@MrsJayBird
I don’t believe from what you have described that your daughter is at the stage where you tell other coaches they aren’t your first choice.
It sounds simply that your daughter is in the qualified pool. Nit that she is the priority recruit yet.
You need to find out where she is in the coaches list and when she would get full support. You also need to find out what percentage of those the coaches support get in.
The coaches will send in 4x the number of slots they have thinking half will fail per read, and then some percentage will choose other schools instead.
Once the coach tells you that you will get full support then you can tell other schools safely. Before then no. Most often this conversation occurs after the official overnights.
The top NESCAC’s often wait to see which athletes don’t get in to the Ivies before they offer unless your daughter is so strongly rated.
Until a coach tells a recruit that the recruit is getting full support/slot, there is no reason to limit other potential options. All the coaches know it is a big game of musical chairs for everyone. However, once you get a firm commitment from your top school, then it is time to consider letting the other coaches know where you stand, although in normal years coaches will understand that recruits may not make their final choices until after visits. Because of Covid, visits may not be possible this year.
Agree with the other posters that it doesn’t sound like your D has a firm commitment in hand yet. Also, I think the chances of being recruited by HYPS are close to nil. If she is currently not being recruited, she is no longer on their lists, which at this point still have more recruits than slots.
My S21 had a Zoom call for XC/T&F in a slightly different situation (difficult admissions, good athletics, D1) a few days ago. The coaches have been calling for a few months now, and this call was for a group of potential recruits to get more info about the school and program. There were approximately 20 recruits on the call (interestingly, because of the Zoom format, we could see who they all were), and there is another call scheduled in two weeks for those who couldn’t make this one.
The coach explained that academics came first, and that he could not get an athlete in if he/she was below the line (he mentioned that it wasn’t all about stats, but at least 3 AP’s if offered, a 3.4-5 and 1300 was the minimum). He also explained that he had a number of athletes he could move to the front of the line if they qualified academically, more like tips than slots to use the NESCAC terms. The usual number is 8, but it could be as many as 12 depending on factors he didn’t explain. We figure this means that there at least 30 kids in the recruiting pool (figuring 10 more from the second Zoom call) and 8 would get coaches help getting in. They have not yet talked to us about EA/ED, but I believe in previous years they have required it for coaches support. I think the next step is some sort of pre-read, but since the D1 recruiting quiet period has been extended through August 31, this year is moving much more slowly than usual.
The coach specifically stated that he knew all these kids were getting recruited by other schools and that this call was help them decide if his school was the right fit.
At this point we are holding our cards close to the vest and waiting for early XC season (if there is one) to see what all the options are - I think the coaches understand and respect that.
@MrsJayBird wrote I can’t stop hoping that maybe Harvard, Yale, Princeton or Stanford might miraculously decide they want to recruit her to raise their academic API. (She’s got high stats, but she’s not good enough in her sport alone to be recruited)
Just giving our experience. I had a D/S that was a T&F recruit including at H/Y/P, Stanford and received a LL to a H/Y/P. Their main interest was Pre-med as well.
We did not have CC to rely on then so it was confusing. We had had not had any contact with H/Y/P and similar schools but the day that the D1 T&F coaches could contact athletes, they all came calling.
I mention it only to say if you are not on their boards/sites now it may be difficult but if she is getting positive pre-reads from Williams, Amherst, Johns Hopkins or similar top schools, I would still say it is worth a last chance to throw out another email to a few Ivy coaches.
Ideally it would be great to decide between both as they will be different experiences. From a T&F perspective, the Ivy and similar D1 programs indicated that to be a top recruit, the athlete would need to be able to come in and score points at meets. My D/S noted once to me that they noticed that at some of the D3s, they would be the school record holder or close to it coming out of HS.
