Wesleyan--not a good player

[Anonymous]

The musician example is orange to the athletic recruit’s apple. The musician in the example above is applying to the music school and so their auditions, etc are as if not more an important part of their application as their course selections, grades, etc. Vs the athlete is not applying to be a soccer major.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Waitaminit, I thought athletes had it easy all the time and it was a cakewalk for them! At least that's what I thought from reading this forum...

Yep. The truth is that to be a recruited student-athlete at the DIII level an applicant has double the work and stress as a normal applicant. But of course folks like to attack before fully understanding the DIII process.

Please. Setting aside the student’s “athletic career,” in the worst case, the athlete applicant has submitted its application and gotten the college’s coaches to put in a good word for the application; in a best case the coach’s support definitively gets the applicant accepted. Vs the thousands of non-athlete applicants (the actors, the flute a players, etc) that get no extra support for their applications in any scenario.

Your perception is very far from the reality. My performing artist will submit his performance resume, and complete multiple auditions. If he does well, he'll get extra support for his application from the music department. At many of the schools he's likely to look at, the selection is almost 100% based on the audition, and a top musician has a good shot at getting into a school (e.g. CMU, Northwestern) where they'd never have a chance academically if they didn't have the musical talent. In contrast, athletes still have to pass multiple academic hurdles to be admitted.

I believe that. My DD has been passed over by two coaches so far, despite being on their "top 5 list" because admissions couldn't say she was likely, though she is very much in line with the stats for both schools. In her case, she is being held to an even higher standard as an athletic recruit. Completely unexpected and absolutely nothing she can do about her freshman year grades now. This garbage about athletes not being qualified is so unfounded.

But saying "top 5" is no where close to saying "I will go to the matt for your kid." And most everyone on this board understands that "being in line with the stats" is barely even table stakes as top schools.

I generalized. At one, she was literally the first recruit they planned to commit last August. Does that make you feel better? I will admit, the second one, she was described by the coach as "in my top tier." At the first one, even the coach was dismayed to come back to her and said they couldn't even use one of their "spots" (this was a top 20 D1) because admissions said they needed first semester junior year grades. They were shocked, my daughter was distraught. Two months later, they requested a meeting with with her to say, basically, we decided not to wait and to give the spot to someone else. Sorry. We'd love to have you, but you'll have to get in on your own. She probably will get in on her own, but hopefully she'll have other options because she does not want to play there now. As to your last point, that's my point with this whole story: everyone wants to believe that athletes get in with dismal stats. It's not true. In the case of top schools athletes seem to be held to an even higher standard during recruiting.

You "generalize" about key points. Who cares what they said in August? What did they say when DD considered applying ED1. It matters. And did you mean first semester SENIOR grades? Why would they not have junior grades. But there is some tension with saying they need the grades and your point that DD was on par with the average student. Doesn't sound right. At this point, it seems delusional to suggest that DD will "probably get in on her own." The school has not shown her must love - I would start preparing DD to look elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

The athlete stuff is very hard to know what’s going on but I can’t see any justification for asking kids to voluntarily bump from ED1 to ED2

[Anonymous]

It is always a very bad idea to go to a school where you are in over your head at the start - particularly for athletes. Even D3 kids will be spending 30 hours a week in season on their sport. That will back down to 5-6 a week off season at D3 (very different for D1).

That is why so many kids quit. For any parent with a kid looking at playing a sport in college - go to the schools websites that your kid is considering and see how many seniors are on the team. Now - back up 4 years and count the freshmen. If half the freshmen are still playing as seniors that is pretty good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Waitaminit, I thought athletes had it easy all the time and it was a cakewalk for them! At least that's what I thought from reading this forum...

Yep. The truth is that to be a recruited student-athlete at the DIII level an applicant has double the work and stress as a normal applicant. But of course folks like to attack before fully understanding the DIII process.

Please. Setting aside the student’s “athletic career,” in the worst case, the athlete applicant has submitted its application and gotten the college’s coaches to put in a good word for the application; in a best case the coach’s support definitively gets the applicant accepted. Vs the thousands of non-athlete applicants (the actors, the flute a players, etc) that get no extra support for their applications in any scenario.

