treemaven

Oops, I see I still have a lot of catching up to do . . . . (A.I., NCAA Eligibility scores, etc)

keylyme

tree...if her sport is gymnastics, I know most coaches will not sign someone as an "event specialist", and I am thinking signing someone for a scholarship is equitable to giving them a "tip" at an Ivy. I don't know if this is her sport, but..if it is, they are certainly looking for level 10 skills. Maybe they are in need of particular skills (most teams want twisting yurchenko vaults, major releases on bars, etc.) and strength on particular events? Again, if it is a different sport, sorry, but I guess this could apply in other sports as well.

sleeplessinbost

When do most Ivy's lock in their "tips" for next year. Is it completed by end of summer or does it go right up to October w/ likely letters? If anyone has experience with the Patriot League schools... does it work the same?
Thanks in advance.

GreatWhiteNorth

I only have experience with one sport at one Ivy, but they had locked in all their tips for the high school class of 2010 by March of 2009.

Runners2

I think it really varies by sport. With the Ivy's, some sports (soccer comes to mine) fill their spots early - usually during the junior year for high school students. Other sports are still filling spots later. Many coaches fill spots during the fall of senior year and those schools that have ED try to get their athletes committed by then. But often there are a few spots left that go in the RD round - the competition for those spots is tough as there are few openings left at that point. Don't know much about the Patriot league.

riverrunner

sleeplessinbost,
Timing of the Ivy likely letter is very sport and school dependent. Also, to be brutally honest, it depends on the quality of the athlete. Some athletes command more attention and timelines aren't so urgent.

Likelies were offered October of her senior year for my daughter (pretty average recruit for her sport at that level), but she was told by other non-EA/ED Ivies that they could still get her a letter, even after the first of the year, if she wanted to continue to consider them. PM me for specific sports and schools, if it turns out to be relevant to you.

3xboys

I just want to add that we found it VERY helpful around here that S had interest from multiple Ivies...Until your D has a likely letter in hand, pursue any and all other interest and let the coaches know there is interest elsewhere. If she could get a decent scholarship offer from a non-Ivy that is academically equivalent , that is best of all as that is the one thing that can really move the process along.

I would not be shy about asking if she is a candidate for a likely letter - the coach's answer will speak volumes.

As an aside, S did most of his negotiating via email so my husband and I could help him craft his position carefully and also parse the responses!

Good luck.

treemaven

Thanks for all the suggestions and insights. It has all been very helpful.

Keylyme, her sport is not gymnastics. We are all comfortable that the coach is interested in her--based upon the frequent and consistent contact the coach has maintained since last Fall. Kiddo gave full disclosure at the beginning as to her stats, strengths, and relative weaknesses. Coach has seen her video which covered all events. And Kiddo's scores in all events are more than competitive with the college's current athletes.

Apparently, for her particular sport, the 'tips' are not given out until now as the coach had told her that if Kiddo was interested in the school, she could 'sponsor' her in a conversation just weeks ago. We just didn't know when it was appropriate to make that deal. At the specific time, Kiddo didn't really know exactly what she should say to that.

Our biggest question, i.e., timing arose because the coach also said that she has 'only one, maybe two, but probably just one tip' to give each year and we weren't sure if it was appropriate to just say, "If you'll agree to sponsor Kiddo, she'll agree to make this school her first choice". At the time, Kiddo was 90% sure this was the school she wanted, but there was that 10% 'what-if' factor about the other school she favors.

Based upon all the advice, experience, and insight received in this thread, I can see the answer now. Thank you all. If she gets the tip, great! If not, well, she'll still most likely apply ED to this school.

riverrunner

^^treemaven, my D's highschool coach described it as a mutual declaration of love. If your daughter is willing to say the L word to this program, forsaking all others, and the coach responds with a likely letter, the system has done it's job. And much like "love", it's tempting to keep one eye on those other suitors who are slipping away, but resist the temptation, and encourage her to fall "head over heels" for the one she's chosen, if the coach can come up with the likely letter.

