<p>Just when it was starting to look like the promises of calls were just empty promises, DS gets an e-mail out of nowhere from one of the coaches with whom he's been e-mailing, inviting him for an OV, without even having spoken to him on the phone a single time. I guess I expected there to be some getting to know one another before, but then what do I know? In any case, DS has at least one OV to look forward to...so maybe there's some truth in what some people say about all the July hype, maybe relative silence in July is not really that bad or uncommon.</p>
<p>Good for him, FanInTheStands. My D is a junior this year, and we’ve visited several schools and talked to several coaches. But some she’s emailed have never responded. Some have responded just to say that they can’t communicate until September 1, which is in a few weeks. Curious to see if she’ll get some emails right away or if it’ll take a while depending on her XC season. Same with the OV’s. This whole thing is so nerve racking:0</p>
<p>Musicmom26, my son only decided to try for a D1 athletic scholarship well into his junior year. We posted his stats on a recruiting site, contacted coaches at certain schools and then waited. At first, he got a lot of contacts all the way from Ivy in D1 to some great schools in D3 and everything in between. Although Ivy would be great and certain D3 schools rank high in my son’s area of study, he’s Canadian and can go to an excellent university here for close to nothing compared to what it costs in the US. So, realistically, the only way he’s going to the US is on a full-ride athletic scholarship at a D1 non-Ivy school. Yes, he did get e-mails in his junior year after he put himself out there, but not all were from schools that were the right fit, so there was much weeding out. My son probably could have been a little less selective during the process, but then maybe getting it down to a small group (<5) of right-fit schools can be a good thing in that you start identifying right away what you want and don’t want and, even more importantly probably, what you can and can’t have. There are student-athletes out there who accept OVs and pursue schools without really knowing if the school is a match academically or athletically. Good luck to your daughter. I really understand your nervousness. We all want it to work out for our kids but we’re not in the driver’s seat when it comes to recruiting. The best I could do for my son was read up on different programs and teams and help him build a list of right-fit schools. Believe me, you will know which coaches are really interested…their e-mails show more natural (and less scripted) enthusiasm and they open up quicker to let you know what they think about you. The coaches who stick to the scripted enthusiasm may still be interested but they probably have their top recruits already spotted and are keeping you close by their sides in case things don’t work out with their #1s.</p>