Your perception is very far from the reality. My performing artist will submit his performance resume, and complete multiple auditions. If he does well, he'll get extra support for his application from the music department. At many of the schools he's likely to look at, the selection is almost 100% based on the audition, and a top musician has a good shot at getting into a school (e.g. CMU, Northwestern) where they'd never have a chance academically if they didn't have the musical talent. In contrast, athletes still have to pass multiple academic hurdles to be admitted.

I believe that. My DD has been passed over by two coaches so far, despite being on their "top 5 list" because admissions couldn't say she was likely, though she is very much in line with the stats for both schools. In her case, she is being held to an even higher standard as an athletic recruit. Completely unexpected and absolutely nothing she can do about her freshman year grades now. This garbage about athletes not being qualified is so unfounded.

But saying "top 5" is no where close to saying "I will go to the matt for your kid." And most everyone on this board understands that "being in line with the stats" is barely even table stakes as top schools.

I generalized. At one, she was literally the first recruit they planned to commit last August. Does that make you feel better? I will admit, the second one, she was described by the coach as "in my top tier." At the first one, even the coach was dismayed to come back to her and said they couldn't even use one of their "spots" (this was a top 20 D1) because admissions said they needed first semester junior year grades. They were shocked, my daughter was distraught. Two months later, they requested a meeting with with her to say, basically, we decided not to wait and to give the spot to someone else. Sorry. We'd love to have you, but you'll have to get in on your own. She probably will get in on her own, but hopefully she'll have other options because she does not want to play there now. As to your last point, that's my point with this whole story: everyone wants to believe that athletes get in with dismal stats. It's not true. In the case of top schools athletes seem to be held to an even higher standard during recruiting.

You "generalize" about key points. Who cares what they said in August? What did they say when DD considered applying ED1. It matters. And did you mean first semester SENIOR grades? Why would they not have junior grades. But there is some tension with saying they need the grades and your point that DD was on par with the average student. Doesn't sound right. At this point, it seems delusional to suggest that DD will "probably get in on her own." The school has not shown her must love - I would start preparing DD to look elsewhere.

She's a junior. D1 recruiting takes place junior year. Another example of why it is so stressful.

[Anonymous]

What advice would those of you who have been through the d3/nescac recruiting process give to high school juniors - what specific questions should they be asking coaches? my dc is in early stages of this for his sport and is trusting what he is being told by coaches, but also likely isn’t asking them the precise questions to avoid being caught unawares like perhaps is what happened to the Wesleyan prospectives. Thanks for any advice, as it will all be very helpful if/when he decides to which college to apply via ED.

Kid should ask coach where they stand in terms of level of support being offered (there are different levels) vs other recruits. Also ask “what percentage of kids with stats similar to mine who you have supported have been admitted? What percentage have not been admitted?” In my kid’s case, the coach where kid ended up applying ED said that in x years, not one kid with similar stats who coach supported has not been admitted. That felt like certainty to us. Another NESCAC coach (who recruited kid starting 10th grade) was much more ambiguous - said something to the effect of “we want a class of 8 players, you are in that group, our job is to decide how to allocate support to get you all in.” My kid had high stats and we worried that coach would basically hope kid could get in on kid’s own without a “slot,” and we knew other kids at that school where that didn’t work. Kid decided not to roll the dice there.

[Anonymous]

I generalized. At one, she was literally the first recruit they planned to commit last August. Does that make you feel better? I will admit, the second one, she was described by the coach as "in my top tier." At the first one, even the coach was dismayed to come back to her and said they couldn't even use one of their "spots" (this was a top 20 D1) because admissions said they needed first semester junior year grades. They were shocked, my daughter was distraught. Two months later, they requested a meeting with with her to say, basically, we decided not to wait and to give the spot to someone else. Sorry. We'd love to have you, but you'll have to get in on your own. She probably will get in on her own, but hopefully she'll have other options because she does not want to play there now. As to your last point, that's my point with this whole story: everyone wants to believe that athletes get in with dismal stats. It's not true. In the case of top schools athletes seem to be held to an even higher standard during recruiting.

