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Thank you, this helps with determining how serious they are in my son. One ivy school invited him back for the camp this fall. We will ask for official visit and camp at same time.

Does anyone know if they are allowed to work a player out individually on an official visit?? (in case there is no camp that weekend)
gonyard: As somebody whose 2012 son verbally committed to an Ivy school over the summer, I strongly suggest searching through some of the past posts regarding the Ivys--I found the info provided by fenwaysouth, in particular, very, very useful.

Note that Harvard's is unto itself when it comes to the student/athlete admissions process, so I would definitely advise that you do some research before you take BishopLeftiesDad post as definitive.
Last edited by slotty
I have to disagree with Bishop. The Ivy recruiting is nothing like D3; nor is it like D1's who give athletic schollys.

My son plays baseball for an Ivy. All his OVs were fully paid for. We accompanied him but stayed off campus (we saw him minimally -- usually at a meeting in the coaches office [the hard sell], and at a team practice [he came nowhere near us; and they cannot work him out -- in fact, he was told not to bring his glove to the visit]. Since you are limited to 48 hours on campus, we generally all arrived the night before the OV began and stayed together at a local motel (the school probably would have picked that up if he asked) and the next morning he was picked up.

Some programs wanted more time with the parents; the program he chose ignored us except for a brief [hard sell] coaches meeting (about 30 minutes) at hour 47.5!

While the Ivy's do not have NLI's they have, for puposes of admissions, an analogous document (the "likely letter"). Unlike D3's, the LL removes the admissions uncertainty by informing the player that (absent some felony or similar serious transgression), he will be offered admissions when the decisions come out (April for regular decision; earlier for schools with Early Decision).

The LL is written by admissions; but, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the coaches (because they have done the admissions thing many hundreds of times) know who will pass admissions muster and can speak knowledgably about getting an LL issued to your son.

The Ivy's are in a real hurry at this time of year; the game of musical chairs really speeds up now. So, if you get an OV offer do not dawdle; decide whether you want to go to that school (and each school in the IVY League is very different from other Ivy schools). If the coach wants you, an offer will be given at or within days of the OV. Often the offer will have a very short fuse. Remember each Ivy brings in only 6 - 8 players a year. There is virtually no roster attrition, very few players are drafted following their junior year; and the rosters are limited to about 28. You will not have a chance to get multiple LL's -- each coach has between 6 - 8 per year and will not waste it on a player who may not come to the school.

Also, there are no athletic schollys, no merit aid; and the COA is around 53k. There are, however, grants to families -- including grants to middle class families which makes the IVY financial aid the best in the country. But regardless, it is still an expensive proposition.
A "LL" is short for "Likely Letter." The likely letter is a letter from admissions to the athlete -- given after the completed application has been reviewed by a special admissions committee set up specifically for the purpose of reviewing athletes applications. To get the LL, (1) the coach wants the player and (2) the player completes the entire application (including the crazy essays, the letters of rec, and the SAT II tests). While it may look like an uncertain process, in hindsight, it was not at all uncertain. As I said before, the coach has a near perfect feel for admission criteria; the coach has already seen the players grades, HS course load, and standardized test scores. The coach has not seen the letters of rec nor the essay responses - there is a great deal of debate as to what, if any, impact these have on admitting an athlete!

The completed application cannot be submitted earlier than Sept 1. It took us about 3 weeks from completed app to receipt of the Likely Letter. We then sweated until April for confirmation (and, again in hindsight, the worry was unnecessary).
quote:
Originally posted by BishopLeftiesDad:
Son had a friend that was recruited by Harvard. Long process similar to D3 in that you have to get accepted and that is not till sometime in April or May of your Senior year.


2013 Son has a teammate (2012) that has been accepted to Yale and guaranteed a spot on the baseball team in July of this year. He's off the charts both academically and athletically and a great kid from a great family too...
One suggestion is to be sure to visit the school's Financial Aid website and run through their financial calculator to estimate aid. We found these very helpful and quite accurate. Our son received offer from a NESCAC school (similar academic requirement and DIII so no athletic aid) and we had a phone meeting with the VP F Aid and her work through with the calculator was spot on.
Goosegg provided great info on the overall process & LL process. Well done.

To be clear, there are other means to get recruited and accepted into an Ivy. LLs come out Oct 1. In addition to Likely Letters (LL) which are meant to brunt NLIs from D1, you can go the Early Decision route . Not all baseball recruiting slots will be used up by Likely Letter candidates. My son was recruited by a few Ivys, but we got to the party kind of late for a LL. Our focus had been elsewhere, but we were not too late for Ivy recruiting & ED applicaton. Ivy coach saw him, offered him, so we applied ED on Nov 1. If you are early to the Ivy recruiting process and 100% sure you want to go to this school...try to get a LL. If you are "just a little tardy" as we were (about this time of year), then possibly try to go ED if the coach urges you to do so. Son was absolutely sure this was the school for him after considering traditional D1s and D3s, so we went ED. It was the right choice for him.

As gamefan suggests, visit FA or call FA to run through their calculations. Understand how it works. Every Ivy is significantly different from the others in just about everything they do, and Financial Aid is no exception. THere are differences in FA, but they are minor $$ and you will find they will $$ match each other if you bring it to their attention. Everybody has remain competitive in the conference, even in FA!.
Last edited by fenwaysouth
Do not be scared away by the cost. It has been 3 years since we went thru this with my daughter so it may have changed but if you make less than 75K you can basically go to any Ivy for free. If you make less than 125K you could go to one of the so called big 3 for free (Harvard, Yale, Princeton). If you make more than 125K at the big 3 you would be responsible for 10% of that amount. Example: you make 200K thats 75,000 over the threshold you would be responsible for 7500 as a parental contribution. These are rough equations to plug into but were at one point generally correct. I might also add that each Ivy has its one niche IMO in terms of the undergrad experience. Visit and research which one is right for your player.

One thing is for certain if an Ivy wants your player you will know it. They dont have time (as mentioned previously)to dawdle in their selection process and they will move on if they offer and dont get a bite. Conversely, dont bother to hang around on the periphery if its not clear they want you.
Last edited by bothsportsdad
1. My son attended an Ivy & played baseball. The expenses for his official visit were paid for by the school.

2. Financial aid programs are much different than in 2004-2008 period. Son graduated with a heavy debt load.

3. Ultimately, don't ignore the cost but don't allow it to become an overwhelming consideration either. The Ivy diploma has & will continue to more than pay for itself in my son's life.

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