When do Ivy and D3 coaches usually make offers and ask for commitments?

Athletic Recruits
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Blockquote

Is this literally true? I play a specific position, let’s say I am a football kicker. I am not but it’s like that in that you really need a good one and maybe a back up but that’s all.

So, I assume the coach is currently talking to another kicker or two. If he says to me “Admissions signed off on preread. I will commit to supporting you if you commit to me” and I say “yes, count me in”, then he calls the other kickers and says sorry?

YES, THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS. (OR, HE GHOSTS THE OTHER RECRUITS).

And what if I break my kicking leg, or don’t get enough financial aid, or [Stanford] calls and offers me a full ride, or I am a flaky teenager and decide to go to community college so I can be with my new beau? He’s stuck with the kids who didn’t get any offers? Or does he reach out to some kid that has a NESCAC offer and convince him to walk away, and then that coach poaches from someone else and it all reshuffles.

IF YOU BREAK YOUR LEG, LIKELY HE STICKS BY HIS WORD AND SUPPORTS YOUR APPLICATION W/ADMISSIONS. IF YOU FLAKE OUT – YOU DECOMMIT – YES, HE’S STUCK WITH WHOEVER IS STILL AVAILABLE FOR THAT POSITION.

Similarly if coach tells me I have a slot and then some smart but flaky kid who can kick 5 more yards decides to turn down Northwestern because his boyfriend is at the school I thought I had a slot at, coach will say “Sorry, I gave my word to I’m Not Sure ”?

YES, HE WILL HONOR HIS WORD TO YOU. HOWEVER, IF HE STILL HAS AN AVAILABLE SLOT W/ADMISSIONS, HE’LL USE IT FOR THE NEW GUY. OR MAYBE HE’LL LOBBY ADMISSIONS FOR LEEWAY TO ADMIT THE NEW GUY. BUT YOUR OFFER WOULD STILL BE GOOD.

I appreciate all your patience with my million questions. Can you tell that school got out yesterday? I have spent the past few months doing nothing but study, soccer, art, but today I have time to obsess. My mom says I should use it to clean my room.

WELL, IT IS GOOD TO FIGURE THINGS OUT!

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Yes, that’s how it works…one kicker is going to get the slot, then the coach is done. And the committed recruit calls the other coaches they have been talking with and they bow out of the process. Make no mistake, coaches talk.

As cinnamon said earlier…when you commit it is your word. Do you want to back out of that if you get a better offer? Sports recruiting is a small world, and many coaches know each other.

Is financial aid an issue for you? If you need FA that complicates things. Run the school’s net price calculator with your parents and see if it’s affordable. The Ivies offer ONLY need based aid, no merit aid, no athletic scholarships…so there are athletes who can’t attend if their family can’t afford their expected contribution. Some Ivies will do a financial aid pre-read if you pass the academic pre-read, so ask at that point if it makes sense.

Posters here have lots of patience, so keep us updated on your process and keep the questions coming.

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Can you tell my mom that? She is really stuck on the room cleaning!

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Financial aid is a huge issue. I think I am fine at an Ivy based on NPC’s but the D3 schools that would work are returning numbers that are more than we can afford.

I am worried that if I walk away from an offer of support, I won’t have an option at all. So, I am leaning towards just taking it, and crossing my fingers that I can get the majors that I want.

I feel like it sucks that I am forced to make a choice without stepping foot on any of the campuses because I chose to protect someone I love in a pandemic. I know that sounds whiny and I have zero regrets about that choice, but it sucks.

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I understand how hard this is, and even more so without being able to visit. And it’s not whiny at all, good job making the right choice protecting someone you love.:blush:

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And people consider that ethical? I am asking, I don’t know. Like if I tell Princeton (picking a random school) that I want a preread when the chance I want to go there is super slight, and they have X number of prereads, isn’t that taking from someone?

And while it might be that in the end, after I see the other schools, if I don’t get in anywhere I can afford or if I really hate the schools when I see them in the fall, is there any chance Princeton will still want me? Won’t they have said never mind after I tell them I can’t decide yet?

Does any of this change because I have good enough scores and grades that it seems like the pretend is a sure thing?

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There’s nothing unethical about exploring your options. That is how the process works on both sides. Most recruits contact all the schools where they might have interest, the coaches decide who they want to talk to, who is worth a pre-read, who to invite for an official visit, and ultimately who they want to support. If you know you have zero interest, then I guess don’t waste your time or theirs. But the process is set up so everyone can explore their options. And that includes comparing financial aid estimates where applicable.

Also, I don’t think anyone was visiting Ivy campuses this past year. Most of the tours were virtual and there weren’t any OVs.

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I sent out all those emails as a freshman, like my coach told me to, and got a lot of interest, and I have kept up contact with any coach that expressed interest. But at some point, i will need to narrow it down and maybe add some schools that reflect my current interests. I just am not clear how that works. If a coach is limited in the number of prereads, then maybe taking them is bad?

I am not saying my situation is worse or unique. I just said that it’s lousy. I will day that I know plenty of kids who played through the fall and winter and traveled and took school tours as part of that travel. It may not have been the same as an OV, but I thought that was senior year anyway.

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So, to be clear, you can’t ask the Princeton coach for a preread, and because you asked, he will give you one. That’s not how it works. The coach decides which players he’s most interested in, and he offers them prereads.

If you absolutely 100% won’t attend a school interested in recruiting you, let them know right away – before prereads are even an issue. Why waste everyone’s time if you aren’t interested in a school?

But if there’s any chance you are even a little bit interested in a school, keep the conversation going (including getting a preread) until you know where you have offers, and where you don’t.

On the room cleaning front, I pass along a saying I have on a fridge magnet: “A clean house is the sign of a misspent life”. (I hope your Mom doesn’t hate me!! :joy:)

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Yes, I know that, I’m wondering how to respond to schools that have asked for updated transcripts and test scores. These would be schools that I started communicating with before I was sure about what I wanted to study.

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If you are still interested in a school, but don’t think they have the major you are looking for, talk to the coach. You may want business and the coach will say “Oh, we’ve had tons of players who took economics and now work on wall street.” Or you may say ‘thanks, but I’ve decided on business and nothing else will work for me.’

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If you are interested in that school/team, then provide your updated info. If not, tell the coach you aren’t interested (don’t ghost them). Don’t worry about taking a pre-read from someone (as long as you have some interest in the school), IME many school admission depts don’t limit the number of pre-reads a coach can ask for (although naturally the coach is limiting pre-reads).

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