<p>So my (junior) d picked out some schools, filled out some recruiting forms and has received some e-mails back expressing varying degrees of interest in her as an athlete--we're talking Div III here. She's a decent athlete in her one sport of interest, and the website that was linked to from here indicates she has stats that make her recruitable. So now what? When the coaches e-mail the kid, what should the student do then? Mine very much wants to do the sport in college, but is self conscious about responding to these e-mails. What is the usual course of action?</p>
<p>I am a first time poster…but I have been lurking here on-and-off for a few weeks.</p>
<p>My Junior son filled out the on-line recruiting questionnaires for football in March (mostly FCS/DI-AA and D-III schools)…then mailed his hi-lite films with a resume, y-t-d report card and cover letter outlining his extracurriculars, athletic and academic accolades, volunteer work, leadership experience, etc…the following week - selling himself as a well rounded student-athlete. </p>
<p>I emailed coaches to coordinate meetings with campus tours and info sessions over April break… and my son sent thank you emails after the meetings. This has stirred up invites to Jr.Prospect Days and skills camps…and has generated a solid level of general intrest in him as a well-rounded student athlete. D-III coaches have been calling and emailing him directly to get a feel for his SAT test results and to encourage him to finish his junior year strong… they say they are looking forward to speaking with him (again, in some cases) at the different camps and showcases he has booked over the summer…where he should press palms with as many of these folks as he can muster. </p>
<p>He just sent out email updates to coaches/recruiters to let them know how is Junior year is winding down, and what his plans for summer are - including a list of camps/dates he will be attending over the summer. He will send more hi-lite and full game films from early in his senior season… and hopefully receive official campus visit invites before he has to decide where he wants toapply early decision. I can’t tell you what kind of results this will yield for my son… but it’s how we decided to cast the net.</p>
<p>quilll:</p>
<p>IMHO, the first thing that D should do is to find someone knowledgeable to give her a frank evaluation of what level school she should be aiming at for athletics. (You need someone who will be brutally honest). Assuming its not a pure stats sport (swimming and track come to mind) she should send game tapes of her self to coaches at the appropriate level and arrange to appear at recruiting events where they will see her.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks EMM1. It is a pure stats sport, as you say. She has looked at results from various schools in which she is interested (she isn’t going to be really choosing a school based on this, but doing her sport is an important aspect of what she looks forward to in college). For some of the programs, she would be competitive in their conferences right away, and some of the coaches have stated this in their responses to her recruiting forms. She is targeting places that would be an academic fit for her where her stats place her in range for their athletes in her event. We don’t have much guidance from the high school coaches, who just aren’t very familiar with kids moving up to the college level from this team, so my question really is what I said it was–when the school expresses interest in a kid athletically, how should the student respond to show interest but not be pushy, I think is what I’m saying. We are very new to this, so we really do appreciate your suggestion. How do you go about getting the evaluation of someone about her abilities? Someone besides the high school coach? There are no game tapes, just event results.</p>
<p>With my first son, I was afraid of him looking too pushy. (Luckily he did not listen to Mom and is headed to a great school in August) After visiting a few college coaches and seeing how busy they are and realizing how many potential recruits they hear from daily, we are much less timid with our second son. Coaches only have time to spend on truly interested recruits so they need to be informed about your interest level. Has she visited any schools on unofficials? Or she can email them with her most recent grades, test scores or meet results. Something to let them know that she is still considering their school. Some of these coaches are so overworked and given very little money to recruit. I met several coaches this spring at a national level event–most were staying with family or friends or they would not have been able to afford the trip. For my kids’ sport, unless you have Olympic Trials cuts, you really have to help the coach find you to find the best fit.</p>
<p>We just went through a Div III recruiting for my son. While academic fit was first priority, he also wanted to make sure that he would be able to pursue his sport in a supportive and competitive manner.</p>
<p>She should answer the coaches e-mails promptly, expressing ongoing interest in the schools (at least the ones she wants to pursue further). Make sure the coaches have her academic resume as well as an athletic resume. After that, plan a visit and take it from there.</p>
<p>If she’s looking at top schools, don’t underestimate how much this can potentially help her. For one top 20 school we know of, the admit rate for recruited athlete doing ED is >80% vs overall 20%. </p>
<p>The hardest thing for us was getting my son to put himself out there (sounds like your D) and sell himself. I think lot of kids are not comfortable with that, but its a good skill to learn.</p>
<p>My daughter was also very self-concious about responding to coach emails. The sport is a new one for her and she was unsure of her recruitability. In the beginning, I helped her a lot with wording her responses and making sure emails were answered in a timely manner. Once she went on unofficials in the spring and she could put a face to the name, it was a lot easier for her. At that point, she also had a better idea of what type of school and program she was looking for, so she was able to focus on the schools that are a good fit for her. It has definitely gotten easier for her as the relationships have developed.</p>
