Parents with athletes admitted ED to D3 schools - did sports help?

[Anonymous]

Wondering how much sports really matter in college admissions.
We met with a coach recently who made it clear that ED was essential to getting his support. As an athlete, my child is easy to support. The school might be a little out of reach in terms of grades and test scores though (not crazy out of reach but he likely wouldn't get in on grades alone with a 3.75 UW and lots of APs).

Wondering if these coaches really "fight" for top athletes in D3? Coaches outside of D1 seem pretty casual about the team in general.

D1 is an option and maybe would get more coach support but haven't found one that is the right fit yet.

[Anonymous]

I have a D3 athlete and definitely wouldn’t describe any of the coaches as casual. Most are pretty hard core. I think they are realistic about what they can get through admissions, though. My daughter had a friend with similar stats to your child (though you didn’t mention test scores? She had a 1440 and 3.7 something unweighted) who really wanted Middlebury but was denied on preread. Landed at Hamilton. Again, I think it has less to do with the coach and more to do with how far a school is willing to stray from their normal academic standards.

[Anonymous]

The Middlebury/Hamilton story is on point. Sports can help a little bit, but it won't move the needle dramatically, and what "works" at one school might not work at a very comparable school. I know what you mean about the more "casual" feel to D3. Some schools are competing at a very high level, others treat sports more like an extracurricular. It takes a LOT of homework to find the right vibe + a good academic fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wondering how much sports really matter in college admissions.
We met with a coach recently who made it clear that ED was essential to getting his support. As an athlete, my child is easy to support. The school might be a little out of reach in terms of grades and test scores though (not crazy out of reach but he likely wouldn't get in on grades alone with a 3.75 UW and lots of APs).

Wondering if these coaches really "fight" for top athletes in D3? Coaches outside of D1 seem pretty casual about the team in general.

D1 is an option and maybe would get more coach support but haven't found one that is the right fit yet.

This is going to be very school/sport dependent. When my DC was going through the process they looked at 3 D3 schools. All coaches said that they can only help if applying ED. 2 of the schools provided pre-reads. The pre-reads is the most important part. From DC and teammates experience, if they received a positive pre-reads, they were accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wondering how much sports really matter in college admissions.
We met with a coach recently who made it clear that ED was essential to getting his support. As an athlete, my child is easy to support. The school might be a little out of reach in terms of grades and test scores though (not crazy out of reach but he likely wouldn't get in on grades alone with a 3.75 UW and lots of APs).

Wondering if these coaches really "fight" for top athletes in D3? Coaches outside of D1 seem pretty casual about the team in general.

D1 is an option and maybe would get more coach support but haven't found one that is the right fit yet.

Not sure what sport you are in but typically your athlete will be invited to commit to the application process, usually early decision. At a high academic, you will have had a pre-read indicating whether admission is likely or not.

[Anonymous]

Sports can make a significant difference in admissions at a small school even if not recruited by a coach. Athletes add to a community just like musicians, writers, political activists, etc. However, at highly selective LACs, one probably needs to be recruited in order to compensate for sub-median statistics.

Schools spend lots of money on athletic equipment and facilities for the general student body and schools want to see these facilities used.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wondering how much sports really matter in college admissions.
We met with a coach recently who made it clear that ED was essential to getting his support. As an athlete, my child is easy to support. The school might be a little out of reach in terms of grades and test scores though (not crazy out of reach but he likely wouldn't get in on grades alone with a 3.75 UW and lots of APs).

Wondering if these coaches really "fight" for top athletes in D3? Coaches outside of D1 seem pretty casual about the team in general.

D1 is an option and maybe would get more coach support but haven't found one that is the right fit yet.

We are also in this situation. Some D3s are able to get early reads (not a promise of admission) OR use a coach spot to get you in regardless. But the latter is not common (kid has several offers). My DC is sort of where you are 3.75-3.8 UW and lots of APs too. Will have no prob getting into a few of the schools, 2 arein line with admission but not guaranteed. Coaches have been vague re: if they will put thumb on the scale and, with pre reads not until June, they may be off the table.

For the D1 offer, a coach spot was offered. However, the athletic money was nonexistent and the tuition VERY high. So we are likely passing on that, unfortunately.

