My S is a junior and would like to swim at a D3 SLAC near a city, and he’s very interested in Pomona College. ACT as a sophomore was 34, current GPA 4.0 (unweighted), and AP Chem 5. According to collegeswimming.com, his best events (distance) rank him 4th against 2016-17 times but 2nd comparing his Fall times to 2017-18 times. This Fall he filled out the recruiting questionnaire at Pomona and received a response from the assistant coach which was nice. He later emailed the assistant coach an update of his times but didn’t hear back. About 3 weeks ago, he emailed the swim coach to ask if he would be around in April so we could buy our plane tickets to visit, but there was no response. Does this no response mean anything? Should we just assume the coach will be on campus in April? Thank you very much for any advice!
D3 season has started so coaches are most likely busy. If there are multiple assistants/coaches, include all on the email. Be patient, and follow up again within a couple of weeks.
I would not assume the coaches will be available on a specific day you will be on campus, and would definitely not book plane tickets on the hope they will be there. If you are planning on visiting during spring break, and have some flexibility during that week, another email indicating that would like to visit campus the week of April x, and ask whether there might be a better day or time to meet with someone from the program to learn more about swimming at Pomona.
Be persistent, and always CC the assistance coaches as they are often responsible for correspondence. I wouldn’t read too much into how your son’s times match up against the 2017-2018 times as they’re still toward the beginning of the season.
Thanks so much! That is what I was thinking.
Oh, and another really important thing. Don’t read too much into how responsive a coach is. Sometimes they communicate often, sometimes they take a long time to get back to you. Also, more than a few student/athletes have been very disappointed by seemingly very enthusiastic coaches.
I would absolutely give them some time. My son reached out last year around this time of year when he was a junior. Coaches are super busy this time of the season and really trying to finalize their list of seniors that they’re pulling in. Give them some time, but also I agree with being persistent. My son probably sent an email a month to just keep them up to date. We found that showing interest was huge.
I agree with @Midwestmomofboys: If you book the tickets, plan on being flexible. They may or may not be there, but chances are at least somewhat favorable that you may be able to speak with someone on staff. At the school that ended up being my son’s #2, the coach wasn’t there when we visited, but the asst. was and he also set us up with a team member to meet during the day. We still got a great feel for the school and the head coach got back to us immediately after our visit.
Good luck!
@kjs1992, agree that most D3 coaches aren’t done yet with recruiting as I don’t think any get all through ED I.