Recommendation Letter #1

To Whom it May Concern:

Tom Chandler provided college recruiting consulting services to us for our son, Warren. Warren is a competitive soccer player who was looking for a college with a strong academic program at which he could continue playing soccer at a high level. Following Mr. Chandler's recommended strategic action plan has allowed us to facilitate the process in a way that opened doors that might not have otherwise been opened.

Mr. Chandler is extremely knowledgeable about the increasingly complicated rules that govern athletic recruiting and he is equally conversant regarding the academic aspects of colleges and universities all over the country. While he is based in Southern California, he has traveled widely and has had very substantial experience assisting in the placement of scholar athletes at institutions across the United States. In particular, he showed extraordinary skill in helping Warren identify suitable selective schools at which he could best advance his academic and athletic career. At many of these colleges and universities, he cultivated direct contacts with coaches there on Warren's behalf.

Notably, Mr. Chandler is prepared to tailor the services he provides to any given student athlete. That is, he is familiar with athletic and academic programs at selective colleges at all levels--e.g., D-1, D-2 and D-3--and is able to evaluate any given student's academic and athletic profile and identify a group of schools appropriate for that student to consider. Certainly he was able to suggest some excellent schools to my son that had not previously been on our radar screen.

Mr. Chandler is generous of his time and is generally prepared to field e-mail on a continuing basis for the purpose of ensuring that his clients' communications with the various coaches and admissions offices are timely and are otherwise strategically on target. My family's experience was that advice was needed literally on a day to day basis, at least at various critical times in the recruiting process, and that Mr. Chandler was invariably "there" to field a phone call or to respond to an e-mail or to otherwise assist. In this way, he was able to demystify for us an otherwise often bewildering and occasionally somewhat discouraging process. Much of the "custom and practice" in the recruiting area cannot be efficiently learned without the assistance of a capable and hard-working consultant. Mr. Chandler provides all the help that any family could expect to need in a warm and friendly way, pursuant to a very competitive price structure.

One of his strengths is his ability to establish warm and collaborative relationships with the coaches. My observations were that the coaches trust his judgment and advice and enjoy working with him, unlike some situations in which a consultant is viewed as an impediment or as a hanger-on providing little if any "added value." The bottom line is that the coaches like Tom and that type of intangible can go a long way toward facilitating the desired result.

Mr. Chandler's style is neither imperious nor overbearing. He is a keen listener fully prepared to "shift gears" in the program that is being pursued if he decides that it is not working or that perhaps a new direction is needed. Our experience was that there inevitably will be a few surprises along the way, of both the good and bad variety, and that a student athlete must be agile and mentally prepared to alter course if the circumstances dictate. He is a master at identifying the list of options and fine-tuning the strategy if and as necessary as the recruiting process goes forward.

Tom Chandler has as much "Dad" as he has "consultant" in him, having gone through the process with a daughter just a few years ago, a tremendous quality that will inspire the confidence of parents seeking the kinds of teachers and coaches with whom they can comfortably entrust their children. I can recommend Tom enthusiastically and without reservation to parents whose goal is to help a child gain admission to a highly-ranked college where the child can continue to play the sport he or she loves. If questions arise, do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely yours,
John P. Doyle

Recommendation Letter #2

Hi Tom,

I wanted to write you a note of thanks. Brian's application was sent to Princeton the end of October and he received a "likely letter" today, barely a week later. He had never even considered Ivy League schools before you brought the idea to him.

You have guided him through the maze of both scholarship and non-scholarship baseball schools to land on this list of one. Brian continues to get calls from Yale, Dartmouth, Penn, Columbia and Cornell and interest from Richmond, Auburn and Stanford as well as a large number of DIII schools, but he has now told them of his decision. Actually, to me, even saying "his decision" seems wrong. Coming from a very small private school in Georgia, all of this seemed out of reach. By the way - today Brian received a call from the coach at the U of Chicago who said they had just started on their list of out of state players.

Your knowledge of baseball (in addition to that fantasy baseball camp team you still play on) helped Brian to be recruited at so many schools because he listed all of his fielding positions from the start. The profile you did and the initial e-mails generated attention which then built on itself. I believe that the thing that helped Brian the most was your recommendations on what to say and how to say it when coaches would call him. You were exactly right when you said that it would just click when he saw the school and baseball program that met his needs.

