<p>I am wondering how the logistics of official visits work. </p>
<p>My child has been offered several OV verbally/email and has picked and committed to dates the coaches have given. Child seems to have been left hanging past that point. When exactly do they give you the details of the visit etc? Do coaches often give out dates and then you never hear from them or is giving you a date for an OV an official commitment to the OV? One coach in particular gave him a date in august for an Oct visit and we have heard nothing since then. I also spoke with the coach at that time and he said it was a done deal at that point but now I am wondering.</p>
<p>I am concerned that my child is keeping these dates open for the verbally committed dates and that my child is getting a blow off before the visit and could slot in another school. </p>
<p>When flights are being booked, what kind of lead time do coaches generally use, weeks, days? </p>
<p>It would appear there has been a break down in communication between your son and the coach. At this point in time, it would be wise for your son to call the coach to re-establish communication and re-set expectations. He should specifically ask about the OV that was discussed some time back. I would then listen very closely to how the coach responds. If the coach hedges or is not clear with his response, they have probably moved onto other recruits. If not,then you can set an Ov date.</p>
<p>They will handle the all travel logicistics. My son did not fly on his OVs but my best guess is they will give you a few weeks notice. Good luck.</p>
<p>I understood that communications re OV can only be verbal and there’s nothing in writing unless/until a LL is issued. Your S should call coach and pin down details about arrival/departure times. Depending on the sport, they might not pay airfare, but pay for everything else once you arrive. I would not assume coach not interested and has moved on to other recruits simply b/c you haven’t heard. They’re busy and recruiting is typically one of other multiple parts of their job. Tell your S to re-contact those schools he really wants to see on OV. Lead time is typically weeks, but could be less if local school.</p>
<p>I agree with Fenway- your son should call the coach and ask about the official visit. S was in contact with the coach offering OV at least every 2 weeks after july 1 (coach would call and S would send email updates about awards, ect ). Ov details were sent via email and flights were booked about two weeks prior to the visit.</p>
<p>We were just going through this. My D has back to back OV’s - just flying home now from first one - and will go on second one this coming weekend. She set them up over the summer. We too did not hear much from the coaches for several weeks, so D emailed/called and asked if they needed any more information from her in order to make her travel arrangements. They both responded right away. In both cases we got the travel/flight info approx. two weeks before the visit and the actual visit itinerary the Monday before the visit. It definitely makes you sweat… But again, as other posts have said, depending upon the sport, many coaches are very busy right now. Definitely reach out to the coaches so you’re not left hanging. Best of luck!</p>
<p>I completely understand your concerns. My D is on her first OV right now. She flies home tonight. She has her second scheduled for early October. Coaches asked her what dates she was available. It took some time before she heard back from them with confirmations. On the trip she is on now, she didn’t get her flight info and itinerary until just a few days ago. Coaches are incredibly busy right now. Have your child call the coach (and keep calling until the coach is reached). I’m sure it will all work out.</p>
<p>Our situation is similar. D is going this Thursday for 1st OV. We have given another coaches 2 dates and she said she will get book one that will give her a non-stop flight, but we have not heard back. We planned with another one for some dates in mid Oct, still no words yet. But this one we just started the contact very recently (last 3 weeks). The 4th coach gave us dates via email and we replied back with the best date that we could come out and we did not heard back either (this one is the one we have to pay our own way). Out of 4, the 1st one seems to be most organized from the very 1st email contact. They seem to be on top of things. The first 3 schools, coaches contacted us. Only the last one, we were the one initiating the contact. I don’t know how to read the situation either. All 4 schools seem to fit my D athletically almost equally.</p>
<p>panaluu and other posters- I hope you keep posting and let us know what happens with your children as they navigate this process. Not only am I learning, but it also helps me feel that I am not alone in finding the recruiting process frustrating and unclear at times.
Everyone else on D’s team seems to tell of success and scholarships at every turn, no one shares their insecurities. Thank you so much. I am rooting for all of your kids!</p>
<p>imafan,
I would agree with you on that if athletics is her number priority. Academically, #3 is best, followed by #4, then #2 and #1. And I’m not referring to rankings. I’m looking at fit. I’m looking at graduation rate, peers with similar or (a little lower GPA and SAT, so we will get some merit aid, but not too low that it’s a mismatch) and % of part-time students and demographic spread. The GSR and GPA of the student-athletes are very good at #1 . But, she wants a traditional college experience and #1 has too many part-time students and more URM students (I think that accounts for their lower graduation rate). If somehow, she ends up not doing the sports, I don’t think she would be very happy with the general population.</p>
<p>imafan makes a great point with “go where you are wanted” - I wanted to point out that it works both ways - coaches want to know that YOU want THEM as well. If your child scheduled an OV in August but hasn’t been in touch since, there’s a chance that he/she is leaving the impression that this school is not high on his/her list. Best advice we got was to be very diligent in follow-up. You don’t need a big reason to call or email - tell them about a game you just played or watch their website and comment on a game they just played. Mention something school-related (“just got my SAT results” or whatever). Or just a simple “hey, just wanted to say hi and I can’t wait to visit in Oct”. We were told by former coaches that if they have multiple kids on their list that are close in talent (which they probably do!), but one is making it very clear that they are VERY interested, that kid has an advantage.</p>
<p>My DD is going on her 2nd trip this weekend. Last week she had to fly, and didn’t hear anything (flight details, agenda, hosts, etc) until Tuesday for a Friday morning flight. This week there is no flight (driving her) and she didn’t get the agenda until Wednesday. I think the coaches are just really, really busy this time of the year and are taking it one weekend at a time.</p>
<p>We were still getting info on who was picking D up from the airport, etc. on Thursday morning- for a thursday afternoon flight! I think they have a lot of kids coming in, both boys and girls teams, and its a lot of work to balance all the schedules. As a parent, it would be nice to have a few more details, but I am trying to just go with it. D is at a OV right now and I would love to peer into my magic ball and see how it is going :)</p>
<p>Panaluu, Carla2012 and dtchgrl,
Just want to share some of our experiences. DD came back from OV#1. She is going to school X this friday. This one was coming out of the blue. We thought coach lost interest, but she contacted her a week ago to see if DD still wants to come. This one is local, so we’ll be driving (less than 2 hrs away). #3 has come back with firm date and tentative flight time. Coach also mentioned some good news about academic scholarship (cross our finger). #2 has been calling a couple times and now we are firm on a date, but no flight ticket yet. The only one that did not come back is #4, but we have not contacted them back either. I figure 4 out of 5 aren’t bad. She can’t keep missing school as she still needs to keep her grade up.
Panaluu,
Have you tried to contact the coaches again?
Good luck to all of your kids.</p>
<p>Techmom13- thanks for the update. DD is doing 3 OV’s. She feel she can’t take time away from school for more than that, but I may push her to do one more.<br>
What happens when she decides where she is applying? Is there anyway to keep options open with the other schools just in case it doesn’t work out?</p>
<p>Carla2012,
I’m wondering about that too. We have some verbal figures from OV#1. The majority of the money will be academic. She is a shoo-in at this school as far as academics is concerned. But it’s her last choice. Her top choice will be her last OV. After that, it will not be long before NLI. Maybe some parents here that have experiences with that can help us out. Do they spell out everything in the NLI? What if you don’t sign within 14 days of receiving NLI? Is it gone for good?</p>