@MrsJayBird …The question is, what should she say to the other coaches who should be getting back to her shortly with the results of their pre-read? A few of them (highly ranked D3’s) have already told her she’s a top recruit for them. Does she admit to them that they are all her 2nd choice? I’m assuming they will eventually ask. Does she not need to say anything if they don’t…
I agree with @arbitrary99 that you are not at the stage yet to tell the other schools they are the 2nd choice. You should have some time as well and things can change.
I wish I had CC back when we first went thru it but I/we wanted to play it a little close to the vest. My thinking was that the coaches do not always tell you everything they are thinking on their end. The coaches do all know each other and know the student/athletes are being recruited by other schools, so I believe in being honest but we had to take our time and make the right decision. Cost was a factor as well for us. For any of the schools on our top short list, I would tell my D/S to say thank you, they are very interested in the school, T&F program, etc. which was true. But if the coach was pushing for a commitment and we were still deciding, official visits still needed to happen, etc. I told them if it helped with the coach to put it on us. Most coaches are understanding.
Note: I understand it is different with COVID, but we did not commit until the fall after OVs so you may have some time.
@recruitparent - thanks for the great info. My D is the school record holder. She broke the record at her league finals. She’s also the league record holder and her score as a sophomore would be a record holder at some of the lower performing D3 schools. It is sad that she didn’t compete as a junior this year and that she had an injury as a sophomore just as she was approaching the D1 recruiting standards.
She got a call yesterday from the coach of her first choice school to be officially offered a spot on the team. I guess after the pre-read, he had gone back to get one more green light from admissions. Then my D verbally committed to apply ED to the school. It’s her first choice and she doesn’t believe HYPS will contact her.
And someone on another thread mentioned she should go where she is loved, and this school has shown her a lot of love. We see that they were the 2019 D3 champs, so we think the coach probably has a good track record at the school (no pun intended)
With that information, do you think she should let the other schools know that she verbally committed ?
I mention it only to say if you are not on their boards/sites now it may be difficult but if she is getting positive pre-reads from Williams, Amherst, Johns Hopkins or similar top schools, I would still say it is worth a last chance to throw out another email to a few Ivy coaches.
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She’s emailed the top Ivy League schools and Stanford a few times and has gotten no responses. Well, the Harvard coach was Kind enough to dialogue with her but gave no indication that he was interested in her.
It’s as different as night and day the way coaches respond to the athletes they are actually interested in. I think D3 is better for my D because she could actually be a top contender versus bottom of the group in D1.
If she has committed to apply ED to the first choice school with coach support then yes, she should let the other coaches know. Not every coach she’s ever talked to but those where things have been serious and discussions are still active.
Just tell the coaches the first choice school feels like a great fit and she has decided to apply ED. Tell them it was a hard decision, that she appreciates the time they spent recruiting her, and is impressed with them and their programs. She can let them know she will definitely get back in touch if things don’t work out with the first choice school.
These will be tough phone calls to make. But the coaches are used to it. They might be disappointed to lose her, but will appreciate her honesty. Should things fall through at the first choice, she might need to call them back and see if anything is available at that point. Or, one of them could very easily replace her coach in the next few years (happens all the time).
@MrsJayBird congratulations to your D! I hope all continues to go well on her journey. And I’m glad she is a rising HS Senior because I hope and believe we’ll have Covid in hand by the time she is a College Freshman so she’ll get her full college career.
In response to your question about the recruited athletes at Brown, I only know of the incoming Freshmen, and they still have their seats if they want them. But they want to compete, so it’s a real mess.
Good luck to your D, and I hope you live close enough to where some of her college meets will be held so that you can go cheer her on.
My D20 knew that she wanted to attend a high academic DIII school, so she researched, made lists, etc. and she ended up touring 14 schools. 7 of those schools remained on her list after touring, and 5 of those coaches asked her to submit materials for prereads. She had clear #1 and #2 choices (both NESCAC), and both offered her full support. She told the other 3 coaches right away that she would be applying ED to a different school but she thanked them for the opportunity and they all said to let them know if anything changed. She had a difficult conversation with her #2 choice telling that coach that they were her 2nd choice and it was a tough decision. That coach was very understanding and told her that she could apply EDII to that school if her top choice didn’t work out. She ended up applying EDI to her top choice with full coach support and will be attending that school this fall. We all felt it was important to be honest with all the coaches as soon as she knew what she wanted to do because that freed up spots for other student-athletes and the coaches could move forward accordingly. Best of luck with navigating this process!
