<p>My S is a Junior in HS. He has been on a club crew team since 9th grade. He is the right size, highly motivated and appears to be talented enough for D1 crew. As for stats, his GPA is 3.7 UW 3.89 W and he should be over 700 in all standardized tests (not sure by how much). He takes close to the hardest course load possible in his school. </p>
<p>He has filled out many recruiting forms and has heard back from every very good school he has contacted. Every Ivy has responded immediately and he was contacted by a coach from one Ivy without even filling out a form. That said, the less prestigious schools, the ones with less good crew teams and the D3 schools seem to have been slower to respond. Some haven't answered at all.</p>
<p>Here is my problem. He is in contact with thirteen coaches. Of those schools, the only ones that might be regarded as close to safeties, I think, are Northeastern and BU. I have lurked on this board long enough to know that finding a safety a child can fall in love with is of paramount importance. He would clearly be a high impact rower on any D3 team so I am a little stumped as to why they seem slowest to respond. What is interesting is that, in this case, the better the schools, the more interest they seem to have. Maybe they just have the staff to manage the recruiting process better? In any case, I don't know how many coaches he should be talking with!</p>
<p>I am also wondering how he should deal with the schools that have not responded in order to try and build a couple more safeties into the mix. Due to the crew schedule, he will not be able to visit any schools until the early summer so the more options he has open, the better. Should he send follow-up emails to all the schools that haven't responded to his questionnaire? </p>
<p>I would appreciate any and all advice on how to help him manage this process. I assume he should stay in contact with all the coaches throughout the spring, then visit unofficially in the summer and hope for official visits in the fall? I really have no idea if the level of interest coaches are showing now will mean anything at all come the fall. Thanks in advance for any advice you CC pros may have for us!</p>
<p>I know nothing about crew but both D1 and D2 have been recruited for a sport. We never filled out the school sport interest questionnaire. Instead we sent (email)player profiles to school coaches and expressed our interest in that school and then invited them to watch and evaluate a game to see if there might be a match. Some respond more quickly than others! Their sport is not recruited from HS but rather club teams. They also play in college showcase tournaments that coaches attend who then contact them if they like what they see. I would definitely send a follow up email with a schedule and another invite to watch your son compete. Do you have a profile detailing his academic and athletic achievements?</p>
<p>Also make sure you know what the NCAA contact rules are for D1 through D3. They do vary. In the sport my D's play the D1 players have usually verbally committed before their senior year.</p>
<p>Thanks North Minnesota. Do you remember how many coaches your daughters were in contact with during this process? And no, we don't have a profile or resume. Would love to see any examples of these as I have no idea if one follows the typical resume format or something different...</p>
<p>D1 is also a jr in HS this year and is currently in contact with about 15 schools, D1-D3. She gets emails and letters from other coaches/schools several times a week and we choose to ignore or contact coaches that she hasn't initiated. It can get overwhelming for the kids and I think a parent should definitely be involved! She has made up her mind to stay close to home so she set a 5 hour drive limit. This eliminated some wonderful schools that would be good fits academically but she just isn't ready to make that leap. It appears that she is also focusing on smaller schools with lots of interest in LACs. I'll see if I can find a link to the template that we used for the profile.</p>
<p>Just in case you didn't know, D3 schools are forbidden to give out Athletic Scholarships. (Unless there are certain sports I am not aware of). Therefor, they need to concentrate on the student wanting to go to the school for academic purposes. Once there, they can hopefully talk them into getting on the team. Because of this ruling, their interest in an athlete is different. D1, D2, and NAIA are more proactive towards student athletes. They can waiver certain academic standards. D3 can't. Anyway, just in case you didn't know it, I wanted to mention it. D3 schools only offer normal academic merit and other scholarships and money. No athletic scholarships and such.</p>
<p>ahhhhh, not exactly the way it works. A lot of the schools that contacted D2 are, in fact, D3 and they are recruiting at this point. The coaches look at profiles and see the GPA and ACT scores and know they would meet the requirements for admission. They definitely talk to the kids way before admissions. Yes, there are no athletic scholarships but there are indeed many other scholarships that a good student involved in ECs qualify for. D1 qualified for many scholarships...academic, community involvement, church related, specific school types. No athletic $$$ but lots of other $$$ if you combine athletic skills and intelligence and the coach wants you.</p>
<p>Correct. that's why I said "they need to concentrate on the student wanting to go to the school for academic purposes." My point was that D3 schools might not be as PROACTIVE about it. I'm sure some are. D1 and D2 will be more interested in the athletic abilities. We have a basketball player who is now a Freshman at a very well known school in the country. The player was considered one of the best high school athletes in the entire country. His grades however weren't that good. He had to retake the SAT/ACT a number of times to get the minimum required for the school. His gpa was not very impressive. If not for his athletic abilities, he would never had been looked at. A D3 school wouldn't even try for him because of academics.</p>
