Admission Pre-reads: What You Need To Know
As the school year has either finished or is nearing an end for students around the country, it is time to head into summer break. This is an important time in recruiting, especially for rising juniors and seniors, as you are either beginning your recruiting process or are heading into the next steps.
For many of you rising seniors that have been in communication with coaches for a while now, the end of the school marks the beginning of the admissions pre-read process.
The admissions pre-read is a comprehensive assessment conducted by college admissions offices to determine a student-athlete's academic eligibility and readiness for admission. This evaluation takes into account various factors, including high school transcripts, standardized test scores, and a review of the student-athlete's academic profile.
The pre-read process exists for many schools to gauge the likelihood of acceptance into the school.
Not every school in the country has an admissions pre-read process but the more selective the school, the more likely you will have to complete a pre-read.
Here are some tips to help you prepare you for the pre-read process.
What Does a Pre-read Mean for you?
The pre-read lets a coach know if a student is not admissible and that they should stop pursuing the recruit, the student is borderline and what the school will be looking for with future grades from the student to help with their admittance, the student is likely to get into the school, and if the student is likely to get in an also likely receive merit scholarship if offered at the college.
After your pre-read is complete the coach should come back with some form of answer in one of those four areas, but be sure to ask any follow up questions to see if they can go more into detail about where you currently stand based on the pre-read.
The Number One Question to Ask After Your Pre-read is Complete
Once you have completed your pre-read, be sure to ask this one question. What are the next steps from here?
Some coaches might say what the steps are beforehand, but if not be sure to ask this question. It will then guide you in the next steps that each coach is looking for. Some examples of what a coach might say are wanting to see you compete in person, visit the school for an unofficial visit if you have not already, coming for an official visit. Every coach may differ in what they say because it may depend on your level of communication thus far.
Pre-reads at Test Optional Schools
If you are pursuing schools that are test optional and you are unsure if your SAT/ACT scores are a good fit, ask the coach first if you should include them in your pre-read. They should be able to guide you in the best direction but typically if you know your test scores are below the standards you should also leave them out of the pre-read.
If your test scores are around the average then the admissions pre-read should come back with information regarding if you should submit or not submit. It may also have information on what would be the ideal test score to submit in order to strengthen your application in comparison to your transcripts. If your test scores are above the average for the college then you should definitely submit them with the pre-read.
One other question to ask is if their school accepts superscores or not as that will have an impact on whether or not you should submit your scores.
If you want to know what schools are test optional you should visit https://fairtest.org/test-optional-list/ for a full list.
The Pre-read Does Not Guarantee Admittance
Understand that the pre-read is not an official application to the school. This means even with a favorable pre-read it doesn’t not 100% guarantee admittance into the college. Admittance only occurs once you have submitted your application with your official transcripts. Typically pre-reads are quite accurate but there are always circumstances that can impact your admittance such as your grades drastically dropping off during senior year or even letters of recommendation that are not favorable.
Be Prepared
Pre-reads are most often done at the end of your junior year so that admissions can get a close to full picture on what your final application is going to look like. Once you finish up your junior year be sure to have a pdf of your unofficial transcripts (most colleges only need unofficial), a pdf of your test scores if you are submitting and also a school profile as admissions may want to see the level of your high school.
When coaches ask you about doing a pre-read then you will have your documents ready and can help you stand out to coaches with your level of preparation. Sometimes coaches may mention doing a pre-read in early June and you do not finish until the end of the month, then it is okay to let them know you will get your transcripts to them as soon as the final grades come out.
In some cases with some sports, pre-read will be requested during sophomore year by coaches in order to offer scholarships for verbal commitments to recruits as well, but this is less common.
In the end, understand that not every school will ask for a pre-read but the more selective the school the more likely it will be that a coach makes a request for one to be completed. While it does not guarantee admittance to a school it will help give you an idea what range you fall into for admissions and will help give you a more clear path on what schools to continue to pursue and not pursue. Once your pre-read is complete be sure to ask the coach what are the next steps, if they have not clearly communicated them to you.