<p>Yes, of course, it can significantly change the dynamics of the application process.</p>
<p>But what the coach told you could mean anything from “You’ll be one of 30 kids on a list I give Admissions, and they’ve promised me they’ll try to accept 5 or 6 of them” to “I’ll tell Admissions that I want you (but not as much as I want four other kids)” to “If you are within range on your grades and SATs you will be accepted.”</p>
<p>It can vary by coach, by sport, by college, by kid. There are lots and lots of threads on this topic on the Parents Forum. If you are really in this position, you should read some of them, and maybe PM the parents of other Yale or Ivy athletes, especially in your sport.</p>
<p>You should be aware that many Ivy League colleges will give a “likely letter” to a recruited athlete, which essentially is a commitment to admit you if you don’t screw up. The point is to induce you not to do something stupid like sign a NLI with some other DI school, or apply ED elsewhere, things you might well be tempted to do if you were uncertain of your status at Yale. If the coach isn’t offering you a likely letter, it may mean that they won’t do that in your sport, or it may mean that you don’t have THAT much backing from the coach. Or it may mean simply that you haven’t asked for it yet.</p>
<p>The only way to find out is (a) to educate yourself about the standards in your sport, and about the track record of the coach, and then (b) ask the coach directly what he means, and listen very, very carefully to the answer. If you don’t understand what he’s saying, ask follow-up questions.</p>
<p>Remember, the coach has a bunch of interests that don’t necessarily correspond to your interests. The coach would like as many qualified athletes as possible to get admitted, as insurance in case some of them flake out. The coach almost certainly has a limited amount of juice he can apply to get people in, unless it’s a marginal sport, but just as certainly he doesn’t have enough juice to get everyone he wants in. If you are a really good student, he may not want to waste a lot of juice on you, since he thinks you may be likely to get in without it (or without much of it). And the coach may be right in that assessment, or he may be wrong. Or he may be right that Admissions will give him two kids from a list of seven or eight, in addition to the kids he forced down Admissions’ throat.</p>
<p>But it’s not all that glum, because most coaches don’t want to get the reputation of being liars, either. So if you ask specific questions, you ought to get honest answers. (If you can’t get a straight answer, you may want to re-think your relationship with this coach.)</p>