<p>My son just got back from his recruiting trip and alcohol was offered. He declined and nobody cared. Girls in the dorm were shocked that he wasn’t drinking but everyone was more concerned about finding out what it was like living in California (school was in the midwest). Great trip for him.</p>
<p>OK, since I started this, I’ll offer my perspective after just taking 4 of these in a row. All were great and the schools did a great job of presenting themselves. I went by myself to all them, and was basically never alone on the trip. A coach picked me up, then usually dropped me off with a player that I stayed with for the weekend. Occasionally I would switch around rooms for more comfortable sleeping arrangements, and as the teams tended to be tight-knit groups, there was a lot of time spent with all the players. That being said, here are some tips I would’ve given myself beforehand now, so hopefully they can help somebody else.</p>
<p>*Come prepared with questions. For me, there were 5 or 6 questions I had about the schools, but, particularly at my first school, as I was less experienced, I felt that when talking to coaches, professors, etc. I would run out quickly, which made things a little uncomfortable and also conveyed a lack of interest, which wasn’t the case at all. So have some more particular, even remedial questions, ready for those lulls.
*Ask questions. Similar to first point, but ask questions about everything and anything to anyone and everyone. Talk to coaches, professors, players, and even random people you see walking around campus. Provided they love the school they’re at, they’re happy to talk about why they like it and why they chose it. “Recruit” is a magic word with just about everybody you meet.
*Bring a towel - I almost forgot this and it makes things much easier
*Bring a pair of non-competition shoes. For packing purposes, I thought it would be easiest to just bring sandals and my sports shoes, but there were a lot of times where it would’ve been easiest to just have regular shoes, and my sports shoes came home much dirtier than they were before.
*Explore the campus and activities and see how they align with your interests. Look at the social and extracurricular activities available, even if your hosts aren’t involved with them, and see if there are things that spark your interest. There might even be an opportunity to do something while you’re there. For example, at one of the colleges, Howard Dean happened to be speaking while I was there.</p>
<p>With regard to alcohol, it was offered almost every night I was on the road. There was absolutely no pressure to drink at any of the schools, but it was there, and I think this is an accurate representation of college in general. I would make a suggestion - if you don’t drink, and the team is going out, still go out with them. I think it’s important to get a good depiction of what life is like at the school, and if 4 nights of the week are spent playing pong in the basement of a frathouse, you probably want to know/experience it (water pong) before you make your decision. For parents, I think all you can really do is know you taught your children to make good decisions and be safe. My parents haven’t asked me about alcohol on the trip - they trust me to make my own decisions. Just like it will be in college, alcohol is there, but if the kid’s going on the trip, especially on his own, he should be mature enough to make the right decisions. Also, the coaches seemed to have a don’t-ask don’t-tell policy with regard to what the team did the night before. They kinda just lightly asked if you had fun and that was it - I think they get a pretty good idea from how the team performs at 9 am practice on Sunday morning.</p>
<p>10scholar, thank you for taking the time and effort to share your experiences for the student/athletes to follow your path.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>Thanks for your post, 10scholar. Your trips sound like my son’s. He said the team appreciated his trying to fit in and be social. They told him some of the recruits just sat on a chair in the corner!</p>
<p>^^Coaches often ask the team about this. My daughter is on a DI team and the team’s input of how they feel about the recruit carries a lot of weight with the coaches. They want someone who will mesh easily with the team chemistry.</p>
<p>That’s good news, keylyme! DS is very easy-going and the type who gets along with all different types of kids (unlike me!).</p>
<p>Great post, 10! So the next question is, did the 4 visits help you figure out what you want? Were there differences among the 4 teams/schools that surprised you in any way?</p>
<p>FauxNom, yes, they did. All of the schools were amazing, and like I said they each made a great case for why I should go there. I started with this list: 1. Georgetown 2. Amherst 3. Yale 4. Dartmouth. And after the visits I now have 1. Yale 2. Amherst 3. Dartmouth 4. Georgetown. As you can see, there was some significant movement. I think you can just get a general vibe from the schools. The first three (now) worked well socially for me, the last one didn’t. Beyond that, and especially between Amherst and Yale, it’s really just being nit-picky. Each has great perks, the one that just fit perfectly was Yale. If I’m offered a spot there, I’ll take it. If not, I’ll probably go to Amherst. Either way I’m incredibly happy, and if I could have a year at each I’d love it.</p>
<p>There were a couple of things that surprised me on the trip. Georgetown struck me as a little bit preppy/snobby/elitist (just IMO) and I didn’t get any of that at the others. Dartmouth was a lot more relaxed than I was thinking and not as party-oriented as I’d thought. Yale was much more warm, welcoming, and intimate than I’d expected, and much less competitive. Amherst’s intimacy was incredible, the professors were amazing, and the students were more diverse than I was expecting. So I’d say the visits did their job overall.</p>
<p>Just a couple other notes I meant to include about interacting with coaches, even though I’m by no means an expert, I think these are good things to do.<br>
*Show as much positivity as you can, at least while on the visit. You never know if your top offers might not come through, and you want to convey interest, unless you really couldn’t really see yourself at the school. And even then it might be a good idea - I heard a story from a guy visiting an Ivy who said he couldn’t see himself at the school at the end of a bad visit and the coach made him walk to the airport.
