Can you withdraw an Harvard SCEA app prior to the application decision and apply SCEA to a different Ivy League School? To obtain athletic support of the application my child is being asked to apply to Harvard, SCEA, on 9/1. This is prior to official visits to Harvard and other Ivy League Schools. If Harvard isn’t the best fit (after the visits) is there an option to withdraw the application and submit to the desired school SCEA?
https://college.harvard.edu/contact-us
From the pull-down menu, select “Submitted Application” and you’ll find the below response
From the second pull-down menu, select “Withdraw Application” and fill out the information boxes.
Is the coach’s support conditioned on your son applying so early? To me that seems like an unreasonable amount of pressure to put on a recruit making an important personal decision.
When my son chose Princeton none of the coaches gave him such deadlines.
Your experience may have been different, but these days (or at least 2 years ago) for the Ivy League schools, support is predicated upon applying SCEA/ED. That’s in general - there may be differences by sport.
@skieurope - Please note that I wasn’t questioning the coach’s request that the prospect commit early, rather that they were requiring it “so early”.
I’ve had many discussions with Ivy coaches and understand their recruiting challenges. It’s like a game of musical chairs and locking in early commitments is in the best interests of all involved.
What surprises me here is the early date, a full two months before early applications are due and, more importantly, just as official visit season is ramping up.
To me it seems like a classic case of a coach trying to pressure a recruit for a commitment before they’ve had a reasonable opportunity to explore their options, which isn’t a good reflection on the coach.
For what it’s worth, my son’s experience with the Harvard coach (most probably a different coach, but similar behaviors) convinced him to attend Princeton.
Ah, I understand now. OK, then yes, 9/1 seems too early.
While it could be innocuous, it could also set off warning bells. But without knowing the details, the family would need to make the choice. That said, IME, most Ivy League coaches will ask for commitment by 9/30, so if the OP decides to switch SCEA/ED apps after OV’s, it’s very easy to do. Good luck.
@krazii1991 - I hope you’re following this. In general I agree with @skieurope’s analysis, but there’s one other thing to keep in mind: Ivy League coaches talk to each other, and if the Harvard coach puts out the word that your son has applied early to Harvard, offers from other coaches will likely evaporate.
I can’t say if the coach’s actions are innocuous or devious but, to me, a red flag has been raised.
Thank you all very much for the replies, they are very helpful. There does not seem to be direct pressure from the coach and it appears more that the coach has a meeting with admissions in late sept to identify the athletes they will support in the admission process. My child has informed every ivy league school she’s considering that she is going on official visits to others and none have withdrawn their support so that’s a good sign. My goal is to make sure is able to choose the school she best fits and is the best fit for her after she’s had a chance to visit them all officially and that she doesn’t have to wait until Jan 1 (apply RD). Any more thoughts or comments are greatly appreciated and once again thank you very much for your support.
Also, let me add that I read on another forum that when you submit SCEA you have to sign a form that says you won’t apply to another school during the SCEA period. I’m wondering if that might preclude you from doing such even if you withdraw your application. I can’t find the form you sign anywhere on the web though.
No issue with that.
What you can do as a hypothetical: You apply to 3 colleges in September. One SCEA and the others RD. If at some point you want to change an RD to SCEA and an SCEA to RD, you can. What you can’t do is have 2 applications in the SCEA bucket at the same time.
It is my understanding that for the Ivys, the admissions committee has their Likely Letter meeting for recruits at the end of September and three more in October and early November. To be considered for the first meeting, all materials have to be in by mid September. So even if it is sent in by Sept 1, the meeting will not occur until the last week of Sept. and the LL notice sent out Oct 1.
No. You can’t have an SCEA application and an ED application outstanding at the same time. You would have to withdraw your SCEA application or convert it to a regular application in order to submit an ED application. Your high school ought to slam the brakes hard if you try to do what @skieurope was suggesting.
