Many thanks to the advice obtained from going through the various posts. My D has received many letters from D1-D3 schools and has filled out many questionnaires. Some schools have responded with a personal email, others with the generic sport updates and others with no response at all. How is one to evaluate the interest of those that have not responded (assume not interested?) or have sent generic emails? At least one school responded with an email saying they can’t respond to emails until July 1. Should she still pursue those that haven’t responded with a personal email?
You need to become familiar with the NCAA recruiting rules. There are prohibitions on contacts initiated by the school/coach before July 1. There are ways around it (contacting the coaches, either club or hs) but many coaches just don’t have the time for that during the season. Sometimes it takes 3-4 emails from the student with updates on times or stats to get the coach’s attention. If you or your child initiates the call to set up a visit, that’s fine
I don’t think you should read anything into not having heard from any coaches yet. Some sports really just don’t have the personnel to follow up on every questionnaire, but will after July 1. Other sports work through the club coaches. Some will spend the summer at recruiting camps.
My daughter heard from a lot of D3 schools in the fall of her senior year.
While the rules don’t vary by sport, the timeline certainly does.
For example, for women’s soccer, almost all of the d1 scholarship money is committed for the HS class of 2016 and a lot of the 2017 and 2018 has already been promised.
Calling coaches is the best way to get through for sports that commit before senior year. But all the contact in the world will do you little good if you don’t get seen. Find out where coaches go to scout - eg for soccer it is at club showcase tournaments, usually in the spring.
My D runs track and we are familiar with the NCAA rules but confused by some that repond, others that don’t and yet others that send form letters (one even sent an email saying they can’t respond to emails or calls until after July 1.
Sometimes it is different interpretations of the rules. Some are strict ‘no contact’ even though incidental contact is allowed. D3 contact is allowed because there is no NLI to sign, so no contract. Some D3 schools follow the same rules as D1/D2 and respect the no contact before July 1, no contact during ‘dead periods.’ Some figure that July 1 is just 6 weeks away, so why bother with contacting the club coach when the coach can just contact you directly in 6 weeks.
You asked if getting no response means they aren’t interested. It might, but it also might mean they are busy with the season, they are waiting for July 1, they don’t have the time or money to recruit right now, they are exhausted from the season but will call you after July 1. It can mean anything, even that they never got your email. If you are still interested, keep contacting them until they tell you to go away.
Also, some conferences have rules about recruiting that are more restrictive than the NCAA guidelines.