*Be as appreciative as you can be. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Just because everything’s being handed to you on this trip doesn’t me you can/should be arrogant, especially considering the coach is evaluating you as a person and how he sees you fitting in on his team. He’s not gonna want a great player who gives him headaches all the time.
*As is mentioned above, it’s important to interact/get along with the team well. This is considered, on each of the teams there were stories of guys who were turned away because they didn’t click well together.
*Put your best foot forward in things that might seem minor. I’ll give a little anecdote from my trip to explain this one better. At one of the schools the coach is very clearly focused on fitness and health, at least in his personal habits. I’d discovered this by the end of my visit, when we went out to grab some food before I was leaving. While waiting for our food (to go) he asked if I wanted any cookies that were displayed. As much as I wanted said cookie, I replied no thanks, to which I got a smile and “Eat pretty healthy, huh?” that I could say, “Yea, I try to” to. When soda was offered I took a gatorade. Might seem like minor things, but I’m pretty sure I scored a few points with this coach just from that little instance.</p>
<p>We’ve also noticed that the coaches love to talk a lot about their teams and runners. I suggested to DS that he take the initiative and ask the coaches specific questions about the team’s performance, etc. The coaches seem to like that!</p>
<p>10scholar,thanks for the very helpful posts. Did the schools that you visited give you a sense of timing? Did you get any offers that were time limited? I hear this sometimes occurs.</p>
<p>My son was offered a couple weeks to think about the offer of a likely letter. The coach said the school doesn’t like it if a kid requests one and doesn’t go to the school. But at least he’s given him a little time to think about it. I want him to jump on it now because you don’t know what might be behind door number 2 who wants it now.</p>
<p>@Morgan, I found out before the trip that certain schools like to do this. That’s why, along with my school situation (not all kids can do this), I took them all in a row. That way, everybody’s on a relatively similar timeline. I was told by the Yale coach that he would call a week after the visit - so I’m expecting one soon - and then give about a week to decide. He knows the other schools I visited and I told him I would be prepared to make a decision when the time came. I was originally scheduled to visit Amherst in late October but fit it in because I was concerned about deadline issues. He likes to have his recruiting done by the end of September. If (hopefully!) I get the call and the spot then I’ll take it and be done. Dartmouth said we would talk in October. Amherst and Georgetown left the ball in my court - they said I have the spot if I want it but didn’t give me a specific deadline. Everybody’s different but I would suggest you ask the coach or other kids because you want to have as much information as possible when you make a decision.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. Good luck 10 scholar and ChargerFans son. Keep us posted.</p>
<p>DS had something funny happen. After running a good race in a big meet on Saturday, he e-mailed all the coaches he’s been talking to. At one DI school, he wrote the recruiting coach AND the head coach, and mentioned he would really like to come down for an official visit (something the recruiting coach had said was a possibility). Well, the head coach MEANT to reply to the recruiting coach, but he accidentally responded to my son, instead! He said, “Do you know his track times? Might be worth a visit.” </p>
<p>So DS let the coach know he’d responded to the wrong person, and reiterated he would like to come down. Within a couple of hours, the coach wrote back and asked my son to give him possible dates for a trip! Whoo hoo!</p>
<p>Ha! Congratulations!</p>
<p>What a lucky turn of events! If only you could read all the inner communications!</p>
<p>Hey 10scholar, do you have any news to share about your prospects for next year?</p>