If you would ever like a recommendation for a potential client, please do not hesitate to contact me -- or better yet, have them contact me.

Thanks again Tom.

Bob Berkowitz
Marietta, GA

Recommendation Letter #3

Re: Letter of Reference and Recommendation

Dear Mr. Chandler:

When our son began the process of looking at elite academic schools in the Northeast, my wife and I were overwhelmed with the prospect of researching all of these schools, trying to figure out which schools were a good fit for our son, and then contacting the various coaches to make sure that the baseball program was also a good fit.  Fortunately for us, our son found Tom Chandler who claimed he could assist us through this complicated process and help us find the right fit for our son.  Not only did Tom deliver on his promise, his constant communication and guidance for our son and us actually made the experience enjoyable and manageable.

When we initially spoke with Tom we were quite concerned about his ability to be of real assistance to us since we are located in Minnesota and he is in California.  Having gone through the recruitment and college search process with Tom, we can unequivocally say two things:  1)  this process is very complicated, at times difficult, and one we would not attempt to do on our own, and 2)  the distance  and time differences between Minnesota and California was never an issue and the availability of Tom for our questions or concerns was constant, day or night, weekday or weekend. 

When our son began this process he was convinced he wanted to go to a school in a metropolitan area on the East coast.  After speaking with our son on a number of occasions and taking a substantial amount of time to learn the likes, dislikes and preferences of our son, Tom strongly encouraged him to look at smaller liberal arts schools in the Northeast that were not necessarily located in a metropolitan area.  Our son chose Hamilton College which is most decidedly not in a metropolitan area, and couldn’t be happier.

We are absolutely thrilled with the information, guidance and service Tom provided us and our son through this college recruitment process.  As several other letters of recommendation for Tom have stated, this is a process you do not want to go through alone.  The wealth of knowledge, the process of successful recruiting tactics developed by Tom over the years, and his network with seemingly every coach in the Northeast are resources you simply cannot do without if you want to place your child in a successful situation.  Tom and his advice were worth every penny, and much more. 

If you want your child to find the right college fit, with the right coach, Tom Chandler is the person you need to be working with.  We cannot think of an individual in any service or industry that we could recommend more highly than Tom.

Paul & Michelle Zeig

Recommendation Letter #4

Dear Tom:

We are so grateful we found you to assist our son and us. Dealing with the colleges to which he was seeking admission and with the rowing coaches from whom he was seeking support turned out to be a trying and intricate business. You were just the person we needed to help and guide us.

Each of the college rowing coaches with whom our son Colin had contact wanted him to commit to the coach's school in return for the coach's support at the admissions office. This is an understandable objective for the coach. We realized, however, that support from a coach doesn't mean automatic admission, and so Colin was faced with the dilemma of trying to keep the coaches in his corner while sorting out and preserving options at other colleges.

You helped Colin navigate these tricky waters and, along the way, you helped him develop interviewing and communication skills that will benefit him well beyond the college application process. What was particularly valuable for us was that through your contacts with coaches you identified schools like Dartmouth, Cornell and Columbia that were good prospects for Colin but that we had not actively considered. Indeed, Colin will go to one of the excellent schools you suggested, Columbia University, and proudly too.

Colin, his mother and I have remarked repeatedly on the value of your quick availability to us at each crisis point in a long and stressful process. Most important, your counsel was always sound, ethical and knowledgeable.

We thank you heartily for your very personable and most productive help! We can commend you to anyone with similar objectives.

Gratefully,
Rod Cameron

Recommendation Letter #5

Dear Tom:

With Aaron having just completed his first semester at Tufts University, we wanted to take a moment to thank you for helping Aaron (and us) find what appears to be a "perfect fit" for him as he pursues his post-secondary education. Aaron has found his classes interesting and challenging and we were extremely pleased when he made the dean's list. He accomplished this while also being a member of the football and basketball teams, something he has thoroughly enjoyed -- making many new friends.

We are not sure that finding the "perfect fit" would have been achieved without your guidance and direction. You made what is a difficult and challenging, and oftentimes overwhelming, process straightforward and manageable. As parents, we were particularly pleased that you were readily available and with your timely response to all of our questions and inquiries, especially when dealing with time-sensitive issues. Throughout this process, we can't recall a time we said, "Where is Tom when you need him?" You were always there and usually one step ahead of us!