<p>This however is the irony. D3 schools tend to be more unique. From a passage: "....Nearly 75% of D3 institutions are private or religious based and some are very distinguished. Since most are private institutions, tuition plus room and board is high, averaging in excess of $30,000 annually and considerably more expensive than most D1 or D2 schools. (D3 state institutions are considerably less expensive.) Thus, a good number of students attending D3 schools come from a higher socio-economic background. However, it would be a mistake to imply that all D3 colleges cater to a more wealthy student. Many D3 schools are quite diverse. Nevertheless, you often hear reference to D3 schools as the pay-to-play institutions....." Off-Season</a> Conditioning Program .</p>
<p>Anyway, you are correct that D3 can be active in recruiting. Just that they have to do it from a different perspective.</p>
<p>Have you submitted your information to the Ncaa clearinghouse yet? Go there and register and upload your information. the cost is nominal. </p>
<p>I'm a bit confused about your post. "Why aren't "all" the coaches contacting my child, why are some slow?" ;) Why do bees bee? </p>
<p>Some are going to jump, others have other kids they are interested in. If there is a specific school that you haven't heard back from that you're interested in, let them know. As much as you feel that your child is the best, the ocean is a big place, with many fish......</p>
<p>No offense meant, but be happy coaches are calling at all.</p>
<p>LOL! Interesting quote "pay to play"! D1 was able to receive a larger financial pkg at her private LAC than at D2 and D1 state schools! We were surprised and oh so happy to find out she was eligible for merit aid. It seems we would have been paying to play at the larger schools! :)</p>
<p>Thanks so much to both of you. I don't think there is much in the way of rowing scholarships for men anywhere! And of course none of the Ivies give athletic scholarships anyway. One of the things I am trying to figure out is if prowess in a particular sport is less of a hook at D3 schools than it is at D1 schools. </p>
<p>NorthMinnesota, I totally agree that the process can be overwhelming for the kids. He is emailing with 13 coaches and has really just begun. They all have his academic stats thus far. Do you think it is safe to assume that if they keep emailing him after receiving his stats, he at least has a shot with those coaches? </p>
<p>I really have no idea how inundated coaches are with emails and prospective athletes.</p>
<p>Hi OpieofMaybery2:<br>
Yes, he has registered with the NCAA. Believe me, I am glad the coaches are emailing. It's just that the ones who are emailing are from the best schools (i.e. best crew programs but also most selective academically). However, since once never knows what the future will bring, I would like him to be in contact with some schools that are not quite so selective (athletically and academically) in the interests of finding - as is so often stressed here - a couple of great safeties. The coaches from the less stellar schools have been less forthcoming than the stellar ones so I am just trying to figure out if, for example, they have less power to impact admissions and thus don't start the recruiting process as early as the schools with really standout crew programs...</p>
<p>Christcorp,
I clicked on the link in your response - very interesting! It seems to confirm the idea that D3 coaches have less influence on admissions than D1 coaches. I wonder if that is true even for highly selective D3 colleges like Williams and Amherst?</p>
<p>Most definitely. The student athlete at a D3 school got into that school with the same academic requirements and scores that the non athlete did. NYU is the largest D3 school in the country. No matter who the athlete; and their abilities; they need the same exact academic accomplishments as every other student.</p>
<p>Now, having said that, don't believe for a minute that being an athlete doesn't help get into the school. Remember; many school have a very long list of "NOT ACCEPTED" students. How many applicants to NYU or Williams and Amherst have a very good GPA? Probably most of them. Will all that apply get accepted? Hardly. However, most schools are looking for a "WELL ROUNDED INDIVIDUAL". Therefor, being an athlete most definitely helps you get into some of these very prestigious schools. </p>
<p>So, while the coaches may not have the influence over admissions like the coach at UCLA who wants that 2.0 gpa student because he's the best athlete in the country; playing sports makes your chances to get into Williams and Amherst much better than the non athlete.</p>
<p>I'm sure the reasons for lack of contact from coaches varies widely. In a small D3 program they may not have the staff, for one thing. Also they are usually pretty seasoned at this recruiting business and can tell very quickly whether an athlete is actually likely to go to their school. As you, yourself, always refer to these D3 programs as "safeties", you can bet they know that too based on your son's times or points or whatever they measure in crew. If there was a dedicated track athlete with times to compete in a good D1 team and the grades for a good D1 team at a prestigious school, a coach would probably be pretty dumb to waste energy on that recruit since he/she knows the kid is likely looking at their program as a fall-back. Coaches want to spend their limited time and resources on athletes that are likely to play for them. That's why coaches really like ED applicants.</p>
<p>My son was looking at D3 for his sport all along. It's a better fit athletically for him than the very good D1 programs, and he would rather be in a good D3 program than a weak D1 team. But mostly he was intersested in those prestigious little LACs because he wanted a small, wonderful school with great professors that he would actually get to know.</p>