I actually commend this coach for being honest and transparent. You were showing the school a transcript with only two years of grades, 50% of which you admit were not strong. That’s a lot for a school to overlook. I think you and your DD need to be realistic that, especially early in the process, these schools have MANY options to fill every slot. If the coach has equally talented players who are better academically qualified who are interested, the most professional thing to do is lock those players down while he still can. Balancing academics and athletics at a D1 level is very difficult, and the coach needs student-athletes (note the student part comes first) who have demonstrated the best chance of being successful in both areas. Did you expect the coach to hold a spot for her while waiting for her next report card? What would happen then if her grades did not meet the school’s standards? That’s not really fair to the coach, as there are opportunity costs involved. I’m sure your DD will find a program that’s a great fit. That said, I don’t see one problem with how the coach handled this situation. FWIW, I have four kids who are/were college athletes, and tge coach you describe sounds much more communicative and transparent than the vast majority of coaches we met.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Waitaminit, I thought athletes had it easy all the time and it was a cakewalk for them! At least that's what I thought from reading this forum...

Yep. The truth is that to be a recruited student-athlete at the DIII level an applicant has double the work and stress as a normal applicant. But of course folks like to attack before fully understanding the DIII process.

Please. Setting aside the student’s “athletic career,” in the worst case, the athlete applicant has submitted its application and gotten the college’s coaches to put in a good word for the application; in a best case the coach’s support definitively gets the applicant accepted. Vs the thousands of non-athlete applicants (the actors, the flute a players, etc) that get no extra support for their applications in any scenario.

Your perception is very far from the reality. My performing artist will submit his performance resume, and complete multiple auditions. If he does well, he'll get extra support for his application from the music department. At many of the schools he's likely to look at, the selection is almost 100% based on the audition, and a top musician has a good shot at getting into a school (e.g. CMU, Northwestern) where they'd never have a chance academically if they didn't have the musical talent. In contrast, athletes still have to pass multiple academic hurdles to be admitted.

I believe that. My DD has been passed over by two coaches so far, despite being on their "top 5 list" because admissions couldn't say she was likely, though she is very much in line with the stats for both schools. In her case, she is being held to an even higher standard as an athletic recruit. Completely unexpected and absolutely nothing she can do about her freshman year grades now. This garbage about athletes not being qualified is so unfounded.

But saying "top 5" is no where close to saying "I will go to the matt for your kid." And most everyone on this board understands that "being in line with the stats" is barely even table stakes as top schools.

I generalized. At one, she was literally the first recruit they planned to commit last August. Does that make you feel better? I will admit, the second one, she was described by the coach as "in my top tier." At the first one, even the coach was dismayed to come back to her and said they couldn't even use one of their "spots" (this was a top 20 D1) because admissions said they needed first semester junior year grades. They were shocked, my daughter was distraught. Two months later, they requested a meeting with with her to say, basically, we decided not to wait and to give the spot to someone else. Sorry. We'd love to have you, but you'll have to get in on your own. She probably will get in on her own, but hopefully she'll have other options because she does not want to play there now. As to your last point, that's my point with this whole story: everyone wants to believe that athletes get in with dismal stats. It's not true. In the case of top schools athletes seem to be held to an even higher standard during recruiting.

You "generalize" about key points. Who cares what they said in August? What did they say when DD considered applying ED1. It matters. And did you mean first semester SENIOR grades? Why would they not have junior grades. But there is some tension with saying they need the grades and your point that DD was on par with the average student. Doesn't sound right. At this point, it seems delusional to suggest that DD will "probably get in on her own." The school has not shown her must love - I would start preparing DD to look elsewhere.

She's a junior. D1 recruiting takes place junior year. Another example of why it is so stressful.

Potential D1 to bottom half of NESCAC is a pretty big gap. Perhaps you misread signals from the start.

[Anonymous]

My kid is one of the 25 at Wes. That number was told to me by the coach who attended a meeting by Wes admin the day before admin released ED1. The coaches were shocked. This whole mess was an admin issue, apparently.

My kid was deferred to RD. He passed pre read easily. Wes coach knew he had two other “offers” from D3 schools. Kid ED1 to Wes over those two schools.

