Like Letters from Princeton?

stemit
Sun, 09 May 2010 19:20:54 +0000

With us, he did 3 Ivy official visits one weekend after the other beginning the weekend after Labor day (Princeton was at a disadvantage because the semester started after the other schools and was, therefore, last in line; it was also at a disadvantage because it had no ED/EA). Each visit culminated in very intense pressure for an immediate answer. (This is the way it must be because in baseball the IVY’s recruits tend to overlap and it’s like a game of musical chairs. Coaches must get quick answers or be left out when the music stops.) He was able to stave off the pressure by blaming us for dragging our feet on the financial aid pre-read.

He quickly narrowed the choices to 2 (and told the coach at the other immediately so he could move on). We submitted financials, got the pre-read (after learning much during that intense week). This brought us to mid-October. He then made the decision, told all coaches, and submitted the application to P. His part of the application took a little over a week (our school had already finished the letter of recs and transcripts by the end of September) during which the coach and the academic advisor were always available– this was towards the end of October. The next four weeks were really worrisome to us – but not to him. For us, it got to the point that back-up plans were imagined – but not for him. The LL came right before Thanksgiving – not quick enough for us; but right along the timetable that the coach told us.

As for the “verbal” that is probably a matter of semantics. We all recognized that admissions had the final (really the only) say so we felt that he was more of a “restricted free agent” the final terms of whose contract was being negotiated. During the entire time, he continued to take calls from other schools, but told them where he stood. Most coaches said thanks and goodbye; a few gave him back up offers “if any problem arose.”

The long and short – he submitted a single application to college. The RD wait was, as I said before, worrisome to the old folks - but not to him. (If there had been a disaster, in his case there were multiple athletic scholarship options with schools not in the IVY’s which would have been just fine also.)

Without the offer of the LL, however, I would NEVER have been comfortable. During our search, MIT baseball (for example) told us that they had no control and told us horror stories of players who did not get in and were left twisting in the wind (that eliminated MIT). If he did not get an offer of a LL, and the LL itself, we would have submitted as many apps as non-athlete students.