Of interest, over 60% of Trinity men’s team squash players originated internationally, while at other NESCACs the entire team may be from the U.S.
My daughter was recruited at most of the NESCAC schools. Prereads happened in early July. Following pre-reads coaches invited the top recruits for official visits to confirm fit. She had already been to all of these school for unofficial visits and the coaches confirmed that her athletic level was strong enough. But the official visit was a very important step since coaches wouldn’t confirm full support until they received the ok from the other coaches and team members about personality and fit with the team. Anecdotally, she did 3 official visits and most of the other recruits she met along the way (who also passed pre-reads, etc) were in the A band or close to it. So I think there’s a lot of weeding out along the way. But her sport isn’t rare.
In my experience, guidance counselors with a lot of students see their role as getting their students get into “a college.” Thus, some take on the mission of lowering parental expectations. This may be laudable, but athletic recruiting is different. The stats that can gain admittance for your average, great student are not the same as those that can get a recruited athlete admitted.
Keep an open mind on schools and try not to eliminate any yet. The elimination process becomes organic, as some coaches drop you like a hot potato for the newest D1 recruit and others come out of the woodwork at the last minute. Sometimes, you just don’t like the school (having nothing to do with sport).
The number of athletes that a NESCAC coach can support is limited. The general rule is 2 slots and 3-5 tips, depending on sport, need and horsetrading (obviously, football takes more). Depending on the school, the 2 slots can go down to the B to C band, depending on whether the athlete is an impact player. The stats that correlate to bands are different for each school. The tips likely will need to be A band students. Since the coach gives up one of his slots/tips to support a recruit, he likely will ask you to apply early decision.
Williams has so many flawless candidates that the level they will go “down” to may not be that far. One Williams coach said that the lowest ACT score for a sport was a 29, but one has to believe that there was a compelling reason there for admittance.
If you ask coaches this type of question, they usually will answer it honestly. Do not be afraid to ask whether your daughter will be admitted (they can’t definitively say yes or no, but can give you an idea), what test scores are needed (if any), ask about pre-reads and admissions support. Also ask about the level of support (i.e., how many kids are being recruited and where your kid falls in the group).
As I said, I have a junior too, so others have more experience. Athletic recruits don’t have the same ED calculus that a regular student does. A regular student figures out their odds of admission, and applies strategically, and doesn’t really have a good idea whether they will be admitted (unless the school is a super safety).
An athletic recruit, in contrast, gets offers of support from coaches, decides which one to accept, and then applies to that school ED. So, if your daughter had offers from each of the schools you mentioned-- and the coaches said "historically all the applicants with this level of my support have been admitted "-- then she would apply ED to, say, Williams, with a fairly high level of confidence that she would be admitted.
In other words, an athletic recruit’s ED application is more certain than a regular student’s ED application.
@WG2021 - Did you or your D put grades on the recruiting questionnaire or in an intro email?
I ask because it’s odd for a coach to talk about supporting an application without knowing the grades. If you are positive the coaches don’t know your D’s grades then I would recommend being skeptical of the level of support being offered.
I do think your D’s grades are in the range, so please don’t think that she won’t make the cut. It’s just that generally coaches ask about grades very early.
You are right, we did do the questionnaire so they at least have the GPA and all other info.
Glad you think they are in range! I think we will continue looking at those schools and see what happens.
One thing my son did during his recruiting process was to reach out to schools of interest with an introductory letter stating his interest in the school and team, any awards won, current transcript and test scores and list of events he would be performing at. This was a good way for the coaches to quickly evaluate his overall candidacy.
He is a freshman at a Nescac school. Visit Junior year, Preread early July, overnight in October and then fully supported app. it was actually pretty straight forward.
At other D3 institutions he was given an early read in the summer , and even had some likely letters that showed academic merit awards he’d be getting.
D1 teams were willing to commit at end of Junior year, with pre-reads done spring of Junior year.
For my daughter’s sport, there was a resume included in all the showcase tournament binders given to each coach, so like 1000 resumes for each tournament, broken down by year in school and region. The info included all the gpa and test score info, all the sports awards and other ECs. The kids filled these out but for the first reviews by the coach, there was enough info included to know if the athlete would be a good academic fit too.
My daughter got a lot of calls from coaches where her academics were a much better fit than the athletic fit. The coaches were hoping to attract her to their teams that really needed help by dangling a top rated academic school admissions.