My kid academically on par. All AP and over 4 GPA.

He was told expressly (and in an email and text, which I found surprising given what I’ve read that D3 coaches are more circumspect given uncertainty) he had full support and was top recruit and he had “one of [coaches] three spots” before kid ED1’d.

Now, deferral email said that because kid mid semester grades dropped, that is why deferred. He did get two Bs when he is generally all A’s. I hope that is the real reason. But still, it seems very messy. Kids other two schools have moved on and regrettably had not more spots. Happy if he walked on.

Kid is not a minority, and we don’t qualify for financial aid. I’ve spoke with another parent of the 25 and they are in same spot. Not minority and full pay. And deferred to RD.

I know it is easy for people to anonymously post crude sentiments here. I get it. I’m just looking for some others here to handicap our situation with Wes. I’m hoping it works out and my kid is still hopeful. Coach has been in communication and is still pushing kid hard at admin.

Kid has applied RD to other schools and will be able to walk on there. But still, holding hope for Wes. Maybe being deferred to RD really was a better outcome than ED1 deferral? Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is one of the 25 at Wes. That number was told to me by the coach who attended a meeting by Wes admin the day before admin released ED1. The coaches were shocked. This whole mess was an admin issue, apparently.

My kid was deferred to RD. He passed pre read easily. Wes coach knew he had two other “offers” from D3 schools. Kid ED1 to Wes over those two schools.

My kid academically on par. All AP and over 4 GPA.

He was told expressly (and in an email and text, which I found surprising given what I’ve read that D3 coaches are more circumspect given uncertainty) he had full support and was top recruit and he had “one of [coaches] three spots” before kid ED1’d.

Now, deferral email said that because kid mid semester grades dropped, that is why deferred. He did get two Bs when he is generally all A’s. I hope that is the real reason. But still, it seems very messy. Kids other two schools have moved on and regrettably had not more spots. Happy if he walked on.

Kid is not a minority, and we don’t qualify for financial aid. I’ve spoke with another parent of the 25 and they are in same spot. Not minority and full pay. And deferred to RD.

I know it is easy for people to anonymously post crude sentiments here. I get it. I’m just looking for some others here to handicap our situation with Wes. I’m hoping it works out and my kid is still hopeful. Coach has been in communication and is still pushing kid hard at admin.

Kid has applied RD to other schools and will be able to walk on there. But still, holding hope for Wes. Maybe being deferred to RD really was a better outcome than ED1 deferral? Thoughts?

This means that Wesleyan's athletic recruiting process is broken. As being one of the "Little Three" in the NESCAC, this is not good.

[Anonymous]

Going from all As to half As and half Bs in one semester does sound like he took the coaches’ word and starting slumping immediately, which isn’t a great look and seems at least relevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Going from all As to half As and half Bs in one semester does sound like he took the coaches’ word and starting slumping immediately, which isn’t a great look and seems at least relevant.

Two Bs is hardly half Bs. My kid (I am a NP) got his first B this past semester I believe due to pandemic learning loss, which all colleges have said they are sensitive to. I think that is a bad look for Wesleyan admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Going from all As to half As and half Bs in one semester does sound like he took the coaches’ word and starting slumping immediately, which isn’t a great look and seems at least relevant.

. Thanks for response. Those were midsemester grades. Final grades were posted and provided. Actually performed best in hardest semester. Now that the grades are actually better than those in pre read (slightly from a cumulative GPA perspective), I would expect Wes to honor the “deal.” Agreed? Again, presuming coach was not lying to us (do not think was, actually trust the despite this issue) and that kid had a “slot”. FWIW, Coach said only have 1 person over tenure there at Wes get deferred, but was admitted in RD. I will keep this group posted but appreciate thoughts on if we’ve read situation correctly.

[Anonymous]

If ED1, how did they have kids semester grades? Those are not typically submitted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If ED1, how did they have kids semester grades? Those are not typically submitted?

Poster said mid semester...that is first quarter...and yes, those need to be submitted. At least they did at other NESCAC schools. And then the final semester grades as well when the semester is complete.