Are "likely letters" ethical?

riverrunner
Fri, 08 Feb 2013 08:52:54 +0000

And to close the loop on athlete Likely Letters, in almost all cases, the athlete agrees to attend if the LL is given, and do not receive more than one. Coaches have a limited number of LLs to grant, and can’t sprinkle them around. The conversation is something like, “if I ask for a LL from admissions for you, and they agree to grant one, will you agree to attend?” Very rarely, a student athlete will be offered a LL with no strings attached, but that only happens for the very very top athletes (top 10 in the nationish), who are also academically qualified.