D24 is simultaneous Minority & ORM, so one may assume she would have better odds applying as a strict minority. Her grades are otherwise good, and one would expect her to pass any pre-read outside of Caltech & MIT. However, that is only relevant if she can’t succeed as an athlete recruit, which remains her aim.
Indeed, her list includes teams where she would rank at the top of her strokes, ranging from #1/#1/#2/#2 to #1/#3/#4/#8. indeed many have already opined that only the coach would know for certain whether that makes her highly recruitable. This week. she had a conversation with such a coach, and it transpired that the team had just recruited a freshman transfer over Christmas who swims exactly D24’s two strokes, and finished Top5 in those strikes at the D3 National Championship. That immediately impacted D24’s chance of swimming for that team. Her journey continues, a driven child who will push to leave no stone unturned
D24’s list of target swim schools is shrinking by the day, so the next few weeks should positively answer the chance" question".
Eternal optimists, we’ll follow through the process at a reputable Canadian university, and maybe mistakenly hope that repeated emails, unplanned cold calls, and perseverance can help D24 find the one US college coach who wants her on deck. Time will tell whether it was all an illusion… worst case, she will have a ready made college essay about her own failure despite a lifetime of genuine passion and consistent effort to be part of a team.
If the swimming doesn’t work out nobody will consider your D to be a “failure” – hopefully that was a tongue-in-cheek type comment. Most importantly I hope your D won’t feel like a failure.
Many good lessons to take if it doesn’t work out: her enjoyment of swimming (team dynamics, health benefits, working to improve etc.), learning to put herself out there (an important life skill), understanding that a “plan B” is important to success (another life skill) to name but a few.
I hope things work out as she hopes but remember that most HS athletes do not compete at the college level.
A good reminder. And also remember or understand that some of these HS athletes that don’t compete at the college level are athletes could have competed at many schools, some were even recruits to good programs, but they chose to experience the other things that college has to offer rather than play a sport, or chose a school in which they could not compete, like a top D1, for what the school has to offer them other than playing a sport.
It sounds like your daughter will do well at whatever school is the best fit and choice. Good luck!
We do pile a bit too much on you, perhaps because you keep posting, and here I go again. My sense is that your analytical background has led you to be formulaic in assessing “truths” in athletic recruiting, an area that has anything but one or two truths.
There is no one size fits all coach. There are coaches who don’t do email, there are coaches who don’t do camps, there are coaches who don’t recruit, there are coaches that let assistants recruit but have the final word. If there is no one type of coach, there is no one type of recruiting.
For every rule cited here, and that you have recounted, there are numerous exceptions. We had one coach that was repeatedly emailed, only crickets in response - for more than a year. An assistant coach at that college became a head coach elsewhere and started recruiting hard. In October (less than two months before the ED deadline), after we had decided on a different plan, the head coach of that college sent an invite for an OV. You just never know what is going to happen, and neither do the coaches.
A coach for a high ranking NESCAC may think he has his recruits lined up, only to find out that his top two went IVY and No. 3 is going to another NESCAC. This happens all the time.
It’s your daughter’s experience and certainly not mine. However, the fact that coaches are asking her to keep in touch does not mean that she is not good enough. It means that they want her to keep in touch, presumably to let them know how her summer times are evolving. If it were me, I would keep at it. Athletes come to know they can’t give up after a couple of mediocre games. The same is true for recruiting. Sometimes, the kid who wants it the most gets it.
D24 certainly doesn’t consider herself a failure, yet if she isn’t able to find a college team to swim for, she will certainly consider that a failure because it is a sport she loves and which forms an important part of who she is, as an athlete, a team member and team captain. Club swimming indeed works for many, but it is not what she wants, and we respect that passion and commitment.
Many teenagers are able to cope relatively smoothly with this arduous recruiting process, others find it challenging to only receive sporadic answers. She certainly keeps at it, and remains dedicated to getting a full understanding of her status and potential with each school. She has added couple schools as other fell into the “need faster times” category. Interestingly, almost all the “need to swim faster” coaches encouraged her to keep updating them, probably a combination of “just in case she suddenly drops her times very substantially”, “that would be an acceptable walk-on candidate”, or polite disengagement.
She still has 4-5 potential programs in sight, and the next few weeks should provide color on whether this is meant to be. One of her close teammate was recruited very late in the summer of 2022, so she is aware of the potential uncertainty. Indeed, a NESCAC coach she just talked to was still awaiting confirmation from three swimmers he wants, but are obviously hoping to be walk-on at Ivies.
At any rate, life is full of silver linings, and indeed if she’s not recruited, it will open the opportunity to apply to D1 schools with exceptional opportunities, whether it is Dartmouth, UCs, or indeed one of the fastest swim program where she’s a double legacy.
I think many more have problems than they let on. It is really difficult to hear your friends and teammates are going here or there, with some claiming big scholarships. There are parents who aren’t supportive, or are competitive, or just bragging.
After my daughter committed, we were at the game against the rival high school and the father of the other recruit heading to the same college was in the stands bragging to other parents that his daughter was getting a ‘full ride.’ Except it wasn’t true. I didn’t know how much she got in athletic money at the time, but it wasn’t close to a full ride (about half). I couldn’t say anything (and never did).
Only saving grace that night was that our team got down 6 goals fast and we came back to tie it at 12-12, with my daughter scoring 6 of those goals. She wasn’t a big goal scorer, but that night she was. Karma.
D24 had a pretty good go at mapping her process, level of mutual interest (currently 6-12-1-1 from too fast-in discussion-keen-will be admitted), and is ready to focus on faster times from coming meets to hopefully get her pre reads.
Email >> Phone/Zoom >> Coach Interest >> Coach verifies grades/SAT >> Acceptable ranking amongst potential recruits >> Pass Pre-read >> Confirmed top 3 status amongst recruits >> Promised full coach support subject to ED >> Decision to commit
Initial coach discussions obviously include initial discussion about grades, courses, etc. The cut off date for Ivy/NESCAC pre-reads is 1st July after junior year.
one discussion seemed to refer to a potential earlier date: are there conferences/schools known for conducting official/unofficial pre-reads as early as May or June of Junior year?
Unofficial? Sure. Even an Ivy coach can give you his best guess (unofficial pre read) early.
Other conferences? Sure. Stanford and Cal are in the PAC 12 and they certainly aren’t waiting for the Ivy date to come around. In fact, I’d say many more use dates even earlier than May Junior year. That seems very late.
Not sure what you mean by cut-off date. July 1 is the first time official pre-reads with admissions can happen (at Ivies/NESCACs, other schools don’t have this limitation), as others have said unofficial pre-reads happen often (and many coaches know what will pass muster with admissions). Official pre-reads (at all schools including Ivies/NESCACs) can continue on well into the school year…recruiting timelines can be highly variable/idiosyncratic by sport, by team, by school, by coach from year to year.
some of the SLACs my daughter was talking with wanted her pre read documents as soon as she had a completed unofficial transcript for her junior year, so as soon as final junior grades posted. All looked at current grades, courses, and test scores unofficially before asking.
Others can provide their experience but I think that for the pre-read, they want scores. They may then suggest that you omit them on your official applications. This is, effectively, a dry run.