Anonymous
Post 11/16/2025 19:00     Subject: Can I start a thread for recruited athletes for 2026.

Anonymous wrote:Seems like our process is different than others.

1. Are you doing ED? Yes, ED to a SUPER reach. Passed preread but still a toss up. So have a back up plan to get started if bad news. Applied to plenty of other schools EA so will certainly still have solid options regardless, but this would be a great chance to play sport at reach school.
2. Are you doing d1 or d3? Any d2?
D3. Had D1 mid major offers but picked academics over (still a solid academic) D1 offer.
3. Separate from any financial aid, is dc being offered merit aid (yes I’m aware there are technically no athlete scholarships for d3 but schools find $ anyway)? If so, how much? No. This D3 high academic does not give much merit aid and it is a reach in any event so not going to get any $$ and that is ok.
4. Is dc convinced they will play their sport all 4 years? What do they think about the transfer portal?
. . Yes and no. Does not matter to us if they play all 4 years. More concerned that the school itself may not be a good fit (again, a reach school) so not worried about the sport. This is a dream school academically and the sport was the hook. DC took in all the information and weighed pros and cons and decided to give this school a shot, with the knowledge that it may be a tough hill to climb academically.
Anonymous
Post 11/16/2025 17:32     Subject: Can I start a thread for recruited athletes for 2026.

Shouldn't you have already applied ED??
Anonymous
Post 11/16/2025 16:48     Subject: Can I start a thread for recruited athletes for 2026.

We ED a top academic D3 school that meets 100% needs with coach’s support. Fingers crossed.
Anonymous
Post 11/16/2025 16:34     Subject: Can I start a thread for recruited athletes for 2026.

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Seems like our process is different than others.

1. Are you doing ED?
2. Are you doing d1 or d3? Any d2?
3. Separate from any financial aid, is dc being offered merit aid (yes I’m aware there are technically no athlete scholarships for d3 but schools find $ anyway)? If so, how much?
4. Is dc convinced they will play their sport all 4 years? What do they think about the transfer portal?


1. Rejected ED1 and ED2, in favor or RD for financial reasons. Willing to risk the offer. Received Likely Letter for RD

2. D3

3. Yes, about $28K

4. Yes. Transfer portal has minimal relevance, highly competitive T10 school, niche sport, not revenue generating sport


This one is also fiction.
Anonymous
Post 11/16/2025 15:57     Subject: Can I start a thread for recruited athletes for 2026.

DC getting 50% athletic scholarship guaranteed for 4 years - yes it is guaranteed, unless kid quits or breaks rules and thrown off team. We are surprised DC received that much for a secondary sport at a mid major. Strong academic school - very very happy
Anonymous
Post 11/16/2025 14:54     Subject: Re:Can I start a thread for recruited athletes for 2026.

Anonymous wrote:Here’s some advice for the uninitiated, as a parent of a former D1 4-year athlete.

Coaches don’t care about your child. They don’t care if your child gets injured. They don’t care about academics. They own your child and demonstrate that 12 months a year.

Most of the freshman athletes you join the team with will be gone by graduation. The transfer portal makes it easy for decent athletes to leave. Coaches will also tell less talented athletes to leave. Some will just quit. Others will get career ending injuries.

Just because your child got a scholarship doesn’t make them safe. Coaches will torment them. They might make them quit. They’d certainly bench them. The coaches take their responsibility to replace players with better players very seriously.

Your child will get injured, a lot. It will be a constant theme. Pre-season and the actual season takes its toll. Every year they remain on the team, the more damage they’ll do to their bodies. Concussions, knee, ankle, shoulder and elbow injuries happen. There is always a push to get players back to practice faster than necessary. Athletic training rooms are like M.A.S.H. units. Make sure the AT facilities and personnel are excellent or your children will suffer.

Athletic teams haze. You’ll don’t hear about it, but they do.

You’ll see your children less than the parents of NARPs. Athletics gets in the way of holidays, milestones and vacations. When you visit your children on campus you’ll be lucky to get a few hours with them for dinner depending on the sport, team culture and academic rigor.

D1 athletics are a mental and physical grind. Generally the benefits outweigh the costs, but that’s far from guaranteed.

Don’t exaggerate any athletic success in a college sport. Universities all post readily available statistics. People can see if your child isn’t contributing.

Athletics are a full time job. Make sure both you, and your child are ready for it.


