Today I was rejected from the school I had planned on attending. I had contacted the coach in December because I planned on competing on their team (as a walk on) and they had been enthusiastic and would want me on the team. I am a good match for this small liberal arts school academically and I would definitely be the most accomplished person on the team.
I was wondering if it is likely I could contact the coach stating I had been rejected but the school is still my top choice and that I would like to appeal the admissions decision. Since it is a small D3 liberal arts college I’m unsure of the amount of pull they have especially in this scenario. Has this happened to anyone before and did appealing work?
Then, in addition to renewed athletic interest, emphasize your hs GPA/scores to the coach as well as the fact you’d be full pay and thus wouldn’t cost the college anything.
If the coach has any pull and wants you on the team, s/he probably used it and it wasn’t enough. So in any appeal, you either need to bring new information to the table or you are just telling them if they have space, you are still interested. But they likely won’t know if they hit their quota until May 1.
If you would be the most accomplished on their team, why are you a walk on and not a recruit? Just late to the game with that school?
BTW were you straight rejected or were you wait listed?
Dear Coach …,
My name is … and we were in contact since I hoped to be a walk-on player. In addition to my …GPA/… SAT, my times are/ I’m currently part of the … team and since I don’t need financial aid I wouldn’t cost any scholarship money, so I hoped I had a shot. Unfortunately, I’ve been informed that I’m (on the waitlist/denied). I don’t quite know how to go about it, I really pictured myself as a (Panther) at Z College, do you know whether there is a way I can appeal the decision if I bring up my latests athletic achievements (…, …) as well as my latest GPA (…), or is it too late?
Thank you very much for any advice you may have.
Sincerely,
… …
Do not mention the scholarship/financial aid to the coach. He doesn’t have anything to do with that at a Div 3 school and it is cleaner to keep that out of it. DO mention it for admissions.
Does the school have an admissions appeal process? I read a post yesterday about a school that does have one, and specifically, for example, allows reconsideration for awards received since application but specifically doesn’t consider senior first semester grades or new test scores.
If you have a reason why your application should be considered for academic reasons, ask the coach to support your appeal.
I don’t know how much pull a coach has with regular decision. I know my D (another sport) was told the only pull in admissions was with ED. Now if an applicant did not want to apply ED but RD for whatever decision, it would depend if coach still had a spot and if they got in they could try out as a walk on it there were spot available. Good luck. I am not sure why you did not apply ED if this was your first choice and you did not need FA.
The problem with being a walk-on was that the coach didn’t even think you were recruitable. Depending on the sport, they may have been thinking “sure, try out, if you are good we may take you” but they were not actively recruiting you because you were not fast enough, applied too late, didn’t go through the recruiting process.
So the coach didn’t use any “pull” on admissions to get you admitted.
I would be spending my time looking for another school…if you were putting all your eggs in this one basket, why didn’t you apply early decision? I hope you applied elsewhere.
Spend your time either figuring out what college you have been accepted to that you want go to or figure out if you need to take a gap year (freshman get the most financial aid so it may be best to apply as a freshman next year), see what colleges are still taking applications or look into Community College.
Too little information. Would need to know the school, your standardized test scores, GPA, ECs, essays & any other factors (such as geographic diversity) relevant to the admissions process. Obviously being a potential full pay student & athlete was not enough.
December of senior year is really late to be contacting coaches as most of them have used up their slots with admissions on other recruits who then applied Early Decision. You obviously could try to reach out to the coach and the admissions office, but the chances of getting the decision reversed will be very unlikely.
Did you apply to other schools? If not, and you want to attend college in the fall, you need to move on from this rejection and submit applications to other colleges.
No matter what
1° look seriously into your affordable other choices. (Cross out any college that requires your parents to take on loans for you, ie., parent plus). Spend time on the website for admitted students, ask to be put in touch with students from your area or in your desired major, ask to do an overnight.
2° find a place that you like and can deposit at by May 1st
3° if the college above has an appeals process, go through it, being humble and bringing forth any new information they may not have had (such as the fact you may not have mentioned contacts with the coach and intention to play on the team with indications by the coach that you had a good shot). Keep in mind that your odds are very low.
4° in early May, a list of colleges that miscalculated yield will be published. There are often 5-10 truy surprisingly excellent colleges on the list. If you find a better academic fit/athletic match on the list, apply quickly.
I’d suggest you email the coach with all of your information and the fact that this was your first choice, include all of the information about your athletic performance, and ask for his/her help with admissions. Since there are no athletic scholarships for D3, you don’t need to mention money in any communication with the coach. You are already rejected, so you don’t have much to lose at this point.
And as others have said, make sure you have secured a place at an alternate school, should your appeal be denied.
You said you were a walk on. Unless the coach expresses to you that they are giving your application their support through the admission process you can’t consider yourself a recruit and or benefit from their support in the admission process. Them saying “great we’d love to have you” was not a guarantee and the admission process played out not in your favor unfortunately. There is no appeal of an admission rejection unfortunately. Go with the other schools that have accepted you and consider whether any of them would be schools you could walk on and play at. Most small D3 schools do welcome a few walk ons. What are your other options?