The relationships you have developed with the coaches from the many schools that Aaron considered certainly opened a number of "doors" for him, which allowed him the opportunity to get a first-hand look at how different programs operate. Your guidance regarding what approach to take and what questions to ask allowed Aaron (and us) to optimize the available time and attention of the various coaches and officials and solicit the information he needed in order to make a decision that would best meet his needs and desires in selecting a college or university.

We look forward to working with you as our youngest son, Alexander, embarks on this same journey in the upcoming months. Again, thank you for all of your time and effort. Take care.

Sincerely,
Brian & Cheryl

Recommendation Letter #6

Dear Prospective Student-Athlete and Parent(s):

My son, husband and I decided to work with Tom Chandler/Ivy Recruiting during February of my son's junior year in the hopes of finding a school where my son could continue playing soccer during his college years.

My son loves soccer and just wanted to keep playing past high school, but my husband and I were much more concerned that he do so at a great academic school as well. We felt that Tom could help us achieve both of these goals.

Almost immediately after we began working with Tom, my son broke his foot in a soccer game. While it was devastating to us and took months to heal, Tom helped our son keep it all in perspective and kept him moving ahead with his goals. It was a great deal of work for everyone involved, but over the ensuing months we (including Tom) continued making decisions that would ultimately lead to our son's recruitment by several coaches from excellent schools. In the end, our son made a choice between three highly regarded schools - including Div. I and Div. III - that seemed to be a great fit for him both in their soccer program and in their academics.

Tom Chandler was very helpful to our son, who rarely corresponded with a coach without speaking first to Tom. From the making of videotapes of practice sessions and games to constant follow-ups with the coaches, Tom guided our son through a process that can be long, time-consuming and gut-wrenching, but also very rewarding. You need only ask our son, who is now thrilled to have that decision behind him and is looking forward to beginning his collegiate career at a school that just went undefeated in his sport and is playing in the NCAA tournament!

My son trusted Tom and listened to his expertise always. Even when I couldn't get my son to do the simplest of chores here at home, Tom had our son following his many recommendations in the timeliest of manners! As my son was diligent on his end, so too was Tom in responding to each query our son made and he was most helpful in calling coaches on our behalf when we needed clarification.

Ivy Recruiting/Tom Chandler has been well worth the time and investment we made for our son's future. The single most important thing Tom did for our family was to have us look at schools we would have never considered on our own! The final three schools my son chose between were all excellent choices I would have been proud to have him attend, and yet, not one of them was on our radar when we began the process! Tom educated all of us during the past ten months and now that our son has made his commitment, all three of us appreciate the valuable input Tom had in that decision.

The recruiting process is much better completed with the help of someone like Tom Chandler who has done it many times before. If you are looking to play your sport at a great college, with a great program, I recommend you enlist Tom Chandler and Ivy Recruiting to help you. We are very pleased with the results!

Yours truly,
Noreen Kenney-Campbell

Recommendation Letter #7

LETTER OF REFERENCE AND RECOMMENDATION

If I had to do it all again, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight and Monday morning quarter-backing, Tom Chandler is my man.  If you’re a parent seeking to attract the best college athletic opportunities for your kid, at the best schools and teams in America, Tom is YOUR man.  You do not want to do this on your own.

Our daughter will be attending her first choice school and playing this fall on the championship team in the region.  Over eight months, Tom guided our player’s focus almost daily while directing substantive ongoing contact with a variety of coaches from California to New England.  Thankfully, we made all the right moves, and if you decide Tom’s your guy too, you’ll be thankful this time next year.

Scott Robertson
San Francisco

Recommendation Letter #8

Dear Tom,

Our family started working with you with the goal of finding a soccer program and a school that was a good fit for our son. We started the process in December of his Junior year, actually on the late side. Our son planned to take AP classes his senior year, but had not taken any as a junior which put him in the hole with the really academic schools. He had no particular expectation for what school would be a good fit, only that he was interested in a quality academic experience to go with an appropriate soccer situation. He was open to either Division I or Division III soccer programs. We thought the Ivy League might be a possibility, but it was only one of many that he considered. 

