<p>how many colleges do you think an athlete who has received a likely letter should apply to? I’m thinking about applying to 3, is that too many/few?</p>
<p>Who can answer that question? Apply to the ones that you’d like to attend. If you can see yourself at any of those 3 other institutions, then apply to them. If you’re content w/the one that sent you the likely (congrats BTW), then send zero and save your parents the app fees.</p>
<p>well, what i mean is, the school i got the letter from (princeton) is my clear 1st choice. i’m just wondering how many schools it would be safe to apply to…just in case I start doing pretty badly in school and princeton’s like hey…we don’t want you anymore</p>
<p>First off, did you really get a likely letter? Most likely letters come after you’ve applied. There are marketing letters that go out before application. Usually, the marketing letters are aimed at kids who score above a certain point on standardized tests. Sometimes, they come from other mailing lists, as well. But marketing letters are just designed to get as many apps as possible from kids who might be qualified. These letters don’t mean you stand a good chance of getting in.</p>
<p>Do you want to fence in college? Are you a recruited athlete at Princeton? Is that the sort of letter you got? Are you male of female, because there are only three colleges in the country (as far as I know) that offer athletic scholarships to male fencers. How good are you? Ranking? National team? What weapon?</p>
<p>Well I submitted my application at the beginning of September and I got the letter in the mail last week. Yea, I got recruited for the fencing team. I’m male, foil, A2007, around 50 on the National Junior Pts list (ages 19 and under) and I finished 20something on the National Cadet Pts list (ages 17 and under).</p>
<p>Read another thread on this. If you got a likely letter, it’s very unlikely they will rescind the offer. At the same time, you are in some way obligated to go because you are taking up a very valuable spot. I would apply to 2 other schools as “God forbid.”</p>
<p>I see…thanks oldfort</p>
<p>and so when they say “we assure your acceptance as long as you maintain your academic and personal standards” they basically mean “it’s ok to get B+s, but Bs and C+s are pushing it”?</p>
<p>i would think a <em>safe</em> bet is to maintain your current grades and not drop more than half a letter grade below it</p>
<p>iFencer:</p>
<p>Yeah. I know the age breaks. I have a son who was a recruited fencer. Congratulations on your A rating and your rankings. There’s a pretty good chance you and my son have met at one or more NACs.</p>
<p>It sounds to me like you got more than a likely letter. What you got sounds like a conditional offer of admission. What they are saying is that you’re in as long as you don’t take an academic nosedive or get in trouble with the law or your school. I don’t know of another way to read the word “assured.” Basically, they’re just hedging. It wouldn’t surprise me to find that most, if not all, of the letters they send out offering admission to athletes at this early date have the same or similar language.</p>
<p>Now, have you committed to Princeton? Have you signed a letter of intent? If so, then you won’t really be available to be recruited by other coaches, so you’ll need to apply to some schools as a regular admit, not a recruited athlete. If you haven’t committed, you could still check out other fencing programs.</p>
<p>Do you absolutely want to fence at the collegiate level, or would you be content to go to a school without a fencing team? Have you talked to the Princeton coach about exactly what this “likely” letter means?</p>
<p>iFencer -</p>
<p>Congratulations and good luck in Dallas on Friday!</p>
<p>Tarhunt: I don’t think the Ivies use letters of intent. Anyone know for sure?</p>
<p>OP: Did the Princeton coach indicate that he had “used up” one of his “supported in admissions” spots for you? My guess would be, even if you apply to other colleges, Ivy and non-Ivy, sooner or later the coaches will call you and want a firm commitment from you that if they support you in admissions, you will indeed come. If you are playing three colleges this way, you are taking up spots on three rosters. Ethically, you can’t really state that you plan to commit to all three. You may be able to hold out for while, but you should try to come to a final decision before the application deadline, so that other fencers can enjoy the support in admissions that you have. The support for you may evaporate if you wait too long, because others around you in the talent pool may indicate willingness to commit. Be very careful!</p>
<p>Congratulations on having the athletic and academic ability to be in this most fortunate dilemma!</p>
<p>riverrunner:</p>
<p>Yeah, I think you’re right. I think there are letters of intent only for athletic scholarship offers.</p>
