Alexithymia12

I've met with an Ivy coach and he's writing me a letter of recommendation to admissions. Is this considered being recruited? I'm not quite sure how it works. And how much help will the letter be? Especially since I'm applying RD, not early. Btw, my stats are all good enough for me to get in on my own, but we all know it's a 'crapshoot'...

OneToughMommy

Not clear from the info you have provided. But talk to your high school coach and college advisor - they will know where you stand.

varska

Sounds like you're being sort of 'soft recruited'. In the Ivies, the likely letter is the gold standard. A recommendation letter from a coach may or may not carry much weight with admissions. Don't put all your eggs in this basket.

Alexithymia12

My coach and counselor just said it was excellent and "exciting" but didn't have much idea what it would mean for admissions... but since it shows I have something to offer the college, shouldn't it help? And is it possible that I could get a likely letter? I haven't even applied yet. Any insight would be appreciated, since I'm not familiar with this process at all...

3xboys

Have you asked the coach about a likely letter?

Alexithymia12

No haha, and I'm not holding my breath for one. I feel like I'm pushing my luck as it is; I was pretty surprised that the coach was so nice and encouraging and seemed interested. I wouldn't exactly consider myself "recruitable," so I was quite surprised when the coach told me they would write a letter to admissions supporting my application. I'm really just curious as to how much help that will be.

OldScarecrow

^It's hard to tell what this means and whether the support of the coach will be helpful to you. Let's hope so.

Coaches continue to recruit after the EA/ED deadline, even without offering LLs, to increase the Academic Index of the team. In your case, he may be reserving a couple of RD Likely Letters for a couple of weaker students (though stronger athletes) and views you as a way of balancing the Academic Index of the team.

Many recruits who receive LLs in the EA/ED round are asked to retake the SATs in January with the hope of improving them, not for themselves, but for some of the recruits that they would like to give LLs to in the RD round. Again, this is a strategy for raising a team's AI.

fogfog

Alexithymia12

Are you talking to coaches about being rower, or about being a cox? Did you apply early to this school?

Alexithymia12

@fogfog: Cox. That's the problem; I've been a rower for four years. Nope, RD.

thanks for the info OldScarecrow!