Recruited Athlete without likely letter

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>Hello. The Coach of my particular sport says that if I'm admitted I'm on the team and stood by the fact that they aren't an admissions officer so couldn't give me an actual answer.</p>

<p>However, my application was not completed until my teacher evaluations were submitted early in February. The coach said that they weren't going to request a likely letter due to its proximity to the regular evaluation of prospective students. The coach explained the recruiting process as a two-part process: pass the coach's test than the admissions office and said that I've passed the coach's test.</p>

<p>When I had asked an admissions officer if I could expect a likely letter, they said that athletic LL's are only sent out if the athlete has a deadline to respond to other coaches and the coach submits a request. So I'm asking do I have the same level of support in admissions given this scenario. This sport is a non-helmet sport, but obviously one of the most important sports to them. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you very much. </p>

<p>PS: One of my essays was about a novel that I wrote if that's important, which apparently is after reading many posts on this website.</p>

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<p>If you’re recruited, you’re recruited. I don’t see how the fact that you didn’t get an LL matters considering your coach already explained why you weren’t going to get one. It’s always best not to get your hopes up so that when the time comes for decisions you don’t get completely shattered if you don’t get accepted, but at the same time, it’s not like you don’t have much of a chance of getting in. If your SAT scores and GPA are decent enough, being recruited should be enough to give you a very good chance of acceptance.</p>

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<p>^absolutely incorrect. Without a LL you are treated the same as every other RD applicant. Id suggest taking your questions to the athletic recuiting forum.</p>

<p>What the coach has conveyed is the definition of a recuited walk-on. In other words, if you get it you are on the team.</p>

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<p>Ah, my bad. I looked it up and it looks like your chances aren’t nearly as good as a full-on recruit’s chances would be. Keep your head up though. You’ll be fine no matter what you end up doing. And we’ll see what happens in 2 weeks and 6 days!</p>

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<p>The coach said that the admissions office knows that I will be on the team if admitted. Does this really change anything?</p>

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<p>^^ “If admitted” is the key term in that phrase. Although the coach has given Admissions your name, because you did not get a likely letter, your acceptance hinges on your academic potential not your athletic abilities. You are now competing for a slot at Harvard on the same footing as a non-athlete. See: </p>

<p>[Tier</a> One AthleticsIvy League Likely Letters - Tier One Athletics](<a href=“http://www.tier1athletics.org/2012/07/18/ivy-league-likely-letters/]Tier”>Ivy League Likely Letters - Tier One Athletics)
“If you’re being recruited as an athlete in the Ivy League, the Likely Letter is the ultimate goal. With an Ivy League Likely Letter in hand you can finally exhale and be confident where you’re going to end up. Although the term ‘likely’ sounds sort of vague, make no mistake, it’s as solid as a regular admission letter.”</p>

<p>[In</a> Their Own League: The Ivy League Recruiting Process](<a href=“http://www.berecruited.com/resources/recruiting-advice/the-ivy-league-recruiting-process]In”>http://www.berecruited.com/resources/recruiting-advice/the-ivy-league-recruiting-process)
“If a coach says he/she can’t get you a likely letter, do not panic. Each coach submits a list to the admissions office of athletes the coach wishes to be a part of their program. Admission officers take each coaches’ list into serious consideration, but Ivy coaches do not have as much pull in the admission office as other DI schools.”</p>

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<p>Yeah it sounds to me like he’s saying if you get in you’re on the team but if he really needed you, you probably would have gotten a likely. It’s up to your academics is what I would say.</p>

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<p>^^ Yes, that’s the way I see it too. </p>

<p>When Harvard returned to SCEA, many recruited athletes – the ones the coaches really want and are pushing for — apply early and receive a likely letter after October 1st and hear about a decision by mid-December. Then, in January, coaches create lists of students they are also interested in and submit those lists to the Admissions Office. The coach is basically telling the Admissions Office, “I would like to have anyone on this list that you think is academically qualified.” Depending upon the sport, and a given year, I imagine that a coaches list could contain 10 to 20 to 50 names of students, anyone of whom the coach would love to have, but every student must first make it past the transcript, course rigor, GPA, ACT/SAT, teacher recommendations, guidance counselor’s SSR and essay hurdle. It’s not impossible, but like everything else in the admissions process, it is very subjective.</p>

