Sports, financial aid, etc

Greetings. I am new to all of this and my son is applying for 9th grade at several top tier schools. A couple questions:

He is an athlete and he’s been in touch with the coach for the sport he plays seriously at one of the schools he is applying to. he spoke to the cosch and a couple days later an AO that he hasn’t previously been working with, reached out for follow up. he’s exchanged several emails with the coach and the coach has viewed game footage. Coach has been enthusiastic and put him in touch with a current player. That’s all. I don’t consider that being a “recruit” right? I assume recruited athletes are aware they’re being recruited and it’s more than this? Do recruits know their acceptance status early?

Second, I’m worried about financial aid. We earn about $110k. The SSS form lists our contribution at more than we can afford by a few thousand.We lead a very basic life (drive old cars, small home, don’t travel, no cable). I can’t see how we could cut back more. Is the parent contribution generally in line with what schools us to pay? I’m worried because a local day school expects us to pay an amount that’s really out of reach.

He needs to be in touch with the coaches at all the schools!! It can only help. I’m sure different schools handle things differently, but it sounds to me like your son is on the coach’s radar and he is being recruited. Prep school athletics (for the most part) is not as formal/organized as college recruiting. They wouldn’t have put your son in touch with a current player – they wouldn’t waste the student’s time – if they weren’t really interested. I know my son was only introduced to prospective players when the coach really wanted that applicant.

I have no useful information for you regarding recruiting, but can say that if the financial aid they offer isn’t good enough, you can always go back and ask for more. The worst they can tell you is no, and they might be able to come up with a little more money. It’s always worth asking.

Hi - My daughter is in a similar situation as your son and I don’t know if there’s any difference to being a “recruit” per se. She was actively recruited by one coach (that’s how she ended up considering bs at all) and at the other schools she applied to the coaches reached out to her for zooms, etc after her application was submitted. All the coaches have said they will advocate for her in the process but that’s about it. And no, I don’t think anyone gets accepted before March 10.

I’m also interested in answers to your second question, as our PFS also thinks we can afford a bit more than we can…

Good luck!

My kiddo decided that her athletic ability might make the difference in her application so she actively reached out to the coaches at each school and zoomed with nearly all of them. She started emailing/talking with them starting in September.

Her typical scenario was:
(a) email coach to express interest
(b) zoom with coach to chat about team/her experience
© follow up zoom with specialist coach (not every school)
(d) zoom with 1-3 current students on the team
(e) follow up with head coach with recruiting video/highlights/tournament result via email

Only two schools used the word ‘athletic recruit’ when talking with her.
One AO positioned himself as the ‘athletic recruit interviewer’.

We are hoping that these coaches will raise her name up closer to the top of the students to consider pile to AOs, but we understand that there are many people involved in deciding which kids to offer a place. Sports coaches are putting forth their requests, but so is the band director, math competition professor, and the theater director. In addition, we have absolutely no visibility as to who else is applying and what skills those students bring to the student body.

We are expecting to find out what kiddos next 4 years may look like on M10 along with everyone else but sincerely hoping that one school on her list decides that her strengths match a hole that they’re trying to fill. We don’t need a list of school offers (and somehow, having to choose between them without the ability for a visit day will be difficult), so we are hoping at least one!

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Interestingly, only one coach (out of 12) declined her request/offer for a zoom. And instead he suggested talking to students on the team and provided their contact details for her.

A few weeks later there was a (insert name of sport@name of school) group zoom that she joined. The coach hosted the zoom and at the beginning mentioned “So good to see so many of you here. I’ve zoomed with quite a few of you”. So we got a loud and clear message from that coach as to how much effort he’ll be putting behind daughter’s application!

In our experience (with two kids, both double sport high level athletes) that is as far as “recruited” goes at a prep school. Now, I am talking about the highest level academic prep schools. If you are talking about schools further down the reputation list I think coaches get a little more “I can get your kid in” ish.

I will name names as an example. All these schools I have knowledge of coaches talking to my kids or kids I coached. If you are a high level athlete applying to Tabor and the coach wants you + you are anywhere in the academic standards realm you will likely get in. If you are applying to Groton or PA the coaches have much less sway and you need to be an academic stand out as well as having coaches support to get in. Athletic ability is 100% taken into account - I have heard conversations between coaches and AOs that fully supports this.

You will not know if you have been accepted in advance unless you are going pretty far down the reputation list.

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