<p>A quote from the coach at my son's first choice school. What am I to make of this? He recently did an overnight at the school and came home convinced that this is the place for him. I have to agree - for a variety of reasons, it's a great match. My original plan was to apply regular decision to this and 7 other schools in order to compare financial aid packages. However, my son was also told by the coach that some of his recruits had already applied ED (my son was told that the coach has between 3-5 guaranteed admits), that 2/3 of the class (of 380 total freshmen admits) is accepted EDI and EDII and that financial aid is first come/first serve. Who knows if this coach is blowing smoke or not. All I know is that I feel compelled to change the application to EDII. I would hate to see my son disappointed if he missed out on admission by waiting until the final round. It's just that giving up control over the whole finaid thing makes me squirrelly.</p>
<p>Is it a Div. III school? If so, discount EVERYTHING the coach says, and check with admissions. The coach, in fact, isn't supposed to say anything about admissions, can't make any promises, and may simply be trying to increase his recruiting pool because he KNOWS he doesn't really have much pull in the admissions office.</p>
<p>If the school is head-and-shoulders above the next choice for your son, and you can live with whatever financial aid offer they come up with, go ahead and do it. Otherwise I think you have reason to be "squirrelly".</p>
<p>Hi, I don't know anything about your inquiry, I was just wondering if your son's name is 'Baboo'? I love your screen name.</p>
<p>I am not the OP, but "My sweet baboo" is from the Peanuts comic strip.</p>
<p>I agree with mini about the coach. And if it is true that 2/3 of the class is accepted ED, you'd kick yourself later if you didn't have your son apply ED.</p>
<p>What is your son's sport? Is it one with clear stats, like running or swimming? Or a team sport?</p>
<p>MSB--If this is your S's first choice school, then definitely have him contact the Admissions Office to switch his app to ED2. Good luck!</p>
<p>I don't see there being any harm in him applying ED if this is where he actually wants to go....but if he isn't sure, I will pray for him. Buyer's remorse can be a painful thing!</p>
<p>What is the sport, and is it D1 or D3. Coaches pressure the players because they want to know they can fill their roster. It is obviously easier to do this with all ED students then wait and play the game, like all the applicants have to do.
Remeber ED is binding. If the coach really wants your son, i would think he could verbally commit to going, the coach could save him a spot on the roster, and he can apply regular or EA. This way he can hold the spot for you, he knows your attending, but its not binding. This way you also can reveiw the financial aspects of the acceptance.
Many times the coach will tell you they have many people already signed to scare you into it.
Make sure its true, if you really want to go there.</p>
<p>This is a small, DIII LAC, well regarded in my son's sport, a non-team, timed sport. I am aware of the games some coaches play to fill rosters and, to my knowledge, the coach has never made any promises to my son. But, it is also true that over 60% of students are admitted EDI and EDII which means that there would be fewer than 150 seats remaining for RD. Those are numbers I'm not comfortable with especially given the coach's quote in the title of this thread. It makes me feel that he would not advocate for him in RD.</p>
<p>Academically, this school is on par with the others on our list, athletically, however, none of the others can touch it. My son's desire to continue competing is something I support and I guess the difference in finaid can be viewed as a really, really, REALLY big "athletic fee".</p>
<p>Two things bother me. One is that after all this time spent on research, trips here and there, angst over grades, test scores, essays, applications and deadlines, my best laid plans seem to be going awry. And two, the coach is dead wrong - he does need my son. ;-)</p>
<p>BTW, Sally calls Linus her Sweet Babboo.</p>
<p>If it is a D3, ignore the coach totally, and talk to the admissions office. The coach may have absolutely no sway whatsoever outside of increasing the applicant pool. You don't even know if the coach actually gets a chance to advocate, outside of "tagging" his top 2 or 3 picks.</p>
<p>Apply EDII if you are comfortable with whatever the aid is likely to be, but don't do so because of anything the coach has to say.</p>
<p>I don't think your kid is going to play much at this school. Would he be happy at the school if he doesn't play?</p>