likely letters

trackpop · 11-05-2010, 07:44 AM

In your personal experience, how often does a coach do a pre-read, get a positive response, ask for a likely letter, only not to be given one for the athlete?

varska · 11-05-2010, 08:12 AM

So I take it you're in the waiting game right now? We were told that they (the coaches) almost always get the letters they request. 'Almost' was the scary word. He did admit that every once in awhile they don't get someone that they thought was a shoo-in. "Sometimes they like to remind us that the tail doesn't wag the dog", was how he put it.

trackpop · 11-05-2010, 08:17 AM

Yes indeed. We were told to expect an answer by the middle of November.

varska · 11-05-2010, 08:30 AM

Last year at this time we were told the LL meeting was scheduled for mid Nov.
Mid November finally came and coach emailed to let us know that the meeting was postponed for 2 weeks because one of the key adcom members was out of town. It was an agonizing wait. D had only one ap in and no 'back up' plan. It all ended as promised, as I'm sure it will for you, but it doesn't make the waiting any easier.

keylyme · 11-05-2010, 10:10 AM

So...how does it actually work? Does the coach send the transcript in for a pre-read and then have the athlete apply based on admission's response to the pre-read? Then you still wait for the likely (which may or may not come...but most likely will?). How do they do the pre-read if kids haven't necessarily taken SAT II's yet? At my son's school, the counselors compute the AI's using the SATI (and if you have SATII's, they use those, but if they yield a lower score, then they double the SATI number and use whatever gives the highest AI...I was surprised at this but was assured that this is how it is done, and it is always reliable).

trackpop · 11-05-2010, 10:15 AM

We had prereads from a number of schools. The prereads at the time for my S were based solely on the SAts and the GPA. S had not taken the SAT IIs yet. We were informed that it would only be possible to obtain a likely letter after 1) a successful pre-read; and 2) providing a full application, including SAT IIs and the appropriate supplement.

OldbatesieDoc · 11-05-2010, 10:27 AM

We had a stalling coach with the pre-read-didn't do it until the SAT2s came in and then were told "not likely" a day or two before the ED deadline. We should have known that-"oh they're all away at college fairs and busy doing interviews" was not a good sign.He encouraged my S to apply without the pre-read, glad we didn't, of course.That was a result of advice from CC-ers. We didn't even know to ask for a pre-read until advised by this board...

Runners2 · 11-05-2010, 12:09 PM

Trackpop, in response to your initial question, "In your personal experience, how often does a coach do a pre-read, get a positive response, ask for a likely letter, only not to be given one for the athlete?" - in our experience, I think it's pretty unusual for the likely letter not to come through after having a positive response to a pre-read. I think the admissions officers at the Ivy's are taking the prereads seriously, knowing that a request for a binding (on their part) likely letter may well follow. Of course the more data you can provide at the time of the preread, including SAT II's, the more valid the preread will be - if additional, new info is provided for the first time in the complete application submitted with request for likely letter, I guess that could change the picture.

Sounds to me like your athlete is in good shape - best of luck!!

minoafrau · 11-05-2010, 12:11 PM

The one school that did pre-read without SAT IIs told her what she would need to score on them.

beenthere2 · 11-05-2010, 06:05 PM

I would add that it also depends on the time between the pre-read and the request for LL: Frequently, pre-reads occur in July . By the time, a formal application is in and it's time for the LL (e.g. in October), additional information may have come which may jeopardize the LL; e.g. midsemester grades, low SAT II scores.

Of course, my direct personal experience has a relatively small sample (maybe 30); however, I personally know of 1 case where the LL was not approved by the committee after an application was made, 1 case where the coach came back a few days before the ED/EA deadline saying that the LL wasn't going to work out; and 1 case where the student was asked to apply ED, didn't get in but then was admitted RD. Oh, and 1 case where a student waited until January to decide and admission then told the coach that 'recruiting was over.'

keylyme · 11-05-2010, 10:30 PM

It is a lot harder to score 700 or above on an SAT II than it is to get that score on the SAT I though. I am not really certain how the SAT II's are used in the AI anymore after speaking with my son's gc. Yes, they are required for admission....but evidently they are not really needed for the AI.

fogfog · 11-06-2010, 08:15 AM

The AI calculator online here asks for the SAT1 scores and 2 SAT2s...
I dont know what they use if you dont submit SAT2s. In our case, our student gave them ACT and 3 SAT2s...all very nice high scores...

keylyme · 11-07-2010, 09:53 PM

I can't say this is the gospel truth....just what my son's guidance counselor told us. He calculated my son's AI using his GPA (school does not rank), SATI and 2 SAT 2's (which weren't that great). He then did it using the SATI portion doubled. He says the Ivies take the higher of the two even though you have to submit the SAT 2's for admission. He assured me this is how it's done and they run these numbers all the time for Ivies. (Son's school sends lots of athletes to Ivies).

beenthere2 · 11-08-2010, 10:03 AM

Based on our experience with EARLY pre-read and LL:
All the schools I'm familiar with, did pre-reads before OV, for which they then invited at least three times as many students as they can issue LL. The OV were the first four weekends after school started, with the top recruits being invited as early as possible.