OV at Nescac school

Here's my son's experience when he went on a NESCAC Unofficial Visit (it wasn't paid for, so we didn't consider it an OV). Husband and son arrived Saturday - spent time with coach, team, for lunch and visit on campus. Spent the night. On Sunday met with HCoach who told him he would give him the support through admissions but he had to apply in the first round of ED. No likely letter (not issued to anyone). Son asked for time to think, and the coach persisted through the next few weeks. Son had D1 offer and went D1. NESCAC wasn't the right fit for my son in baseball season time, workout training time, study sessions, etc. (son wanted/needed more of all of the above) It was a fabulous school that many would have loved to have the opportunity, but wasn't the right fit.

Interested in replies as we are at the same point with a patriot league school.

I went to an overnight "OV" at a NESCAC school this past weekend.

What I heard directly from the head coach is, "we are interested in having you in our program." My grades are borderline, though, so (as with many recruits) I will have to apply ED if I want to go there.

There are no commitments, nothing written down, etc. It seemed like I had as long as I wanted to decide (within reason). At the school I was at, the difference between 6 and 7 incoming freshmen is not a problem. It isn't like Ivy League, which usually have a designated number of slots that can be supported in admissions.

I would recommend being direct with the coaches. PM me if you want.

Game fan and LHP- That is a good clarification. (LHP I might PM you if we have other questions).

So he may / should hear this weekend that they will support in admissions if he goes ED. But ED, at the normal ED time as opposed to pushing it through sooner. That is actually a very good thing, it leaves the door open for other opportunities in October. But, we are very very interested in this school as the 'best NESCAC for him' kind of a place.

Sitback, we also just went to a Pat League, but not OV, and our understanding is that they DO hope to get student commitment sooner, and would look for recruit to do the ED app in the next couple of weeks. He said they do sign a letter of intent, and admission has a 'likely letter.'


Thanks, look forward to other input.

Keep in mind D3's may have larger rosters than the D1 limit. Unless he's walking through the admissions app he doesn't have a comittment to the player. While anyone can make the team the player the coach gets the academic exception for is going to get first shot.

A friend's son arrived on a D3 campus thinking he had a good shot of making the team. He was one of sixteen pitchers and twenty-eight players vying for two roster spots. The coach committed roster posts to the players he got in on academic exceptions.

Hmmm. I get what you are saying,and in our case it would 'work' because coach already told him he was a 'bubble' case (not quite the GPA they need but scores are fine), so he would be a player that was 'walked through admission.' That is a good thing.

I suppose one of his questions would be 'what kind of assurance would I have about making the roster'?

The NESCAC coaches seem to be fond of ED. During the recruitment process I remember every coach mentioning it as part of his speech... For some there is a certain number they can help support through the process - they will explain it to you if you ask. Since ED is typically a much smaller number for admissions having a coach "bothering them" isn't a big deal; however, once RD hits they are busier than a 1 arm wall paper hanger and don't need some coach hovering around looking to find out where his "to be star" athlete is in the process...

My older son did ED at Tufts for Football (4 years ago - seems like a lifetime though). According to the numbers they want - he was probably borderline, but enough of a good fit in order to get in. A classmate of his (Salutatorian at private high school) didn't get into Tufts. Our HS keeps track in a book of students that got in with their GPA & SAT scores - no identifying information on the "who" it was.... I heard the year after my son got in more than a usual number of students from our HS applied to Tufts - so I think they made money off of us :-)

My middle son did ED at Muhlenberg for Baseball. He far exceeded their academic requirements and was as easy admit. The coach made sure the interview was with the Dean of Admissions.

Upside of ED - you are signed, sealed, and delivered really early. Your child doesn't go through the angst most HS Seniors go through in Spring. Both my children had their decision by mid November. After that it was easy.

Downside of ED - start doing your financial aid stuff now... At Tufts the FAFSA and CSS/Profile were done by me on Dec 7th which was 7 days late and only because I went to a financial aid seminar at our HS and was told that for ED students you need to be done already...