<p>He contacted coaches at schools he was interested in, and mostly they stayed in touch with him. The funny thing is that coaches with very comparable teams varied in the expression of their interest. He would have made the same relative contribution to Team A as to Team B, but for some reason the Team A coach would be far more attentive and communicative than the Team B coach. So that is probably more a matter of personal style of the coaches, their activism in recruiting, or other variables we can't really know.</p>
<p>The school my son was most interested in as a school, that still had a team he thought he could both contribute to, but also grow into a better athlete with, was one where the coach was less communicative. He didn't seem as interested in my son as son's other top choices, however because the school was so attractive to my son he decided to apply there ED anyway. Once he told the coach that, the coach was great. He followed his application through the admissions process and my son was accepted. He certainly has the grades and test scores for this school even if athletics were not part of the picture, but thousands of kids with similar grades and test scores don't get in, so, yeah, I have to think the athletic piece was a help in getting accepted.</p>
<p>Thanks so much 'rent of 2. Much food for thought here. I didn't mean to imply that all D3 schools are "safeties" - not by a long shot. Williams, for example, is no one's safety. But because he would have a relatively greater impact on a D3 team than he would on a D1 team, I was confused as to why he was not getting as much of a response. Now I understand this a bit better. </p>
<p>You wrote: "coaches with very comparable teams varied in the expression of their interest." This is great to keep in mind. Of course, it's very exciting to feel courted by someone, but I suppose that is all part of how different people play this particular recruiting game. </p>
<p>Your son sounds like he had a great approach to the process - picking the school first and the sport second. Thanks very much for your help.</p>
<p>rent brings up a good point about why some coaches don't seem too interested until "after" enrollment. In some cases they don't want to overly court anyone as they neither have the budget or time to do so. They also may look at the stats and who else is in the mix and know they aren't in the running, so they don't over committ emotionally. </p>
<p>Good luck and remember to try to pick a place where if he couldn't row, he'd still enjoy himself. We're all just one injury away from watching our favorite sport rather than playing. </p>
<p>Also, something to consider about schools, if you couldn't do "your" sport for any reason from burn out to injury to coaching changes, are there other sports that would float your boat? Mine went from d3 soccer not working out to discovering Lacross, to now playing Rugby in med school. All the while having a ball.</p>
<p>Just went through this process in the fall with our senior d. She's a purty good athlete, and excellent student (5/450 at a strong high school).</p>
<p>The Ivies and other D1s were attentive in the summer and fall. D kept in touch with Ivies and DIIIs she was interested in (including highly selectives, matches and safeties) throughout July-Oct. The DIIIs sent emails and friendly notes, but did not pursue aggressively. She decided no D1s were of interest to her except Ivies. She ended up recruited by Ivies, chose one, applied by Nov 1 and was accepted in mid-Dec. Immediately following the mid Dec. decision date, the DIIIs called to see if she had committed to an Ivy.
Prior to Nov 1 she had received a likely letter from the one chose (it had an early admissions option.) The other Ivies offered likelies to match the timing of the schools' early admission deadline. She declined upon getting the likely from her true love.</p>
<p>My feeling was the DIIIs knew she was looking at the Ivies (she told them :)) and that she would know after mid Dec if that had worked out, or if she was still looking at DIIIs. My sense is they (the DIIIs) do have limited time and recruiting tools, so they give the student time to look at all options, and if the student is truly interested in them for all the right reasons (the non-sport ones) then the student will be banging on their door AFTER the D1 and Ivy options have been explored and rejected (or athlete has been rejected by same.)</p>
<p>I realize this timeline varies by sport, but this was our experience, for what its worth.</p>
<p>I agree that there are too many variables for us to understand as to why your athlete gets attention from one coach and not another at a comparable school. Our S was recruited equally hard by ivy's and D3 schools (including those you named). The D3 schools pushed hard early on, then learned he was really interested in an ivy and backed off some until he knew if the offer from the ivy would work out. We did have some situations (drop in interest) that we didn't understand at the time only to learn an explanation later (e.g. new assistant coach taking over recruiting, etc). Does your son have some idea about SAT's or ACT's scores yet? If he's in the window academically for the Ivy's and top D3's, then admission probably depends to a large degree on his rowing ability. The top crew kids from our S's high school are in great demand at the top schools - sounds hopeful for your son as well.</p>
<p>If your son is Div1 material, he might be unhappy competing at the Div3 level. Not that Div3 is not competitive, but obviously it is not of the same calibre as Div1. Sort of like playing on the intramural team when you could be training for the Olympics. At many Div1 schools, the athletes are treated like gods. (But not in the Ivy League - those athletes are treated like every other student - they all have awesome ECs).</p>
<p>In this process, remember that it is all about protecting your son's interests, not about pleasing coaches. Go and ahead a string along all coaches whose schools are of interest to your son until he has an offer in hand. Good luck!</p>