Amazingly, our entire communication with you was conducted over the phone and via email. We have never had the pleasure of meeting you in person, and you never even saw our son play, except on video. Yet you were able to understand our goals and steer him through the process of finding the fit we were looking for. My son began by contacting almost 40 coaches, and then carrying on a correspondence with close to 20. Your guidance was invaluable, and staying in contact through phones and email worked absolutely fine. You were available and ready to advise, strategize, or simply hold our hands when the need arose. 

Our son applied himself to your program and as a result, coaches came to watch him and the specific skills he had to offer. This was the kind of fit and appreciation that he had dreamed of. Their interest led him to trust that he could play on the Division I level, and that he could fit in at an Ivy League school. In the end it came down to a very difficult choice between Yale and Brown. After holding out for official visits at both schools, he ultimately committed to Yale. Last night after receiving his official admission, it really sank in. He couldn't stop smiling. We are thrilled about the quality of the school, but mostly because the fit turned out to be so perfect. 

Without your help we would never have had the know how to reach out to soccer coaches nationwide. You were instrumental in guiding us through the process, and it was a pleasure working with you. We want to thank you so much for helping our son find a school and soccer program that have him really excited.

Peter and Susan Fox, Palo Alto California

Recommendation Letter #9

Dear Tom,

Thanks to your connections and help, Kenny was admitted early by MIT.  As I mentioned earlier, had it not been for your initial introduction and your insistence on Kenneth to include MIT in his college list, he would most likely have totally missed this great school and the once-in-a-life-time opportunity. 

For your information, here is a summary of what I considered most helpful to us from your service.

1. Getting Started Early:  Tom, as most parents will tell you, being proactive and getting an early start in the process is the key to success in college search, yet in reality it’s very hard to get started early.  With your connections and help, more importantly, your “push” and guidance, Kenny was able to start the whole process and get on the right track much earlier than his peers.  In fact, as he mentioned, he became a “seasoned” interviewee and confident communicator by his Junior year when most of his friends were still wondering how to start.  Kenneth also found the early exposures at the camps and interactions with the coaches really helped him later on at his "serious" college interviews and school visits.
2. Be prepared and informed: this is another area that Kenneth benefited from your help.  Your checklists and guide (over the phone) for school visit and interview with the coaches not only prepared Kenny for the initial exposure to the “adult” style conversation (interviews), but also helped to keep my initial interactions with the coaches focused and resourceful.  By the time Kenneth was interviewed by the schools of the top of his list, he was noticeably confident and knew exactly what to say and how to handle tough questions.
3. But, what Kenneth benefited the most was your introduction to Coach Aldins at MIT, a school that was NOT on our list of colleges to consider.  In other words, had not for your connection and help, Kenneth would likely have totally missed this opportunity at MIT.  Ironically, compared to other top schools that he visited, MIT turned out to be exactly what he was looking for in terms of academics, student life, and baseball environment.

Tom, we really appreciate your help and would recommend it to any parents who are determined, yet may need some help in sending the athletes to their dream schools.

Best wishes.
Al

Recommendation Letter #10

Dear Tom:

Thank you so much for your invaluable guidance in helping us to navigate through the college recruiting process in the past year for our son, Eric.  We were very fortunate to find you when we did (at the end of Eric’s junior year) to help get us on a path to finding a great school for Eric to attend and also play baseball.  The college recruiting landscape is confusing for most parents including us and knowing what to do, strategically and tactically, is critical as is meeting key deadlines.  You were always there for us as parents wanting to make the right decisions, and Eric as a prospective athlete and student, needing to make the contacts and develop the relationships with coaches at his preferred schools.   We appreciate the “push” you gave him as well.

The information you provided and contacts you had at many great schools was invaluable.  We saved many hours by leveraging your knowledge and that allowed us to quickly narrow down the “best” choices for Eric.  Also, you were very helpful in planning the summer prior to his senior year.  We quickly knew what camps to attend and what schools to visit.  I am sure that were able to cover the fees we paid you and then some with the savings from better targeting and planning we achieved.  We are very pleased with the outcome as Eric has selected Tufts University and will play baseball for Coach Casey.  It was a relief to also go Early Decision and not have all the uncertainty to deal with. 

