<p>My daughter scheduled her first official visit today. Although she has had several offers, this is the first one to actually get nailed down. I am very happy, especially since this is my top choice school for her.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any insight as to timing of official visits. Because of my daughter's fall sport, she has very few free weekends available for OVs. Is there an advantage or disadvantage to going on the first available weekend versus the last available weekend? I know some schools try to bring their top recruits out all on the same weekend. Is it important to try to go on those specific weekends? Thanks!</p>
<p>Congrats to your DD, fishymom! This is an exciting time for your family.</p>
<p>If your DD has a tough schedule/is in several AP classes, scheduling is a little trickier, as she will want to miss as little class time as possible. </p>
<p>Our DD took visits in the late summer, during the first few weeks of school, over the long teachers convention weekend (October), and then had to fit the rest in between team meets, homecoming, and schoolwork.</p>
<p>The dates we selected were the ones that made the most sense for DD, interrupted school as little as possible. Sometimes our choice did not mesh with school’s “official” preferred weekends, but coaches were very accomodating.</p>
<p>Congrat! Hope everything goes well~ Please update us how it went! (I’m sure she will do great! ^^) It looks like your D is the first one who went to OV in cc 2010.</p>
<p>Congrats Fishy. I’m not aware of any advantage or disadvantage for early or late OV. As busy as most college bound students, parents, and coaches are right now, I wouldn’t think it makes a difference. You have to go when the opportunity presents itself. I’ve heard (but can’t find) that each sport is limited to so many OVs as well as the entire Athletic Dept for a school.</p>
<p>I hope everything works out for your daughter and she learns more about her #1 school.</p>
<p>Hi fishy,
Whenever your child can travel with the least impact on her academics, sports and social life, is probably best. If she’s missing something important at home to make the trip, she’s not going to be able to focus on objectively evaluating the program! Coaches (that she would want to play for) understand this, and will accomodate her whenever she can travel (except weekends when he and the team might be traveling for their own competition schedule.)</p>
<p>I think the more interesting question is the order of the visits. The first visit may be stressful, no matter where it is, because the whole experience is so new. Maybe she should go on one that isn’t very high on her list, just to see what it’s like, and where the stakes are lower! There used to be an adage that, when car shopping, the shopper will most likely buy a car at the third showroom he visits. Not sure if this applies to college OVs, but something to keep in mind. Enjoy!</p>
<p>I took a visit to the school I was least interested in for my first visit, sort of as a practice run, so to speak. However, I did like the school very much, and it moved up a spot overall, so preconceived notions aren’t everything! :)</p>
<p>Typically it seems that coaches want their top picks to come out on earlier weekends. This is generally in the hopes that the athlete will be completely floored by the school and commit immediately. I know one kid on that first visit that I went on who did it-- and then went back on his verbal after visiting another school, which he then committed to.</p>
<p>However, unless it is an Ivy, there is not really a race in committing. Ivies have more limited spots (i.e. a coach will say that he/she can only try to bump so many kids through in a somewhat narrow timeframe, and, after that, you’re on your own) so the earlier you commit there (thus the earlier you take a trip) the better-- although I was told that NOBODY would be given a push in admissions until ALL the trips had been completed, for my sport.</p>
<p>I think your daughter should be fine going on whatever trip date is most convenient. There are not too many advantages to be had by going on the first date offered. While it is nice to meet the other “top” recruits, it isn’t necessary. Out of all the kids who went on my first trip, and we were all “top” recruits, only one wound up committing there in the end.</p>
<p>Thank you guys! Things are starting to heat up around here, two more offers today. One, which my daughter declined, was a safety school that she decided not to persue. The other is to a small LAC that I love, but my daughter is worried might be too small. I think she will accept the offer there, just to see for herself. Good news is, she can visit there early and won’t interfere with her sport or other visits. </p>
<p>And Zeinx, thanks for the info and good luck to you this year!</p>
<p>Fishy, tell your daughter to not discount the small LAC if she is a true scholar-athlete. Child #1 is a junior at HYP and athletics are a pretty clear priority among the coaches. Two-a-days right through exam review week was one example. Child #2 is just starting at a top LAC (one of the purple ones) and at drop-off they made it very clear that academics come first and at a parents forum there were several anecdotes supporting that. I’ve also seen numerous friends of my first drop their sport by now. I know the names of the top ivies are hard to say no to, but depending on the child and their interests, the LAC/D III route in my mind should be strongly considered for the student equally interested in academics and sports.</p>
<p>I second markcc. My D chose not to apply to HYPS because it seems like athletics over academics - more rigorous practice schedule and very serious about winning for the school. She is happy with her school choice - no morning practices (D1/Ivy). So not all Ivy are the same in their approach to sports but HYP seems serious about all their sports. My D says she is in college to get a good education and not just for sports.</p>
<p>I think you need to ask ANY coach this question, if there is any lingering doubt about academics/athletics. I think the answer will depend on the sport and the coach, and not so much the school. My son asked this question, and he got a more than an acceptable answer from his Ivy coach when he was being recruited last year.</p>
<p>Also, you can look at the historical results of Ivy championships to determine who may be more “serious” than others in a particular sport. Based upon those results, I would never lump HYP together when discussing athletics.</p>
<p>Thanks mark, she is definitely giving the smaller school a closer look. It is a great school, in a lovely setting. The only drawback is the size, barely larger than her high school and she is really looking for a larger, more divese school. Mom is still hoping for a one and done scenario! She will be taking her OV to mom and dad’s favorite school in 4 weeks. Saw her godfather last night, who is an alum, and he was so excited. I’m pretty sure he will be launching his own recruitent campaign!</p>
<p>^^^ Very exciting fishymom Love the extra recruiting too for your first choice school! We have the same situation here, with my daughter’s godfather closely involved with one of her very top choices - it is funny/sweet!</p>
Love the extra recruiting too for your first choice school! We have the same situation here, with my daughter’s godfather closely involved with one of her very top choices - it is funny/sweet!</p>