Understood, and I didn’t mean to come across as critical. It’s just that in our experience with this group of schools, certainty was never expressed. And if I had to guess, one of mine was likely an A Band recruit. But I don’t necessarily disagree with your advice in asking. It never hurts to ask. Even if they won’t answer definitely, there is often value in trying to read their body language/tone/what they do say. In fact, I asked the same question. I just never received a “yes” or “no” answer.
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I also think coaches of teams that are topped rank have more pull. There is no way a team is winning championships year after year with only two slots and hoping the other 7 recruits get in as tips - the coach has to get them all in. A team that is 4-8 year after year? May only get the 2 slots.
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Just heard about a student getting an email from admissions about a positive pre-read (before their coach even had a chance to let them know). First I’ve heard of result being communicated by email - anyone experience this?
Also, on the original question, was there a perspective on which NESCACs in addition to Trinity and CC would consider 3.7 unweighted?
I think any one of the NESCACs will take a 3.7 uw if they want your kid enough.
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It could work for any of them, it’s comes down to multiple factors. GPA is low but a good test score and/or high rigor could offset it. Where your child ranks in their class also could matter. Where your student ranks in the coaches list and to the banding of other recruits will also come into play.
Chances are that you would end up in band B for Williams, Amherst, and possibly Middlebury and Bowdoin. Band B is fine if you are among the top one or two band B kids on the coaches list and in the top 4 or 5 overall. If you aren’t you’re likely waiting a bit until the coach knows the result of the band B’s ahead of you and their spot in the coaches list overall.
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I am not sure if your child now has a test
score and where they stand with a 3.7 within their HS. My kids HS hasn’t had a 4.0 student for years and when my daughters graduated with 3.8 gpa - that still put them in the top 10% plus they had rigor. GPA does matter within the context of your school
and also rigor with class choice.
I highly agree with the reference to rigor! I know of an athlete with a high gpa at a known prep school who was far along in the NESCAC process. Lack of rigor halted conversations & in one case, the coach didn’t bother moving him along for a preread.
I also agree that institutional priorities are incorporated into admissions decisions at a place like Amherst more than other nescacs. I read a reference in their student newspaper about how ideally, athletic recruits would be similar in diversity to the rest of the class. In the sports I’m familiar with, demographics just can’t make that work.
As to whether or not a 3.7 will “pass,” I think a factor to consider, besides how much they want the player, is where that 3.7 is coming from. In my son’s sport, coaches, like admissions offices, are very aware of the schools that feed kids into top programs, and there’s certainly a bias towards certain private schools and boarding schools. It’s not just because of familiarity with the athletic environment, like level of competition and quality of training. It’s also because of familiarity with the academic environment. They want kids who aren’t going to be struggling, and some private schools have a similar feel to some nescacs. I think this is big factor in my son’s sport, but I imagine that other sports aren’t so much like that.
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