In closing, I feel compelled to send this letter and allow you to publish it on your web site or be used as a reference to other families who have a son/daughter in high school looking at playing a varsity sport at a top-ranked college or university.  Again, we appreciate your guidance along the way and we count our lucky stars that we were able to find you!

Best regards,
Jeff Weikert

Recommendation Letter #11

This is a letter of reference for Tom Chandler and IVY Recruiting. We worked with Tom for almost two years, obtaining expert guidance from him with respect to our son, Aaron, who wanted to play baseball at the university level, and who recently was accepted through the early decision process at Johns Hopkins University.  Tom has a proven strategy that gave our son a competitive edge with respect to the overall college recruitment process.  The strategy involved multiple levels of communication, exposure and travel, which taken together, gave our son opportunities that we would not have considered on our own.  Tom guided us every step of the way, giving us personal attention and time, met with us on several occasions, came to watch our son play, spoke to his coaches, and answered many questions that came up throughout the process.  We are both college graduates with advanced degrees, and did not know the importance of early exposure through communication and meetings with interested coaches prior to the actual college application process.  We put our trust in Tom, and he guided us in a very successful direction with our son, and we highly recommend him to parents who are just beginning to think of college for their child as a “student-athletic”. 

Ginger and Stan Schwartz

Recommendation Letter #12

Tom Chandler was introduced to us in January of our daughter Megan's Junior year by parents of a teammate of Megan’s who Tom had helped get recruited at Dartmouth.  Megan also had hopes of playing soccer in college.  Tom evaluated Megan honestly as having a tough road ahead of her:  The downside was that she was still on a  Silver Elite soccer team, had average SAT scores and had little to no exposure at college showcases.  The upside was that she was a very strong player, had great grades (GPA), determination and a winning personality.  

Based on Tom's advice she started working with top trainers and was borrowed to play in tournaments by Premier teams.  The coaches liked her.  Under Tom’s direction, she sent out initial introductory letters to coaches and received some interested responses.  She registered for some summer College Camps on the East Coast as that is where she wanted to go to school. In March of 2007, she was working hard in school, studying for the SAT with a tutor twice per week, practicing soccer 5 days a week and playing a game on Saturday and or Sunday.   The goal was to be recruited to play soccer (DI or DIII) and she was working as hard as possible. 

On March 24 she tore her ACL on a simple 50/50 ball in a game.  She was devastated. She had surgery on April 24 and started rehab as soon as possible.  She couldn’t go on our trip to visit campuses and meet coaches over spring break.   All summer camps and tournaments had to be canceled and we had to rely on collecting video from anyone who had taken film of her games.  Tom continued to remain positive but honest with us that her only chance of being recruited would be with a DIII team as they might be willing to recruit a player who they had only seen on film.  He recommended a trip in August to see colleges that Megan was interested in and that had responded to her emails.  Tom suggested that we create a video of Megan's coaches speaking about her abilities/skills and combine that with film of games she had played in high school and in Club.  Tom worked with a video person who edited and put together the DVD for the coaches.  Tom set up an itinerary that was grueling but thorough.  We were gone 7 days and with Tom guiding Megan, we met coaches at every school that we went to.  Four coaches expressed interest in seeing Megan for an official visit, 3 of those were colleges that she loved.  She continued to contact the coaches through the first part of school senior year and in mid-October we went back for an official visit.  With improved SAT scores and an effective video, her number one school offered her a spot and Tom talked to the coach to make sure Megan would be supported as one of their top three recruits.  The coach walked in Megan's Early Decision application. 

We waited 4 long weeks to hear an answer and Tom was the first person that my daughter called when she heard that she had been accepted as a recruited athlete.  Tom was there for us for each step of the way in this process.  I think that our situation was more complicated than most of the athletes that Tom has worked with.  He never threw in the towel.  His tenacity and foresight helped Megan achieve her dream and we are all grateful.  There is no doubt in our mind that Megan would not be attending a school of this caliber or playing a sport in college if it weren't for Tom Chandler.  We are using Tom for our son and have recommended Tom to many other families with similar goals of being recruited at top academic schools.

Marilyn O’Toole

Recommendation Letter #13

Had it not been for Tom Chandler, chances are very slim that my son would be studying at the college of his choice in the U.S. – it’s that simple.

