Wondering if anyone who has been through the recruiting process knows the answer - do higher ranking LACs that are not NESCACs do formal academic pre-reads where they send transcripts etc. to admissions for feedback? My DS was asked for transcripts and scores by the 2 schools he’s most interested in, and the coaches responded back that THEY reviewed the materials and believe he has
“set himself up for success” at X school and want to continue the process with him. Overnight visits in the fall were discussed as next steps.
I guess I’m just wondering if others have experienced this in their process? I know we’re not at the offer stage yet, but maybe the coaches know what they need to see to continue with recruiting? At the same time, if an offer were to follow a visit in the fall, I feel like there’s less certainty with admissions which is a concern. Or maybe it’s just that these specific coaches (who have both been in their positions for >20 years) know what they can send through admissions successfully with their support.
I’d love to hear if anyone has experienced anything like this. Thanks!
S recruited by Swat and Pomona. Coaches did initial read but also submitted to admissions before making “offer” (with my support if you apply ED, you are 99% in). For all other non-NESCAC academic schools, the coaches had a good idea before engaging in serious recruiting discussions. He did not pursue those schools so an official pre-read by admissions was moot. He had done some academic showcases so his academic stats (GPA and test scores) were visible to the coaches.
We found the process with UAA and Swat to be similar to NESCAC, even if not bound by the same timing restrictions. Strong student so all positive, but some coaches updated back via email with “Admissions said…” Formal offers came later down the line.
Interesting. Do you remember when they actually submitted the materials to admissions? I wonder if it’s possible this could happen in the fall once school begins and the visits are scheduled.
I also wonder if it’s the case that at these 2 schools specifically, the coaches have been around for so long that they know exactly what they need to see and know what gets through in the ED round with their support. I guess we’ll see what happens as this plays out.
It varied for my D. She had been keeping coaches up to date on her academics so they were in the loop. She had her first UAA offer in late Feb./early March, long before the NESCAC timeline. She received a couple of other UAA offers over March through May. At the same time a couple of the schools also did pre-reads for merit money and informed us what that would look like. I am not sure if all of the pre-reads went to the AO but the response form the coaches was always “she is fine” from a pre-read perspective. Her test scores were high and her GPA was also very high with highest rigor so I would have been surprised at anything less so she might not be the greatest example.
JHU, Swat, and Haverford all waited for her spring grades so they happened in June. Haverford also required an interview as part of the process.
From your description of events I believe that the coaches saw enough success to be comfortable with keeping the process going. Unless a prospective recruit is a real impact player most coaches do not want to spend too much time with a kid that they believe cannot get past the AO.
I believe they did because we had to send unofficial transcripts and test reports. The “offers” were given at the conclusion of official visits in the Fall.
Why not just have your son ask the coach if the school has a pre read process with admissions?
Coaches all will want grades/scores to know they aren’t wasting their time with a recruit that has no chance of getting in. This is not the same as a preread.
Not all schools do prereads. The coach at the University of Rochester told my son they didn’t usually, but if we really wanted that reassurance the school would. That coach had been there 25 years and said he was comfortable knowing what would pass muster with admissions.
Without knowing more, I would not want to rely on a coach’s assessment of admission chances, I would want some indication, such as passing a preread, from Admissions itself.
Interesting and maybe confirmatory. The first offer that my D received (Feb/March timeframe) was University of Rochester. The coach did ask for everything and I know that it was shipped over to Admissions for a Merit pre-read which Admissions provided in writing to us. The Coach made the offer before that happened so maybe they do leave it in the hands of the Coaches barring any big flags.
The schools that requested formal admissions pre-reads sent D26 a link to the pre read portal which went straight to admissions. This was after coaches had her transcripts and test scores for a bit. Some required writing samples or essays.
Coach would report the pre read results after the admissions review. Some positive pre reads came with an offer, some just indicated that it meant they could continue the recruiting process.
W&L and similar academic non-nescacs a bit hard to figure out with this stuff - where the tippy top LACs (Amherst and Williams) seem to recruit hard for ALL sports, appears that lower ranked schools a couple of notches down in the academic rankings - W&L - are more selective and intentional with the process. 11 kids have formally “committed” to W&L mens lax and we aren’t even out of July. Seems like either the preread process there is more a formality or mens lax gets their pre reads in right out of the gate. Said another way, I doubt the other 23 sports at W&L are done with their prereads at this time
Why? W&L is not constrained to the NESCAC July 1 start for prereads. They can do prereads earlier. And they can turn them around super fast too (like, in 24 hours). W&L, like the NESCACs, places a premium on doing well in all sports, so it doesn’t surprise me that they are far along in their recruiting.
well presumably you need junior year transcript which wouldn’t be finalized until 3rd week of June in most cases - not really much different than July 1st nescac imo. 11 kids announcing their D3 commitments for one team by July seems pretty quick. I can’t speak for any of their other sports and the typical time frame for offers of support - mostly because lax has sites that publish this info
There are people on CC who have been through recruiting already, and who aren’t speculating, fyi. Odd that you seem to believe you know more about W&L athletic recruiting than someone whose son successfully went through the process.
For the NESCAC you need a junior year transcript. For many other schools you do not. There are many parents including myself on this forum who have gone through the process and who have kids who were offered long before July.
I don’t know anything about W&L but the Lax player we know at Williams announced their commitment July 1st after officially receiving their offer from the coach that morning. FWIW plenty of coaches collected the necessary information ahead of July 1. No idea when the AO physically read that file, but as long as the communication doesn’t go out until that date there is no issue.