Athletic recruit college options

Athletic Recruits
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I am an athlete recruit who recently committed to the admission process at an ivy league school for 2025. I am still unsure about what I want to major in, probably something STEM related or business.

I wanted to start possibly looking into outside scholarships as I’m unsure if I would qualify for much aid and still don’t want to burden my parents, though my parents are telling me they would pay to get me through in if needed. I wanted to take time to look for additional merit/athletic outside scholarships if available. Is there a good website with a list for something like this?

Furthermore, I have been hearing that it does not matter where a pre-med track student attends school at, so should I still apply to other universities or just focus on this one University, though I might enter college in a different major I’d like this track to stay available.

One thing that holds me back from in state school options is that I’ve put a lot of time into playing the sport, plus i’ve already “committed”. Wouldn’t all this time spent have gone to waste if I do not end up going to this school, though it makes me feel trapped as it seems that by playing the sport, i’ve actually limited my options to a possibly expensive place.

I apologize if this is in the wrong section or confusing to understand, but would appreciate some direction.

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Every recruit should have a plan B (and C, D, etc). So yes, you should be prepared to apply to other schools in case the Ivy process doesn’t work out. I don’t think you’re going to find a lot of external funding, so you really need to sit down with your parents and see if this school is affordable for them. They can run the NPC and you can work with the coach to get a financial aid pre read this summer. I’m not sure why you’d commit without already being comfortable with the financial fit, but that’s a separate issue. As far as whether going to a state school and not playing your sport is a waste, I don’t see it that way. That’s what most kids do. Look at club options at state schools too. You can do pre med anywhere.

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You blow out your knee and your may be done as a college athlete , so pick your school based on that assumption. most pre med programs matter less than your GPA and you Mcats, that being said I would assume you would get a good aid package form your school, but def look at other options. You have not signed a binding letter of commitment I assume so you have options, use them.

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Thanks, my parents are okay with the payment, I’d just like to see if there are outside scholarships as theres not much else for me to really do + if I can help my parents pay less, why not right?

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As it is April of your junior year, to have an Ivy athletic recruiting commitment at this early stage implies that you are pretty good at your sport. It is my experience that these sort of commitments, while not binding, are taken pretty seriously by Ivy coaches, so by committing to you, there are other athletic recruiting hopefuls that will have to look elsewhere. There is a domino effect to these decisions.

It seems to me if you are not sure about fully committing to this school, you are being rather selfish to hold a place while you keep looking. It is widely known that Ivy League schools do no give any merit aid so if that is a factor you should be honest about it. I also think the world of athletic recruiting (depending on sport of course) is rather small, so if you are still looking after committing, the coaches will know/talk.

As a separate matter, Ivy/D1 sports can be very time consuming, and premed tracks at most Ivy’s is very intense. While there are those who have done it, it is very hard. Given the importance of grades/scores to get into med school, I often think going to an in-state option can not only be less expensive, but also academically less intense, allowing for more time to enjoy the college experience while still achieving a med school goal.

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Most scholarships/grants come from the schools themselves, outside scholarships represent a low proportion of total scholarships. Outside scholarships tend to be highly competitive and work intensive for relatively small sums. They tend to not be renewable for all 4 years either. I don’t know of a good comprehensive scholarship website. Start looking in your local area…does your GC having any resources?

Have you run the net price calculator at the Ivy you are committed to? That should give you a decent estimate of your family’s freshman year costs.

OP can and should be applying to other schools in the Fall. While it’s likely OP will be admitted at the school they are committed to, admission is not certain and it’s prudent to have back up options. There are posters here every year that ‘committed’ but were not accepted. Harvard recruited athletes per the lawsuit documents had an 86% acceptance rate. Said differently, 14% of athletes who committed were not accepted.

It is difficult to manage time and get good grades as a student-athlete at any school. Many student-athletes end up dropping their sport to focus on academics and GPA, especially if they aren’t getting the playing time to warrant the trade-off. With that said, a student-athlete may prioritize their sport as one of the top factors of their desired college experience.

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Given how early in the recruiting season this commitment is being made, I would imagine that the OP will be required to apply EA/ED, and a LL will be forthcoming some time in October or November.

While it is always prudent to have a plan B, it will be a sensitive matter if OP talks to other programs during this time. Coaches are finalizing their rosters and the OP will need to be careful to not give a reason for a coach to doubt his/her sincere interest. If money is an issue, the OP should be honest with the coach who has made the commitment.

Again there is a domino effect when athletes and/or programs renege on commitments. It can upset an entire recruiting year.

1 Like
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It didn’t seem like OP intended on being a recruited athlete elsewhere.

That’s how recruiting works. Verbal commitments are not binding, for the athletes or coaches. Coaches reneg on commitments as much as, maybe more than, athletes.