Educated in Spain all his life, although Rob is bilingual and bicultural, English is his second language, thus his situation was more challenging than Americans residing in the U.S.  Furthermore, as Americans abroad, the protocol for the entire college search was extremely “foreign” to us.

Tom guided both student and parents through the process, making what started out as a frightening road ahead into a very enjoyable experience.  Through his assistance, Rob is not only comfortable with, but very good at corresponding with coaches; his e mailing and language skills in general were enhanced.  Tom brought out in Rob the confidence to organize and attend interviews with coaches; thanks to this he is a confident young man at the hour of conversing with his elders.

Tom assisted in bridging the gap of living so far away from coaches.  He gave us an infinite amount of tips on recording videos and on their presentation.  He also prepared an itinerary to follow which guided us to key camps and eventually led us to the school of Rob’s choice.  He was helpful but also flexible, readily suggesting alternatives to our needs and possibilities.

Tom zeroed in on Rob’s level of play so that no time was wasted by looking at schools that were not a good fit for Rob.

Tom Chandler gave us the essential tools to go out and get what we were aiming for – the best U.S. college education suitable to Rob’s academic and game levels.  I wholeheartedly recommend him to assist any young athlete seeking a college education in the U.S. – no matter where their country of residence is.

Jill Raaen Hernandez
Madrid, Spain

Recommendation Letter #14

Hey Tom-

Thanks for your message--Michela is stressed out about her choices!  I really think that she doesn't want to disappoint any of the coaches at the schools that she'll be declining.  The coaches were all so nice to her and still are in close contact with her by phone, email, and post.  I think that the contact is actually making it harder for her in a twisted kind of way....

Your input was invaluable and certainly was the key factor in putting Michela in front of the coaches.  Your advice and expertise put Michela at ease when she had to email or talk to the coaches.  Her acceptances to the various schools is a direct result of your knowledge and expertise in this area.  From a personal standpoint, I am very indebted to you and certainly appreciate all that you have done for Michela in her quest to find a college that combined bb and academics.  

Last week, Michela was named "All Metro" for girls bb in the Bay Area.  This included girls in all 5 school divisions.  It didn't phase her but no one in the school's history has ever been selected for this.

I'll let you know where she ends up--Case, Carnegie Mellon, Rochester, or Claremont-McKenna are the schools which are still her top runners.  

Once again, Thank you so very much for your expertise and humor helping Michela through this phase of her life. I'd be happy to talk to ANYONE who is considering using your services!

Steve 

Recommendation Letter #15

Hi Tom:

I also wanted to thank you for helping us reach this amazing result with our college search. We truly would never be here without all your help. We were not considering Ivies in the beginning of the process and you spent an incredible amount of time talking to us, urging us to cast our net wider and not to eliminate any options such as the Ivies. We started the process with certain assumptions (we thought you can't get into Ivies if you haven't taken AP classes in your Sophomore and Junior high school years, for example), but you broadened our perspectives and insisted we visit schools we had never even considered. You taught Jenner how to market himself to coaches and in the end he was in the terrific position of choosing between Brown and Yale. At that point, Jenner was having regular long phone conversations with each of the coaches and the hardest part of the process ended up being having to say no to one of them. Now, he's going to Yale, which is something we never imagined would happen, and Yale turned out to be so much different than we had thought it would be. So it was a very eye-opening experience and a VERY positive one for all of us. THANK YOU TOM!! I'd be happy to talk to any of your prospective clients.

Susan Fox

Recommendation Letter #16

Dear Tom,

I wanted to thank you for the excellent job you did in assisting us with Sara’s recruiting process.  As Sara was being recruited by many coaches from various institutions, it was your guidance, expertise and experience that ultimately helped to put Sara in the best light with each of them and ultimately allowed Sara to make a decision that she felt was the best for her.  Your guidance as to how to approach the correspondence and communication with the coaches, your expertise in crafting our dialogue and communication with these coaches and your experience as to how to interpret and follow up with each coach resulted in Sara establishing a consistent ongoing dialogue with each coach and developing a great relationship with each of them.  The coaches at the schools Sara decided not to attend all wished her well in her final selection, with no animosity or hard feelings.  I believe this was due to the professional, forthright and open dialogue approach you created for Sara that not only bode well for this process, but is also a great template for Sara to use in other endeavors she may undertake.

