@HMom16 and All who responded- Big Thanks from our household. I will try to chill a bit. It makes sense what everyone is saying about HYP FA offices putting processing new recruit FA pre-reads on hold until they have doubled down on meeting needs of existing members of the school community.
In fact, doing so speaks well of a school, imho.
I guess as a parent, I just worry that D has done her best, but that the failing will be mine on the financial end. Lot’s of MC families feel this way I imagine.
Again, thanks Everyone and Good Luck to your rising seniors !
I would think also that the top tier P5 D1 recruits being in the category of Olympic Trial qualifying, Olympic dream aspirational since age 8 or 9- that its not the full ride at the D1 that is the priority for financial reasons as much as it is that P5 D1 is the target for best chance to make the US Olympic team later on in their college careers.
There are some great Ivy programs for sure, but there are just a few of those schools whereas in the P5 there are dozens of options.
It is not for the faint of heart! Who would’ve thought it’d be so hard? Our situation is different. We already went through a preread (d3 athlete, top recruit), got generous merit, verbally accepted but now my kid is getting cold feet about ED. She is torn between the opportunity to play at a small D3 vs forgoing her sport and going to a big school which I feel is where he heart is really at. I don’t know how to parent on this one, anyone has the manual?
@stacysmom21 - All I can say is yikes and part of me is glad I am not the only parent most likely losing sleep over the recruiting process. My daughter only wants to do her sport and only wants it to be certain D1 schools/programs and is not open to any D3 options. She is having difficulty coming up with a list of schools to apply to if she is not recruited. Her heart is with her sport and hard to get her to look beyond her sport to other schools and other school experiences.
I am sure most people will tell you that your daughter should decide soon, if she wants to give up the D3 spot - as it will allow another student a chance at the spot with ED.
The deciding part is not easy - but sounds like you have a pretty clear idea of what your daughter really wants in a college. It is hard to say no to what many people would describe as an ideal situation - nice school, pretty much guaranteed acceptance and merit, but as we hear over and over again that you need to pick a school you would be happy attending if you quit your sport too.
Hang in there - I think there is a giant tribe of nervous sport recruit parents out there
@StacysMom21 - no advice but lots of empathy. My daughter is ready to apply ED to her school, but it was hard for me not to second-guess her decision, especially when she was turning down a lot of bigger named schools. They’re only 17 but they’re making decisions that will affect the rest of their lives, so it’s a little bit scary.
@coffeeat3 and @MrsJayBird thank you for the quick response. Yes, lots of second guessing going on here. Im the one who finally convinced her to look at D3’s but now im regretting it. She is a D1 girl in spirit but not athletically there at the moment. I have been on cc for a while but just found this section of the forums so I started a new thread seeking advice so hope to hear from others as well (didnt want to hijeck this thread). For the sake of the coach I do want my d21 to decide soon but she is not ready to throw it away yet. I am losing so much sleep over this!
My kid decided to forego the D3 offer and guaranteed ED spot for a D1 school with the possibility of a walkon spot but no meaningful help with admissions. Its really tough to give up a sure thing like that but they have to go where their heart is.
Slightly different issue, but still an athletic recruiting conundrum so…DS is at the top of the recruiting board at several D3 schools, and he is concerned that his very-close-second-choice school will give up on him since he decided not to ED there. They gave him a likely letter and a fantastic financial aid pre-read. We are thrilled with this school and he loves the coaches and everything about it although due to Covid we haven’t been out for a visit yet.
The odds of him getting accepted to his top choice school are a coin toss and they don’t do pre-reads, LLs, or ED, so he needs to wait until mid-December to know if he’s accepted or deferred at the top choice school (he applied EA last weekend). And then, if he is deferred, we won’t be able to give the second choice school an answer until March when RD decisions come out! He is trying not to get his hopes up about his top choice school but I know he is going to be disappointed if he is not accepted, even though his “Plan B” is an amazing opportunity and we both know he’ll be happy there.
I know, I know, it will all work out the way it is supposed to work out and he will do great wherever he ends up. But still…sigh.
@cinnamon1212 yes exactly - the 2nd choice LL is at a tippy top school and DS loves the coaches from the Zoom calls he’s had with them. So really, he is in a really good place. He has worked incredibly hard to get to this point and I am so very proud of him!
@cinnamon1212 isn’t a LL only valid for ED? @sherimba03 coaches supported his decision to go RD vs ED? I dont think my daughters merit is guaranteed if she doesn’t do ED… My daughter felt pressured to accept and I don’t think RD will be an option for us even though we would love the extra time.
I was under the impression that Likely Letters were issued after one applied to the school; however my son did not go through recruiting at schools that issue Likely Letters, so I am not terribly familiar with the process.
@stacysmom21 the coach wasn’t thrilled about his decision to RD but he was very understanding about it; he told us that he has had recruits previously in the same situation with the same top choice school. I guess he’s used to being a strong #2 choice for engineering, lol? And he didn’t really do or say anything to cause us concern; nonetheless we are a little unsure how he will feel if we make him wait until March. I’m hoping we don’t have to do that because it would make for a very nerve-wracking winter. If DS21 gets deferred, he might just end up committing to #2. Or at least, we might bite the bullet and go for a visit which would certainly let the coach know how serious DS21 is about their program. (I may buy a full tyvek bodysuit for that cross-country flight though!).
We also got a FA pre-read and it didn’t seem to be tied to any ED commitment. Again, this is a D3 so the FA offer is not tied to sports.
@cinnamon1212 the purpose of a LL is to tell a recruit and a coach that the recruit is likely to be admitted if he applies. Essentially, the coach sends the Admissions Office the information about someone he wants on his team and the AO says yep, this kid meets or nope, this kid does not meet our admissions criteria.
@sherimba03 what you are describing, to me, is a preread. A Likely Letter is something in writing from Admissions to the applicant saying something along the lines of “based on our review of your application it is highly likely that you will be offered admission.”
Another son, who graduated in '18, got a likely letter from Admissions at his school. Here’s the relevant text:
Subject: XXXX College Likely Admitted
Dear XXXXX,
We are pleased to inform you that after a preliminary review of your qualifications for admission to XXXXX University, there is a strong likelihood that you will be admitted. Although this is not an official notification of admission, we wanted to share this preliminary good news with you now. Pending final review of your completed application for admission, an official notification will be available by April 1 through your Admission Portal.
@cinnamon1212 hmmm, so maybe I’m confused. DS sent his transcript and test scores to the AO after the coach told him to, and he did receive a letter last month from the AO - not the coach - with the words along the lines of based on our review… “it is highly likely that you will be offered admission.” But he still hasn’t applied yet. I was under the impression that was considered a LL because once he applies, wouldn’t they just send the acceptance itself?
AFAIK now there are a couple of schools that may do the LLs as @sherimba03 describes, maybe CalTech, maybe Chicago, maybe CWRU…could be more too.
But I agree with @cinnamon1212 that is not commonly how LLs work, and adds to the communication difficulties caused by confusing and/or inconsistent recruiting terminology!
FYI - Your situation may be different but my kid’s positive preread and spot on the roster at the D3 school is contingent on applying ED. If he doesn’t apply ED, the coach is going to try and fill that spot. So, coach support is not guaranteed for ED2 or RD. The coach said that kid will still be welcome on the team and coach will do what he can as far as admissions go but no promises that he’ll get admitted.