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<p>The Ivy League has a gentleman’s agreement that gives each sport at each school a set number of admission slots. Football has the most. The coach can enroll 30 recruits on the average per year, calculated on a 4-year rolling basis (in other words, if they admit 37 football players and 33 enroll, they can enroll a total of 87 during the next four years).</p>

<p>Athletes with admissions slots can get in with lesser academic credentials than the other students. Other than football, the athletes as a whole must average no less than one standard deviation from the other students at the school as calculated by the Academic Index (AI). Football has a more complicated series of AI bands for their 30 recruits ([Varsityedge.com:</a> Athletic Recruiting at the Ivy League](<a href=“http://www.varsityedge.com/nei/varsity.nsf/main/athletic+recruiting+at+the+ivy+league]Varsityedge.com:”>http://www.varsityedge.com/nei/varsity.nsf/main/athletic+recruiting+at+the+ivy+league)).</p>

<p>If you don’t have an admissions slot, then you won’t get preferential treatment from admissions as an athlete. You will be considered in the same pool as all of the other applicants. The coach isn’t allowed any further pull for athletes, beyond his or her allocated number of admissions slots.</p>

<p>I can’t guarantee that you haven’t been given an admissions slot, and I hate to say this to you, but it sounds like you haven’t been given one. The coach would tell you if he had given you a slot. I’m guessing that the coach is telling you that he or she will be happy to have you on the team if you get in, but isn’t going to be able to help you get in.</p>

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<p>sounds like the coach might have been able to be a little more specific in any case. that might allow the op/athlete to allocate his efforts most efficiently.</p>

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<p>The coach said that admissions knows that I will be on the team if admitted so I think it’s a little different. She stood by the “if admitted” from first contact because admissions is brutal. What are your thoughts on this? Thank you.</p>

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<p>Even then, it will help, but not a whole lot. Good luck though! We’ll both need it.</p>

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<p>hi AR.<br>
I will just speculate here based on my read of this thread. I have no particular prior insider understanding.</p>

<p>I would guess that the coaches are guaranteed a starting squad. I would think that they have a quota which covers starters and maybe some of the extra players. i think that the status of the sport and the schools prior skill at that sport would have a bearing. it would seem that there is some consistency over time to a team’s ability.</p>

<p>i tend to agree with BD that the coach has limited authority. i think that it can only help that you are known to them. on the other hand i think that it would also be reasonable that the school would like to be somewhat secretive in its dealings and that they prefer to downplay athlete admissions - ie not tell you what is really going on.</p>

<p>goes without saying but i think that the larger the role the coach would anticipate for you, and also the closer your stats to the average admit, then the better your chances.</p>

<p>my advice is hope for the best and expect the worst , to borrow an expression. so keep an eye on your other schools as well. </p>

<p>wishing you luck, :slight_smile: :)</p>

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<p>There is an athletic recruitment forum on this board that you may want to take your question to.</p>

<p>That being said, if you’ve not been given an admissions slot, the coach is not permitted to help you with admission, unless Harvard decides to cheat on the athletic recruitment agreement, and I really don’t think they do that. There is a fixed number of slots per team, and admissions officers in the Ivy League have said at times that they bring on athletes reluctantly, having to turn down applicants superior in many other ways to make room for athletes.</p>

<p>I think that the coach told you that admissions is brutal because admissions is brutal. It’s a tough door to get past without a hook like a coach’s slot, or you being the daughter of Bill Gates, or by being extraordinary in every way conceivable. I think that she is also telling you that she is not going to be able to give you any support with admissions.</p>

