You don’t get Likely Letters with d3 recruiting, correct? Just the coach’s encouragement to apply early after a pre-read? TIA
It depends on the school. NESCAC no, some others do.
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I think it’s important to be precise, so everyone is on the same page. For selective d3 schools, after passing the preread, the athlete may (or may not) be extended an offer of coach support with admissions. Not everyone who passes the preread gets an offer. The coach makes the offer of a roster spot and support with admissions. So this is more than being “encouraged to apply early.”
At most schools, though Admissions makes the final decision, an offer of coach support is tantamount to being admitted to the school. (Important to verify this is the situation with schools one is seriously considering, coach support doesn’t always mean admission is highly likely).
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Thank you, this is very interesting- what constitutes a “selective” d3 school? And NESCAC does not do this, correct?
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Lol, no, the NESCAC definitely does this!
I’d guess selective school = school that does a preread. (ETA - yes I meant academically selective; and in my mind it means a school with a sub 20% admit rate. But schools with higher admit rates also follow this process.)
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Thank you!
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The swimcloud app will be a good guide of where you fit compared to the existing team, as it includes PBs by schools/event/swimmer. A very good rule of thumb is to be top2-3 in 2 or more events, but in the end only the coach can tell, because they have an incoming class that’s not included, and other athletes seeking the same spots.
Selective probably means academically selective, generally D3 schools with admit rates roughly under 20% without the athletic hook. If the coach likes you, he/she will ask you for grades / brief profile / school profile to send to the AO for pre-read, which is basically admission greenlighting an athlete/applicant. Once the pre -read is passed, the coach knows he/she can support that athlete in ED1/2 admission
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This makes complete sense. My child is a freshman but swimming at d3 times for most top schools (Williams, Amherst, Pomona but not Emory). Obviously she has another year ahead of her, but my husband feels pretty strongly that our child will get a better academic experience if they stick with d3 swimming instead of trying for d1, where the demands on the athlete are so much higher. I guess we will wait to see what our child wants as well- a little early I know since it feels like d3 recruiting happens later, whereas d1 recruiting starts summer between sophomore and junior year.
and you never know, they might just quit all together I suppose. I was honestly just very curious about the process because our other child (not an athletic recruit) is applying to colleges next year.
Thanks to everyone for their advice!
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Establish your swimcloud profile, with a dedicated college app email, and if your times are fast enough, some coaches will reach out.
Between comparing swimcloud times and contacting coaches, you will have very clear feedback about who wants/needs you. When a coach is interested, they can wrap up the entire first contact/zoom call/pre-reads/promise of support within 2 weeks. of course, for most everybody else, it’s a longer process.
Don’t necessarily count out D1 schools because it includes all Ivies, and your swim times to qualify for Pomona could be the same as Dartmouth. Top D3 times will be recruited in lower D1
You’ll learn a lot in the next 2-3 years about recruiting, but D3 doesn’t necessarily have an easier training or travel schedule than D1. D1 has plenty of schools with good academic experiences. My kids both chose smaller (in the grand scheme of things) schools and after a year both wish they’d picked bigger schools (what seems big to a 15 or 16 year old may feel cramped to a 19 year old).
Some very good D3 are out there - Hopkins, UChicago - and some good D1 schools that aren’t so big like Stanford, Fordham, Dartmouth.
If you daughter goes to swim camps and meets at colleges over the next few years, she will learn a lot about schools without taking a tour. My kids went to band camp, some sports camps, and some hs events at college campuses and learned a lot.
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Just to clarify, swimcloud is a website (no app).
D3s with low acceptance rates are “selective” - several NESCACs and UAA schools, JHU, MIT etc…
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There are plenty of D1 schools slower than D3 schools. Choose the school that is right for you.
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The importance of the likely letter tends to be overstated on this website. Some schools offer them after applications are in, some schools do not. For the highly rejective schools where student athletes can get coaches support to (mostly) ensure admission, students must apply after a slot is offered and trust that the process will work. A likely letter that comes in November reduces the wait time, but doesn’t fundamentally change the process.
For a sport like swimming, you should downplay the DI vs DIII distinction, unless your child is looking for athletic scholarship. The top DI programs are better than the top DIII programs, but there is significant overlap between the divisions for both performance and expectation.
Freshman year, the main thing to do is enjoy the sport. It’s too early to reach out to coaches, but if you have an opportunity to do a low-key college tour, it helps to have seen some colleges just to put things in perspective. High school grades don’t have to be perfect, but good grades will open doors, and there are not many schools where swimming can open doors that have been shut by poor grades. Your D should strive to have a HS transcript she is proud of, and it is not too early to think about grades.
Listen to what the seniors on her team are doing and where they wind up. Many parents will share their wisdom once their kids lands somewhere.
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The LLs are an absolute bonus in terms of having an early comfort which is in writing. However, only a subset of the most academically selective schools provide LLs. Irrespective of whether a school provides LLs, the coache will be the main driver of the recruitment process, and have a very clear idea of how much he wants a swimmer. Some coaches will pursue athletes very early in their high school career, bearing in mind that it remains key to stay healthy.
In your planning, just progressively prepare so that your kid will “appear” in front of coaches via swimcloud/ncsa/meets, and then reach out to them as early as the spring before Junior year. That will give you ample time to present the profile and engage in email/zoom once you have filled the college recruiting webpages for school where you’re interested
Stay away from NCSA. There is no value for the money.
@LurkerJoe gave the best advice.
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To answer OP’s original question, does anybody have a list of D3 schools that DO provide Likely Letters?
I know you didn’t ask - but we found one difference in the process between our athletic recruit child and our non athletic recruit child was standardized test timing.
Our athlete was done by Fall of junior year and had a score - she took in Sept. Perfect time to prep over the summer, imo. Having a strong score was appreciated by coaches, as they knew she was a serious academic candidate and not just good at her sport. She only had one coach never engage - looking at you BU (crew not swimming) vs the 5 Ivys she contacted, top D3s, Stanford etc.
It is quite a ride with lots of ups and downs - so hang in there if your daughter decides to pursue. Our daughter has an amazing friend community through her sport at college, found the right fit school academically and location wise and did a great job staying true to herself and trusting her gut when meeting with teams and coaches.
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There’s no list I know of. IME CWRU, U Chicago, Grinnell have all been known to send out LLs (not only to athletes). But again IME these schools don’t send LLs to all/most recruited athletes. Your kid should ultimately understand each school’s process from the coach.
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One of my sons got one from Emory.
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Not for my kid, but thanks for the info. I’m just trying to help OP figure out which D3 schools do offer LLs. I think a list could be beneficial to a lot of people looking at D3 recruiting.