Recruiting Profile... coach asks for more info

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Freshmen D created a recruiting profile on one of the many pay2play sites that specialize in college athletic recruiting. It has worked pretty well so far in that she has used the platform to contact the coaches/programs she has interest in, attended their ID clinics, and follows up with them. It is still very early in the recruiting stage and I don't expect things to really pick up until next year, but so far so good.

My question is this: a coach from a decent D1 program has expressed some interest (via the platform) and asked for additional info including SAT/Transcripts. Her profile has her GPA, but as she hasn't taken the SAT/ACT's yet, we haven't posted anything for that. Do we wait until her first SAT test? Do we post her PSAT's? Just her transcripts (all Honors classes and a 4.0 GPA). I'm guessing the coach is looking to get an early read on the test scores, just not sure how to proceed given she is only a freshmen.

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My guess is they didn't realize it was a freshman.

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I'm early in recruiting too, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but why wouldn't you (I mean your daughter) reply with psat etc? "Coach, thank you for your email. As I am a freshman (class of '22) I haven't taken the SAT yet. However my psat score is XXX and my GPA is Y."

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Freshmen D created a recruiting profile on one of the many pay2play sites that specialize in college athletic recruiting. It has worked pretty well so far in that she has used the platform to contact the coaches/programs she has interest in, attended their ID clinics, and follows up with them. It is still very early in the recruiting stage and I don't expect things to really pick up until next year, but so far so good.

My question is this: a coach from a decent D1 program has expressed some interest (via the platform) and asked for additional info including SAT/Transcripts. Her profile has her GPA, but as she hasn't taken the SAT/ACT's yet, we haven't posted anything for that. Do we wait until her first SAT test? Do we post her PSAT's? Just her transcripts (all Honors classes and a 4.0 GPA). I'm guessing the coach is looking to get an early read on the test scores, just not sure how to proceed given she is only a freshmen.

How good were her PSATs? If they're well out of range for the school then simply explain she hasn't taken it yet (they'll understand since she's a freshman). If they're good, go ahead but make sure it's clear it's the PSAT. Make sure to say "it was my first time taking the test and I am confident that with some work I can scored even higher"

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I'm early in recruiting too, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but why wouldn't you (I mean your daughter) reply with psat etc? "Coach, thank you for your email. As I am a freshman (class of '22) I haven't taken the SAT yet. However my psat score is XXX and my GPA is Y."

I guess that is what I'm asking... do we reply with her PSAT scores as a freshmen?

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I guess that is what I'm asking... do we reply with her PSAT scores as a freshmen?

^ read above. How good were her scores? Don't send them if they weren't good enough for the school

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I guess that is what I'm asking... do we reply with her PSAT scores as a freshmen?

I was assuming they were good. If so, the answer is yes.

I thought one goal of emailing coaches was to enter into a conversation with them. The coach has made an overture. If your daughter doesn't reply she cannot start a conversation (I know, the conversation may not happen anyway, but it definitely won't if the coaches question is met with radio silence.

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I guess that is what I'm asking... do we reply with her PSAT scores as a freshmen?

Taking PSAT as a freshman hasn't been common. But, sounds like she should take them now.

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Taking PSAT as a freshman hasn't been common. But, sounds like she should take them now.

More schools/states are giving them in place of other standardized testing for freshmen and sophomores. It has merit since 1) it gives kids more practice with the format 2) it gives kids without financial resources a chance to take the test for free or much less (our school charged $20, I think the regular exam is at least $50). Once thing it definitely does - give the test company a sh*t ton more money. The "getting into college"industry is just that - an industry. Test prep, pricey consulting advice, subject tutors...

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I thought coaches couldn’t respond back to emails anything other than camps?

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I guess that is what I'm asking... do we reply with her PSAT scores as a freshmen?

Surprised they are reaching out this early, especially given the new NCAA recruiting rules coming into effect. You can’t give them what you don’t have. Be honest and say she’s a freshman and doesn’t have SATs yet. If they are really interested, have them speak to your club coach and keep in touch periodically. If they are interested now, presumably they’ll still be interested later.

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Surprised they are reaching out this early, especially given the new NCAA recruiting rules coming into effect. You can’t give them what you don’t have. Be honest and say she’s a freshman and doesn’t have SATs yet. If they are really interested, have them speak to your club coach and keep in touch periodically. If they are interested now, presumably they’ll still be interested later.

In this case, the coach invited her to their ID camp via email and the platform has a method for the coach to ask for more academic information without making actual contact. It also allows the coach to add the player to lists to follow in the future. All that activity can be tracked by the player without actually talking to the coach... a work around of the NCAA rules maybe.

Anyway, not sure how much real interest there is at this point as we’ll need to reach out. D’s PSAT’s were OK for a frosh taking it for the first time, but not where they need to be for most of the schools she is looking at. I expect her scores to increase at least a few hunder points from here with test prep and another academic year under her belt. If she had aced her PSAT’s, I guess this would be easy. Good, not great makes things more squishy.

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In this case, the coach invited her to their ID camp via email and the platform has a method for the coach to ask for more academic information without making actual contact. It also allows the coach to add the player to lists to follow in the future. All that activity can be tracked by the player without actually talking to the coach... a work around of the NCAA rules maybe.

Anyway, not sure how much real interest there is at this point as we’ll need to reach out. D’s PSAT’s were OK for a frosh taking it for the first time, but not where they need to be for most of the schools she is looking at. I expect her scores to increase at least a few hunder points from here with test prep and another academic year under her belt. If she had aced her PSAT’s, I guess this would be easy. Good, not great makes things more squishy.

What recruiting platform? We’re looking for one for our kids as well. Sounds like a good one.

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In this case, the coach invited her to their ID camp via email and the platform has a method for the coach to ask for more academic information without making actual contact. It also allows the coach to add the player to lists to follow in the future. All that activity can be tracked by the player without actually talking to the coach... a work around of the NCAA rules maybe.

Anyway, not sure how much real interest there is at this point as we’ll need to reach out. D’s PSAT’s were OK for a frosh taking it for the first time, but not where they need to be for most of the schools she is looking at. I expect her scores to increase at least a few hunder points from here with test prep and another academic year under her belt. If she had aced her PSAT’s, I guess this would be easy. Good, not great makes things more squishy.

Here's some good info on the differences between PSAT and SAT. In my experience and this info supports, you won't see a huge improvement. An improvement yes, but not likely 300 points (see below). The PSAT is scored on a different scale but designed to try and mimic what you'd get on the SAT.

"Your PSAT score is meant to directly predict your SAT score. So if you get 1200 on the PSAT, you can expect to get roughly the same score if you took the SAT without further preparation. " https://blog.prepscholar.com/psat-vs-sat

Test prep is key. There are tons of online resources including practice tests. You can go old school and just buy a book and have her work on her own. Or you can pay big $ for a tutor or test prep program. It largely depends on her work ethic and where she needs help - if say she did poorly on math then getting a math tutor may be money better spent than a tutor that works on the entire exam.

So is paying attention to timing. The SAT is only offered so many times a year and not in the summer really (which is something I'll never understand). As athletes are on different timelines you want to make sure she's taken it at least twice and gotten a score she's happy with before next spring when recruiting becomes serious.

Also you may want to have her take the ACT at least once. Some kids just do better with one format vs the other.

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If her scores are good but not great, don't send them. Just reply saying shes a freshman and hasn't yet taken the SAT. Many freshmen haven't taken the psat.