<p>My 2013 athlete has told me she does not plan on committing to any program until the late signing period in April. We have had many inquiries from interested coaches yet seems she is no closer to making a college decision anytime soon. We have heard that waiting until April can be advantageous for the athlete. Certainly, a late commit runs the risk of having fewer choices as the offers get redirected or pulled entirely, but we have also heard the contrary. One of our 2012 friend/athletes actually signed late with a great school for more than even they thought was available based on her perceived talent. We are not gamblers by any means, but if she stays adamant not to commit until late, will we be running unnecessary risks or increasing our college options?</p>
<p>Our experience was the opposite.</p>
<p>DD was one of 13 swimmers from her HS seeking to be recruited. She and two others signed with D1 schools in Nov. All got very nice financial packages. About 5 signed with D2 schools between Nov and early Mar. - financial packages were less attractive. One signed with a D1 in late Mar and got very little. The last signee was (on paper) the strongest recruit. Waiting till the end definitely hurt. (The other 4 recruits ended up walking on at D2/D3 teams or giving up the sport).</p>
<p>The 3 who signed early all had older siblings/family member who had been recruited athletes. All were encouraged to decide and sign early.</p>
<p>Most of the kids we know sign early. The coaches can give what they can give and signing in November vs April isn’t going to change that. The risk you run is that the coaches fill their roster with others that commit early and you have no choices come April. Most coaches we have talked to want the students to apply EA (if they have that) so they can verify acceptance and any merit aid to go along with athletic aid. Along with that, it sure is a lot less stressful through their senior year if they have committed somewhere and can just relax.</p>
<p>I have seen athletes receive more generous $ earlier in the process, than later. It probably depends on the sport, athletic ability of your recruit and college(s) she is considering.</p>
<p>I agree with others that you’ll probably get more financial benefit by signing early. If you leave it to the later signing period you run the risk of supply/demand issues and depleted athletic funding. If Finances are not the driving factor then that tells me your D has not found the right fit yet, and I would advise her to keep looking until she does.</p>
<p>College athletics is a very competitive situation regardless of sport. In the case of most D1 recruits, the college has the upper hand in determining who they want, and when they want them. If your D won’t commit they will move on. High demand/low supply offers (ie Stanford/SEC/ACC) )don’t come around every day unless you are an extremely gifted athlete. Low demand/High Supply offers many come around much more frequently but even they have time limitations. </p>
<p>I suggest sitting down with your daughter to figure what offers (or interest) she has, and what she wants to do next. It can be like musical chairs. When the music stops, you hope your D has a place to sit.</p>
<p>Another risk to waiting is if her performance drops off then the limited spring opportunities may disappear. Not sure what her sport is but in swimming many high school girls eventually have a plateau (and then get faster again in college). There is also always risk of injury in sports. If her junior year season makes her attractive to schools in which she has interest I would move forward early. It seems she will be more in the driver’s seat for early signing when every school is recruiting than in the spring when only certain schools still have spots. I have known some male swimmers to wait because they were really becoming faster and stronger and wanted to have a chance at the higher ranked programs but even they were nervous about it.</p>
<p>You are very much decreasing your options. Not to say it might not work out, but it’s a much bigger gamble with fewer options. Is there something behind her putting off the decision…? I think the most important part of the decision is finding the school that is the best fit for her, academically (1) and athletically (2). Taking as much time as she needs to find a good fit is great, but just putting it off altogether is worrisome. It’s hard to find that perfect match, harder still with fewer choices…</p>
<p>I believe that ALL financial aid decreases as more students accept. Think of it as a pot of $. They give that pot away starting early on. Many schools have early deadlines for certain aid. By April the pot could be empty. They will put out the sweet offers to get the student athletes they really want. I think it is a silly game to play. Does she really think there will be that many schools that she would actually love to attend just falling all over her in April? I doubt it. Does she think she will be gaining favor by making them wait? If I were a coach I wouldn’t like it. She will have time before April to compare offers and to ask for more favorable figures if she wants to.</p>
<p>Why does she want to wait? Does she think she is that good and wants them to fight over her or is she afraid of making the wrong decision? Hopefully she will take some visits and fall in love with a couple of schools and WANT to commit before they tell her “sorry, we got enough commits already.”</p>
<p>My D signed in the early signing period for her sport. She got more scholarship money than her friend, a fellow teammate that signed for a rival school in the April signing period. The money…was gone, by then. They had given it to all the girls in the early period. </p>
<p>It’s a risk you take, waiting. It might work out, but your kid may be left without anything - a spot or athletic scholarship. Best of luck!</p>
<p>In our experience:
Our student had a LL in October and was done. (Having done official visits in Sept/Oct)
The best in the sport are snapped up as soon as possible. Coaches want to fill their rosters with the best before someone else gets to them.
$ wasn’t part of the equation because the school cannot offer $ to athletes.</p>
<p>We told our student when going on officials–that it is like musical chairs, and if you find a seat you like…sit in it and be comfortable with the commit…</p>
<p>If the early signing period for her sport is in November, some schools have internal deadlines that basically mean that you need to get the ball rolling and commit as early as July/August. Other schools kept on sending NLI in the mail, even though the athlete hadn’t applied to the university yet.
Why does she want to wait until April? Whatever the reason is, you probably should start putting together a list of schools she’s interested in and ask the coaches how the process works at their school.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great info. It seems like the early signing would be more beneficial.
Unfortunately my daughter is still clueless and needs more info to even to reduce her options. She is presently overwhlemed with her hectic training while spending the wee hours keeping up on her studies. This weekend will likely firm up her season as we move forward. She continues to talk about taking all of her ‘officials’, including several scheduled in the spring. I can only advise her of the dangers related to a late signing and present as much info as possible to that end. She spoke yesterday of ‘proximity’ as being a strong consideration but failed to rule any options out.
Again, thx for the info. Much appreciated.</p>
<p>whether you commit early or later it still depends on whether the school/program wants the student/ athlete…in some sports guys get left hanging because they commit early and a coach is fired and the new coach has no interest in the old guys recruits then what? I say just have her keep all the irons in the fire hot and drive the process, because we had coaches encourage us, woo us and then duck and hide, not return calls etc…</p>
<p>and by the same token we fawned over programs which no doubt the coaches used as leverage in their quest to recruit the athletes they really wanted.</p>
<p>If you commit and sign a NLI, the incoming coach has to honor it. The commitment is to the school, not the coach. This is frequently upsetting to recruits who chose a program based on the coach, only to find out that the coach is leaving.</p>
<p>With respect to waiting, if the coach REALLY wants your daughter, s/he may keep a spot open until later during senior year. However, I would try to get this whole process over sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>I can very much empathize with your daughter. Junior year is stressful, even without the added athletic training. On the other hand, trust me: It will make senior year a lot less stressful if she knows early on where she’ll go to college.</p>
<p>Once the school year is over, maybe she can get down to trying to figure out which college she may want to attend. Has she visited the colleges that are an option? Does she know what she’s looking for, e.g. geographical location, size, major, etc.? Does she know what she’s looking for in terms of the sport, e.g. the athletic level, how she would fit in? </p>
<p>Also, I would recommend to take all the required tests (SAT, ACT, SAT subject tests) still during junior year. That way, they are out of the way and won’t coincide with fall official visits or potentially, athletic schedule if she competes year-round.</p>