So if a player is checking all the boxes for the institutions goals of diversity, research interests, and the like, do admissions committees ever send messages of ‘support’ in the coaches direction?
If you are asking whether, by way of example, an All-American minority soccer player that is admitted but not recruited would be highlighted by admissions to a coach, I would think not on a regular basis. And then, it might only be a “by the by” comment to the coach that a talented soccer player had been accepted for admission.
The reason being that athletic recruiting and the selection of the team really fall to the coach, not admissions. Coaches pick their team, and admissions has nothing to do with that. Since coaches want players to want to be on the team, that typically involves effort on the part of the athlete to contact the coach about being a part of the team. Many D3 schools, however, do have open tryouts, and unrecruited players may try-out. But since the recruiting process fills out most of the roster, there may be limited openings.
Conversely, the Amherst report does point to instances where recruited athletes were supported through admissions on bases other than athletics, such as minority status.
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Thank you @gointhruaphase, I have been given such great advice here at CC and now that we have a list, we are looking deeper into the school’s Health Insurance policies, types of aid, (we are sub 65K). Many have said that we have some hooks (Athlete, URM (Native American), STEM student, IB rigorous load), I am concerned about his ECs, found out you need ten! Baseball takes up a lot of time, he has maybe 5 solid ones and hopes to do an internship this summer. I only found out about enhance summer programs late last year which I applied to but didn’t get aid at Harvard Summer Extension for High Schoolers. Discovered AISES and now looking to network there to find an internship.
I was advised that it might be a good idea to pick schools, fill out recruiting questionnaire, and see what happens. Many of the coaches will be at the Show Ball Event in Orange County but we don’t know if we need to go, shelter in place for a week, attend, come back, and shelter in place again once we get back to Canada? or Go, test, do event, come back to Canada, test, shelter in place? No one is clear, if anyone knows, please advise!
I would not worry about ECs. I n ever heard about the “10” rule. Adcoms know what a real EC is, and a varsity sport is a real EC. You can’t do much else in season and colleges know this. I worried with the first, but after seeing that it didn’t matter much for recruited athletes, I never mentioned it to the others.
If you have tapes, send those out now and see what the response is. Most coaches want to see players live before recruiting them, but there may be more flexibility due to Covid.
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I also wouldn’t worry about other ECs for a recruited athlete. Most recruited athletes spend significant time on their sport and can barely find time for a haircut, let alone a lot of other meaningful ECs. Adcoms know that. You definitely don’t need 10.
As far as other institutional needs influencing admissions for an athlete, this can happen but I’m not sure in the way you describe. I remember reading somewhere that one of the Amherst coaches was given a few extra slots when he brought recruits from underrepresented groups to admissions. I might have details mixed up, but something along those lines. And I know that if a coach is recruiting an athlete that might have legacy or other potential admissions advantages, the coach might look to exploit those in order to use athletic slots for other athletes. Generally the coaches will know the internal politics of this so the best path is to communicate fully with the coaches.
I do think it’s worth pointing out that one of those “hooks” you list is not like the others. A supported athletic recruit with a solid academic profile has a near certain—well over 90% in most cases—chance of admission at most schools (there are exceptions, such as MIT). Those other attributes, while important, don’t usually pack anywhere near the same punch. They become more important if athletic recruiting doesn’t work out, in which case the sport is now just another EC.
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@politeperson Thank you for clarifying! DS is working really hard right now, just finishing studying for his IB French oral test which is tomorrow! His school has IB SL French all done in junior year! IB French written exam is a few weeks away along with his SAT test (March 13th test was cancelled) on May 8th. So I wonder if he can chat with the coaches to see if they will look at him, hint at a roster spot if he gets in via diversity with his strong academic record(Native American IB students are hard to find), I don’t think he will score upward of 40+ but is in the 5-6 range for all his IB Classes. He’s first chair euphonium for concert band, which makes him somewhat unique, but not sure that will make a difference in the whole scheme of things. Another topic I am concerned about is health insurance for athletes, does anyone know where I can find information on this? We are in Canada but husband has Blue Cross through is Employer who is in Washington State.
There are 10 lines on the common app for ECs, but no requirement you fill them all in.
Insurance and whether they’ll accept it is up to the school. In the US all insurance is state governed, and while there are Blue Cross companies in most states, it doesn’t mean the insurance in good everywhere (HMOs, PPOs, emergency care, etc. all have different rules and specialists). My friend has Blue Cross in Colorado and it wouldn’t cover a ortho specialist in NY when her son hurt his leg. The emergency was covered but not the ongoing care. In NY and MA the schools have been pretty picky about it and the insurance most schools offer is pretty expensive in those states. There have been parents on CC complaining about Cornell and other NY schools not taking their insurance because it was out of the area. In California, many complain that Kaiser is not accepted at UCSB because there is no clinic within 40 miles.
My daughter’s school in Florida first charged about $1600 per year but the first year she got a big refund (under Obamacare, they have to refund the premiums if claims haven’t been that high) of about $400 or $600 (it went to her! so i don’t remember the amount). After that I think the fall was about $400 and the spring (which covered the summer) was about $600. We paid for it because my insurance was only good for emergencies OOS and she was playing a sport. She only used it a few times for things like strep tests and birth control.
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Thank you so much! This learning curve is so steep, just when I feel like I have a handle on what is needed to know, I find I don’t know! CC is the best place! If there were Oscar awards for most helpful, you win!
So do we just use the schools insurance? I don’t even know how we would shop for insurance? If Blue Cross isn’t received, do we find an insurance company here in Canada that would cover him in the States as a student?
Your husband’s insurance may be acceptable to the school and to you, but you have to know what it covers, especially OOS. It probably would cover any emergency like a broken bone or emergency appendectomy the same as it would in Washington State. For a routine physical, you may have to look at whether it is covered at all or at out of network rates. You have to assess how much medical care your child needs. Does he have allergies and need routine care during the school year? Can most care wait until he comes home for breaks or the summer? Is he constantly spraining his ankle?
I felt more comfortable paying for the school’s policy and luckily, she didn’t use it much so it was ‘a waste of money’ for us (just like I like it with insurance - don’t want to have a car accident just to get my money’s worth). Her school gave us the ability to just waive the school’s insurance if we had our own, but some school don’t give you that option and require the student to prove they have good coverage or buy the school’s policy. You have to check. It’s a good question to ask. Some schools do give enough financial aid to cover the insurance policy. I think California publics do, my daughter’s didn’t. In fact, it was specifically NOT covered by merit or athletic scholarships as it was paid to an outside vendor and school funds couldn’t be used to pay outside vendors (no off campus rent, no money given to students for food off campus, no study abroad tuition paid, etc; everything had to be on-campus). That was her school’s rules but other schools have other rules.
My daughter also had access to the athletic trainers and her school had a health center. The health center would bill for any tests or visits, and insurance might or might not have paid. The athletic trainers were free and would tape up the minor injuries or ice anything that ached.
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The health insurance is a good question but I’d put off the research on that until later in the process. As mentioned, most schools have student policies that will work if Blue Cross doesn’t. In your case financial aid might cover the school health insurance. If you go the recruited athlete route, you should get a financial aid pre read in the summer and that would be the point to raise this question with the coach or FA office. Trying to figure this out for an athlete based on each school’s published opt-out policies might be deceiving at this point. At some schools a typical student can opt out but for an athlete, practically speaking, it might work much better to be on the school’s plan. Not to mention, the policies change from year to year. So this might be a question you’ll need to wait a bit on to get precise answers at specific schools.
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