Wondering if anyone considered applying early action rather than ED when being recruited. While nothing is a sure thing in today’s college admissions, student athlete would likely be admitted without relevant sport. This would allow student athlete to see about merit scholarship from said school along with other schools. We likely couldn’t obtain needs based scholarships.
If you are fairly sure that the applicant would be admitted on their own without athletic support, then that would certainly be one route to take.
Others may disagree with me though I would not apply ED until you are as close to 100% sure that is their top choice and/or best fit overall (i.e., academically top choice and fit, financially a fit, school fit such as size, location, campus, etc.).
Often coaches want a quick decision and commitment as it is in their best interest but I did not like being pushed and wanted to make sure that is best fit for your kid and family, which may include financial considerations. Most coaches understood. It is easy to get caught up in the recruiting hype, especially us parents, and commit to a school primarily for athletic reasons to have it end up not being a good fit.
Back to your question a bit,
-is this a school that has a policy in which the coach has slots and/or influence on who gets admitted? Many schools do not, so applying EA or RD should not impact whether or not your kid gets admitted. So I would consider that route but be upfront with the coach especially if the school is on your short list. It is a big decision so hopefully the coach would understand.
-it would depend on the school and sport/roster size, and how good of an athlete your kid is.
For schools that do not have slots and your kid would get admitted on their own, and is an athlete that would be welcome on the team, I would not commit ED or at least wait as long as you could and have looked very closely at the other options and decided on this school. If they would get in on their own, IMO there is less of a reason to apply ED.
Hope that helps. Good luck.
3 Likes
Generally agree with recruitparent – the issue in applying EA is not about acceptance, it is about whether there is a roster spot on the team. Coaches typically make a roster spot offer “in exchange” for ED commitment, so that the coach knows that roster spot is “taken.” If the student doesn’t commit to attend the school through ED, then the coach needs to keep recruiting and may find other athletes who will commit through ED. When the EA applicant gets in, there may no longer be a roster spot. All depends on the sport, how strong an athlete is etc.
16 Likes
Agree. First hand story. This was before I knew as much about the recruiting process though we were being given a private tour by the coach at a NESCAC, I believe around Feb. of his Jr year.
The coach pointed out a kid that was a Sr. in HS that was on campus for a visit with the coaches, other students, etc. that was still deciding between this NESCAC and an Ivy. This is probably a bit unusual, though the NESCAC coaches obviously thought enough of this kid that they would gladly make room for him. My sense was that he was a higher end athletic recruit for the NESCAC.
1 Like
Probably depends on the sport and type of school. My S25 has been going through the recruiting process for track. He has offers for EA/RD round from two fairly selective D3 colleges. He is a very strong D3 recruit.
This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. If you’d like to reply, please flag the thread for moderator attention.