September 1 is bizarre, but one of my cousins who was in the recruiting frenzy for her sport faced the same situation two years ago. She was being recruited by several Ivy League universities, and she had to make her choice by then.
The benefit to forcing the decisions that early is that it leaves some wiggle room. A friend’s child was a heavily recruited athlete about six years ago. After a fair amount of agonizing, she submitted her SCEA application to Princeton. She had gotten a positive pre-application read from the admissions department, but not a likely letter. Two weeks after the SCEA deadline, she got a call from the Princeton coach telling her she was not going to be accepted. She was able to turn around and apply early to another college, but it was a scramble – much more so than if she had gotten the same message in mid-September.
Sorry, an extremely bad brain fart on my part. Obviously I know better. L-) I meant RD, which I have now edited. @JHS
@JHS Do you know if your friend’s child from 6 years ago who had the positive pre-read from admission had excellent academic stats or relative mediocre to good grades and scores, but high enough to pass the pre-read?
She had fine grades and scores by any standard other than that of people who get accepted at HYPS or similar colleges. No one would have told her she had a great chance of admission at Princeton other than as an athletic recruit. It was a legitimate topic for consideration whether she should go to a place like Princeton or to one of the other colleges recruiting her that she liked, that were up to 100 places lower in the USNWR rankings, where presumably the academic competition would be less challenging.
The college she ultimately attended was not less selective or less challenging than Princeton. It was tough for her at times, including a lot of her freshman year, but basically she figured out how to handle the academic side of things.
I think we can all agree that the LL is the holy grail of Ivy athletic recruiting.
While a rising HS senior may be OFFERED many LLs, it is only proper to ACCEPT one LL.
The acceptance of a LL offer is followed by submitting a formal application, most often EA/ED, with the understanding that when accepted, the student is part of a binding commitment to that school.
In many ways, the acceptance of a LL means the college search is over.
Ivy coaches in certain sports try to get the pre-read and LL offers completed early (July-August), so if there are any unforeseen problems (as @JHS described), the student still has the ability to make other plans before the EA/ED deadline.
In the sports where it is customary to take OVs. I am assuming LLs can be issued later and acceptances happen in both the EA/ED and RD rounds. However, if there are unexpected problems, there are also fewer options as it is later in the game.
Has the OP already been offered LLs and is performing due diligence in the form of OVs before accepting a LL? If so, perhaps it is the most fair to all to go on all the OVs before accepting a LL and submitting an application. Unless you are really sure that Harvard is where she most belongs, there is no need to rush.
While having an Ivy League recruitment offer can be intoxicating, having to choose one Ivy if you have the opportunity to attend any/all can be very difficult. The eight Ivy League schools are very different and what works for some may not work for others. Fit is so important and it is extremely important to make the best choice for your child’s specific circumstances.
In our case, our child had multiple LL offers by mid-July before senior year and all the coaches wanted answers by mid-August. Instead of waiting for the OV season (OVs can only happen during the school year), we took a road trip and did all the visits unofficially in late July/early August.
It was important to see all the schools before making a decision as our child almost committed “in the room” to the first school we visited, but fortunately had parents wanted to see all the schools before the decision was made. Ultimately, a different school was chosen and seeing all the campuses and coaches before making the decision was key.
I guess the above is a long way of asking, isn’t a recruited athlete’s submission of an EA application to Harvard an implied acceptance of a LL?
An EA application does not necessarily mean that a LL is forthcoming. That said, a coach may require an application be submitted EA/ED in order to get a LL.
As always, the student-athlete should not make assumptions, and should ask the coach if s/he should expect a LL in return for submitting an application early.
“An EA application does not necessarily mean that a LL is forthcoming. That said, a coach may require an application be submitted EA/ED in order to get a LL.”
Agree with both, but meant the latter. Given the limited resource a LL represents, an acceptance of a LL has domino effect within a sport at all the Ivy institutions…