Thanks again, Tom.  Please feel free to use us as a reference for other clients you may have, as we would be happy too help in anyway we can to answer questions for other candidates going through this process.

Sincerely
David Sonnenblick

Recommendation Letter #17

I would definitely recommend Tom Chandler and Ivy Recruiting to any high school student athlete wanting to attend a top academic university and play an intercollegiate sport.  Once we started working with Tom, he developed a well organized plan for our daughter to contact schools and create relationships with coaches. After Tom helped my daughter create relationships with the coaches, they all made a concerted effort to watch her play.  He helped her build solid relationships with over 30 different schools while having some contact with about 10 more!  Having so many opportunities, my daughter was able to narrow her choices to schools that met her ideal criteria rather than having limited and less appealing options.  He helped us create an itinerary for un-official visits to more than 10 schools over Spring Break.  As she describes it, we “had the trip of a lifetime!”  This allowed my daughter to meet coaches and players at schools that expressed interest in her and she was interested in attending.    As a result of our work with Ivy Recruiting, my daughter received several offers to attend top academic universities and play soccer at the Division I level with additional opportunities at Division II & III schools, as well.  She recently committed to attend Bucknell University and will play soccer.  Certainly my daughter worked hard academically and athletically to achieve her goal of playing Division I Soccer, but without the assistance and guidance of Tom Chandler my daughter would not have had so many opportunities.  Thank you, Tom.

Sincerely-
Phil Bonotto

Recommendation Letter #18

Dear Tom,

I wanted to drop you a note thanking you for all the help with my son Eric. As you know, Eric was a top lacrosse player from Miami, Florida who had major knee surgery from an injury during his spring football game just before we got together. He was unable to be showcased during the summer camps for recruiting and we had to depend on videos from his junior year to be considered by the college lacrosse coaches. Despite playing in an area not known as a hotbed for lacrosse and being hobbled with an injury, with your help and perseverance Eric was able to develop a communication line with over 15 top college coaches from Amherst College, Swarthmore College, Dartmouth College to Hamilton College. As a result of your guidance, Eric became strongly recruited by 4 schools and ended up choosing Hamilton College in upstate New York. This school is ranked # 15 by the U.S. News and World Report list of the top 215 Liberal Arts schools in the country.

I also wanted to thank you for helping us plan our college tour and ultimately for personally contacting the college coaches to find opportunities, helping them develop interest in Eric and learning to what degree they were willing to support him with Admissions. You went way above what was expected in always being readily available, brain storming about what to say to the coaches, and even making suggestions for hotels and restaurants on our trip. It made the trip less stressful and more productive as we felt we were well-prepared for the 8 schools we visited and coaches we met with.

Needless to say, with Eric being happy as a freshman at Hamilton College our collaboration was extremely successful. Please do not hesitate to use our name for a reference and I really appreciate the help.

Sincerely,
Dr. Michael Baum

Recommendation Letter #19

Tom,

Amanda and I want to thank you for all of your help in getting Julie accepted at Davidson.  All of us are excited for her and think she is making an excellent choice by choosing Davidson.

Working with you was the best decision we made to help Julie realize her dream of playing division 1 soccer at an excellent academic college.  You created realistic expectations and were very hands on in helping Julie every step of the way with the strategies for different schools.

Please feel free to use Amanda and me for references.  We would be happy to speak with anyone who is considering utilizing your services.

I have enclosed a check for $1,000, which represents the balance we owe for the bonus you earned, pursuant to the contract.

Again, thank you very much for your very professional and excellent service.

Sincerely,
Steve

Recommendation Letter #20

Dear Tom:

We just wanted to thank you for all of your help.  You know that this was a three year ordeal for us.  We weren't even considering Dartmouth in the beginning, but your suggestion that we visit that smallest of the Ivy's turned out to be the simplest but best advice we ever received.  In the beginning we never would have thought this to be the right match, but the information and advice you provided helped to clear away a lot of smoke and noise.  The compiled information and data you provided; your balanced and studied advice: and your constant reminder that the right fit is what will lead to a happy college experience gave us everything we needed to tackle this task.  We were given the tools to focus on what really mattered.  So, we can without hesitation recommend you and your services to any student athlete who wants to explore the Ivy league and other upper tier academic institutions, and to balance those against any D1A school.

