<p>It would be great if anyone (parents or students) with athletic recruiting experience could share any experiences with finding a good college/sports match after the ED/EA deadlines have passed. The date for signing DI letters of intent is later than it used to be for many sports - does this mean students are still making official visits into November and December? And for DI and DIII colleges that don't participate in the letter of intent program, does anyone have experience with finding/making a good match after the flurry of official visits in Sept-Oct? Thanks!</p>
<p>Signing periods can be found here. <a href="http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/nli%5B/url%5D">http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/nli</a></p>
<p>Lots of kids don't make up their minds until later in the year
depending on their sport so yes, visits are still happening!</p>
<p>I have a friend whose son was a D-1 football prospect looking at top academic schools. He did not apply ED. He did make official visits and was given offers in January. This can differ with different sports and you need to be in touch maybe via bulletin board with your student's sport recruiting scene.</p>
<p>There are a number of sport specific boards out there - my favorite is High School Baseball Web... High</a> School Baseball Web</p>
<p>For Div 1, clearly look at the rules which vary a lot by sport. However, other than one SCEA, D did all apps RD. However, was recruited by a number of places and ended up with a Likely Letter In late Oct last year by her first choice, an RD school.</p>
<p>So much depends on the sport. I've heard of girl soccer players "signing" in their Junior year. I assume this is more "intending to sign a letter of intent" since no signing date is that early. They insist all the spots are taken well before the end of Junior year.</p>
<p>At the same time, track athletes seem to entertain DI offers well into spring of the senior year.</p>
<p>Sorry, only anecdotes from me. It would be nice to have some statistics on this mysterious process...</p>
<p>No sport can sign a player until the early signing period (which for most sports starts tomorrow morning). Prior to that, what you are seeing is verbal commitments to and from the school - which are seldom broken - but can be.</p>
<p>Once the real NLI is signed, it is a 1 year legal contract - which should be read carefully.</p>
<p>In baseball at the D1 level, probably 40-50% of NLIs are signed in the next 5 days and the rest next spring. The higher quality the program, in general, the higher the percentage signed in the early period.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the feedback. Agree about this being a mysterious process.</p>
<p>I think I would have your athlete continue to be in touch with the coaches at schools of interest. After admissions decisions come out in December, there is some (not necessarily a lot) additional recruiting action. I personally know one young man who did not get in to the (not a scholarship but D1)college that recruited him (says more about the college than this kid) and scrambled. He was eventually recruited/offered admissions at another selective school for his sport. High school coaches can help a lot in this regard.</p>
<p>Depends on the sport and the college target -- but there's still a lot of action going around after the ED deadline.</p>
<p>A cool new site is out for high school students that is offering help for scholarships. [url=<a href="http://www.scholarshipheaven.com%5DScholarShipHeaven.Com%5B/url">http://www.scholarshipheaven.com]ScholarShipHeaven.Com[/url</a>] . If you write the admin of the site they offer lower fee to students that can afford the college search. You should be receiving many offers from colleges. They would help.</p>