@MrsJayBird Congratulations! She sounds like quite an athlete and student!
I would agree with @politeperson If she/you have committed to apply ED to the school I would 1st let that coach/school know and would let her other top schools choices or those with active contact and conversations going on know .
I am curious, did they indicate to you when they want a commitment back?
@MrsJayBird
Congrats! A successful outcome! Really great!
Did the coach tell you what percent of the applicants that he offered similar support to were admitted? I know at Amherst and a Williams it is quite high, effectively certain while other programs might be less certain.
The other coaches will appreciate knowing. Hopefully they will tell her, or perhaps she can ask, that if anything happens to contact them just to keep the door slightly open.
Very exciting! Now let’s hope there is a season this year.
Thanks for everyone’s advice, support, and encouragement! We feel very lucky to have gotten this far. We live in a very competitive area where she’s surrounded by friends who score 36 ACT and 1570+ SAT on their first try. She also has friends from her former sport at or recruited to UCLA and another on the US National team. So my D never felt very accomplished in particular as a scholar or an athlete. But we’re glad for D3 schools which seem to embrace her level of involvement in both.
My D wasn’t given a deadline, but it just happened that the first coach to offer her a spot happened to be her first choice. So when he asked her after the initial positive pre-read, she said she was very interested in the school. He also asked at that time whether we would need financial aid but she said she didn’t think so. Then he said he would proceed with working with admissions. Less than 24 hours later, he called her saying that he can officially offer her a spot on the team, and she accepted it on the spot.
All the exchanges happened on the phone between the two of them. I decided to email him yesterday to introduce myself and get some questions answered, and now we have a phone call scheduled for Monday. In a way, I guess it’s not official until admissions sends my daughter an acceptance and probably not official until I sign some form saying I support my daughter’s ED application.
@MrsJayBird - A big congrats to your daughter ! My daughter is going through the D1 process right now and remains calm - me on the other hand, have chewed all my fingernails down and I think my gray hair is coming faster;) So many changes due to Covid, no official visits until at least after August 31st and most likely past that date and/or not at all according to the coaches she is in contact with on a regular basis.
The one positive of all this is my daughter finally has agreed to make a non-sport college list (she is not open to any D3 schools - ugh) in case it all blows up. Not easy, as her ego is definitely tied to the schools talking to her about their teams with her results, grades and test score making her a strong recruit- but her odds of admittance without the sport for all these schools is a real long shot and something she understands.
Thank you for sharing your daughter’s journey, your questions and results. Much appreciated.
In your conversation with the coach, it’s OK to say “she plans to ED at your school. Do you advise that we tell other coaches that we’ve talked to? We want to be fair and ethical but we don’t want to be surprised and out of the game in December wh we n ED decisions come out.”
Also notable: a Yale grad is at Portland (apparently he had a year of eligibility left). In biomechanical engineering or something fairly rigorous along those lines.
@AmBuddha, that makes sense if that student plays a spring sport. NCAA gave the spring athletes another year of eligibility since their season was cancelled so early. However, the Ivy League did not allow that additional eligibility to its athletes.
Your D might not get an official “ offer’ until the Fall from Nescac schools. The Pre-read is the first hurdle. They still want to see your Fall grades before a final decision is to be made. I think your D would have to have a terrible Fall semester academically to get pre-read results nullified but it happens. Your D will probably be offered an overnight stay in the Fall, and then if all goes well for both parties the coach will talk about committing to submitting an ED agreement.
My son is a current Nescac T&F athlete so feel free to PM me with any questions. Good luck !
