<p>Additional question: </p>
<p>Two of the coaches who have scheduled fall official visits with my daughter also asked her to attend the SAME summer camp. One of the schools is the host and the other is part of the staff. I have to assume that since both colleges use the camp as a platform for further evaluating recruits that they’ll potentially discuss the players they invited. </p>
<p>Is this likely to pose a problem? Is it a benefit?</p>
<p>^^^Jumper101: Congratulations!! You can ask the coach directly if the SAT needs to be retaken. The communication about things like that seems pretty direct. </p>
<p>PTmajor5: Congratulations on your daughter’s invitations! I totally agree that this whole process is nerve wracking yet exciting - a heady combination. This is our very first experience too - our first child going through the college maze, and with parents who were definitely NOT Div. 1 athletes!!
A couple of things that we have learned are that with Official Visits, many more athletes are invited than are actually going to be offered slots. For example, if there are 10 slots, perhaps 25 athletes will be invited on Officials - so no guarantee of anything there. Regarding coaches losing interest over the summer, I wouldn’t worry about that. Something we have no control over! If they really change their mind about an athlete, I imagine they would just cancel the Official Visit? That could happen to anyone, I should think. However, I would think that when an Official Visit invitation is extended, the coach has put thought into it. It is a waste of time and money to bring in athletes that are not under serious consideration for a team/school.
My daughter did have a friend, who is now happily rowing for an ivy, have a bad experience after going on an Official Visit last year to her first choice ivy (not the one she goes to now). After having what she thought was a great visit, she then never heard from them again - for something like 3 months! They ignored her emails and calls…not the best way to find out someone has no interest in you anymore. They finally said in as few words as possible that they were no longer interested. Ultimately, she was able to be recruited by another ivy in the winter, through the regular admissions timetable. It all ended well, but not a great experience.
Finally, regarding the summer camp, yes, that could go both ways - if they like what they see, awesome!! If not, then not so great. Personally, I would go for it - she will get to know these coaches, and just like they will get to assess her, she can assess them.</p>
<p>I agree about the camp thing–
a great opportunity for your student to assess the coaches and for them to assess her…</p>
<p>no disadvantages–as long as she stays open to both of them the whole time–
cast a wide net to any other coaches visiting</p>
<p>mayhew’s story illustrates something the recruit will have to figure out how to finesse: how and when to ask where he stands with the coach, and then how to interpret the answer. </p>
<p>In the days following each official visit (or even during the official), if the coach doesn’t give the recruit a call with an offer of a likely letter, or at least a friendly “how did you like our program?” this is a bad sign. If the coach hasn’t said something along the lines of “you are one of my top recruits,” it might be the time for the kid to ask where he is on the coach’s list. The kid (with the parent’s help) should be able to look at recent rosters and know approximately (or even exactly) how many are going to be signed. Or he can just ask the coach during the visit. </p>
<p>If the number is 5, and the coach says “you’re in my top 3,” all is well. If the coach is less precise than that, it may be that you are on the bubble, and he is waiting to hear from the recruits ahead of you on the list. You may move from 6 to 4 if a couple of people ahead of you commit somewhere else. </p>
<p>Silence from the coach, or seeming avoidance of your calls by a coach may mean the coach is playing for time to see what the rest of the recruits do, or it may be that he doesn’t want to have that awkward conversation where he explains you’re not a recruit any more.</p>
<p>If this is his first choice school and he hasn’t heard something in the first few days after returning home, I think the recruit should make the difficult phone call and ask where he stands on the coach’s list. It is fine to say, “You are my first choice, and I need to know if I’m going to be on your team next year.” If the response is positive, he can work toward securing a likely letter or LOI (for Ivies and DI only, of course)*. Better to know early and plan accordingly if the answer isn’t what you were hoping for: more official visits, some effort put into falling in love with Choice #2, additional research into other possible choices.</p>
