<p>Why do athlete's find out earlier than everyone else? I'm not attacking athletics being a major hook in college admisisons. I respect that and agree with it. But in what way is a recruited athlete different from a recruited mathlete such that they get a special notification date? Yes, colleges want them to commit early, but again, how are they different from other bright young minds?</p>
<p>Because colleges aren't likely to come out of the woodwork and suddenly offer "mathletes" a better scholarship package than the one the school currently recruiting them proposed</p>
<p>Because coaches need to have the '06 recruiting class finished so they can get on with '07. And '06 athletes need to know if they have a deal or not so they can pursue dwindling opportunities elsewhere.</p>
<p>The recruiting process is so different from the normal college applications process. My experience is with D1 lacrosse schools -- most of which are some of the more elite colleges. The coaches start sending recruiting letters to athletes in the fall of their junior year. They're starting a file of potential recruits, looking for the matches. What roster spots do they need to fill -- and which students are interested in their college <em>and</em> can get accepted by the admissions committee.</p>
<p>The coaches start making phone calls on July 1 looking for their picks to commit. The coach will do a pre-screen on academic stats -- but admissions has to say yes.</p>
<p>My son is committed to one of the Ivies, with a likely letter in hand, and his ED application pending. </p>
<p>The difference is between an athlete and a mathlete is that the college has decided it wants a competitive team for a specific sport and it needs for that team (as an example) a:
left handed long pole close D player,
starter on a state championship team,
selected to national showcase team,
high school all american<br>
who earned 6+ varsity letters in 2 or more sports,
with acceptable academic stats as determined by admissions
who is looking to major in something offered by that college. </p>
<p>I think there might only be 1 or 2 of those young men in the country. They want to sign that kid up. And there might be only one or two places that will be a fit for <em>him</em> in the final analysis.</p>
<p>If they want the young woman who wants to major in Classics and is one of the top ten high school Latin students in the US, who scored 800 on the SAT2 in Latin and 2350 on her SAT1s ... it's not as tiny a slot as the lefty D guy, so they don't have to snap her up the same way ...</p>
<p>also ... FWIW, the recruited athletes may have verbal committments and likely letters in hand, but note that it's a <em>likely</em> letter and we're all sitting on pins and needles just like everyone else waiting for the ED announcements.</p>
<p>Second that- my son is a recruited athlete applying ED WITHOUT a likely letter- so he is anxiously awaiting. While many athletes get early notices (especially to the big DI sports schools), many do not.</p>