Ok so my DS gets a call from a coach last night from one of the SAs and he tells my DS that he is going to go to the Head Coach and fight for a slot for him. What exactly does this mean? Do Coaches have slots they can fill with recruited athletes? If so how does that get communicated to admissions?
After living with a coach of 35 years I interpret this in "coach lingo". I would say this means there is an opening (e.g., slot) on the team, in particular at your son's position, and the coach you spoke with will draw the Head Coach's attention to him to fill that open slot. Team sizes are limited. For example, there may be 5 openings in baseball. Because they project they need 2 pitchers, 1 short-stop and 2 out-fielders to replace graduating players. Those are the talents they will recruit for and when those slots are filled, they stop recruiting for that incoming class. Of course, they have back-ups should they be turned down by a recruit. A coach at a popular university recently commented to me that they over-subscribe for recruiting purposes as they must select as many as 20 kids for each position they have open to cover their needs in case they are turned down. As an aside, if you are still being recruited at this point in time, you were down on the list and there have been others that have turned down the opportunity; or, they now see you as a highly talented athlete that caught the coach's attention but was not on "the radar" prior to this point in time.
Now, being a recruited athlete does not guarantee admission. . .The prospective student must meet the qualifications of the institution on their own. Should an prospect been an underachiever, specifically grade-wise, in high school, USMA most kindly offers them the opportunity to redeem their academic qualifications, for example, by attending MAPS, for example. Other competitive schools just say "No" and the prospect goes to another DI, DII, DII, or JuCo school until they are proven and reapply if their interest in the original school continues.
As our boy progressed through the recruiting process he was "checked out" all along the way. They checked out his personality during an unofficial visit for a fit with the school. They checked out his skills and work ethic by inviting him to a camp. (That we paid for, of course.) And, the team checked him out during his official visit. He provided transcripts and letters of recommendation as well as most of the other basic documentation required for admittance including a statement from his pediatrician regarding his general health. A lot of money is spent by schools on training athletes, team travel and other support as needed. He was pre-qualified because they didn't want to waste their time, money, nor slot on someone that wasn't going to make it into the school.
Now, let me make a statement about the coaches at WP. We had contact with one group of coaches at WP and our experience was that while they seem to be the kindest of people, they mean what they say and do what they say. College coaches are infamous for stringing kids along in order to keep them on the back-up list I spoke of earlier. Out of the several colleges that spoke to our boy, there was only one other that we felt had it together and truly trusted to be honest. And frankly, they did not make an offer because they chose an in-state kid but still has our respect to this day.
I'll end this all with one more comment in this long tale about our family's experience with the West Point process. We found the only the leverage of being a recruited athlete was a letter is sent from the athletic department to the MOCs to draw their attention to the prospective cadet. We did not feel that to be a guarantee of a nomination. The interview must still be done and approval made. He had to show up appropriately dressed and behave as a young gentlemen. . .Like one of the most important job interviews he will have in his life! I understand there are other means of getting in a nomination but have had no experience with those means.