Thanks Tom!
Joseph C. Kempe

Recommendation Letter #21

Dear Prospective College Soccer Player,

Our family used the services of Tom Chandler to help my daughter get through the difficult process of being identified, seen and recruited to play soccer in College. As you probably know, coaches do not come knocking on your door begging you to come play soccer for their school. You need to get yourself noticed and get a coach to stay interested in you. Not only does this take the obvious, to be a good player and student, but it takes having to sell yourself. This is where Tom really helped our family out.

Our experience went like this. The first step was trying to figure out where my daughter would like to go to school; in state, out of state, private or public. What are the school's entrance requirements? Does she want to play Division 1, 2 or 3 Soccer? Tom provided our family with locations, academic and athletic information on any school that we thought would be a good fit. He let us know if they were a Div. 1, 2 or 3 school, who the coach was and the coach's contact information. Second, what is the best way to contact a coach? What are the NCAA rules pertaining to contacting a coach? Can a coach talk to you? Again, this is all information that Tom knew and was able to guide us on. Third, once you are in contact with a coach, what information do you want to give to a coach? What do they want to know about you that will help them decide if you are a potential player? Tom was extremely helpful here. For example, my daughter would draft a letter to a coach, send it to Tom before sending it off and he would edit and offer strategic suggestions which would hopefully grab the coach's attention.

My daughter was now on the radar. With Tom's guidance my daughter continued to chug along. There were lots of emails and phone calls to coaches and to Tom. He told her what to expect on July 1, the first date a coach can call you. When it was time to take both official and unofficial visits to campuses, Tom provided her with a whole list of questions for the coaches and she felt extremely prepared walking into a coach's office. It was all very stressful, but Tom really kept the process positive and manageable.

In October of my daughter's senior year, she had 6 wonderful choices of schools to go to. Due to a lot of hard work on her part and with Tom's help the entire way, our family is extremely happy with the outcome. Without Tom's help, we are not sure she would have had any choices. He always made himself available to answer questions, and or to give advice. We would also run into him at Soccer tournaments, which made us believe he was talking to coaches and gathering more information to pass on to soccer players.

If you are serious about playing soccer in college, I highly recommend that you let Tom help. It really can be an overwhelming process and Tom can help you feel more prepared and knowledgeable about what is ahead for you and your family. Good luck!

Happy Tom Chandler clients,
The Stein Family

Recommendation Letter #22


To Whom it May Concern,

Tom Chandler's assistance and guidance during the recruiting process for my son was invaluable. Coming from High School where athletics is more of a game, College athletics is a business, and to that end, going at this unprepared and blindly is foolish.

Tom was able to methodically walk my son and I through the nuances of College recruiting and offered an objective - and often painfully honest - assessment of true opportunities and the games coaches play in order to maintain a relationship with an athlete.

While the message is not always easy to hear, the value gained in understanding a perspective that is not invested personally in this very dynamic process is something that proved to be so valuable. Tom was able to cut through the BS and make sense of things that oftentimes be nonsensical, especially when dealing with the emotions and desires of a teenage athlete looking to start their adult life.

From the very start, Tom mapped out the strategies and methodologies necessary to get the attention of coaches and how to foster these relationships. Advice was subtle at times - not so subtle at others, but at each step, the words were right on and the focus was razor sharp.

Tom made every effort to aid this process for my son, and from start to finish, his advice was spot-on, and his extensive knowledge proved to be a difference maker. His availability via email and phone was impressive, especially at the beginning when this all was overwhelming, and more-so at the end when decisions were pending/changing/fluctuating on a daily basis - and Tom's voice of calm and knowledge certainly put out potential fires.

I cannot recommend Tom strongly enough. As he states early on, you need to have a student-athlete capable of moving on to the next level and a great deal of determination and patience throughout this process. While it takes an enormous amount of work on the part of the student-athlete, it is amazing that Tom did an equally impressive job - in quantity and quality - in helping my son gain admission to one of the best schools in the country.

Thank you Tom - for helping my son as he enters College and adulthood - your efforts are appreciated more than you can ever imagine.

JD