I’m surprised its only 60% international. They have a top 1 or top 2 squash program historically (Harvard has now caught up and surpassed them after a decade of losing to Trinity). No other NESCAC sports program can be compared to Trinity’s squash program in their national competitiveness.
Although if you look at Trinity’s results, on both the men’s and women’s teams all top 9 (the ones who play varsity matches) are international students.
Actually wonder if top Nescac football coaches have any influence during RD. Always thought it was basically non existent as too much risk for slot to be wasted as kid has freedom to evaluate other opportunities- thoughts?
Not football, and not NESCAC (but a selective university) – my son had coach support during RD. But I suspect it was because his top recruit(s) didn’t pan out in the ED rounds, so the coach was stuck. My son plays GK, and when you need a GK, you really need a GK! The coach had to take the chance that my son wouldn’t come. But, they had several conversations, and my son very clearly said “This school is my first choice. If I get admitted I will come.”
I wouldn’t expect it to happen as a matter of course, but I also expect it can happen, if rarely.
I don’t want to derail this conversation but if I were a Trinity Men’s Squash player, I’d chafe at hearing that Harvard has surpassed Trinity! It is certainly true that Harvard has had more national championships than any other school. In recent history, Trinity has dominated the national championship, with Men’s national championships from 1999-2011, a loss to Princeton in 2012, and then was back on top again in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018. Trinity benefits from a brilliant coach and the flexibility to recruit international players who don’t have to make it through the hurdle of Princeton/Harvard etc. admissions.
@jimmybobsutton, for some time, I thought NESCAC coaches could not provide admissions support during RD. There is one admissions theory suggesting that the primary reason for ED is for athletic recruits. Through some stories, however, I have come to believe that support can be given and is on occasion. That said, the applicant who intentionally waits to the RD round for the express purpose of evaluating competing offers in May is doing the exact opposite of committing. It can work out, but the recruit is definitely playing with fire. If Recruit A tells a coach that he has to apply RD, Recruit A should recognize that there may be no support to give come the RD round. If a soccer coach has 2 slots and 3 tips available, and ten recruits on the final list, chances are the support will be gone by RD. If the coach is looking for a specialty position (e.g., GK, LHP), it is possible that the coach will hold back some support for player shows up out of left field.
I m pretty sure NESCAC football coaches have some pull in RD, although it is much less than in ED. A full football roster in the NESCAC consists of 76 players, so that means a typical incoming class has 20-22 recruits ( a few players drop out due to injury or other factors). Roughly 2/3 to 3/4 of incoming football recruits will go though ED. So admissions via RD still probably involves some negotiation between the coaches and the admissions staff based on the roster needs for particular positions and the academic records of the recruits, i.e. athletic prowess helps in the RD round, just less than in ED where a full commitment has been made.
NESCAC schools are limited to 14 football full support recruits each year. Some schools limit football recruits to an even lower number. I agree that many, probably most, of those 14 spots apply EDI/II.
Some football coaches also offer ‘soft support’ to some athlete applicants, and that can be in any round as well…soft support applicants are admitted at a much lower rate than full support athletes.
NESCAC football coaches have to rely on walk-ons to fill out the team. It is not unusual that some D3 schools have players on the roster who have never played football prior to college.
My understanding is that NESCAC coaches can have support for RD though I believe it would come down to the # and type of slots, if any, that the coaches have remaining by RD and as usual, how much they really want the athlete.
Whether the school is “above” your daughter’s stats is a moot point. She is being considered under a different system. Depending on your school this may be unknown to your GC.
So my D is currently being recruited as a junior. She has had d1 coaches express interest but has decided that a more elite academic d3 school is what she wants. A number of d3 coaches have seen her play and expressed interest. And so far two have indicated that they would support her application through admissions as they know her grades and test scores so far. They have told us that they can officially present something to admissions at the end of junior year to get an idea on where she likely will be. My question is about the cost. Some of these schools will be an extreme reach for us even with the estimated need based aid we expect to get (done many net price calculators). I assume we have to wait to see the actual acceptance before we know if she would get any academic merit aid? If this is the case it makes it hard for her to apply ED like these coaches want her to.
When the coach asks for the info to do a pre-read (6 semester transcript, test scores, resume, etc.), you can ask for a financial aid pre-read as well…some schools will do that, some don’t.