<p>Today is August 28. Is it safe to assume that most official invites have been issued at this point? </p>
<p>Trying to prioritize and limit the number of visits and a little surprised we are still waiting to hear from a couple of schools. </p>
<p>Thx!</p>
<p>Depends on the sport. Guessing by your handle that you’re track. Unfamiliar with that sport.</p>
<p>Invites for track OV’s (Ivy and ACC) were mentioned during the summer but in some cases weren’t firmed up until September. If a coach has a set number of OVs he can authorize, it wouldn’t be unusual to get the invite a little later as he sees how things are shaping up.</p>
<p>If you are waiting to hear from schools that you are interested in within the same conference that you already have an OV for…pick up the phone and call those school. "Hey coach xxx, I was really hoping that I could get an OV from your school. I will be visiting school yyy ( same conference school) on this date. In our case, once a coach got wind of another conference school showing interest it was like “blood in the water”. July 1, dd had two Ivy schools interested in her, by Sept. 1 she had OV from 6. </p>
<p>Yes, the sport is track. Learning about your experiences with the process is really helpful so thank you all for sharing!</p>
<p>Startingblock – continue to contact schools you have interest in. My son was not offered any OVs until Jan of his senior year so you are doing very well! We got the impression that they focus on distance/cross country in the fall, (he does a field event). So don’t think if you haven’t heard by now there won’t be an OV. Coaches seemed to invite in order of their interest, so if you are their 2nd of 3rd choice they may be in touch with you later or be waiting to see if there is any issue with admissions if you have already applied to the school. </p>
<p>There are a few other posts on this topic, so read though some of the other threads on the timing of OVs. Be cautious about using up OVs early, you may find yourself with an offer at the end of a visit without knowing if you will be offered a visit at a school you may be more interested in. </p>
<p>Behind the scenes you have the head track coach, who is allowed to offer so many OVs, trying to evaluate his program needs next year. Then you have each event coach, lobbying the head coach to bring out the athletes he wants. The you have all the athletes - the ones at the top who are being offered OVs everywhere and coaches are waiting to see if they accept their visit offers. So there are a lot of moving parts in the picture. </p>
<p>SB - There is still plenty of time for offers of Official VIsits. I would say it depends on how active you have been on the recruiting front and in contacting schools. D was a track recruit and talked to plenty of coaches during Summer before Sr year. She was offered several OVs along with some unofficials. By this time of year she had only scheduled one OV as she wanted to see what all came along. School she ended up signing with didn’t even contact her until October - fell through the cracks after an asst coach left - and she scheduled a visit in December.</p>
<p>So there are a lot of factors and circumstances that can affect timing of contact and scheduling of visits. I wouldn’t count out getting invited for track OVs after this date. Track is great because its so objective - what are your times? If good enough they will get the attention of coaches. Then the visit is to judge the fit from both sides. </p>
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<p>Thx! We have been so focused on November and January app deadlines that later dates for OVs never occurred to me. I assume these are schools with rolling admissions, correct? </p>
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<p>Thank you for the context. I keep trying to turn a complex process into a simple one. Our goal of early decision closure looks tenuous at best!</p>
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<p>We were pretty active and cast a wide net. Good to know that he might get some additional consideration from schools. I am hesitant to post specific events and times for fear that it somehow identifies my son (seems ridiculous to write that). But, I will say that our experience shows that the D3s love his times and his academics, while the Ivys/D1s seem to be more responsive to his academic index than his times. Perhaps this explains why we are still waiting on OVs from several D1s since there are clearly faster athletes but we are all anxious, S included, to put this process behind us. </p>
<p>"…we are all anxious, S included, to put this process behind us."
Amen to that - the tension keeps building for the next couple of months - hang in there. </p>
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<p>startingblock,</p>
<p>If you are at this point in your search and realizing where you fit you have won half the battle. For us, this was huge and we knew it. For my son there was a huge difference between being on the team, and being able to play in games. If he wasn;t going to play (or given the opportunity to play) his time could have been better used with other academic pursuits. All coaches want internal competition, but the reality is not everyone can compete. So going into this with eyes wide open on these differences and understanding what your son brings to the table is very important. Good luck going forward!</p>
<p>Starting block – Certainly understand your hesitation on giving out too much info, we have all been there.</p>
<p>In my family’s experience, my son had solid academics and solid (but not stellar) performance in his event at the start of senior year of HS. The challenge was trying to figure out where to apply in time to be eligible for academic money before coaches gave us an indicator of where there was interest. Early on he had lots of contact from D3s and all told him they would admit him, but dollars offered were need-based only. Knowing where you fit in will help, and as others have advised, look at conference performances to see if you would be in the mix at any of the D1 schools you are interested in. </p>
<p>If admission deadlines have passed, The D1 coaches can give you a “code” for your application or notify admissions that your application is coming. It happens all the time. Problem is that all that can be offered to you after admission deadlines have passed is athletic money, coaches typically do not have any influence over academic dollars awarded and if you are trying to get both you will have to apply to a few schools in the hopes that the coach expresses interest later. We knew it would be unlikely that my son would be offered a full scholarship for track anywhere, as he specializes in one event. My son was clearly a second or third tier recruit for most of the schools he applied to until he posted solid performance during indoor of his senior year, Those that contacted him later in the year (Jan – Apr), because his performance improved, offered admission and nominal athletic money.</p>
<p>It gets tricky, but one other thing that we saw, is even when an OV was offered it did not mean that there was any athletic money to be had. It just meant the coach wants you on the roster and hopes your parents will pay for the privilege of you being part of the team…</p>
<p>My son got an OV at Rice in mid-November. He ended up being waitlisted there, but I’m glad he had the opportunity to visit the campus. It was a good weekend for him.</p>
<p>OnTrack - thank you for sharing that info on timing and finances. The algebra associated with academics, x athletics x finances is above my ability so far. I am sure with the benefit of time and more information we will figure it out. </p>
<p>MaineLonghorn - Good to know of a November OV at a great school like Rice. Probably perfect weather for recruiting that time of year!</p>