<p>There are some ways you can get a glimpse of what might be happening, short of directly asking the coach. The recruit will probably get a good look at many if not most of the rest of the recruiting class while on official visits, especially if the recruit is focused on one league, and the coach likes to bring recruits in on just one or two weekends. The same kids are going to start appearing at the recruiting events. Kids talk. They get on facebook. They share where they really want to go. After a recruiting trip your kid may be able to tell you where some of the other recruits are planning to go. They may go home, commit, and post it on line, either on a social networking page, or on the clearinghouse for the sport (Dyestat for track, for example). If these are kids ranked ahead of yours, this may clarify your child’s choices.</p>
<p>The kid in mayhew’s example should have made some phone calls and asked the hard questions. If the coach stays on the fence too long, it’s time to move on. Of course, this should also be a red flag that the coach may not be someone your kid would want to work with, anyway. </p>
<p>*This may not be a good tack to take with DIII!!! If you admit they are your first choice and the coach thinks you are a strong academic candidate, he may tell you to apply, get in on your own steam and walk on. It would be better for the recruit if the coach would use a tip. I’m not the best person to fully lay out DIII recruiting, but I don’t want kids who are also looking at the DIIIs to think this strategy can be used globally.</p>
<p>Anyway- enough from me for today. Try and enjoy this with out overthinking it too much. Chances are your kid will come home from a visit knowing it’s “the one” and it will, in part, be because the coach has given him every indication that he is welcome on the team.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the input. Based on the conversation here, I feel like I know what type of communication and what warning signs to watch for.</p>
<p>Re camp -
There was never any question as to whether my daughter would attend. The concern is that she had told both coaches that they were “top of her list” although she didn’t indicate if they were #1, 2 or 3 (for example). </p>
<p>I was worried that if these 2 coaches discussed the recruits they invited, they’d figure out she made the same “top of my list” comment to each. </p>
<p>I guess if she shows well at the camp then it could potentially help and best case scenario is that the coaches would “compete” for her. But, my actual concern was that they’d be turned off because she’s expressed a high level of interest in a competing school (although they only play eachother in out-of-conference games)</p>
<p>^^ I think that will be a delicate walk–
depending on what she already said and how she phrased it…</p>
<p>If she suggested to more than one coach she likes what she saw and wants to know more and pursue it further–no harm, no foul…</p>
<p>however if she said to the coach they were # one— to more than one school–It may come back to her–or it may not.
Coaches talk to hundred of kids and some end up in the recruiting weekends in the fall…
and as Mayhew mentioned–there wioll be more recruits than avaiable slots. Good example is Mayhews student who is a top recruit nationally–and will have lovely options–however this student will in the end -attend one school-so the others wil look elsewhere…</p>
<p>So as Riverrunner says–best to take deep breaths and realize this marathon has really yet to begin–July isn’t here yet.</p>
<p>So for us parents–we can get the cover sheets ready, fax those transcripts etc<br>
and listen carefully…</p>
<p>PTMajor, I wouldn’t worry at all about your daughter’s comments to the coaches who will be at her camp. Sounds like she has handled things perfectly when she told “both coaches that they were “top of her list” although she didn’t indicate if they were #1, 2 or 3.” These coaches compete with each other for recruits year in and year out and can often predict some of the other schools their recruits will be looking at. When our S reluctantly told a much liked coach that he had chosen another school, the coach responded that he lost good recruits to the other school every year. So I think it’s all part of the process for them and not something they will be worried about. Just advise her to be careful to continue being honest - e.g. “top of my list” is a good way to word things rather than “my number 1,” as long as that is true. Good luck and enjoy the process!</p>
<p>In D’s case the relaxed pace of summer exchanges with coaches heated up considerably in the fall and culminated in a few dramatic hours in late October. </p>
<p>She went on an official visit to Ivy X in October. She really liked the school and the coach and was pretty sure this was the school for her. At the end of the visit, coach sat her down in the office and told her he wanted her on the team and would put her up for a likely letter with admissions if she in turn would commit and apply single choice early action. (Nov 1 deadline). </p>
<p>Well, Ivy Z coach called her on Monday and asked if there was any way she could be free the next weekend for an official. Off to the airport she goes with a backpack full of uncompleted schoolwork. D absolutely falls in love with Ivy Z, the school, the team, the coach, the city…it’s where she wants to go. At the end of the visit, Coach Z tells her that he wants her on the team, but has one more recruit visiting in early November, after which he will be able to make a decision.</p>
