That’s what I think too. Hard to know where this leaves her.
Does she have other schools where she may be more of an impact player on her list? We definitely tried to identify great fit schools where he may be “playing down.” Ultimately not where he landed but they did come through and would have been happy if that’s how things worked out.
There are schools interested outside the nescac for sure. Liberty and centennial leagues. But how likely is someone to get an offer if in group 2?
No one can say. Presumably some of those kids received multiple offers and can only choose one. Once someone moves on, the coach will look to the next group to see who better fills that gap. That may or may not be your D.
It’s possible your D will receive an offer, but she shouldn’t count on it being certain. If she has an acceptable offer in hand, she can ask her priority school what is their timeline.
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One of the things to keep in mind with position sports is that who will be needed from group 2 will depend on who says yes from group 1. (It’s true in other sports as well, but amplified here.) It’s unlikely to be ranked.
But also remember that the players in group 1 are typically the strongest in this year’s recruiting class, and it’s likely that they are in group 1 at more than one school, so they can’t respond positively to everyone who made an offer. Most schools will be dipping into their group 2 pool, but even the coaches don’t know who they’ll need. Maybe they come out of “round 1” with the backs they wanted bit still need a GK and a midfielder. That’s not going to help if you’re a back.
This is the hardest part of this process – it’s outside your control. It’s hard to be patient.
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I’m guessing ‘Group 2’ means 2nd tier, meaning, there is a first prioritized group of recruits, and then your daughter is in the top of the 2nd tier of their recruits. As others have said, a lot of variables here. Who knows how many athletes each coach has in their top tier or ‘Group 1’. Honestly, I wouldn’t plan on these schools. I think your daughter should continue communication with them, and let her top choice know she’d accept an offer, but then focus on other schools where she is not in the 2nd tier. Maybe she’ll get lucky, and there still remains a possibility, but I would gently encourage her to focus the bulk of her energy at other schools, where she is more of a priority recruit, and where she may have more opportunities and be a more desired (and played) athlete. Just my personal opinion- I know it is a very difficult wait and I know this process is stressful…Hang in there…
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Often NESCAC pre-reads are binary (Pass/NP). If yours was “outstanding”, I assume they are banding the recruits of your target school for this sport? If so, and yours is in the high academic band, that is a positive, but as others have said patience may be required.
Or am I completely off base here?
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Agreed. I’ve never heard a NESCAC pre-read result described as ‘outstanding’
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We heard it from a few coaches, including one NESCAC (only 2 NESCACs on the list). Another top academic D3 coach disclosed that is was the best/top preread of his recruiting class.
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Thanks for sharing. Was it your sense with the nescac that the word ‘outstanding’ was code for band placement?
I wouldn’t call it keyword, just honest feedback. It’s safe to assume that was the case IMO.
When S24 sent his transcript after the first call, the coach replied with something to the tune of “looks great, that should put you in the A band.” His transcript was not perfect but definitely very strong, from a top school, with high test scores. I honestly didn’t expect different feedback. I assume there are a fair number of kids in that situation (though I recognize he has higher stats than most recruited athletes from his school) and the pre read is not something to give much thought to.
So this may be different because (1) it was one of the “less selective” NESCACs and (2) it was not a field/team/position sport, but the feedback we got from my HS Class of 2024 kid’s pre-read was that he was a very strong candidate and he could apply ED1, ED2 or RD. I guess the implication was that he would have gotten in regardless, though that was never explicitly said. They never used the “coach support” language or mentioned bands.
same - and for my daughter she got both a response from the coach and from an admissions rep regarding her pre read results often with the wording “likely candidate for admissions or likely admit” and then discussion around how to apply with support (ED/EA). Also I don’t think there is really comparison amongst prereads - like on application is the strongest or best and I can’t imagine that would be formally communicated to the prospective student athlete. In our experience you were told you are a likely admit, that you were not a likely admit or that you needed to make some adjustments to your app in order to be a likely admit (such as get a specific test score, take a certain class, or maintain a specific gpa)
Depending on the sport, I wouldn’t hold my breath for a tier two offer with full support, but likely if you get in without you will have a roster spot.
in our experience early in the recruiting conversation coaches asked for unofficial transcripts, but for formal prereads it was explicitly explained what documents were needed and they were being submitted to admissions for a preread, and then my daughter was given a timeline in which to expect results.
@GKmom23: “Depending on the sport, I wouldn’t hold my breath for a tier two offer with full support, but likely if you get in without you will have a roster spot.”
I’m not saying that never happens, but in general, for the NESCACs, that scenario is unlikely. Unless the coach specifically says, “If you can get in on your own, I’ll have a roster spot for you,” the athlete should not plan on that, as it typically does not work that way. Typically athletes being offered roster spots are told by the coach that they want to offer them a roster spot, with the athlete agreeing to apply ED. Generally, with field sports, approximately 5-7 roster spots are offered (except football). Those athletes are considered the top tier. If one declines, they may dip to 2nd tier, OR they may have have others still in the top tier waiting. There is no guarantee a coach will ever need to dip into 2nd tier.
I’m not saying no other scenario occurs, but that is how recruiting in the NESCACs works the majority of the time.
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I cannot speak to all sports but it does happen in some sports, I know of a couple of instances in the past couple of years. Where you are on the list along with your banding can create this scenario. A highly capable band B recruit might get this response.
Also, for the top recruits multiple offers are common. It is common for a top kid to have multiple offers (I know one who had 6). The impact of their choices will open up slots but you then need to start thinking about specific schools.
Few if any athletes are going to turndown Williams in general. No women’s lacrosse player or Ice Hockey player is going to turn down Middlebury. If you are further down those lists I would move on. Other schools and sports are going to have more movement. It will continue for awhile but but you should start thinking about who is likely to get their top choices and who will be reaching further down their list.
We’re in the middle of this and it’s so maddening. D1 coach in asked in May for a transcript, we had a few zooms, was talking about planning a visit and now nothing. She’s ranked 10th out of 436 kids in her class. Fantastic grades and lots of EC. Super serious about her sport. She has an offer on the table for a D3 and 2 weeks to accept (it’s not one of her top choices). Texted this coach and said, hey, I have an offer. You’re my top choice, can you let me know where you are in the process?
Crickets. I can’t believe they can’t take 5 seconds to send a text that says, I’m so sorry, but at this point I don’t think we have a spot for you. Something. Anything! We tell kids they need to act professionally and appropriately… I’m just stunned that a professional treats people --a 16 yr old kid-- this way.
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I don’t disagree with your sentiment. The least they can do is have the same courtesy. Some will tell you “that says something about the coach” but I think that is simplistic and moving on is easier said than done. It is likely he is kicking the ball forward. He has offers hanging and doesn’t want to let her go. Still, a little transparency wouldn’t hurt. Why can’t they just say “I’m sorry, I won’t know if I will be able to offer you a spot until x date.”
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To add to the confusion . . .
My son was ghosted by a coach at this tome of year, and I totally had your reaction. We assumed that it meant the coach lost interest and was unprofessional.
Fast forward a few weeks, and out of the blue the coach called with an offer. The school had been my son’s first choice, but, after assuming the coach had moved on, my son also had moved on.
In our case, it was during covid, and the school had paused recruiting and wouldn’t let coaches make any offers. While these facts don’t apply in your case, my point is that you never know!
I still think it’s an unprofessional way to handle the situation, and I do think it says something about the coach.
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We had a coach that was either hot or cold through the entire process. Others had the same experience and it was frustrating to deal with.