To add: D1 scholarships are really one year at a time. If you don't produce or the coach doesn't want you anymore (or a new coach comes in and wants someone new), that's it for you. Sorry.
Anonymous
Post 11/16/2025 14:53     Subject: Can I start a thread for recruited athletes for 2026.

Anonymous wrote:Seems like our process is different than others.

1. Are you doing ED?
2. Are you doing d1 or d3? Any d2?
3. Separate from any financial aid, is dc being offered merit aid (yes I’m aware there are technically no athlete scholarships for d3 but schools find $ anyway)? If so, how much?
4. Is dc convinced they will play their sport all 4 years? What do they think about the transfer portal?


1. Rejected ED1 and ED2, in favor or RD for financial reasons. Willing to risk the offer. Received Likely Letter for RD

2. D3

3. Yes, about $28K

4. Yes. Transfer portal has minimal relevance, highly competitive T10 school, niche sport, not revenue generating sport
Anonymous
Post 11/16/2025 14:44     Subject: Can I start a thread for recruited athletes for 2026.

1. Are you doing ED?
- Yes, DD applied ED1 for track, full support from coach.

2. Are you doing d1 or d3? Any d2?
- D3, DD was only interested in LACs.

3. Separate from any financial aid, is dc being offered merit aid (yes I’m aware there are technically no athlete scholarships for d3 but schools find $ anyway)? If so, how much?
- Merit aid of $10-15K per year. It's not an athletic scholarship.

4. Is dc convinced they will play their sport all 4 years? What do they think about the transfer portal?
- DD thinks so. I hope not. I think it's been a major strain on her physically and time-wise. We'll see how it goes.
Anonymous
Post 11/16/2025 14:17     Subject: Re:Can I start a thread for recruited athletes for 2026.

Anonymous wrote:Here’s some advice for the uninitiated, as a parent of a former D1 4-year athlete.

Coaches don’t care about your child. They don’t care if your child gets injured. They don’t care about academics. They own your child and demonstrate that 12 months a year.

Most of the freshman athletes you join the team with will be gone by graduation. The transfer portal makes it easy for decent athletes to leave. Coaches will also tell less talented athletes to leave. Some will just quit. Others will get career ending injuries.

Just because your child got a scholarship doesn’t make them safe. Coaches will torment them. They might make them quit. They’d certainly bench them. The coaches take their responsibility to replace players with better players very seriously.

Your child will get injured, a lot. It will be a constant theme. Pre-season and the actual season takes its toll. Every year they remain on the team, the more damage they’ll do to their bodies. Concussions, knee, ankle, shoulder and elbow injuries happen. There is always a push to get players back to practice faster than necessary. Athletic training rooms are like M.A.S.H. units. Make sure the AT facilities and personnel are excellent or your children will suffer.

Athletic teams haze. You’ll don’t hear about it, but they do.

You’ll see your children less than the parents of NARPs. Athletics gets in the way of holidays, milestones and vacations. When you visit your children on campus you’ll be lucky to get a few hours with them for dinner depending on the sport, team culture and academic rigor.

D1 athletics are a mental and physical grind. Generally the benefits outweigh the costs, but that’s far from guaranteed.

Don’t exaggerate any athletic success in a college sport. Universities all post readily available statistics. People can see if your child isn’t contributing.

Athletics are a full time job. Make sure both you, and your child are ready for it.


Also will add that do not think that the coach that recruits your athlete will remain in the position. Coach changes for many reasons is quite common so athletes and parents should never get attached to the specific coach.
Anonymous
Post 11/16/2025 14:13     Subject: Re:Can I start a thread for recruited athletes for 2026.

Recruited but applying on own. Schools offered spots but kid had higher academic aspirations that exceeded those of the schools offering him spots. Did maybe 10 prereads and passed all.
Anonymous
Post 11/16/2025 13:29     Subject: Can I start a thread for recruited athletes for 2026.

ED1 for D3 baseball. School doesn’t offer merit aid, and we will be full pay. He hopes to play all four years, but no intention to transfer for sports purposes. We just think of it as a bonus that he gets to play varsity sports at a high academic school that’s a great fit for him.
Anonymous
Post 11/16/2025 12:06     Subject: Re:Can I start a thread for recruited athletes for 2026.

Anonymous wrote:Here’s some advice for the uninitiated, as a parent of a former D1 4-year athlete.

Coaches don’t care about your child. They don’t care if your child gets injured. They don’t care about academics. They own your child and demonstrate that 12 months a year.