Once you go ED - you are supposed to notify any other school you applied to so they can stop reviewing your application. Additionally, you cannot apply to another school. The only way out of ED is due to financial aid package not being good enough. The reality is you may not find that out until like March when it's almost too late to get cranked up submitting apps at other schools.

Moral of this post - be sure your son really likes the school if you go ED. The coaches want it because it makes their life easier. You're locked in and cannot play the "I got a better finaid package from some other school" game.

Great info so far! Thanks more input is welcome!

BaseballmomandCEP,

You have a PM.

JohnF,

Great analysis on ED.

Pardon my ignorance.... what does "ED" stand for? I will hang up and listen for an answer.

Early Decision. Applies specifically to D3 high academic schools I believe.

early decision

It should be noted that its not that NESCAC coaches are "fond" of ED. Its that they HAVE TO work with recruits in ED in order to get them through admissions. The coach comes to admissions with a short list of players to get heralded through the admissions process. The coach and ADComs need to know that if the school is going to ignore another, non-athletic but well qualified applicant, in order to admit this, athletic and qualified applicant, that the athletic applicant is at least presenting a guarantee to matriculate. If the player is not 100% committed the AdCom has to put the player in the big pond with the rest of the fishes and you take your chances. Athletic tips get a huge advantage in high academic admissions but an advantage that extends to regular admission is often too much for admissions officers to bear.

quote:

Originally posted by bballman:
Early Decision. Applies specifically to D3 high academic schools I believe.

It applies to any university. But in D3 where there aren't scholarship commitments by the coach, being asked to apply ED and having the admissions app walked through by the coach is as much commitment as they can provide. In return the player is legally committed with ED.

Sorry - I figured it was debunked earlier... After Early Decision, there's Rolling Admission, Regular Decision, and everyone's favorite - the waitlist. Get to know how the school you're looking at works by asking the questions of the coach or admissions - it's sometimes on the website too. For D3 schools - ask when is the finaid decision made for ED candidates.

leftshortstop - right for NESCAC, I think you've described it as best as the coaches described it to me 4 years ago, although a few coaches said they don't have that luxury. Not sure I believed them at the time. We also got a similar scenario for Ivy schools. Essentially they have some number of players each year to put on their roster - assume 25. Of those, the coaches may be able to shephard 5 through without "standard" grades/test scores. Those 5 had better be studs and willing to work harder at the grades than others. If you're struggling in HS w/ grades - NESCAC's and Ivy's will blow you away! Not many coaches want to get a player through, but then lose him to grades after a year.

BTW: BaseballmomandCEP - congrats and enjoy the ride! The baseball will last 4 perhaps 5 years; however, getting a degree from a NESCAC should open doors for life after baseball. My oldest had to give up football after 1 year (injury), but the connections he has made at Tufts are going to take him off the family payroll after graduation this Spring.

This is a bit off topic, but is there a reason to apply ED if the school is not a stretch academically? Johns comment re Muhlenberg prompted me to ask.

My son recently applied on a priority application at his top choice but not ED.

quote:

twotex said....This is a bit off topic, but is there a reason to apply ED if the school is not a stretch academically? Johns comment re Muhlenberg prompted me to ask.

Twotex,

I can come up with two reasons off the top of my head.

1) Is to be considered an athletic recruit by the coach with a "guaranteed" spot at any level (D1, D2, D3). This shows the coach you are committed to his program otherwise he may move to another recruit who will be applying ED.

2) Merit Aid. Some of the more substantial academic aid packages (President's Award) will most likley require an ED application.

But I have also heard that some schools offer more attractive financial packages to entice "undecided" kids in the RD round. Fenway's right in that most of the big $$$ merit scholarships do require earlier submission of application materials.

quote:

Originally posted by Blue10:
But I have also heard that some schools offer more attractive financial packages to entice "undecided" kids in the RD round. Fenway's right in that most of the big $$$ merit scholarships do require earlier submission of application materials.

This may be true, but for kids like me (I'm deciding between Wesleyan, Hamilton and Bates) regular decision is not an option because I would run the risk of probably not getting into the school.

My guess is that most baseball players at NESCAC schools would not have been comfortable applying "on their own".

nice group to hear from