Recruiting at non-NESCAC LACs

We went through the recruiting process a few years ago with our D, so are pretty familiar with how recruiting works at the NESCAC schools and other LACs with super low acceptance rates (coaches submitting application to admissions for an official pre-read, request to apply ED in exchange for coaches support).

It worked out well for her but it is now time for Round 2 with our S20. He, however, is looking at D3 schools/LACs with much higher acceptance rates like the ones in the Northwest (Lewis & Clark, UPS, Willamette, Whitman, etc.) and we were wondering if the process is any different at these schools.

Because the acceptance rates are so much higher, can the coaches pretty much tell whether a candidate will be admitted without going through a pre-read? Because coaches support might not be as critical in a school with a > 50% acceptance rate compared to one with a 10% acceptance rate, would ED be less of a requirement? Bypassing ED would allow us to compare aid offers which would be nice. In our D’s case, this wasn’t an issue since none of the schools she was interested in offered merit aid anyway.

Would appreciate feedback from anyone who had has specific experience going thru the recruiting process for these schools. TIA!

Some coaches can, some can’t. It might depend on the sport and how long the coach has been at the school. At my daughter’s school (STEM, with a high admission rate), the coach was new and didn’t have a clue on which students would be accepted to engineering or chemistry. The ‘pre-read’ was very simple and they got back to the coach that a recruit was likely to be admitted based on an unofficial transcript with the ACT score on it. Two years in a recruit announced she was committed, but didn’t get accepted academically. I don’t think the coach had enough experience to know that by looking at a questionnaire with minimal academic stats. I think a Yale or Brown coach might be very good at it, especially if he’s been there 10 years.

You might be able to get the pre-read but still not have to apply ED

One consideration is how competitive the team/program is for recruiting, separate from admissions. My D3 kid’s experience was that, for the top ten program he was talking with (but did not ultimately get a roster spot offer), recruits were expected to apply ED to lock in the recruiting commitment, even though the acceptance rate was in the 50% range. Otherwise, the coaches don’t know whether they need to keep talking to other players in that position to be sure the team’s recruiting needs are met. I mentioned this on a recent thread about whether pre-reads are always necessary for recruiting to admissions safeties. Our experience was that a formal pre-read may not be necessary at schools with higher acceptance rates because the coach/admissions interviewer can give a well informed assessment that admissions is secure. By the time my kid’s list had been narrowed down, admissions officers were telling us his projected merit award, no one was worried about whether he’d get in, just whether we’d have enough merit to allow us to afford our full pay status.

@Lemonlee - This and similar topics were discussed pretty thoroughly in a thread I began at the end of July. If you haven’t seen it, check it out here:

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/2151983-can-pre-read-be-unnecessary-or-too-positive-p1.html

I think you’ll find some good helpful nuggets of information/insight there . . . as I did.

Best of luck!

@roots60 Not sure how I missed your other thread but it does indeed touch on a lot of what I was trying to get at and was very helpful.

@twoinanddone @Midwestmomofboys Thanks so much for sharing your experience and advice about other considerations! Super helpful and helps to clarify some of the interactions he’s had with a few of the coaches so far,

We have a teammate (swimming) that was looking at several these schools this past year. Family was chasing merit to some extent, and was not willing to commit until they had an idea of merit.

Applications were all regular decision, official visits were done both in the fall and during spring break, and a final decision was made in late April after they had all acceptances and merit aid offers on the table.

@Lemonlee My D19 looked at a few of these schools and she knew going in that her times were very good for the teams (swimming). The schools value demonstrated interest so we visited, toured, and met the coaches. We loved everything about the LAC vibe and low-key recruiting. I don’t think that the coaches have any admissions pull and they were very upfront about that. The good news is that you can apply whenever you see fit. But if the sport is very competitive or limits the number of athletes on the team, you’ll need to ask the coach directly about your son’s spot on the team.
In my D’s case, we needed to compare merit offers so she applied EA.

Thanks @Acersaccharum! My suspicion was that the coaches wouldn’t have much admissions pull so I appreciate the confirmation. I’ll make sure he asks the question about whether he would be guaranteed a spot if he is accepted. He is planning to apply EA, so hopefully will get results earlier and be done with this whole process by January.