<p>We have one D1 school coach who told my D that they don't offer OVs. The reason is they want to reserve the money to award athletic scholarships instead of spending it for recruiting. We are considering doing an UV, but as this is an OOS school, I would not want to waste our money/time if we don't know if she would qualify for some merit/athletic scholarships. We are not expecting a full ride, but anything would help to make an OOS tuition closer to in-state cost would be of tremendous help. Would it be considered rude or forward to tell the coach that she will come visit if we know a bit more about the FA picture? Any advice is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>There are some D-I schools and some programs within schools that can’t afford what the big-name, big-money programs can. All D-I schools are not created equal.</p>
<p>It can’t hurt to ask the coach, but if they don’t have that in their budget… then it’s not there.</p>
<p>If the school is a good match for the student–spend the money on a visit yourselves.</p>
<p>I cannot stress this enough. These visits are very helpful.
Our student did OVs and we also paid for an UV at a school for a D1 sport.
That UV was very illuminating. </p>
<p>With the amount of $ your family will invest in 4 yrs of college, the bit spent on the visits will be well spent —to help your student get a feel for that school, classes, team etc.<br>
We flew our student in-- and paid for the taxi and all meals etc. The team provided a place to sleep. K1 went to classes (enjoyed) and practice etc… it was things at practice and the general daily living issues that determined for K1 that it wasn’t nearly the fit that the other school was…It took the school that had been a #1 or 2 choice for 2 years and relegated it to about # 3 or 4…</p>
<p>In the end K1 choose top choice #1 and the LL was in the mail. So spend the $/time - your student will be glad you did.</p>
<p>In the end, your questions about money are ones that should be addressed to the coach. If he is interested in your daughter he’ll let you know if there is any athletic money available.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if this is a school your daughter is interested in attending anyway, visiting the campus is an important part of the search process.</p>
<p>I think if there are no OVs @ this school for your sport, then the coach must be pretty used to talking about money over the phone, right? After all, not all of their recruits are going to visit if there are no OVs. And the recruits need to compare the schools whether or not they visit, so in theory all or most of the recruits are asking about this over the phone, I would think.</p>
<p>My D declined an OV invite at one D1 school (she prefers not to do D1) and the coach immediately brought up all the financial factors–merit awards that she would get, athletic money available, etc. I think they’re used to it. You don’t have to tell them that your UOV is conditioned upon the financial offer–you can just ask them what kind of support your D is likely to receive, and then plan a visit based on the answer.</p>
<p>Hi,
I agree that visiting the campus is part of the process and we’ll definitely visit the schools once we know that she is accepted and see the FA package. But looking at it realistically, there is no reason to visit, if the school is out of reach without a shred of FA. D’s career path will require graduate school, so it’s not 4yr we are talking about, but 7 yrs. We need to stretch the money as much as we could. There are great in-state institutions that she can go to and I know she will be happy at. My question is how to approach the coach without offending him. Like I said, we are not asking for a hand-out, we are willing to pay for what it would cost if she goes in-state.</p>
<p>LivesinHobbiton,
Thank you for that advice. That’s a good way to do it. Now I just need to coach D on how to say it !-)</p>
<p>Techmom, I agree with your approach. I think you should ask about athletic money and also merit money, and you shouldn’t visit unless you are pretty comfortable with the answer. Also, if you visit, the coach may try to pin your D down and get her to commit…if you haven’t discussed money specifically for that school with your D or the coach, your D won’t know how to rank order all her choices and compare this school specifically. I would definitely ask what kind of athletic money is available, and also ask the coach if he can shed light on merit money…there was one D1 coach who told us flat-out in email that his program was fully funded and he was more than willing to talk about this without any visiting. I don’t think you would offend the coach at all.</p>
<p>Is there a financial aid calculator on the schools financial aid webpage?
That might be helpful.
Also have you looked at the FAFSA and Profile.
If you are committed to only spending what an instate school would cost and won’t be able to afford the other schools without significant aid, you might want to do some checking first about what you qualify for regarding need. Also the fin aid page should give some ideas about what merit aid there is as well. Some schools stack need, athletic and merit money.
Also know depending on the school, aid will change from year to year if it is need based aid…and you/your student will need to provide all tax info etc to be reviewed.</p>
<p>Their webpage on financial aid is very vague. It says there is merit scholarships from $1000 to full ride, but there is no set of "numbers’ that they use to reward a scholarship, but they look at the whole of a student’s record. Regarding athletic scholarship, they refer to the coaches.
I’ve done a quick EFC calculation. If they will pay the difference between the complete cost and EFC, I would be happy to pay it. But sadly, I’ve too many tales that it’s not true.</p>
<p>What is the most important issue here?</p>
<p>If money is an issue, than the school and coaches feelings are all secondary. It seems that money and student fit should be paramount to anything else, now in my college experiences many a parent has turned down a four year academic scholarships because D/S wanted to dive, swim, or participate in a non-revenue sport that doesn’t lead to anything but enjoyment and at the same time many a kid accepted anything from anyone and they enjoy a pro sports career in the US/Europe/Australia/Asia-------so getting back on point. If you are looking at money(at least enough) to make it comparable to the in-state alternative why does the coaches feelings matter?</p>