This was a school where D24 was not the top recruit, but she went through the formal pre-read after Aug 1st, the coach confirmed it was passed, but obviously was looking for other athletes to commit first. The coach is very experienced at that school, so knows the process well. He then confirmed his interest and said he would clear with the AD and AO, which is when the AO came back negative. She would understand if she didn’t make it because of times/strokes, but this outcome came as a disappointing surprise. In any case, she’s moving on, and will have much greater clarity after this week.
I am really sorry that happened - most of us here probably have gone through something similar with our own hard working kids.
Maybe now you can better understand what we were warning about early on and why people feel that her list of schools isn’t balanced. I believe at some point I suggested you read “Who Gets in and Why” by J Selingo.
This experience can 100% repeat itself in a regular application cycle. Most US students are FULLY aware that hard work and good grades are just not enough these days. If she wants to go through this process she has to understand that reality.
At the end of the day these schools are artificially constructing a class and the athletic teams at the schools you are dealing with are not exempt. You can tell yourself they are “making room for a legacy on the team” which you have brought up often, but I don’t think that is the case. The reality is probably that they have an institutional mandate on how many international students (it was also brought up here that it is extra competitive for internationals, which you didn’t really seem to buy into) and she may not be strong enough in that context. Although a solid swimmer, there are many just like her. The AO can say no and not leave the coach with a gap, he will just fill that spot with someone else.
I will add that coaches are not always fully transparent - they could have phrased things to appear that the decision is out of his hands. It’s much easier to pass the buck.
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This part doesn’t make sense to the outside observer (ie someone without all the facts).
The whole purpose of the preread is to get the admissions office sign off/approval, assuming coach support. It doesn’t make sense that the coach went back to admissions a second time. Why? He already had the AO’s ok. Unless there wasn’t in fact a preread, or unless something highly unusual occured.
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Possibly the coach looked it over and said “looks good” THEN submitted for green light and did not get it.
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That’s what I meant. No official preread until now.
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@cinnamon1212 that’s exactly how we felt, and the sequence of events is all recorded in detailed emails. The coach had been very nice throughout the process, but maybe it is a case of a him wanting to pass the buck instead of being explicit about a decision he made himself. Anyway, water under the bridge, moving on.
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Yes! The only thing one can do.
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At the NESCACs, some sports coach slots are divided between A band (high academics), B band, and C band (somewhat lower grades/test scores) athletes. One can pass the pre-read, but the swimming coach may have needed an A band recruit to accommodate Admissions.
(Editing for clarity based on another poster’s contribution: the A/B/C bands vary depending on the school and sport, and are more distinct at some than others. Williams swimming and squash, for example, may just have 2 bands for all intents and purposes. Football and hockey, among others, always have A/B/C bands. Trinity’s bands will be less distinct than the others.)
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Irrelevant for D24, but maybe useful for future recruits if you know which NESCACs have A/B bands.
All NESCAC schools have A/B/C bands, it is part of the common and formalized recruiting process that NESCAC schools follow. The bands differ among the schools depending on selectivity.
Within the number of slots that a coach has for a sport there are further limits on the number of athletes that a coach can select from the lower bands and in the rare case that a C band student is taken it is likely that all other recruits for that sport be A band with a few exceptions for sports like football.
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I’m not sure this is true currently. Regardless, not every coach at every NESCAC uses bands, or has slots from multiple bands.
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Hopkins uses the bands as well. My understanding is that the A band criteria there are very high and that the coach is extremely limited with the number of B band slots.
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This scenario is far more likely. It is would be rare that Admissions would change the pre-read results a couple of weeks later.
This would be more likely at a school with a new coach who doesn’t have years of experience at the school working with the Admissions liason. Apparently not the case here though. This makes me think the recruit/parent misinterpreted the coach communication.
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At least in swimming the coach is very open about needing an SAT above a 1500 (we were told 1520) to give support.
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If they have dropped banding it is news to me.
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Yeah - I thought it was a league requirement, similar to AI at Ivies.
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D24 hasn’t had a single case of not passing pre-read across 4 conferences where they were submitted, and that includes coaches who have just started a new job, to coaches with over 10+ years on the job. All confirmations of passing pre-read were in writing and verified through zoom calls. whilst her SAT were below 1500, her expected IB grades carried her through.
If it was indeed because A/B/C Bands, the coach didn’t mention this at all
Well - the AO did not give the green light so the coach didn’t necessarily feel the need for a lengthy explanation. Just because they don’t discuss bands it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that recruits don’t always know which band they are in.
You just said that the AO gave the no go. I would not describe that as passing the pre-read. As we have said, the coach may give their opinion, but its the AO that has the actual say on the pre-read.
Aren’t IB grades akin to AP scores? I don’t know anywhere AP scores make up for lack of SAT scores. Why is it different with IB?
Also - if you read my post above you will know that pre-reads are not 100% objective (which is why the coach cannot just look at it and make the call)
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The coaches will not discuss the bands with recruits and families outright.
The academics were never in question; you are putting too much emphasis on that. The swim times are not where they need to be for the schools you were targeting. As others have said, I think coaches are using the AO or AD as scapegoats.
Your daughter has achieved her goal of attracting some coach interest; she now needs to decide if she wants to take one of those offers, or go a different direction.
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Only the coach knows who turned her down, whether it’s the AO or the coach himself. Besides him, we have the most information, and we certainly don’t know. It really doesn’t matter why, and what guesses posters make. onward she sails.