What does it look like for Senior year spring (April signing date) recruiting? How does it work? I know the ins-and-outs and expectations for fall, but am unclear about spring. I am aware of many swimmer/divers who sign in April, but how does Public vs Private universities and the application deadlines of January 1 come into play? Child2 has been a national level competitor for years, then had an injury which resulted in surgery Junior year. Coach interest was strong throughout this past spring for fall recruitment with child expecting to return to training this summer. But as coming back was pushed back a bit, it caused child to miss the most recent competition season, and dialogue has waned. Child2 is in NHS with a 3.7 weighted and above average SAT scores, scheduled to retake in the fall. If SAT scores are bolstered and footage presented demonstrating successful competitiveness, how could it play out? Thank you for your thoughts.
Boy or girl?
girl
Your hs coach generally has connections to college programs. If not, depending on the program, you can send videos of recent meets.
I guess the question is…if a college is interested in the spring of Senior year, it is, generally, past the January deadlines for most colleges, so how does that play into it?
Those with more experience than me will hopefully weigh in here, but here goes anyway:
I think that the most important piece will be continued communication with the coaches. It would make sense to target schools/programs where you’re confident that they’d want her as a swimmer, and that are also an academic match – keep the conversation with the coach going (even if it’s largely one-sided). I don’t see the downside (other than the application fee) to her applying to these schools by the January 1 deadline, even if you’re not clear whether they’ll ultimately want her or not.
If you’re looking at selective academic schools, most of them don’t release their decisions until mid to late March (see posts 1012 and 1013 on this page http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1740254-admissions-notification-dates-2015-p68.html). If she’s back in the water by then (more so if it’s clear even earlier that she’s well on the road to recovery) it’s certainly possible that there will be time/opportunity for the coach to push for her admission with the adcomm. Given how good of a swimmer she is I’m sure that there will be many programs that would gladly find a spot for her on the team, even if they’ve filled their slots through earlier commitments (some of whom may have already dropped out for some reason or another). If you look at the ‘commitments’ tab on swimmingdotcom there are lots of really top swimmers who don’t announce their school/commitment until April of their senior year. ?Maybe many of those kids knew their fate earlier and only announced then, but it really does appear that there are top swimmers (collegeswimmingdotcom power rankings in the single digits) who don’t get admitted to their schools until the regular decision cycle plays out.
Again, hopefully someone with more direct experience can also comment.
Mom, you also need to think about financial ramifications if your daughter gets re-injured while on a college team. She would still have to pay tuition and fees if she’s sidelined from the team for a while.
We had to think about this when my daughter was being recruited for tennis. She had an injury that she was concerned might get re-injured.
Many thanks for your thoughts.
I wouldn’t put off recruiting because she is currently injured. Most coaches will be putting the team together in the fall, and some of those will sign but others won’t be ready to commit. If you are looking for admissions help more than money (D3 mostly), keep talking to them, tell them your application progress (ED, EA). The coach can still have influence in the spring with the admissions office if your daughter gets more commitment from the coach.
Some schools will make an exception for an athlete and accept a late application for admissions, but I don’t think I’d chance it. Keep the recruiting active. If a coach isn’t ready to commit because her injury isn’t healed, that’s fine but apply anyway and then keep the coach informed of her interest and progress.
My note above was written from the perspective of admission, not money. I didn’t think that there was a whole lot of money in women’s swimming, and the OP’s daughter’s academic stats were very good. So some of what I posted may be irrelevant, by not considering how an athletic scholarship would fit into all of this.
I was mainly coming from the point-of-view of admission support. Thank you, again.
I am very new to the recruiting process but there are two things I would add:
1.) Swim4school, a veteran swim parent on this board, recommends that swimmers who want to be recruited need to be aggressive and polite at the same time. She should continue communication with coaches and be proactive. AsleepAtTheWheel said this too. Don’t let her slip off the radar. You don’t want them to forget about her.