<p>My D went through the DIII recruiting process this year, and took an approach similar to MaryOC’s son - minus the summer camps/showcases. She had summer plans that precluded those kind of recruiting activities, so she knew she had to be persuasive on paper and in her highlight film. She sent a detailed resume that showed high test scores and a well-rounded kid that an admissions office would like, and a personal letter to the coaches explaining her interest in their program. When possible, she visited coaches informally at every college she visited. She promptly answered every call and email, and got more interest than we ever expected. She decided to go on only one invited visit, because it convinced her that was the place for her. She applied ED, after I had a long talk with the coach about the benefits of doing ED.</p>
<p>It’s hard to get a kid to market herself, but it helps if she thinks of it as applying for a job. In my D’s case, we’re quite sure the athletic piece helped her get into her “dream school”.</p>
<p>As others have said a lot depends on the sport. My daughter will be swimming as a freshman next year. She is not a superstar but had her choices from a sprinkling of DI scholarships and many DIII schools. </p>
<p>She eventual decided on the first school she visited after a very long process. She is the “never leave a stone unturned” type. The school is a very highly ranked DIII LAC and she couldn’t be happier.</p>
<p>IF I can help at all feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>Most important is to make sure she can get in academically. At the DIII level the coaches have very little, if any, say on who gets admitted. I just went through this with my son who is a nationally ranked tennis player. Best advice he received was from a coach at a top DIII program. He said “Chose the college as if you weren’t going to be playing tennis?” A lot can happen with a sport - injury, funding, etc. Your daughter needs to be happy with the school she selects even if she can’t participate in her sport. In the end, this advice cost the coach my son. He ended up deciding not to play his sport in college. He decided to attend one of the top universities in the nation (Berkeley) and play his sport at the club level… Best of luck throughout this process.</p>
<p>I agree totally with the “pick as if you weren’t playing” philosophy. I do disagree on one point and that is the influence at the DIII level on admittance. At some schools,even DIII, the coaches to have quite a bit of influence.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son.</p>
<p>Yes, at some schools they do, but at most, they do not. You can usually tell by the programs which schools the coaches have some influence. However, at the DIII program I was referring to, the coach had no influence at all. He could submit a list of the kids he was looking at, but that was it. And this was at a school consistently ranked in the top 3 nationally. My point is, make sure your daughter keeps those grades up. You don’t want her admittance to come down to whether or not she is a good athlete. You want her athletic ability to be in addition to her academic strength. It just makes her more marketable to the coaches. My son had tons or options because of his stellar grades (4.8 and the scholar of scholars for his class) and his athletic ability. The coaches loved the fact that they didn’t have to worry about his grades. Just something to think about…</p>
<p>Absolutely, I couldn’t agree more it varies from school to school. What I was referring to is what some people call tips. A coach will have so many “tips” which essentially mean if they support a student/athlete who has the required academic record the coach can usually get the student in.</p>
<p>For example, a swimmer will typically spend over 20 hours a week in the pool year round. Add to that academics and possibly a job and there is little time for ECs. MY D had outstanding academics but very weak ECs. I am quite sure that despite her academics her lack of ECs would been a real detriment and more than likely kept her out.</p>
<p>Totally hear you on that one. Same with my son. There are only so many hours in a day. A was really worried when he applied to the top universities where he wouldn’t be able to play tennis. He wanted to stay in California, so in his case UCLA and Berkeley. Between his academics and athletics, he didn’t have time for anything. He was a member of CSF and NHS and he played for the high school tennis team for four years (most at his level don’t do this). I guess it was enough because he did get in, but I was a wreck!</p>
<p>Sounds like a great kid. My daughter tried to limit her ECs to those which would specifically help her academically like NHS. She tried the student paper but just couldn’t commit to the time. She was up 3 days a week at 4:30 am for practice and 6 nights a week besides. </p>
<p>I would like to think that the admin offices saw that the lack of some of the fluff ECs was replaced by commitment for her passion.</p>
<p>Again best of luck for your son although it doesn’t sound like he needs luck.</p>
<p>Hahaha… Thanks. Same to your daughter. I don’t know about you, but I was especially proud of my son’s ability to stay focused on his goals throughout high school. It’s tough not having any time to do anything other than play tennis or study… For him, it was zero period every morning (up at 5:15) so that he could get out of school at noon. He would come home, eat, study, maybe nap, eat dinner, practice for 3 hours every night, return home to study. Usually he was in bed after midnight. This went on for four years! During the season, it was even worse because he would have to practice in addition to playing his high school matches. It was nuts! He definitely could use the “good luck.” Everyone at Berkeley for Engineering is exceptionally bright. The easy part is getting in. The hard part comes once you are there… Congratulations to you on surviving four years of high level athletic competition with your daughter. I know how tough that is! :-)</p>