@GNH2020 In my daughter’s experience, the coaches asked for her to send her final Junior year grades, as soon as they were available. Then the pre-read was done soon thereafter. From that point, the coach would be able to say if Admissions would approve the applicant bases on academic viability. In my opinion, a pre-read is a must in order for the coach to offer a spot to the fencer.
@GNH2020 A pre-read isn’t something you ask for per se, it’s something that’s offered by the coach if that coach is interested in your fencer and wants to run academic viability by the admissions office before offering a slot, or to confirm one.
Different schools have different policies on how much they want to see; first 2 years of high school, first 2 years + fall junior semester, first 3 years of high school). This varies also depending on where your fencer is in the recruitment pool and what other academic support you have (ACT/SAT scores, AP scores).
I disagree. Some coaches know what their admissions office will and won’t accept. It gets fuzzy if your fencer is on the academic bubble, but not if he/she is decidedly above or below the threshold.
So would that mean that it is too early now, at the start of junior year?
@GHN2020 If your fencer is at or near the top of the points list and NOT of questionable academic viability, then no it’s not too early.
If your fencer is in the middle of the points list and is NOT of questionable academic viability, then it is probably not too early.
If your fencer is in the middle of the points list and IS questionable for academic viability, it is probably too early.
If your fencer is at or near the bottom of the points list, regardless of academic viability, then it is too early.
Thanks, very helpful, especially since we have heard that athletes across all sports are tending to commit earlier this year.
@GHN2020 good luck to you and your fencer!
I’ve not heard that athletes across all sports have been committing earlier this year. That would be surprising given the current health crisis, but hey if that’s happening for you that’s great.
I generally agree with @fencingmom in post #1564.
If you are looking to be recruited, it probably makes sense to start reaching out to coaches fall of junior year, especially if you are looking to one of the more competitive schools. If you are reasonably high on the points list, the coach will want to know whatever academic record you have available and s/he should be able to indicate if the academics are viable or not. The pre-read becomes critical , as @fencingmom said, when there are things on the edge (different for each school).
My child was recruited early (winter of junior year) and while technically the official “pre-read” didn’t happen until the summer (for all the recruits, as they wanted the full junior year academics), we knew that was just a formality because of a strong academic record. Other schools may have different schedules of course, and if you aren’t high on the points list (for your year/gender/weapon), things may not be clear until later, into senior year.
One thing I can say is that we were really fortunate to find this CC resource, because we wouldn’t have realized the importance of talking to coaches so early. Also, the coaches will know about a fencing record but won’t know about academics unless you tell them!
good luck!
We know not many top colleges give out scholarship, outside of Notre Dame. If you are one of those being heavily recruited, do the coaches work with colleges to offer scholarship in other format, in order to lure you to their teams?
My daughter’s preread was the Summer before her Senior year.
Pre-reads are generally offered at the discretion of the coach and not something requested by the prospective recruit. They can be offered earlier or later in the process, although my sense is that SF3’s timeframe is typical. Remember that pre-reads are to confirm academic viability for admission. Depending on the recruit’s transcripts, this may be less concerning and the pre-read unnecessary. So, while a pre-read usually indicates some serious recruiting interest, the lack of a pre-read is not necessarily indicative of anything untoward.
Regarding the timetable for recruiting (post #1566), I have seen several articles indicating that for football, basketball, and some other sports commitments are running roughly double where they normally would be at this time of the year, due to COVID/concerns by both athletes and coaches that spots need to be locked down. I just couldn’t tell if this is true for fencing.
Thanks BrooklynRye, that makes sense.
Washington Post today has article on schools cutting sports programs, especially Olympic sports.
Stanford fencing discussed towards the end of the article.
“ William & Mary eliminates 7 sports to fix budget issues after “thoughtful, intense deliberative process,” athletic director says”
Not sure if you all know about this, but Stanford’s athletic director responsible for cutting those 11 varsity sports, resigned.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/10/06/samantha-huge-resigns-william-mary/
@smileymomma Do you mean William & Mary’s athletic director?
Hi @fencingmom! Towards the end of
the article, it mentions the resignation of Samantha Huge. Here’s another article about her resignation: