Maybe that is the answer for the Haverford dilemma, but I have to say, I wouldn't call it a pre-read. A person could read US News and World Report to figure out whether a student meets the requirements, and certainly the athletic department would know what stats were needed for admission. The idea of sending the stats to admissions is to get a sense of whether the adcom is inclined to admit.
@twoinanddone I agree with your interpretation that miscommunication contributed to the unfortunate outcomes for recruits at Haverford discussed on CC. Anyone who is serious about recruiting at Haverford should read the NY Times series about Haverford recruiting from a number of years ago -- it was clear then that coaches across a range of sports got some disappointing results with recruiting -- being qualified for admission is not the same as being admitted at Hford. Perhaps because it remains smaller than many of its peer LACs and the core culture is so distinct, admissions takes recruiting status as just one factor among many in the admissions decision. There are other schools where recruited status seems to matter little in the admissions decision, reputedly MIT and CalTech.
The OP said they are not looking at Haverford and it is not lax, so this issue may not be of specific interest. Still, families going through recruiting can benefit from reminders to ask specific questions of coaches about admissions. It is all too easy to hear what we want to hear, and much more difficult to follow up with the hard questions (at least for me, and I assume I'm not the only one). Especially in D3 which does not have likely letters or NLI and which relies on ED commitments, there is so much room for ambiguity and misunderstanding that asking those detailed questions can make all the difference between celebrating and heartbreak in mid December.
ChembiodadRegistered UserPosts: 2,435Senior Member
edited July 2017
While the number of slots isn't restricted in the Centennial Conference as it is in the NESCAC, the concept is the same - way too many people think that a pre-read means a slot vs a tip. Sinc there are only 0-3 slots available per sport, most are going to be offered a tip which only gives an athlete the spot if its even up in admissions.
I think it is critical to ask the coach at any school what it means. S is a rising Junior, so we haven't gotten that detailed with most coaches, but one conversation went there and the coach said the standard admissions has the final say speech, but when pressed, he said that he is 100% in the last 5 years on getting his guys in and he won't ask S to apply ED unless he is confident that he will get in. He wants to preserve his credibility with future recruits. That's one coach at one school in one sport. But I think if you ask directly how many guys (or girls) they have asked to apply ED were denied, they will be honest. They may not offer up the info, but most will give an accurate answer if asked, whatever it may be.
When we started doing unofficial visits, I was pleasantly surprised at the level of info coaches will give if asked direct questions. I let S do most of the talking, but on things where he was less comfortable I asked a few questions.
Replies to: ED1 and ED2 for Recruits
The OP said they are not looking at Haverford and it is not lax, so this issue may not be of specific interest. Still, families going through recruiting can benefit from reminders to ask specific questions of coaches about admissions. It is all too easy to hear what we want to hear, and much more difficult to follow up with the hard questions (at least for me, and I assume I'm not the only one). Especially in D3 which does not have likely letters or NLI and which relies on ED commitments, there is so much room for ambiguity and misunderstanding that asking those detailed questions can make all the difference between celebrating and heartbreak in mid December.
When we started doing unofficial visits, I was pleasantly surprised at the level of info coaches will give if asked direct questions. I let S do most of the talking, but on things where he was less comfortable I asked a few questions.