In terms of the competitiveness of the baseball programs Emory has consistently gone to Regionals and the CWS. My son's team has played then several times (actually knocked them out of the CWS the last two years) and they were a very well run and talented team. Pomona would probably be the next best team of the group you mentioned.
SluggerDad posted:RJM posted:SluggerDad posted:JCG posted:Interesting take, Backstop. Just based on a few stories I have heard here your strategy sounds like it could work great but also could be risky, if we're talking specifically about the high academic, very highly selective schools mentioned in the OP. Yes, not going ED gives you more options in April and allows you to shop or even negotiate for better financial aid. But OTOH, from stories here and from talking to coaches at high academic D3's it appears that their intent is fill their recruiting class via ED. So a kid who applies RD may not have a roster slot available come April, though maybe if he's enough of a stud coach will find a slot somehow.
Just MHO and those who've been to the rodeo more often may have a much more informed opinion.
Nobody earns a D3 roster spot in the admissions office. Nobody loses one in the admissions office either. The only place those are won or lost is on the field. Consider two kids, both recruited, one applies ED, one applies RD, both get in, both show up for fall tryouts. The kid who is more game ready, more competitive, more of a stud, is going to play over the other kid, no matter through which path the two were admitted.
Chances are the kid asked to apply ED and the coach walked his application through admissions is a preferred prospect. But he has to maintain that status when he hits the field.
I know kids who got the "if you get accepted (regular application) you're on the team." Each year they were beaten out by new, incoming preferred prospects. They sat on the bench until they gave it up.
This doesn't mean a kid can't be a non preferred prospect and end up being a starter. But from what I've seen and heard it's not the norm. I say this from talking to D3 kids and dads. It's not my level of experience.
I know of a kid who was WAIT LISTED via RD who ended up making the team and pitching significant innings at his very, very selective school. He was in touch with the coach throughout the process, but it was unclear whether he would end up at that school until sometime after May 1st.
I know of a kid who applied ED to the very same school, thinking he was being "recruited to play short stop" -- that's how his dad put it. In fact, the kid chose that school over my son's school, because he thought he was being handed the short stop job at said school. At my son's school, according to the dad, the coach was too vague and they got the sense that he was at best being offered a chance to compete for a job -- which is almost certainly true at my son's school.
The kid did make the team at his school, but he got a total of 9 PA for the year. Nothing at all was handed to him. Fact is, all D3 players, no matter how they get into the school, are, in effect, walk-ons who need to be prepared to compete with all comers. Don't count on being a "preferred recruit" to win you a roster spot and especially not a starting position.
Preferred recruits get first shot. But they still have to prove they can take the step up to college ball and perform. Most will. At any level teams make recruiting mistakes.
MKbaseballdad posted:JCG posted:Really depends on the school. The OP asked about Wash. U., Pomona, Emory, Tufts.
These kinds of schools turn down thousands of very highly qualified students every year. Unless you're one of those students who gets into every college he applies to, if you REALLY want to go to a particular school, and a coach can walk you through, that's the only way to guarantee that you'll be admitted.
I feel like very few students get into every school they apply too. Classmate of our 2016 was a top student here at our high school, perfect ACT, lots of extra activities - she's going to Brown and starts this weekend. She was denied by Tufts. If she couldn't get in to Tufts I don't know who the heck they are accepting. And now that I think of it, I know another 2016 who was an excellent student, track star, top high school in our area - also accepted at an Ivy school (but decided to go somewhere else) - wait listed at Tufts. I wouldn't want to be a baseball player hoping to get through regular admissions there and my bet would be the coach is trying to get his top guys through ED.
I read from somewhere (Fiske Guide?) that some colleges play this game to boost their "yield" (i.e. accepted students who actually enroll.) They reject or waitlist the strongest applicants, because they know those applicants will be accepted by an Ivy and they will choose the Ivy. The article singled out Washington U, but no mention of Tufts. I suspect they use the same strategy, since they are in the same "runner up" category. For strong students, ED at these colleges work, since it's binding and will boost the college's yield.
I have heard that too - colleges that know they are "safeties" for some do reject the strongest applicants so that their yield is high. Online in College Confidential they even call it "Tufts Syndrome".
When I talked about kids who get into every school, I meant those few you read about who literally get into every Ivy plus Stanford, Duke, Vandy, etc.
Yes, they are looking to work their numbers. Seems like getting the lowest admit rate is the biggy. Every day we receive multiple brochures from schools my kid would not get into. Wash U is in that group, and probably has killed more trees in the process than anybody. (ironic that baseball also recruited him even after initially saying they could not get him in).
I've heard that about trying to manipulate yield too.
There's another new wrinkle this year. Our 2017 has received quite a few offers to have his application fee waived. The optimist in me says that must mean they really want him. But the cynic in me knows that what they really want is more applicants so they can have a lower admit rate.
Hi Everybody, our RHP is at the end(ish) of the process and after much deliberation and visits is going to apply ED with coach support at Emory. The glitch is that Coach T is going to admissions with his recruit list on November 1 and hasn't done early reads so it feels more wishy washy than Tufts and Wash U., which both did early admissions reads. He's solid academically so I'm assuming it's going to be fine but what do we do about notifying the other schools? Do we wait? It feels impolite not to let them know.
I definitely would not eliminate any other schools or options until you get confirmation of acceptance. Like this thread has noted, there really is no such thing as "certainty" in the application process.
I am not sure what Emory's timeframe is to communicate the decision, but I suspect it would be early enough to allow your son to apply Regular Decision at other schools if his application is denied. If the other coaches press him about a decision, a fair answer would be that he has enough options that he has decided to wait until the Regular Decision deadline and will take his chances with that. And then hopefully if he gets accepted to Emory, he can let the coaches know then that he will not be applying.
Are the other schools expecting ED apps, too?
The Emory decision timeline last year was that the players who applied ED1 with coaches support were notified on 12/15 along with everyone else who applied ED1. Son's HS teammate applied with coaches support and was accepted. They knew down to the hour he'd find out on that day.
I would wait to let the other two schools know after Emory does the pre-read through admissions. If they ask I would have son say that he's still working through the process and will decide the week before ED deadlines or something like that. That is if you want the option to apply ED with one of those other schools (and assumes that those other schools are OK waiting for a decision).
Thanks! Coach T left my son a vm yesterday that he's going down to admissions for him tomorrow so hopefully he can be done with the early read.
Good luck!
That's great news. Congrats on your son having such great choices and good luck!