HS class of 2020. Recruiting experience

gointhruaphase
Fri, 03 Jan 2020 19:30:43 +0000

I am sure that others will disagree, but my understanding was:

Likely Letters: Although colleges certainly have spins and variations, it is usually “promised” by coaches after pre-read but sent by admissions, often after application submitted, but in time to switch from ED/to RD or vice versa if the letter doesn’t materialize or when it does. Letter tells certain applicants (typically athletes) that in all likelihood they will be admitted.

Prereads: Information comes from admissions, but is relayed by coaches. Tells recruit that their transcript and test scores are good enough to be admitted, often without a guarantee of admission. Usually is relayed to athlete before they apply ED to give them some degree of confidence that they will be admitted to the school and that they are not wasting an ED application.

Early writes: A college’s way of “showing the love early.” The idea is, for example, that if LAC1 is the first to tell certain coveted applicants that they are admitted, the applicants will have more time to fall in love with LAC1 and choose to matriculate. This occurs typically in the RD round, because the applicants in the ED round have already committed to matriculate should they be admitted. I never thought early writes had any special use for athletic recruits, who usually commit and apply ED or early anyway. Of course, if there was an athlete that didn’t apply ED, a college might try to encourage the athlete’s attendance through an early write.