Ivy League Recruiting

Swimkidsdad
Sun, 04 Oct 2015 19:20:54 +0000

The following is from the Ivy League Manual:

Coaches must not communicate or imply to recruits, families, or counselors that favorable admissions outcomes have been decided by an admissions office or will be decided by an admissions office at any point in the future. Coaches must state clearly to recruits, families, and counselors that admissions decisions will be communicated only by official written notification from admissions offices on or after October 1 (i.e., by “likely letters” or by admissions office notification in Early Action, Early Decision or “regular” processes), and that no other indication of a positive admissions result is or should be considered reliable. This requirement applies whether or not an admissions office has reviewed any part of the student’s file and/or whether the athletic department has any reason to believe a favorable admissions decision may be forthcoming. [Council, Spring 2006]

For an early commit to the Ivy League a careful reading of the rules indicate that the only proper response by a coach is that they are offering fully support to an athlete but that this support does not guarantee a Likely Letter or admission. Note that the following statements:

“Verbally committed to the admissions process at Princeton, Kyla Sears tops the 2017 class’s rankings”

And

“They let some kids know they will offer full support but admission is contingent on a host of non-athletic factors.”

appear to be consistent with the Ivy League rule. Also note that this rule forbids a promise of a Likely letter by a coach at any time. Thus a recruit that was offered a slot during their sophomore year and one that was offered a slot on Oct 31 of their senior year would be treated the same under this rule.