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I think it is okay to tell the coach that while HYP is the top choice, the athlete needs to keep other schools on the list for financial aid reasons. The Ivy coach can’t guarantee anything to a hs junior and the hs junior shouldh’t have to sign in blood either.

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I agree that honest/transparency is the best policy.

While I have always been skeptical of the ultra early Ivy athletic recruiting, I am also amazed at how often it works out.

I do think, however, without the honesty/transparency of a discussion of financial factors, a coach who finds out their verbally committed recruit is talking to other programs can be a breakdown in communications that could end badly.

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“That’s how recruiting works. Verbal commitments are not binding, for the athletes or coaches. Coaches reneg on commitments as much as, maybe more than, athletes.”

I would like to see data on this claim. In our experience, albeit in a “niche” sport, this is simply not the case. While there are always cases where recruiting does not work out, it is rarely a simple case of the coach, in particular, reneging on a hard offer. And, to the contrary, our experience is that it is more often the athletes who change their mind than it is the coaches.

“It is difficult to manage time and get good grades as a student-athlete at any school. Many student-athletes end up dropping their sport to focus on academics and GPA, especially if they aren’t getting the playing time to warrant the trade-off. With that said, a student-athlete may prioritize their sport as one of the top factors of their desired college experience.”

This is simply not accurate, although it depends on the relative academic acumen of the student-athlete. As an Ivy League recruit, our student-athlete often envied the easier course load, courses, and paths to graduation available to students at non-Ivies/non-“elite” schools.

There is a clear track for top recruits that is both aggressive and early in the process. Speaking for ourselves, but aware of many others in similar positions, top recruits commit as far in advance as summer of sophomore year in high school. Yes, these commitments are non-binding, but any coach who reneges on a hard offer, whenever it is made, risks both reputation and recruitment ability in future years. And, as SD points out above, at least for Ivies and elite private schools, recruited athletes almost always apply ED/EA, in which case they will hear from their school far in advance of when regular admission applications are due for other schools.

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@BrooklynRye

IME, reneging on coach/program side often comes from coaching changes. New coach comes in and cleans the slate of all verbal commits…this is not uncommon, and there are many coaching changes across NCAA divs, NAIA, JUCOs every year.

We will have to agree to disagree on the numbers of student-athletes who complete 4 years of their sport…whether it’s at an Ivy, or not, it’s difficult to balance academics and a sport…especially for pre-meds which is OP’s intent.

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Considering your first qualification, perhaps we just differ on terminology. If Coach #1 makes a recruiting commitment, subsequently leaves his/her position, is replaced by Coach #2, who cancels Coach #1’s recruiting decisions, then the coach who issued the recruiting offer did not renege on his/her commitment. Coach #2 never made the original commitment, so also did not “renege” on the offer.

I concede (we don’t have to agree to disagree!) that premed is a prime exception and imagine that premed at pretty much any school is a challenge to continuing ncaa training and competition.

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This varies quite a bit by sport. Track and Field athletes generally don’t commit early, especially the top recruits. Most of those decisions are made fall of senior year. At Ivies, most of those athletes apply ED/EA but a few don’t. At D1/P5 programs, the coaches would love to have commitments from the top athletes in the fall but a decent number of athletes wait until winter. And some commit in the summer after senior year (usually not at selective schools though).

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Absolutely! I tried to qualify my statements, indicating that our student-athlete competes in a niche sport. Even among those, the recruitment timetable varies. In our child’s sport, however, no official recruit applies other than early to an Ivy.

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Thanks for all the replies, I want to clarify I definitely am not talking to any schools regarding recruitment now that I have committed to the ivy school of my choice. I was just told it is important to have a plan B, etc in case it falls through - which in my case would be to apply to the UC’s etc. I will talk about getting a financial pre read later, but is the pre read ever going to differ majorly from the EFC simulator? Can a coaches word to the fin aid department impact the aid given in any way?

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In my sport, squash, I have not heard tell of any cases where a top recruit/athlete had his spot taken away, from those I have spoken too anyway. Especially after the season is over.

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The coach won’t have any influence over FA results. The pre read could differ from the NPC but that would usually happen in atypical financial situations such as a family business. If your parents just have W2 income, don’t own a second house or business, and are confident they filled out the NPC correctly then it’s probably fairly accurate. The pre read will involve a FA officer actually looking at a complete application with tax returns and will give you a very accurate and reliable estimate.

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fwiw, my brother in law successfully played a sport at an Ivy and attended med school. He started freshmen and sophomore year, stepped back a bit junior year because of the load, and returned his senior year and was a contributor. He felt being an athlete was why he had more interviews than most applicants. YMMV