2924SW

My D is being recruited and has had her transcripts and test scores reviewed by coach and adcom, has been told things look good and that she should apply ED. The coach has indicated that she is one of his top choices, but we don't know if the coach is going to submit a list with more kids on it than he has tips for. D's scores are not outstanding, but as she has not been told by him now that she needs to get them higher, she is not inclined to retake the tests. I'm wondering if she will be in a mini-competition with other athletes applying for ED in her sport. Should D come out and ask the coach? I thought the student had to submit a full application to get a likely letter--but the preceding posts make it sound like they can come from the coach before the application has undergone full review by adcom. Also, doesn't the letter come from the adcom? or is it from the coach?

treemaven

riverrunner, LOL! Great analogy, I can see that.

Runners2

2924SW - You're right that the likely letter comes from admissions after a complete review of the application. It's just that the coach has to want the athlete enough to request that letter from admissions, so that's why people are recommending that an athlete ask the coach if he or she is willing/able to provide a likely letter - it has to start with the coach. Often athletes are in competition with other athletes in the ED process - either in terms of their athletic abilities (e.g. how badly the coach wants them) as well as academically (a great student with good athletic abilities will probably get chosen over a just "good" student with good athletic abilities). When our S was going through this process, we got some very helpful advice here to go ahead and ask the very clear and direct questions of the coach in order to figure out as clearly as possible where our S stood in the competition. For example in one case, our S was about to commit ED to one Ivy and was asked to come to a late official visit at another. When he asked the coach at the second school more about his possibilities there, the coach was open in saying that he had one spot left on his roster and our S was one of 5 recruits being brought in for that official visit. Based on that info, S decided to go ED to the first school that he also loved rather than risk that admission based on 1/5 odds at the second school. If we're talking about an Ivy in your child's case, it's appropriate to ask if a likely letter is a possibility - saying something like you know how competitive admissions are and she's hesitant to close off other options by applying ED without more information about what her real chances are at the ED school. Good luck and enjoy this exciting process!

2924SW

I think a likely letter is possible, but coach doesn't speak in specific terms like "likely letter", What he said is that if D gets everything early, before the Nov 1 deadline, it's possible to get "something in writing back from Admissions" before the actual response deadline (about Dec 15 I think). My kiddo is ranked very highly athletically, but would only get into fav school with coach tip. Actually, had she spent her time studying instead of on her sport I'm convinced she'd do just fine and get into a good school (somewhere) (tho who knows if it would be this one) without a coach (she did very well on those SATs kids take for Johns Hopkins programs etc in 7th grade---much better than on SATs now). We are where we are. At this point, heading into senior year, we have a topranked athlete, with so-so scores and good grades. I was fretting about test scores to friend who is somewhat knowledgeable about these things, she has D who went to top LAC in same sport, who said "Face it, your D is not getting in based on her SAT scores."

GreatWhiteNorth

Like others, I would encourage asking the coach how many tips he/she has and whether they will be using one on your child.

Being encouraged to apply is very different from being told a tip will be used for your athlete.

I believe some coaches may, either intentionally or unintentionally, lead kids to believe they will be using a tip on them when in fact they will not.

The school may still be worth pursuing if the athlete has to gain admission on his/her own without the aid of a tip, but I would have reservations about a coach who couldn't be up front about exactly where a child stands.

2924SW

Runners2--
Following up on your post above, what is your read on this situation for two students, same sport, same gender, applying ED: Student #1 --good student who is a great athlete--- versus student # 2---a great student (but who will also need a tip) who is a very, very good but not great athlete. Does adcom make the call choosing between the two? I know the coach ranks them, and I'm assuming he would prefer student #1. But, dioes adcom say--hey, be happy with #2. Let's say Student #1 has SATs slightly above 600, and student # 2 has SATs above 700 to complete this hypothetical scenario. Does it depend on ADcom 's realtionship with this particular coach/ I guess this gets back to how long his list is, and whether it exceeds the number of slots. Adcom has said D's stuff looks good, provided it is followed up with good app, no problems etc (the standard caveats).