Most of the freshman athletes you join the team with will be gone by graduation. The transfer portal makes it easy for decent athletes to leave. Coaches will also tell less talented athletes to leave. Some will just quit. Others will get career ending injuries.

Just because your child got a scholarship doesn’t make them safe. Coaches will torment them. They might make them quit. They’d certainly bench them. The coaches take their responsibility to replace players with better players very seriously.

Your child will get injured, a lot. It will be a constant theme. Pre-season and the actual season takes its toll. Every year they remain on the team, the more damage they’ll do to their bodies. Concussions, knee, ankle, shoulder and elbow injuries happen. There is always a push to get players back to practice faster than necessary. Athletic training rooms are like M.A.S.H. units. Make sure the AT facilities and personnel are excellent or your children will suffer.

Athletic teams haze. You’ll don’t hear about it, but they do.

You’ll see your children less than the parents of NARPs. Athletics gets in the way of holidays, milestones and vacations. When you visit your children on campus you’ll be lucky to get a few hours with them for dinner depending on the sport, team culture and academic rigor.

D1 athletics are a mental and physical grind. Generally the benefits outweigh the costs, but that’s far from guaranteed.

Don’t exaggerate any athletic success in a college sport. Universities all post readily available statistics. People can see if your child isn’t contributing.

Athletics are a full time job. Make sure both you, and your child are ready for it.


Chiming in as a parent of a D1 athlete - Mid-Major though and not P4, so not a lot of scholarship $$. Great experience. Instant friends on campus. Coach cares about team GPA and crafting athletes into good people. Only miss 2 days of classes per semester. Coach texts DC during summer breaks to say hi and see how they are doing. Kids get injured, yes, but they still come to cheer on the team and remain active in team activities. Invaluable experience.
Anonymous
Post 11/16/2025 11:51     Subject: Re:Can I start a thread for recruited athletes for 2026.

Here’s some advice for the uninitiated, as a parent of a former D1 4-year athlete.

Coaches don’t care about your child. They don’t care if your child gets injured. They don’t care about academics. They own your child and demonstrate that 12 months a year.

Most of the freshman athletes you join the team with will be gone by graduation. The transfer portal makes it easy for decent athletes to leave. Coaches will also tell less talented athletes to leave. Some will just quit. Others will get career ending injuries.

Just because your child got a scholarship doesn’t make them safe. Coaches will torment them. They might make them quit. They’d certainly bench them. The coaches take their responsibility to replace players with better players very seriously.

Your child will get injured, a lot. It will be a constant theme. Pre-season and the actual season takes its toll. Every year they remain on the team, the more damage they’ll do to their bodies. Concussions, knee, ankle, shoulder and elbow injuries happen. There is always a push to get players back to practice faster than necessary. Athletic training rooms are like M.A.S.H. units. Make sure the AT facilities and personnel are excellent or your children will suffer.

Athletic teams haze. You’ll don’t hear about it, but they do.

You’ll see your children less than the parents of NARPs. Athletics gets in the way of holidays, milestones and vacations. When you visit your children on campus you’ll be lucky to get a few hours with them for dinner depending on the sport, team culture and academic rigor.

D1 athletics are a mental and physical grind. Generally the benefits outweigh the costs, but that’s far from guaranteed.

Don’t exaggerate any athletic success in a college sport. Universities all post readily available statistics. People can see if your child isn’t contributing.

Athletics are a full time job. Make sure both you, and your child are ready for it.
Anonymous
Post 11/16/2025 10:35     Subject: Can I start a thread for recruited athletes for 2026.

Recruited athlete chance of acceptance goes to like 99% if you ED, if D1. But it’s 99% because the kid has already had admissions review transcript and has been fully vetted by school as part of the recruitment process. D3 is highly dependent on what kind of coach support, but still should ED. The athletes that don’t ED are usually non scholarship cross country types who are looking to get best merit / grants etc. amount of money is dependent on sport and/or grades
Anonymous
Post 11/16/2025 09:24     Subject: Can I start a thread for recruited athletes for 2026.

Seems like our process is different than others.

1. Are you doing ED?
2. Are you doing d1 or d3? Any d2?
3. Separate from any financial aid, is dc being offered merit aid (yes I’m aware there are technically no athlete scholarships for d3 but schools find $ anyway)? If so, how much?
4. Is dc convinced they will play their sport all 4 years? What do they think about the transfer portal?