This process is super frustrating with different deadlines and things. We are now seeing kids defer a year to get spots, among other things ('24s now becoming '25 recruits, and so forth). You have to not only be good but have grades AND have some stars align for you to make it work the best for you. I'm not sure I'd encourage DC to go through this again but it is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Be careful with prereads, too. There are stories of some athletes last year in our sport who got through prereads, applied ED, and were DENIED and then they were left out in the cold.

That's why for the selective schools where DC is in line but not a slam dunk, we may be taking some off the table as DC will be forced to give up other offers with no promise of admission. Which is fine. But, not willing to risk that situation.

[Anonymous]

My son is a non-athlete who was admitted EA to D3 school. I will say from lurking on other message boards, most other EA acceptances were recruited athletes. This school cares about athletics more than most, though, so YMMV.

But outside of the huge programs with lots of money, I disagree that D3 coaches are more casual than D1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a D3 athlete and definitely wouldn’t describe any of the coaches as casual. Most are pretty hard core. I think they are realistic about what they can get through admissions, though. My daughter had a friend with similar stats to your child (though you didn’t mention test scores? She had a 1440 and 3.7 something unweighted) who really wanted Middlebury but was denied on preread. Landed at Hamilton. Again, I think it has less to do with the coach and more to do with how far a school is willing to stray from their normal academic standards.

Interesting, did the coach offer full support? Will you share the sport?

[Anonymous]

Tests are coming back. That is going to harm a lot of players.

For us, kid got injured right before Junior year so that derailed all recruiting. No video footage either because of it. He had a lot of interest from that summer and kept in touch with several by email.

But, just to put it out there---you don't know what can happen. Injuries and life happen. Fortunately, I have a straight A kid, with very high test scores so he could get into the schools on his own merit. They are now talking to him as acceptances start rolling in and having seen him play this Fall/winter (Senior year).

Another thing to consider is how many players on these teams are older---grad students, transfer students and how many are foreign.

Some of the D3 schools are pretty competitive and a lot of D3 schools don't have the budget for recruiting.

Prioritize grades/course load and test scores. NUMBER 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tests are coming back. That is going to harm a lot of players.

For us, kid got injured right before Junior year so that derailed all recruiting. No video footage either because of it. He had a lot of interest from that summer and kept in touch with several by email.

But, just to put it out there---you don't know what can happen. Injuries and life happen. Fortunately, I have a straight A kid, with very high test scores so he could get into the schools on his own merit. They are now talking to him as acceptances start rolling in and having seen him play this Fall/winter (Senior year).

Another thing to consider is how many players on these teams are older---grad students, transfer students and how many are foreign.

Some of the D3 schools are pretty competitive and a lot of D3 schools don't have the budget for recruiting.

Prioritize grades/course load and test scores. NUMBER 1.

A lot of truth in this. And the D3 schools, even ones you may not expect, are absolutely bringing in d1 players who didn't like it and transferred, as well as foreign players. Two of the better performing D3 schools in VA (CNU and Lynchburg) have both of these types of players on their teams. That's why they're so good. Well, one reason.

[Anonymous]

We are now seeing kids defer a year to get spots, among other things ('24s now becoming '25 recruits, and so forth).

Are the coaches telling them to do that? Or are the players failing to get recruited and then taking a year off to try again the following year without any real interest from coaches? I would hope it’s the former. And I’d sure want a pretty solid promise from the coach before I took a “personal growth” year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We are now seeing kids defer a year to get spots, among other things ('24s now becoming '25 recruits, and so forth).

Are the coaches telling them to do that? Or are the players failing to get recruited and then taking a year off to try again the following year without any real interest from coaches? I would hope it’s the former. And I’d sure want a pretty solid promise from the coach before I took a “personal growth” year.

We have heard it coming from coaches. It's not happening in our house. Kid will go 'on time'. No way would I trust the 'wait a year', nor would I want them starting late.

If he gets in on his own, he can always play later (at the schools he applied to--obviously not top D1 powerhouse, etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a D3 athlete and definitely wouldn’t describe any of the coaches as casual. Most are pretty hard core. I think they are realistic about what they can get through admissions, though. My daughter had a friend with similar stats to your child (though you didn’t mention test scores? She had a 1440 and 3.7 something unweighted) who really wanted Middlebury but was denied on preread. Landed at Hamilton. Again, I think it has less to do with the coach and more to do with how far a school is willing to stray from their normal academic standards.

Interesting, did the coach offer full support? Will you share the sport?

Sorry I don’t know that level of detail. And she’s a swimmer.