<p>Athletes are allowed 5 OVs. My DS is trying to narrow down the schools who are interested in him by visiting them in the summer as school and sports commitments will not make 5 visits actually feasible. He would like to do 3 maybe 4 maximum. I am afraid that his 2nd choice school might ask him to commit at the end of his visit and he would not have done his 1st choice visit. Any ideas about this?</p>
<p>I am going to assume your student is looking at HYP and D1s and looking for a commitment for the early signing/Nov 1 date</p>
<p>FWIW
Our student visited all of the schools before the OVs.
And had a list—of where the schools fell in general match/edcuation/team personality/coaches etc
Remember that coaches move around and your student should consider the “what if” scenario–of an injury or burnout etc…How will he like the school without his sport?</p>
<p>Now with OVs…the coaches may ask for a verbal…asking “where does xyz school” stand for you…
I look at the OV process like musical chairs. When the music stops…you had better have a seat you are happy with and sit in it…</p>
<p>Coaches at schools like HYP do not wiat for an athlete to “choose” between eachother…they want to hear that their school is your student’s first choice…it is super, super rare for an athlete to get multiple LLs to choose from after the OVs…meaning actually holding that piece of paper.</p>
<p>Your student may not be able to arrange the visits in order that suits him…so he needs to know where he’d be happy…which may be several schools</p>
<p>Some coaches ask the athletes where the school stands on the list and then wait until all of the OVs are over to make the offer of a LL…so that they can choose from the pool.
The coaches are in the drivers seat on this and want to fill their roster with the best athletes as quickly as possible</p>
<p>I noticed your screen name…be sure to understand that MIT does not handle athletes any differently than say oboe players and artists… The teams are D3 except I believe for mens and womens rowing…so check that. </p>
<p>There are lots of threads here about the OVs process and each athlete’s experience is different…so they’d be worth reading</p>
<p>^^^^Good advise. If unable to commit due to another visit, I think a carefully prepared statement like: “Right now, your fine institution is my first choice, but I do have 2 more visits to make” or " I’ll be making my decision after I visit xxx, can I send you an e-mail? I’m really impressed with your program."</p>
<p>Of course, it all depends how outstanding an athlete you are, plus the AI for D1.</p>
<p>I would also suggest NOT disclosing the names of other schools you plan on visiting during the OV - I think that coaches can jump to some wrong conclusions about your level of interest in their school or the competition. You don’t need to show all your cards at this point in the game; that comes later. OldbatesieDoc’s advise is spot otherwise - as usual.</p>
<p>I would go from high priority to lower priority, though you won’t really know until you go on the visit. My last visit was a school I was expecting to have no interest in, but ended up loving. On the flip side, my second visit was to a place I though I would love, but was counting down the hours until I could leave. So, I would go with your current order, but keep in mind that may change! Also - coaches will expect you to disclose the names of other visits… I did and it was fine. In my experience, they thought it was odd if a recruit wasn’t totally transparent about visits. Good luck!</p>
<p>Athletics are a boost at MIT if you’re good enough to be top caliber in D3</p>
<p>^^ DD did not disclose her other visits on any OV. Each coach knew she had other visits, she didn’t hide that information. She just deferred with things like “my list isn’t final”, or “I’m not comfortable talking about other visits, but I will tell you that your school is one of my top choices.” Not one coach pressed her for more info. She still got multiple offers w/ shollies.</p>
<p>“I would also suggest NOT disclosing the names of other schools”</p>
<p>disagree, not only did my daughter disclose she asked several coaches where they thought she’d fit in, if not their school. the communication between coaches on HS athletes is more open than people realize. In fact I would say that most college coaches that courted my daughter heard about her 1st from other college coaches.</p>
<p>recruiting is the time to let everyone know you’re in play, it’s not the time to be secretive.</p>
<p>I agree with pacheight. Telling a coach what other schools you’re interested in or visiting is probably not going to surprise them too much or you may get a reaction. We got an unbelievable reaction from one coach that actually led us to believe we were making the right decision with another school. Son is at that school now.</p>
<p>This is a true story as I can’t make this stuff up! We were re-visiting a school in Virginia for what we thought was going to be an “offer meeting” with the Head Coach. We meet with his assistants again, and go through the normal meeting chit-chat. Then, the Head Coach asks my son what schools were showing him the most interest. My son mentions a couple schools (that he had offers from) plus two Ivy League schools. **The Head Coach actually tells my wife, son and myself that: “Your son doesn’t want to go to an Ivy League school because it is cold, they only play 42 games (not 56 like other D1s), and they only play doubleheaders on the weekend”. ** Once we get over the shock of that statement, my wife, son, and I are all thinking the same thing…this Ivy situation sounds perfect because son is an engineering major, and this would allow him more study time during the week. The Head Coach says a few more classic things that absolutely shock us again, and the meeting is over in an hour. We leave the Head Coaches office and we’re walking to the car. My son, wife and I are thinking the same thing. Let’s pursue these two Ivy schools more vigorously, and this head coach is nuts! This Head Coach just led us into the arms of another school!</p>
<p>I took a slight detour on this thread with one of the most memorable recruiting meetings we experienced to prove a point. You don’t know where this is going to lead you. Be open and be honest. If people like you (or their nuts!) they will help you in some way. I know of another situation, where a Dad and player meet with a Head Coach. The Head Coach, Dad and player all agree the Head Coach’s school is not the place for the player. The Head Coach calls 4 Ivy League coaches to tell them about the player in his office…right there and then. The player follows up and ends up going to one of the Ivy League schools.</p>
<p>Also, I think it is great strategy to ask the coach where he thinks you would be a good fit IF he asks you what schools you are interested in or getting attention from. Turnabout is fair play! As pacheight said, let them know you’re in play and available. Coaches want players who are wanted by other coaches!</p>
<p>With respect to disclosing: I can’t see how you can even keep it a secret. In my kids’ case, coaches know fully well which other schools they were considering. There are several advantages of disclosing, in addition to weeding out coaches who bad mouth their colleagues:
- It increases marketability if a competing school is also interested.
