Seems like a very unusual year

gointhruaphase
Thu, 24 Sep 2020 19:54:09 +0000

You are asking whether the offering of a “slot” (and its acceptance) by its nature implies full support. Probably. The problem is the mush surrounding what exactly a slot is, and it likely is different at different schools. It never hurts to press the coach on his or her meaning.

The term “slot” is not one that all colleges like to use. It suggests that the coach has a certain number of recruits that he or she can “slot” into a class without any action by Admissions. In the NESCACs, the “slot” is for the team, not any given recruit. So, a coach may offer a slot (which suggests that the recruit has lower academic stats than most applicants) but Admissions may not agree that the slot should go to that given recruit. This is why recruits typically are vetted by pre-read by Admissions in advance of any offer of support.

So, if a coach says, “I am offering you a slot.” The recruit should ask is “what does that mean?” For the NESCAC and D3 schools, the recruit should confirm that the coach will support the recruit with admissions, and then ask what the likelihood of gaining admission is under the circumstances (including asking where the recruit is on the list and how many recruits in a similar situation have been admitted and denied admission). You see the term “full support” used as a contrast to “soft support.” Soft support may mean little to no support. For Ivies, and Chicago, the question is whether the recruit will receive a likely letter. If there is no likely letter involved, then there really is a need to press further on the meaning of support and how likely admission is.