Anonymous wrote:Our son committed to his D1 school in February of his junior year. We asked the coach if he was guaranteed admission. The one word answer was “yes.” Our son went through the motions and filled out the application. He was admitted.

Did he say yes, before he saw his transcript?

Anonymous wrote:so these kids are already posting their college decisions on social media based on 'likely letters'?

I realize that likely letters are pretty much a done deal. but why post publicly now before it's official? is there some $$ benefit?

personally I'd just wait until it's official in dec. but kids these days lol.

Kids often post a verbal commitment, which is not even binding.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Division, one athletes have to sign a document that is legally binding for one year. That’s what signing day is.

Signing day can come in before acceptance letters.

Not true

It is true.

What about high academic D3's? Do coaches know in advance?

so these kids are already posting their college decisions on social media based on 'likely letters'?

I realize that likely letters are pretty much a done deal. but why post publicly now before it's official? is there some $$ benefit?

personally I'd just wait until it's official in dec. but kids these days lol.

Our son committed to his D1 school in February of his junior year. We asked the coach if he was guaranteed admission. The one word answer was “yes.” Our son went through the motions and filled out the application. He was admitted.

Some misinformation going on here:

No one has gotten a definitive decision, unless it's a rolling admissions school. That doesn't mean an athlete cannot be confident in where they're going. Obviously, the more selective the school, the more hoops to jump through.

To start:

Athletes may post "commitments to the admission process," meaning they will applying ED (or only) to a certain school. That may start to happen as early as early Junior year.

Schools (again, unless rolling) will not issue an admissions decision until the same time as all admissions decisions for that type of admission (ED, for instance).

Ivys and some other schools will issue "Likely Letters" that are as good as an admission decision, but still have the caveat that they're NOT admissions decisions. But, once someone gets one of those, they can rest easy. It says, in a nutshell, "you're getting in, but we can't tell you until we tell everyone else." This helps coaches and athletes rest easy that all is good. These are only issued after the full application is submitted.

Before submitting an application (usually summer before Senior year), an athlete will probably have had an academic pre-read. Assuming it comes back positive, that's great too - but it's a "assuming these grades/scores stay the same and your application has no problems, you're getting in." But, it's not as firm as a Likely Letter, because someone can still mess things up - for instance, maybe the athlete gets a terrible LOR or doesn't bother to do the required essays, etc.

So it's:
1) Commitment - coach and athlete fall in love, and commit to the athlete applying and playing/completing there. As part of this, coach will probably ask for transcripts/scores just to make sure athlete is in the zone of admission.
2) Pre-read - someone who actually has the authority to judge whether someone is in the zone of admissions says "looks good" (or not).
3) Assuming pre-read was good, athlete applies (ED if it's offered)
4) Athlete gets Likely Letter (if Ivy or a few other schools) - this helps everyone sleep easier until mid-December, and athletes get to rest super easy if they submit well before the deadline and thus get the Likely Letter before other schools' deadlines (relieves anxiety of applying to only one school)
5) Athlete gets in, notified at the same time as everyone else.

That said, athlete (or anyone) can post on a high school commitment site, because those sites are typically run by students and there is no verification required. So, if someone is posting at this time of year to a school that is not rolling, it's probably because they got a Likely Letter. Even then, I think they're unwise to post that they've been "admitted" - because they have not.

Anonymous wrote:Division, one athletes have to sign a document that is legally binding for one year. That’s what signing day is.

Signing day can come in before acceptance letters.

Not true

Anonymous wrote:I believe September 1 at the start of junior year is the date for some sports - I know of several top lacrosse players who made their commitments recently at the start of junior year - nice to know you are all set for UVA, Duke, Notre Dame, etc. before your junior year of HS! I don't know what contingencies the schools include regarding grades, etc.

I know an Ivy League athlete who before the ED deadline announced they were "committing to the admissions process" at the school. Meaning they knew they were already in, but nothing was official until ED decisions officially went out.

It is very nice to know before the end of junior year where you’re going, but these kids have been applying to schools since they were freshman.

The process is much longer for an athlete. Of course there’s the unbelievable superstar who had everybody come to them, but that’s rare.

Division, one athletes have to sign a document that is legally binding for one year. That’s what signing day is.

Signing day can come in before acceptance letters.

I believe September 1 at the start of junior year is the date for some sports - I know of several top lacrosse players who made their commitments recently at the start of junior year - nice to know you are all set for UVA, Duke, Notre Dame, etc. before your junior year of HS! I don't know what contingencies the schools include regarding grades, etc.

I know an Ivy League athlete who before the ED deadline announced they were "committing to the admissions process" at the school. Meaning they knew they were already in, but nothing was official until ED decisions officially went out.

The answer is yes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw a cople of college announcements coming in already at my kids HS. So far they are only athletic recruits. Does that mean they got their positive decision before writing any essays or filling out a common app? I thought recruited athletes still had to fill out an app and apply ED even with a verbal that the coach was going to support their app.

Many non-Ivy D1 athletes are told to apply early August and then told by end of August that it's all official. The coaches want their commits to not have an opportunity to reconsider.

If a kid is strong enough that they are still weighing offers (or possibly de-committing from one school to switch to another), then yes they are officially told within weeks that they are accepted whenever they apply.

I believe Ivy league still makes you wait until the official announcement like all others...though you are told verbally by the coach that in fact you are accepted so there is no surprise in mid-December.

Thank you. One of the announcements I saw was for an ivy (Princeton), the other was for a D3 school.

Anonymous wrote:I saw a cople of college announcements coming in already at my kids HS. So far they are only athletic recruits. Does that mean they got their positive decision before writing any essays or filling out a common app? I thought recruited athletes still had to fill out an app and apply ED even with a verbal that the coach was going to support their app.

Many non-Ivy D1 athletes are told to apply early August and then told by end of August that it's all official. The coaches want their commits to not have an opportunity to reconsider.

If a kid is strong enough that they are still weighing offers (or possibly de-committing from one school to switch to another), then yes they are officially told within weeks that they are accepted whenever they apply.

I believe Ivy league still makes you wait until the official announcement like all others...though you are told verbally by the coach that in fact you are accepted so there is no surprise in mid-December.

I saw a cople of college announcements coming in already at my kids HS. So far they are only athletic recruits. Does that mean they got their positive decision before writing any essays or filling out a common app? I thought recruited athletes still had to fill out an app and apply ED even with a verbal that the coach was going to support their app.