- It gives you a way to explain/show why you are seriously considering the school you’re visiting, e.g. there are similarities among all your OV schools (location, size, program, or even division), or maybe even differences. Coaches want to know why you are interested in their school and that you’re committed once they offer you a slot.</p>
<p>^ in my daughters case 3 of the different coaches were on the same Olympic team together back in the day and are close friends today, they may compete during league play but many college coaches are good friends with each other.</p>
<p>So here is an interesting story. D had a clear top choice in mind. We made a decision as a family to be open and honest with all coaches. If it did not work out or if it backfired – oh well, we still had our integrity. When asked, D told the coaches who her top choice was, but their fine institution was in the top 3 or 5 or whatever it was. Many coaches reminded her that they all knew each other. That was fine with us.</p>
<p>After OVs began, D saw the same girls at different schools. Remember, the current team members report back to the coaches after the OV. Hence, the coaches will know where else you have been or are going (and everything else that you said or did).</p>
<p>As it turns out, D was not recruited to her top choice. Coach from 2nd choice school offered NLI, which D declined, explaining that she was applying ED to top choice school, without support from coaches. Coach sent NLI anyway. D reiterated that she would not be signing with anyone during the 1st signing period. She was honest with him in all of her dealings. Eventually, D got into top choice school and contacted coach there who made her part of the recruiting class (sort of a recruited walk-on). </p>
<p>So here is the funny thing, coach at top choice left the school and – you guessed it – coach from 2nd choice got the job. Worked out great for D!</p>
<p>I guess the thing to remember is that many sports are very close communities. The coaches, players and recruits may know a lot more that you think and share it with everyone else.</p>
<p>My son went through the recruiting process last summer visiting several Ivy League schools on an OV. He was completely honest with the coaches at all times and in return they were all very honest with him. Recruitment was a process of elimination for both the coaches and my son. In the end, my son is happy with his college choice and has made some good friends along the way. Overall, we walked away from this great experience feeling like the coaches he met were some of the most stand-up honest and sincere men he has ever met. I’m not sure if that is a testament of his sport or the Ivy League but it sure makes him proud to be associated with both.</p>
<p>Strictly pragmatically I’d suggest visiting top choices first for one big reason … as you get to your 4th and 5th visit you have less room to bring new schools into the mix … and I’d want to be sure to visit all the top schools on my list. For example, a recruit is in love with 2 schools and Ok with 3 others … has the OVs with the 3 OK schools and then is contacted by a new school which also sounds great; now the recruit has 3 schools and 2 OVs … it the OVs had been done in the other order they could have just dropped one of the OK schools.</p>
<p>I also vote for disclosing the other schools if asked … because the student will have a four year relationship with the coach and personally I’d prefer to start a relationship in an open and trusting manner … and yes, I would judge the coached/schools in the same way, more brownie points to coaches who are willing to be open with the recruit even if the news isn’t exactly what the recruit wanted to here.</p>
<p>In the end–you may not have a choice of when to visit…
Often the coaches tell you what weekend they are having recruits and when they want you–especially if you are a hot recruit and they have top recruits together at one time.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies. I have been busy and had not checked the site for a few days. Fogfog, my screen name was not meant to show any interest in MIT, my son has absolutely no interest in that school as he is more of a humanities person. Did not realize how misleading it must be. Things seem to have slowed down a bit recruiting wise. He has narrowed his choices down to five and we will wait to hear about the OVs. When are they usually offered? Mid-August?</p>
<p>whynot, they can be offered at any time. My daughter went on four and canceled a fifth and they were pretty much scheduled based on when they were convenient. Her top choice ended up being her last visit, but that was because they only offered her one weekend. Her first visit was at the first school to offer her a visit. Her second choice had had a coaching change so they offered her only two weekends, and she chose the one during which the new coach would be at the school. So all of the scheduling was more or less random and not strategic in her case. Although I have heard that some schools have one trip when they bring all their top recruits, this didn’t seem to be the case for her. (she didn’t go on an ivy trips although she did cancel out on one, but she was far from a top recruit there anyway).</p>
<p>OVs can be taken after the first day of school for your student…not beforehand.</p>
<p>Often the coaches will give you the dates, ask you to confirm attendance and then send you the airline ticket links. Your student prints the ticket. It’s easy.</p>
<p>Tell your student to pack lightly…something to wear to class, something to wear watching practice, something to hang out. If your student can fit a lightweight sleeping bag and a klightweight towel in the bag, it can be worth taking. Goal: be flexible</p>
<p>There is a limit to the number of hours the student can be on the official/with the coaches/on campus.</p>