well, it's much clearer than anything I've written but Thank you!
My son just went through JUCO vs high academic recruiting last year & decided on a great high academic. It is exactly how anotherparent describes. Message me if you have any questions on specific college visit experiences since I know visits are limited this year.
@anotherparent posted:First, it depends on how selective the college is. If the admission rate is more than 30% and your son has a pretty good chance of getting in, your questions (and their answers) will be different than if admission rate is 10%.
These are good threads for this question:
https://community.hsbaseballwe...ir-level-of-interest
https://community.hsbaseballwe...34#52687313962323334
At super-selective schools, if the coach really wants your son, he will probably tell you up front (i.e. before you ask) what he is offering: something like "I have 6 names that I can send to admissions with a 99% guarantee, and yours is one of them." That is different from "I send a list to admissions and you will be on it but ultimately it is up to them, but if you get in I would love to have you on the team" which is different from "I don't have a slot for you/room on my list, but if you get in on your own you have a place on the team." Whichever you get, you can ask "what percentage of kids with this support do get in?" They know that you get one shot at ED, so they should understand.
So, we've had a communication like this from a HC at a top ten liberal arts college. The HC said the admissions office could not guarantee admission from his pre-read, but that the HC would put his name on a list for ED with support and would advocate for his admission. The HC said he understood if my son wanted to focus on other schools where admission was more certain, but that he thought my son would be a good fit for his program. He asked my son to keep him updated with his college recruiting.
He did not mention slots or tips or numbers of recruits that would be on the list, and so far my son has not asked.
We're not sure what to think about this, although we do really appreciate the HC's candor.
Do you think that he's got slots to give but he's not giving your son one? Or do you think it's a situation like Caltech, Mudd (and possibly MIT and Chicago) where there are no slots to give?
Anotherparent's question is very important: "what percentage of kids with this support do get in?"
@JCG posted:Do you think that he's got slots to give but he's not giving your son one? Or do you think it's a situation like Caltech, Mudd (and possibly MIT and Chicago) where there are no slots to give?
Anotherparent's question is very important: "what percentage of kids with this support do get in?"
I'm not sure, although I've been advised this particular school has a few slots. I noticed anotherparent's question and have suggested to my son that he ask this in a follow up conversation with the coach.
@LuckyCat posted:So, we've had a communication like this from a HC at a top ten liberal arts college. The HC said the admissions office could not guarantee admission from his pre-read, but that the HC would put his name on a list for ED with support and would advocate for his admission. The HC said he understood if my son wanted to focus on other schools where admission was more certain, but that he thought my son would be a good fit for his program. He asked my son to keep him updated with his college recruiting.
He did not mention slots or tips or numbers of recruits that would be on the list, and so far my son has not asked.
We're not sure what to think about this, although we do really appreciate the HC's candor.
That's a tough one. As you know, at a very HA LAC, grades and test scores in the top quartile of their pool mean a 10-15% shot at admission (absent having some other thumb on the scale). An athlete in your son's position probably has better odds than that; the question is, how much better? I would seek more information from the coach. Does he have experience with students who had similar qualifications? I'd interpret any reluctance to answer these questions as a bad sign, although it sounds as if the coach has been straightforward with you so far, and may have told you all he can. I know stories where players in a position similar to your son's got into very-HA D3s, and where they didn't. Unless the coach is new, he ought to have some sense of what the odds are.
Your son only gets one chance to apply ED. And slots for D3 athletes only exist in the ED round. If he has fallen in love with this school, then maybe he rolls the dice. But if he can see himself somewhere else where his pre-read is more definite... well, that's kind of the point of the HA D3 sports recruiting process from athletes' point of view. Pre-reads don't give guarantees. But the schools my son dealt with were willing to say something like "we have no concerns."
I also encourage you to remember that there are 20 or 30 "top-ten liberal arts colleges." I'm not being sarcastic. There are quite a few great schools that almost anyone would agree are in the very top tier academically, and I honestly think "fit" means more than anything else when choosing one of those versus another. In your position, I'd encourage my son to continue the recruiting process and see if something more definite comes up. He doesn't have to go somewhere just because he gets an offer--it's worth exploring. Given what this coach said, he can't reasonably ask your son to stop looking at other schools.
@Chico Escuela posted:
I also encourage you to remember that there are 20 or 30 "top-ten liberal arts colleges." I'm not being sarcastic. There are quite a few great schools that almost anyone would agree are in the very top tier academically, and I honestly think "fit" means more than anything else when choosing one of those versus another. In your position, I'd encourage my son to continue the recruiting process and see if something more definite comes up. He doesn't have to go somewhere just because he gets an offer--it's worth exploring. Given what this coach said, he can't reasonably ask your son to stop looking at other schools.
I agree! I probably said that top ten thing because I was thinking of anotherparent's point in her post about the selectivity of the school. Perhaps I should have said it has an acceptance rate of under 20%. In any event, I agree that there are lots of very good schools and that fit is the most important thing. This school is high on my son's list, top 5 perhaps, but not THE school. He already has one offer from a school where he thinks he could be happy, and we think another is on the way shortly (fingers crossed) from a school he likes even better, so he is fortunate to already have options. Truthfully, the financial aid component is going to be important for us, especially since he will be doing this ED. We've saved and saved, but we still won't be able to pay full sticker price at any of these wonderful institutions.
Congrats on all the interest! If he has more definite offers from schools he likes better, then he's in a good place. It all will feed into the gut decision that he has to make. I'm a bit concerned about your statement "the admissions office could not guarantee admission from his pre-read" - that's pretty chancey. And that the coach would understand if he went elsewhere. If he has offer more precise "offers", pay attention to what those schools are saying. Also, if he decides to go with this one, does he have backups where he thinks he could get in without coach support?
Good problems to have.
@anotherparent posted:I'm a bit concerned about your statement "the admissions office could not guarantee admission from his pre-read" - that's pretty chancey. And that the coach would understand if he went elsewhere. If he has offer more precise "offers", pay attention to what those schools are saying. Also, if he decides to go with this one, does he have backups where he thinks he could get in without coach support?
You and me both! My son will stay in touch with the coach, who seems like a nice guy and to be genuinely interested in my son, but I don't think my son is willing at this point to put all his eggs in that basket.
He has one offer with ED support and a thumbs up pre-read from admissions. We are waiting to talk with financial aid about what we can expect. He likes that coach and that school, so if everything else fell apart, he would be fine taking the offer he already has and applying ED there. Another school is finishing a pre-read and says he will get an offer if the pre-read goes well. He really likes this coach a lot and the school is probably his second favorite. His first choice has expressed interest (to him and to his summer coach) but hasn't pulled the trigger on a pre-read, so he isn't holding his breath.
Yes, these are all good problems (but still stressful, though!)
The last month or two of recruiting was very stressful in my house. (For the parents that is. The boy seemed to take it mostly in stride.) It sounds as if your son is in a good position. In hindsight, my wife and I worried much more than we needed to.
One other note: When you're dealing with teenagers, a lot can change in a few weeks. My son decided in late August of his rising senior summer that he was only interested in one school. At the time, it was not one he had an offer from. Point being that it's a loooong time until ED applications are due, and things can change. Just try to remain calm (and flexible).
My experience is that if there is the slightest bit of vagueness about the offer then you aren't one of their top choices. Conversely, when they want you, it's blindingly obvious. Like,
Coach: "We want you to come to our school and play baseball. Whattya say?"
Son: "What about admissions?"
Coach: " They said you'll be fine. Whattya say?"
This conversation is followed up by emails, texts, and phone calls.
It's being chased, rather than chasing.