<p>So much to think about. We will start by emailing the colleges THIS WEEKEND, but I think the timing of our college trip is going to be bad. We are going the last week of march. The women’s D1 and D3 championships should be over, but I am imagining (someone let me know if I am right?) that all the coaches take a break the second those are over - and no one will be around that week.</p>
<p>As to D1 vs. D3 there is no question that if the only thing she cared about were swimming, she would go D3 in an instant. It would be so much more fun for her. </p>
<p>As to the shoulder - well, I’m worried it will come out since all the coaches and swimmers know about it. But I guess there is nothing we can do about that. Hopefully her times will speak for themselves, and if they don’t - she will have to write a college essay about swimming in pain, and how hard she works. or something like that.</p>
<p>Check the NCAA website for the dates of the “Dead Period” when coaches can not talk to you even if you are on their campus. The dates vary by sport but we had a spring trip planned (swimmers too) and found out it was “Dead Week” so had to change our plans.</p>
<p>so much information - I am officially overwhelmed. The NCAA website is not as user freindly as I would like. I think the dead period for 21012 for D1 is in April (so we are ok there) and I cant find a dead period for D3.</p>
<p>3togo - that was an interesting site. She is low D1 across the board, but I dont know what that really means. I do believe that I have correctly assesed her value to the schools, barring some unexpected break through in her swim times. Right now in the peak of training season, when they are all swimming slow as **** its hard to believe that she will ever swim anything close to her best times. so ugly.</p>
<p>I had borderline D1 times as a track guy … for me this manifested itself two ways. First, not all D1 programs are the same … so I had no shot at top D1 programs but could have made teams lower on the D1 pecking order. Second, as mentioned earlier, I never would have been one of the top runners at a D1 school; my best case was a solid varsity contributor by the time I graduated. At the DIII level my experience would have been very different as I would have been running in all meets as a freshman at virtually all DIII schools and a top runner virtually from the get go.</p>
<p>Personally, I think athletes should think about what they want out of their experience (swim at the highest level possible even is seldom in meets?, being a solid contributor?, be a top dog?, get to compete as a frosh?, travel country wide for meets?, OK with local travel only?) … this can help them find a program that will fulfill their desired for their athletic experience … and there is no right/wrong answer to that question!</p>
<p>For D3, I don’t think there is a “dead time”, because there is no LL, no commitment, no money, and nothing in your hands EVER til you get that ED acceptance in Dec.</p>
<p>Again, lots of other relevant threads on this board.</p>
<p>I agree so much w Eatondad and 3togo. And as other posters have said, esp with your daughter with possible inability to swim, pick the school she would be happiest at if she was injured day 1 and could never swim again. Then you won’t have to change schools.</p>
<p>My S is very happy at Midd, swimming is just an addition to the experience. A valuable one, but not the main reason he is there. Tho honestly(aren’t we all truth-tellers here?), it is very likely why he was accepted at Midd. He’s as academically qualified as anyone there, but there’s a lot of competition in the middle class white boy from a public school in the NE bracket.</p>
<p>There is no question - she can definitely swim with the shoulder. She took off about 2 months this summer and then did PT. We were very conservative in her treatment. So she came back from her time off very slowly, doing only part of practice, and then singles until Thanksgiving. She is just not nearly in the same training form this year as last because of all the off time. I am very concerned about how this will look to the schools when she applies because I believe her times will not be quite as good this year (when junior year you would hope they would be the best). Hopefully by this summer she can be in better shape.</p>
<p>I do think though that she will pick by the school and not the swim program, but one definitely influences the other.</p>
<p>My D had mono in November of her junior year (couldn’t be worse timing for a swimmer). Her times was way off–she should have not swum but her school needed her to make a run at the NEPSA championship–even sick as she was. All the coaches said that “of course they would understand about the mono.” But in reality this girl with AA times as a frosh and sophomore falls off radar screens of a number of D1 programs–and when approached they would cite the “lack of progress as a junior” --she would tell them again that she had mono. They would say yep, they knew that, but then would say–“but your times didn’t drop as a junior.” At that moment for her and her folks the penny dropped-- these coaches were morons and even if she hadn’t had mono we wouldn’t have wanted her to swim with them. </p>
<p>Even so, some Ivies were interested but she felt that those coaches only semi got it as well (the Ivies of today are not the Ivies of even a few years ago). In contrast all of the DIII coaches were excited about her–and spoke about how great she swam before mono and that they just ignored her junior times bc of her illness. </p>
<p>WOW–these coaches “got it.” They didn’t see her as a piece of meat or just a power rating (and please believe me that the D1s (including the Ivies!!) all look at how they fared in terms of winning the recruiting season in the college swimming.com rankings-- with her less than stellar times she would hurt their recruiting class’ rankings (one coach in a candid moment actually said that…))</p>
<p>OldBatsieDoc’s point of the “broken leg” rule–how much would your D want to be a school if she weren’t an athlete any longer–is key. She must decide if she wants a premiere LAC (which, for example,the NESCAC and the Claremont colleges are) or a university setting. Both provide outstanding undergraduate educations but some kids are better suited for one and some for the other (I will have one in both types as of next year so I have no dog in this hunt…).</p>
<p>Please–know that the coaches regardless of what they will initially say at D1 (esp if you are looking at scholarship or a “slot”) WILL be looking at her junior year times. Perhaps they will understand more with an injury than a disease…dunno…</p>
<p>I just count my D lucky beyond the stars that she did get mono and so is going the D3 route instead of D1. Things have a way of working out…</p>
<p>^and if they are ok with going to that school if, Heaven forfend, they get injured and can’t play any longer.<br>
If someone goes to a “powerhouse” where it is sport first and school second, and all of a sudden they can’t play the sport, they might find even their transfer options limited as they may not have had the opportunity to concentrate on their studies as much as might have otherwise. So, don’t go somewhere with the idea that if the sport ceases to be the priority that a transfer is possible–at least to a good college/university.</p>
<p>My D is a Swimmer that was looking at several D1 schools including several Ivies and she also looked at 2 D3 schools. I think many athletes have the misconception that the school will find you. Unless you are a top 20 or so swimmer, you have to let the coach know that you like the school and are interested in swimming for them. My daughter did all the things mentioned. She went to some of the swim camps. This helped her decide if the coach was a good fit. She filled out TONS of those questionnaires and always followed up with an email to make sure they received it and give/ask for additional info. She knew she wanted to swim in college but also knew that she was going to college for the education. One coach told her the spring of her junior year that he was making the list of swimmers he wanted to recruit then, so contact them early and update them regularly. As far as the injury, I don’t think I know of a competitive swimmer that has not had an injury so keep you chin up. In the end one school became evident it was the clear choice for her. For her it was a D3. She was admitted and she was happier to get that news than she was with any race she ever swam.</p>