<p>There’s really no reason for the coach not to tell you that you’ve been given an admissions slot unless you haven’t been given one. They don’t have to play coy. If the coach wants you, admissions will preread the barebones of your application to determine if you are academically qualified. That’s when you are given a Likely Letter, so the coach can nail you down to keep you from going elsewhere.</p>

<p>This could mean the following:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>She could have her athletes already committed for the class (not unusual, as many apply SCEA, and then commit).</p></li>
<li><p>She could have other likely letters out, and if those applicants don’t commit, you could be given an admissions slot.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Again, I hate saying this to you, but most likely, this means that you are not one of her top recruits, but she would be happy to have you if you do get accepted. </p>

<p>This is an old game that I’ve seen Ivy coaches play, as well as coaches at other non-scholarship schools. If they feel that an applicant might get in without their help, there is nothing stopping them from recruiting them and getting them excited about their school, because you might become a contributor, and if you don’t, you didn’t cost her an admissions slot. A friend’s son showed up at the opening day of a Division 3 football team’s football camp to discover that there were 9 fullbacks at practice in his class. All thought they had been recruited, but most had gotten in on their academic merits (the school had an SAT average of 1600 or so, so admission wasn’t that difficult).</p>

<p>I think it’s fair for you to ask the coach how many admission slots she has, and how many athletes have committed. You might not get the truth, however.</p>

<p>If you do get accepted, and you feel that my guess is correct, and that the coach didn’t think you were athletically strong enough to be given an admissions slot, that could be a sign that she sees you as a marginal prospect. If so, and if playing your sport is very important to you, you may want to consider a school that recruited you more aggressively, or one where you are reasonably certain that you can play.</p>

<p>I’m sorry to give you news like this, but I’ve seen some coaches mislead a lot of kids over the years. </p>

<p>Good luck with all of this.</p>

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<p>One of my daughter’s freshman year roommates was on the crew team; one of her current roommates (a different girl) is also on the crew team. In both cases, each girl was actively recruited by the coach and received a likely letter prior to their acceptance letter. My take-away: Harvard’s crew coach already used up her allotted slots on other students who she felt more strongly about. Even if you are accepted, you may discover that the coach’s allegiance is to the student’s they have actively pushed for and committed to. I know of a baseball player who was in a similar situation. The coach assured him that he would be on the team “if admitted.” When the student was admitted, the coach was good on his word and the boy joined the baseball team – but he sat on the bench for two years because the coach was committed to his recruited players, as those students could have easily switched schools if they were not given sufficient playing-time. After spending two years on the bench, the student quit the team. Bottom line: Whatever schools you are admitted to, if being on a crew team is really important to you, you need to find a coach that will commit to giving you time in the boat.</p>

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<p>with all due respect to Gibby, who is indeed very knowledgeable, the above seems skewed in perspective. If a walk-on proves to be a stellar athlete, no coach in their right mind would restrict playing time. the best players play. Period. </p>

<p>To the OP, your status as someone whose name is on a list submitted by the coach is likely to be the same as anyone else with a strong EC. The admissions dept is aware but they are also aware you have not been selected for a LL. Like other accomplished kids (music, dance, juggling etc.) your supplemental talents will be weighted in light of the class as a whole. If 10 jugglers apply, they will take the strongest student of those 10. The team’s needs have already been met and another lacrosse, squash, baseball player might be nice but not necessary…</p>

<p>Best of luck to all</p>

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<p>Also, you should read the athletic threads but they will confirm what’s already been said here</p>

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<p>i would think that the coach would have to weigh his/her options. the committment, and relationship with a previously ‘promised’ athlete would have a bearing on the coach’s credibility, team’s spirit, and future recruiting. I don’t think anyone would kick Wayne Gretzky off the hockey team ( I am old), but in closer situations I think that the ‘best’ thing and the ‘right’ thing for a coach may oppose.</p>

<p>just addressing the last couple posts here, and not the matter at hand.</p>

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<p>Just looking for information since I am a verbal (athlete) commit to a top school</p>

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<p>Sorry, I found a link thanks!</p>