<p>I agree with you that one needs to be careful in a situation like this, but I would also say that this is a recruiting situation. A recruit is not obligated to attend a school just because he is being recruited and has been offered conditional admission. As long as the recruit is up front about this, s/he should have no trouble.</p>
<p>iFencer, it seems to me that your issue (if I understand it correctly) is that you really want to go to Princeton, but just need a fallback in case something happens to your grades. In that case, I would talk to coaches at some other schools that interest you, telling them the truth, and then apply like any other student through the regular admissions process. That was, should something happen with Princeton, you would be able to join another team. And, of course, the other coaches are welcome to try to talk you out of Princeton if they want to.</p>
<p>So, given your stats (and we don’t know them), what schools with fencing teams seem like fits or safeties to you?</p>
<p>Tarhunt, I don’t think you really understand how Ivy admissions works for recruited athletes. The issuance of a likely letter from admissions is the Ivies’ equivalent of a “Letter of Intent”. Although the Ivy recruit with a Likely Letter can’t be “obligated” to attend, it is considered wrong to back out, just as it is with a Letter of Intent. </p>
<p>You also say. “As long as the recruit is up front about this, s/he should have no trouble.” If the recruit is upfront with the school that issued the letter and tells them he is looking elsewhere, he is going to find that the “likely letter” doesn’t mean anything anymore and he’ll be dropped from the coach’s list and no longer supported. Why? Because the coach went to bat for him with admissions to get the likely letter and will feeled betrayed that he virtually guaranteed the kid a spot(based on the kid’s assurance that he would attend) and then he’s looking elsewhere. You better believe admissions will hear of that. This might not seem fair to you, but that’s how it works for the Ivies and especially Princeton, which no longer has an early program.</p>
<p>Riverrunner is right on point with this one. Be careful!</p>
<p>Thanks thelongroad. What you’ve said is exactly as I understand likelys. This was spelled out to me in detail in the last two weeks by more than one Ivy coach…</p>
<p>I just want to reiterate that Princeton is my absolute 1st choice, and I will definitely attend if accepted officially. And I am not implying that my grades will slip, I will continue to work hard in school, the purpose of this thread was just to find out how many “safeties” I should apply to just in case, God forbid, my grades drop.</p>
<p>You can apply to safeties, but you should not accept other likelys or imply to those coaches that they are your “first choice.” I encourage you to hang in there with your grades! I have to keep reminding my D that it is NOT MAY!!! Attending Princeton is an amazing opportunity. If you have any doubts at all about what your likely letter means, you should call your coach and talk with him. The verbage in the likely I’ve seen was VERY clear about its meaning. If yours is not, get it clarified, relax, and don’t forget to finish strong and I don’t mean just in your sport!</p>
<p>Thelongroad and riverrunner:</p>
<p>You’re right. I’ve never been through this with Ivies. I did go through it (for a fencer) with Vassar and Duke, and in that situation, no obligation was implied. Having said that, both recruited hard, but neither needed to use a tip. In fact, it was a case of coaches being happy not to have to use a tip.</p>
<p>I’m a bit surprised about the Ivies. How arrogant can you get?</p>
<p>OP: I still think you can apply to other fencing schools as a regular applicant.</p>
<p>riverrunner:</p>
<p>Would you call the letter he got a “likely letter”? I’d call it a conditional offer of acceptance.</p>
<p>Without seeing the letter, or hearing what was said around the offer of the letter it’s impossible to know. In my D’s case it was as you describe, but we weren’t dealing with Princeton. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t characterize this as arrogance, but as a system that allows the Ivies to compete for athletes who are being recruited by schools who do use letters of intent. How is a student to know if he is truly on a roster, and how is the coach to know if his roster is full, without something like a likely letter? It may not be ideal, but this is a snapshot of the system today. I’ve found Ivy coaches to be trustworthy and honest in this process. They have their reputations on the line, and much to gain by dealing fairly with recruits. Both sides move forward with something on the line, and something to gain, and if all deal squarely, it can work. Eyes wide open, I say.</p>