<p>D sends coach Z an email around 10/29, basically saying that Z is her 1st choice and she would absolutely commit to attend if she is put up for a LL. 24 hours pass with no response…</p>
<p>We come home to a voicemail message from coach X saying, ‘hey deadline is tomorrow, I need to know where you stand, call me tonight.’</p>
<p>D takes her phone up to her room, saying she’s going to call Z and see what’s gong on. She’s up in her room for awhile and comes back downstairs with a sullen look on her face. She can’t hide it very long, though and breaks into a grin and screams, “I’m going to ______!!”</p>
<p>Of course then she had to call coach X with the news.</p>
<p>But the point of this long, self-indulgent diatribe? You may have a course charted, but things can change and change quickly.</p>
<p>^^
Your story made me break out in a big smile–
I am so tender hearted and love hearing about each of the kids and their journeys</p>
<p>varska – what an exiciting experience!!</p>
<p>What a great story! I hope all our kids’ stories end like this one.</p>
<p>Varska–
Very impressed with your daughter that she was able to handle this kind of communication/negotiation on her own. Sounds like a mature young lady.</p>
<p>My sense that most of the stories posted are in regard to Div I recruiting?</p>
<p>How does Div III differ?</p>
<p>If my d has made unofficial visits to Div III schools and coaches have told her she should come for a visit in the fall, is that the kind of “invitation for an official visit” posters are talking about here?</p>
<p>Thanks minofrau. For those of you who are just embarking on this journey, it can really be a time of great personal growth for the kids. The difference in confidence between returning her first phone call from a coach (‘what do I say??’), to handling these 11th hour negotiations by herself was just phenomenal. I served as sort of a ‘consultant’ during the process but never spoke to a coach (unless we were in a meeting together and he asked me a direct question). </p>
<p>It’s important to keep our protective parental instincts in check and let her handle it.</p>
<p>Fendrock - S1 is targeting mostly DIII and DI-AA schools.</p>
<p>After the 2 camps he has attended thus far, he is getting the, “…we’d love to get you back on campus to attend a game and stay overnight, this fall, when your own game schedule will allow.” Nothing concrete has been confirmed as far as dates and times…but he is encouraged that the dialogue is happening.</p>
<p>varska - what a great story - very moving too!! I agree totally with your “consultant” angle, too - taking the same tack here. My daughter “runs the show” but I help proof her letters if she wants, and accompany her to meetings with coaches. The attending meetings part is over for me though, as from now on in, she will see coaches on her own at summer races, and then on Officials - the end of this phase, I guess! I am basically here for her to talk to for hours and hours about her impressions, thoughts, hopes, theories, and so on…psychology 101!!</p>
<p>Today my daughter received the last Official Visit invitation she wanted - it was the one school that had wanted to receive her SAT 2 scores before they extended the invitation. Once they received her email with the scores, they wrote her back asking her on an Official. She now has 5 visit invitations that she has accepted, and 4 of the dates are set. I hope for her sake that she doesn’t end up taking all 5 as that would be exhausting, and a lot of time away from school. We are just going to play this all by ear, and see how it all unfolds…Exciting for her though as she would be happy at any one of these schools - all great fits academically and athletically :)</p>
<p>Congrats, Mayhew. Hope it all works out great.</p>
<p>We were contacted by one coach and he mentioned about visiting his school but my D can’t visit there anytime soon because of her internship. And he mentioned that, you can visit during fall, meeting with their rowers and staying with them.
Do you think that is his intention to issue official visit ticket to my D?</p>
<p>We are planning to go un-official visit at the end of July and wondering including that school in the list. Of course my D is interested in that school but not in the top choice now and we have really tight schedule at that time. Anyway, If he is going to offer Official visit for my D, then we don’t have to include that school in the list to increase oppotunities from other school… right?^^</p>
<p>Wow… I never realized that this recruiting process requires so much brain work
And I want to say thanks to all of you in the forum. It’s really helpful to me.</p>
<p>I have a question. If I have a coach coming to visit my house/hometown, does that count as one of my “official visits”, even though I did not go to the college? Thanks!</p>
<p>I have also been in correspondence with several coaches, and have met with 2 unofficially while visiting the college. I want to meet the team/see the school in action before I make any final decisions though.</p>
<p>Also, is the number of official visits for Track/Cross Country always 5?</p>