Having been through this with a daughter recruited at ACC, IVY and a few others, what you have stated is remarkably close to our experience. The coaches were also all REALLY professional. The one in question on this thread could not have been more above board and honest. From what I saw, that 1200 SAT kid at an ivy will only work if there is another kid in the class with a much higher SAT. It's a blended class ranking, with some minimum floor.
Money is typically 1/3 to start and moves up, as does the firmness of the commitment, depending on where your daughter ranks in that class. Parents should feel free to tactfully ask the coach-where does jenny, jane, jill, rank in your class, and then adjust expectations and strategies accordingly. All of the coaches I met were happy to talk plainly.