2.) A lower lever D1 school that S is looking at had two boys commit in April. I have read that major D1swim programs add one or two swimmers very late in the game, although some of those seem to be international students.
Good luck and I hope she recovers from her injury soon!
A couple of thoughts:
- January 1 admission deadlines don’t really mean much unless you are thinking D3. If you are still thinking D1, which sounds potentially correct, then don’t worry about the deadline. That’s the least of the issues. There are many who make decisions after Jan 1 who are in pools in the NCAA right now.
- What would concern me more is that you view “interest has waned.” Well, it has to, because recruiting coaches are paid to fill rosters with the best athletes they can find that are willing to go to school at their university for the modest amount of swimming money available. They are going to fill the majority of their rosters in the Fall, if at all possible, then have little money (although perhaps a spot or two) in the Spring for a swimmer of interest or who fills a void in stroke or sprint in their team. Your job, and your swimmer’s job is to review the communications, and see how things play out. Here’s what I would do if she were mine:
a) routinely update coaches on training, rehab, and strength/conditioning if any/all are appropriate. Back in the water swimming 2000 yards a day without stopping? Let them know. Working out on exercise bike? Lifting weights? Anything to indicate progress towards full recovery.
b) think through if you are willing to go the “full disclosure” route and have the MD talk to the coach about recovery. There are pros and cons to that approach. Remember that the swimmer will have to pass their pre-training physical at the athletic department, so there’s no hiding most big things–which is right for the university who is spending educational dollars on your child.
c) Map out the goals to get faster and better…talk about any support required in college from the training team.
d) Think hard, really hard about a list of potential schools that your D would like to go to, and you could afford, if she never swam a whole swim season in college, and retired. College swimming is brutal, and although she may have a full recovery, she may not be able to manage a full college season. Think about how to sell a coach that she can. - Be patient. This sounds like a tough situation. Remember to be patient with coaches too as they are filling their rosters and doing their jobs. Continue the dialog–let them know your D will be a spring recruit. Note that a spring recruit is simply someone who is not yet able to commit on November 15th. They still commit throughout the year–late November, all the way to April. Often coaches who pass the November signing period with a few gaps in their rosters will push hard to line up the rest of the roster in the late November to early January time period. The athlete commits, but can’t sign until April.
- Video is fine, but in swimming, its really about the times. She obviously had good national level times and is very smart–the coaches simply need a story that she’ll see those good times again.
- Think about her recruitability-does she have a good story to tell a more moderately competitive team who might be academically appropriate for her? She’s smart, her career will be based on her education, not on her swimming. A less intense program might be a fit for her post recovery. Its hard for me to judge–since we know very little about her.
- It could be that a gap year is ideal here. I am not a big fan, especially with girls, but if you think a year in the pool at a club team would get her back to full form, then you should consider it-at least think it through.
- All of this doesn’t apply if she was thinking Ivies or other schools where likely letters and slots are the norm.
Best of luck to you and your D in her recovery and return to swimming.
Mine went for the schools he wanted with his applications because he was not fast enough in swimming to sign/commit to a school in the fall he really loved even though he took several official D3 visits. In the end he was accepted to a few big D1 and powerhouse D3 programs. March of his senior year, he clocked times good enough to walk on to a major D1 program where he had already been awarded academic money totally independent from his swimming. I advise go for the schools you want because you never know what will happen and be prepared for the financial commitment. I am now facing this again with another one who is not so academic and this will be a completely different experience.
Thank you for all the advise. It was an exhausting process with lots of twists and turns, but her hard work persevered. She will be attending the college of her choice and continuing with her sport. Thanks again!
@marlihydor – Oh come on. You can’t leave us hanging like that. Where is she going?
She ended up taking three official visits from within the top 12 Division 1 universities (according to USNWR), eventually being offered a spot by two of the schools and accepting an offer from her first choice. It did not become her first choice until after the OVs. It was quite a turbulent ride. Very different from my other student athlete.