“Ethics, Early Decision and Athletic Recruitment” 2/15/11
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
I received a phone call last week from a young man who was trying to sort out an Early Decision opportunity. A competitive athlete, he had been approached by a recruiting coach from an NCAA Division III (non-scholarship) school with the suggestion that he convert his application for admission from Regular Decision to Early Decision (ED). Moreover, the coach had assured him that if his application for financial aid did not produce the desired assistance from this institution, he would not be held to his commitment to enroll if accepted ED.
The caller was understandably excited—and confused—by this development. While he liked the school very much, he couldn’t say for sure that it was his first choice. Moreover, he needed financial aid and the uncertainty of his financial aid situation had led him to actively consider other schools as well. He understood the underlying premise of the unconditional commitment to enroll if accepted that is assumed of ED candidates. As a result, he was skeptical of the pitch he had been given by this coach.
My advice to the young man was simple: “If you need to make sure you get the best financial aid possible and there is a chance other schools might admit you and give you better offers, then don’t give up your right to see those offers by converting your application to ED at one school. The coach is behaving unethically by making this suggestion. Don’t compound the problem by heading down that road with him.”
As a college applicant you need to be especially vigilant about the ethics of the ED process. The desire to get into favored schools should never put you in a place where you compromise your integrity or the rules governing the process. The coach in question was crossing the ethical “line” by urging the applicant to consider an Early Decision application when he knew the young man could only do so conditionally due to his financial situation. Fortunately, the young man had the presence of mind to step back and assess the situation objectively.
In case you are wondering how this conversation could be taking place since the “round two” deadlines for ED have passed at most schools, welcome to the world of college admission in 2011! These are the days when selective colleges do what they can to strategically manage their enrollments. They want to pump up their “yields” on offers of admission while looking for opportunities to reduce the overall number of students they need to admit and, hence, become more selective. Early Decision affords them a unique opportunity to achieve both goals. Add to the mix the dynamics of athletic recruitment—even at the NCAA Division III non-scholarship level—and the opportunity for late-season Early Decision conversations emerges.
A few other observations are worth noting here. One, the NCAA forbids Division III athletic recruiters from having any conversation about family finances with the financial aid officers at their respective institutions. In short, an athlete’s potential involvement in an NCAA Division III program may NOT have any bearing on the disposition of his/her financial aid status. Two, each institution employs slightly different criterion in assessing a student’s academic strength within the context of its financial aid program. It is not only possible that a recruit’s financial “need” could be read differently from one school to the next, the strength of his academic credential may also result in differences in the composition of the financial aid awards he receives. Whereas a student athlete may qualify for special consideration academically at one school, at others he may not.
The late season ED phenomenon is not limited to recruited athletes. Admission officers at many selective schools will keep the application “door” open past formal deadlines as they troll for high-yielding ED conversions well into February of the admission process. Should you be confronted with such an opportunity, just remember—the rules remain the same. If you convert your application to ED, you are making an unconditional commitment to enroll if accepted.
