<p>Some thoughts for July 1 through November 1st for the parents here…take it as my pondering the July 1 opening calls for new potential collegiate swimmers:</p>
<p>1) Go with your gut. Throughout this next four months there is a happy/stressful/happy atmosphere surrounding your swimmer and consequently you. There will be some tough decisions to make–when to accept OVs, which schools to accept OVs, how to ask about scholarship money, how to ask about support into school for Ivys, ultimately which college suits my swimmer best academically, socially and athletically. There will be a lot of second guessing of your decisions–so I would say–go with your gut instinct. If it seems right, it has a larger probability of being right than wrong.<br>
2) Coaches are human. During our D’s recruiting process we found the majority of coaches to be interesting, warm, and highly motivated people. Their job is to put together their single best recruiting class ever, while your family’s job is to get to the “best school” possible for your athlete. (Note that the term “best” doesn’t mean only athletics…) The goals of each group can be in alignment, or in direct conflict to one another.<br>
3) Coaches move–a lot–so make sure your swimmer loves the school, not the coach. Coaches get fired, assistant coaches are in this constant chess game of moving to a better coaching opportunity every July, and coaches retire. Of the 14 swimmers in my D’s recruiting class at her club, after the first year of college, there are 4 large coaching changes that impacted swimmers significantly. Some changes were to the swimmer’s benefit, others to their detriment. Coaching changes can also mean changes in interest level in your athlete during recruiting. Once a hot prospect to the previous coach, might be a luke warm prospect to a new coach with his/her own athlete prospect roster.<br>
4) There are few full ride scholarships out there in Division 1. If your child has been on the podium at Jr. Nationals multiple times, and is in the Top 50-75 in their recruiting class, then there may be a full ride at a University program–maybe. Most swimmers have partial scholarships in Division 1. Make sure you, as the parent–fully understand if you can stack athletic and financial aid, and if you can stack athletic and academic aid. If you have a strong student, there is a possibility of receiving academic scholarships (merit) that will enhance and/or replace your student’s athletic aid. The coaches are motivated to help you recognize those scholarships so they can use athletic aid for another swimmer.
5) If you have a highly achieving student as well as a talented swimmer, you need to philosophically decide if you can afford to look at the non-scholarship schools–such as Ivy’s. If you run a net price calculator on the selected school’s website, and you cannot afford the amount that is in the NPC to pay for that school, perhaps you should think twice about going down that pathway. Financial Aid and the NPC are tied together pretty well for most schools, so it is indicative of what you pay. We have friends who thought there would be some “miracle” fund found for their student athlete because of high swimming/academic achievements, so they attended an OV, and fell in love with the school. In the end of the day, however, they could not afford the school, and the athlete “settled” for a Division 1 state school. Remember, this is a non-revenue generating sport–very few “miracle” funds are out there for it.
6) Take academic fit into consideration. HIghly respected Top 20 academic schools got to be that way because they are tough academic institutions. Those tough academic schools require a lot of studying. If your student is a moderate student (3.5 GPA and 28-30 ACT), but an excellent athlete and is recruited by these schools, make sure you fullly understand what type of academic support is offered to them–are there tutors? Note takers for classes? Academic support advisors within the athletic department? There is zero benefit in going to a school to study and swim if the athlete is out of their realm academically. This is especially true once you think about missing 5-10 academic days in the fall for travel to meets and a week in the spring semester for conference championships (not mention NCAAs).
7) Is there a school where your swimmer is very interested has had minimal or no contact or interest from the coach? Be persistent, close to relentless–email weekly and update them on things. Call a couple of times. Ask your club coach to contact them to help them understand the type of swimmer you are. If you think its a realistic match–swimmer can score in their conference, college needs swimmers in their stroke that year, high academic match, etc–then be persistent. As things unfold throughout the fall, and swimmers make decisions, coaches will move down their lists to other recruits. If you really want a school, make sure that coach knows it. Ultimately, the coach wants to build the best team possible. If it comes down between a lukewarm recruit and one that has made their love of the school known to the coaching staff, they’ll call the one that has been persistent in showing interest. </p>
<p>Someone once told me “there are two happy days in the recruiting process–July 1 and the day your student signs.” I actually disagree with this–there are some really happy days in between, but there are some really hard days in between as well. Support your athlete–they are receiving a lot of attention, but being asked to make tough decisions about their future at 17 years old. Best of luck to all of you and I sincerely hope your athlete finds their “best fit” school in the next few months.</p>