This is my understanding of it as well.
Excellent advice.
@nycnycnycnyc, I have been through NESCAC recruiting on multiple occasions, including speaking to coaches through several admission cycles. I do believe that I have accurately described the process. I also recommend the Amherst Report, which contains a section on admissions. That report describes the process, only it uses the words “athletic factor” for slots and “coded” athletes for tips. Both slots and tips receive “full” coach support, unless the coach can support only 5 recruits and he or she has recruited 7.
If you go through the history of NESCAC recruiting, you will see that slots were designed to limit what had been a practice at some NESCAC schools of reaching below academic standards to admit athletes on multiple occasions for the purpose of having a good team. Setting the number of slots at 2 (except football) was intended to acknowledge that the schools do on occasion go below academic standards, but to set limits on how often that could happen. But, do the math, you can’t maintain a soccer team with only 2 recruits a year. Tips are simply good athletes that also are students well within the normal admitted standards. They might get in on their own, but full coach support “tips” their application.
2 Likes
That all makes sense, and from what you are saying though is that the coach would expect all 5 (in your example) to get in if they apply ED and had a favorable pre-read. Based on these posts, it sounds like many more than one would expect got deferred or rejected.
Whatever the case, what is confusing is how the coach manages their recruiting class/roster size, both in terms of numbers and specific positions if they don’t really know who will get in now.
Because, if I understand @gointhruaphase correctly, for every Wesleyan recruit that needs a tip, there are probably others that don’t need it. Otherwise the coaches themselves would be up in arms and my sources tell me it is the complete opposite - that the coaches are very happy with this year’s picks.
1 Like
@circuitrider The coaches at Wesleyan specifically are very happy, per your sources?
When I talked to my source back in December, their view was that the majority of these deferrals involved athletes that were not “recruited” and they specifically used that word. In hindsight, I am reading that to mean, they were athletes who had not received the full support of the coaches. At the same time, they did seem to acknowledge the possibility that there was a higher than usual number of adverse admissions decisions further down the chain of communication. The higher number of ED applicants this year was definitely part of the equation.
So the already tenuous word of a NESCAC coach becomes frangible as ED applications increase?
How does a prospective student athlete do their due dilgence concerning anticipated ED applicants for any given year?
If it’s a sudden break with tradition? Yes, the already murky world of managing expectations takes a serious hit. A number of posters have said that.
As to your other question, I’m going to cut and paste @gointhruaphase 's answer on a different thread:
1 Like
I believe this is where some of the confusion lies, at Wesleyan and elsewhere. First, I think the typical understanding is that the slots are virtually automatic and the tips less so, and everyone beyond that group is “would love to see you at practice. good luck.” But if slots and tips have the same weight, then anybody in that group of 5 should reasonably expect admission after a good pre-read. If it’s only the slots and everyone else is at some real level of risk, then we’re having a different conversation and arguably wasting our time here.
When we went through it, talking to a lot of schools, the nomenclature was “the list”. I was ignorant of the process so that’s what I accepted and it just worked out both times. The idea was that if you were on the list, the coach was doing all he/she could.
It does happen that recruited athletes are not admitted at NESCACs. When it happens, there are so many possible explanations - miscommunications, a drop in a mid term grade, a test score is accidentally submitted or - and this is a bitter pill - but a D1 prospect could drop into the coach’s lap and recruit no. 5 ends up without a seat when the musical chairs music has stopped.
Since it happened to us, I have become an advocate of playing your recruiting cards close to the vest, having back-up options ready and not publicizing an oral commitment. That in addition to asking pointed questions to the coach about the chances for admission.
All that said, this is not just an athletic recruit thread. My sympathies go out to all those who didn’t get the result they hoped for, not just the recruits. It is tough to hear now that this is just a bump in the road (and a small one at that). There are plenty of nice young men and women to ask to the prom. It will get better.
5 Likes
My daughter is not a recruited athlete, but has been a competitive year-round swimmer for 12+ years. My heart goes out to you and similarly situated others. What you have described sounds truly agonizing, adding a layer of disappointment on top of an all too difficult process, and on top of 2 crazy years of Covid. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Completely understandable. This entire situation actually encourages kids to quietly “commit” to multiple schools and keep them all quiet. Could have some very interesting consequences.
1 Like
Actually, this happened some time ago to us. But it didn’t take long to realize that it was a wonderful thing that the NESCAC handed us a deferral. We were all lined up with our “second” choice in a short time, and we have been thanking our lucky stars ever since. The recruit told me after the deferral that the second choice actually was preferable to the original first choice. So there you go.
Everything works out for good reason - no matter how hollow it feels to hear that when news is disappointing. My daughter’s deferral from her ED application opened up a whole lot of headspace for her to focus on what she wants and where she wants to be, not just what everyone else told her what she wants and where would be a great place to be. We’ll see how it all works out but I have faith in this process, as agonizing as it is!
7 Likes
What do you mean by “recruiting cards close to the vest”?
I assume away from other college coaches, especially within the same league. Will coaches ask the question, “What other schools you are looking at?”.
Most of them asked us that question.
1 Like
@SweetCoffee, that question was a fairly standard question from coaches. I think it tells them something about your ambitions and your self-evaluation of skills. If you respond with a list of D1 schools, it either tells the coach that you are less interested in D3 or that you may be over estimating your skills. When I referred to “close to the vest,” I certainly was not suggesting lying, but encouraging more than one team by continuing to provide updates and communications to coaches.
1 Like
I agree athletes should keep things close to the vest, including not talking with peers/teammates (same advice goes for non-athletes during college app season). But, once an athlete verbally commits, they should tell all the other coaches they have been in contact with. In many sports, including across conferences and divisions, coaches talk.
2 Likes
I was admitted ED2! I’m soooo excited. Those admitted through ED1, was there a physical acceptance letter? I haven’t gotten any yet from the schools I was admitted to before Wes and I feel like it would be cool to have!
5 Likes
Can we move on from the general topic of athletic recruiting (or start a new thread) and return to discussing Wesleyan in this thread.
6 Likes