guess, in reality, that’s not how it works.</p>
<p>SpringShower, you are right, but do make sure you know what that school’s recruiting system is. Some schools have slots, and if you don’t get one, the coach still has “support” s/he can offer.</p>
<p>One coach told us that with a certain combination of grades and SAT scores, admissions will allow him to request as many of those athletes as he wants. He doesn’t use up any slots if the athletes he is requesting are, for example, unweighted 4.0 plus 2200 SAT. However, if you are unweighted 3.8 plus 2100 SAT, admissions only allows him to request a small number of those athletes–those are his slots.</p>
<p>Every school is different so you have to ask detailed questions. Ugh, not something a teenager wants to do! In the above case, we were just visiting informally and the coach volunteered all this information because my d has a 3.99 but is teetering on the border of the test score, and he suggested that if she were interested in the school she might retake the SAT just to bump herself over the line.</p>
<p>Schools do have different ways it works. Sometimes the coaches of all the sports have to present the the Athletic Director , who then meets with admissions and they hash it out. So there may be no sure picks. It will depend on how the “cards” are dealt. Make sure you have a number of options.</p>