Preferred Walk On at Penn

Anyone have any experience? I was told that the preferred walk-on has no extra consideration. The coach is telling us otherwise.

It really depends on the school. Do you believe the coach is not being transparent? You can ask him “have you ever had an athlete who received soft support not get in?” “how does that work exactly? Will you right a letter on my behalf?”

How are your stats? IMO this type of thumb on the scale usually requires the athlete to be competitive in their own right (tests scores, GPA, rigor, even ECs).

DON’T write essays about your sport. Even if you will walk-on that bucket is full and admissions is looking to fill others.

DO maintain relationships with other coaches (without misleading them) and approach applications as if not recruited. This includes good fit schools and a sure safety.

Be prepared to handle a possible deferral. As the coach about this (how often soft support athletes get deferred). More and more schools have institutional priorities driving ED numbers (quite tightly). They may not be interested in accepting additional athletes at that time, even if they plan on accepting you later.

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The PWO…tough spot. Daughter had promise of that at least for a roster spot in August…then maybe a scholarship then a week ago poof…offered another and her spot was gone. This was for D1 hoops not an Ivy not even close. She has a pretty solid D3 spot through ED that is a better fit but it was painful having the D1 possibility and not getting there. Similar at another school with the you are next but they kept offering others.

Not sure what else you have cooking, but be careful. It’s important to weigh any firm offers at D3 compared to D1 walk-on. You mess around you might lose what could be a better fit. She will play a lot right away etc. compared to grinding just to be on the team. Penn is an amazing option if it works. Much stronger than our options academically on D1 level. Coaches have a job to do and from my experience ultimate honesty and transparency are optional traits. That’s not even a criticism just what they need to do to build their team.

Good luck to you !!

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As there are no athletic scholarships, all Ivy League athletes are technically walk-ons. Soft support can be given so if the coach is telling you he or she can offer that, I would take them at their word. The real question is how often does this type of support lead to admission for someone with your academic credentials. Were you offered an academic pre-read and what were the results? Are you being asked to apply ED?

It’s getting pretty close to the ED application date, so I’d recommend another conversation with this coach to ask what your realistic chances of admission are with soft support. If you’re not comfortable with the answer, make sure you have a solid plan B in case it doesn’t work out. Good luck to you!

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Good point of clarification. I took the preferred walk-on statement to mean guaranteed spot on the team but no LL.

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Good input so far.

The coach has the best info. I’d drill down on past experience.

I think “no extra consideration” might be a bit too absolute. There’s probably some impact but how much is uncertain and unreliable. It certainly isn’t the impact of a fully supported application leading to a likely letter (although the result could end up the same).

Decision- making probably comes down to what other options you’d have to pass up. (And because of that there probably isn’t a large pool of former recruits who opted for this route).

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This is important. My DS took this route (though no support, just the confirmed option to walk on if accepted) and regular decision was a mixed bag, even if most of the coaches were interested and offering support. The majority stressed that they would do what they could but ultimately it was a straight AO decision and there were no guarantees.

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Thanks all. My kid did have an academic pre-read and did well - 234 out of 240. Fingers crossed, but will definitely be submitting all other applications.

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I would be very careful here and confirm that there is a walk on spot. With roster caps, I have heard Ivies may not be able to compete unless they agree to roster caps (even though Ivies don’t have scholarships). You need to ensure there is absolutely a sport for a walk on within the roster. At one school my kid considered, the coach was leaving two spots for “walk ons.” I think she is hoping that she will get someone who is cut from a better D1 program. She told my kid that she could have the second spot. We thought it was way too risky, b/c what if she finds two people who are cut from better programs, and my kid really wants to play sports, so she went a different route.

To compete where? How?

Roster caps will only apply to schools that opt into the revenue sharing model, which they are not required to do. I have seen no indication that the Ivy League intends on sharing joining this model.

Still, walk on spots should not be assumed, and I’d venture that it’s most often language used by “recruited” athletes who did not get a LL for whatever reason but were told in advance by the coach they had a spot on the team if they were accepted.

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If the coach said she could have the spot I don’t think the coach was saying “as long as no on else showed up.” The risk is more on the “you have to get in on your own” part.

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I do not fully understand how the Ivies are handling roster caps, as I was under the same impression as you that they don’t count unless they opt-into the revenue sharing model. At an Ivy (not Penn), a classmate of my kid’s was told that they could not offer him a spot as they had just been told that they had to cap their team at X number of spots. The X number happens to be the same as the NCAA caps at the schools in the revenue sharing model.

Oh yes, she’d have to get in on her own, but, in the meantime, if someone got cut from a great program, the coach could have decided to fill her last spot through a means other than the walk on. Not worth the double risk: getting in and there still being a spot.

Hmmm. Interesting.

I get it and I don’t disagree that walk-ons can be in a relatively more precarious position, at any point during the recruiting phase and then during the college playing phase.

In reality though, all athletes are at risk every year of losing their spot to a better player…either via portal acquisition or incoming first years. Coaches are trying to get better athletes than they currently have every year. It’s brutal.

Indeed.

Are we talking about a 25? Can you share the sport (feel free to DM me if you’d rather not share publicly, though I don’t see any harm in doing so).

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I have not heard this either (though I have heard that the situation is fluid, even at the Ivys), but would love to know sport as well.

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Men’s track.

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My soccer daughter was told by Penn soccer coach that preferred walk on with coach support was worth half of the bump given a legacy. The coach should speak with the recruit and you to define exactly what his/her support means in the admission process. If your recruit can’t get the coach on the phone for that conversation then that should be a red flag. Also remember that the optionality favors the coach: if recruit gets in, great for the coach; if not, then no loss for the coach.

Considering Penn has not given much of a bump to legacies lately (the ones I know, all solid to great students from top schools have all been rejected in the last few years), that is mot much of a bump at all.

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We have two very recent data points for ED admitted preferred walk-ons at Penn with coach support (not full), but both were also legacy. One was a slightly above average student, the other had an outstanding academic record. They aren’t starters and likely will see little to no playing time over four years.