<p>Good morning everyone and my sincere appreciation to those sage 'old-timers' who still grace this board with their wisdom, especially the rowing gang :-)</p>
<p>Is there a general consensus as to how to prioritize one's OVs in the Fall - if given the option?</p>
<p>That is, is it most prudent to go to YOUR #1 choice college FIRST and try to 'seal the deal' early or is it more advantageous to try to schedule it as your 2nd or other # OV so as to have experience, comparisons, etc in place before 'commiting' and/or asking for that LL/support?</p>
<p>thank you kindly, in advance, for your insights and advice!</p>
<p>It may depend on your sport and when the coaches invite you, but if it were up to you then go to your #1 choice first - it shows the coach your interest, protects against the coach giving your offer to someone who visits before you, and avoids the uncomfortable situation of getting a verbal offer from another school and having to tell that coach you can’t give an answer until you visit your #1 choice.</p>
<p>Coaches will give you OV dates. Be flexible. Sometimes they have “preferred” candidates earlier. </p>
<p>Here is the deal–You can’t “love” all schools equally.
Schools each have a “corporate culture” as does the team.
You should have a pretty good idea about which schools you strongly prefer and use the OV to really vett out whether it is a match. Know yourself. Realize too that coaches change jobs. Consider whether you will love being at that school without your sport. Many things can happen, cpach changes, injuries etc. So be sure to consider if a school is a match without the sport - just in case…</p>
<p>You can overplay your hand by taking a lot of OVs and extra (self-paid) “officials”.
That has been done before by previous posters.</p>
<p>Frankly–if you get an early OV with your favorite school and are a top recruit…there is nothing wrong with “one and done”. </p>
<p>Also know that coaches talk–</p>
<p>Just this spring I heard a coach discussing how an athlete had accepted a LL to one school, only to then take a LL at another…The coach of this 3rd school was very thankful to NOT have that athlete on the team because of the attitude and reputation that athlete had acquired amongst coaches.</p>
<p>In a perfect world, I would advise you to take your OVs in the order of your interest in the school - IF that is possible. Some schools do have sort of “preferred recruit” dates so if they are really pushing for a particular date, I would do all you can to go with that. Other coaches are more flexible. But yes, if you can, take your 1st choice OV first, then 2nd, etc. Good luck!!</p>
<p>I wouldn’t rush to make my first visit your number 1 choice. I think there is a lot to be said for taking a “practice” visit at a school that you don’t think will be in your top three (if you can) to get a feel for how the visits work, what questions you want to ask, and generally to get comfortable with the process. Additionally, the earliest OV weekends are often immediately after school starts and everyone is a bit discombobulated and freshmen (who may well be your hosts) are just getting the lay of the land themselves. I agree that in general early is better than late for the reasons stated by others above, but don’t put much store in “first”.</p>
<p>I have to agree with a practice official… this is useful for two reasons: 1) You’ll know what to expect, what to wear, and have a better sense of what a collegiate team is like. 2) You may or may not get an offer from the first school, which you can push off for a few weeks, and then use as leverage for your #1 school (this only works if the programs are of similar speed).</p>
<p>I scheduled all five of my ov’s back to back, which was stressful but I actually found it useful because the coaches had a compact and concrete timetable to work with.</p>
<p>Sooo, assuming I am lucky enough to get OV invites from my top 5 schools (so far I have 2), there are 2 paths you guys are sharing:</p>
<p>PATH A:
first OV calendarwise = my #1 choice college
2nd OV = #2 " "
3rd OV = #3
and so on</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>PATH B</p>
<p>first OV calendarwise = my#2 choice college
2nd OV = #1
3rd OV = #3</p>
<p>Anyone else care to “VOTE” which path is the best strategy?</p>
<p>Also, how does one factor in where they think the athlete stands on the coach’s list? i.e. if you know your #4 wants you badly (you’re definitely a top 3 recruit on their list), do you move them up or down based on that?</p>
<p>again, all this assume when the actual dates come out that I have any choice!!</p>
<p>Are official visits (or just visits) usually on weekends or during the week? I would think they would go for 2 days during the week, but am not sure. Does anyone have an idea of what the schedule for a visit might be? i.e. meet coach, go to class, watch practice, dinner & sleep with someone on team, etc.</p>
<p>So, if you visit #1 school first, and you get an offer and you accept, do you still go on with remaining 4 visits? Or do you let the other 4 schools know that you already accepted an offer, and maybe call off the remaining ov?</p>
<p>If you’ve accepted an offer … and it’s a pretty much done deal … see previous discussions of likely letters and admissions admits etc … then you do not go on the rest of the OV.</p>
<p>However you order them, I encourage you to go into your visits with an open mind. What you think is your favorite school may not be once you visit.</p>
<p>Tallgirl,
My advice is based on the thought you have already visited these schools.</p>
<p>go play and xwords, there are lots of threads here about LL and Ovs…use the search tool. You will see alot of good information about how the OVs and LL process works. It varies with sport though some things are SOP</p>
<p>I’m with fauve on this one; visit your first choice first and hope you’re “one and done”. If you’re insecure or a little nervous and feel you need a “practice” OV, then go ahead, but I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. Just go in planning on a good result and take it as it comes.</p>
<p>Good luck, and I hope your first choice wants you as much as you want them.</p>
<p>oh fogfog hello – yes, i have had “unofficial” visits with my schools and met their coaches and taken the official Admissions Office tours and and Info Sessions as well as done my online research big time. It comes down to a 60/40 semi-tie for my 2 top schools and then the others i may get OVs at (another 1 or 2 more than my top 2 are looking definite for OVs) are far far 3rd, 4th and 5ths choices to me. </p>
<p>i am focusing my summer on trying to 100% figure out which school i would be most happy at “WITH A BROKEN LEG” ie in the sad case sports don’t work out for me for whatever reason in the worst case scenarios. I believe I know where my heart has been for literally years, but i am being encouraged over & over by others to make sure and to take at least that other 40% OV! Somehow I still feel I KNOW where I belong and will be happiest – again, my #1 for YEARS! – but i respect my advisors/family</p>
<p>And yes, I KNOW I am blessed to possibly have these 'champagne “problems”. Surely I have worked very hard athletically and academically, but I do know this is all an honor to be going through and I just want to do the right thing, the honorable thing and also the smartest/most prudent no regrets thing.</p>
<p>actually make that 70/30 or 80/20 if I am honest and listen to MY heart/mind … boy, when “advisors” are shocked you would not pick a certain school over another, it starts to wear on you, lol. But #2 is, well, #2 … unless, of course, #1 does not come through!</p>
<p>Tallgirl - I completely understand. For S, #1 was clear from the beginning, but with every visit to the other good options he went through the whole analysis again. In the end #1 never changed, but #2 and #3 went back and forth in his mind right up until the day his LL came from #1. I’m glad you seem to appreciate how fortunate you are to have this happy dilemma.</p>
<p>Similar dilemma for D. Back and forth between an Ivy and a T10 D1. Once she made a decision she never looked back and has no regrets. But it wasn’t easy. Enjoy the ride!</p>
<p>I think it’s really a function of the coaches, the sport, the school and their schedule and the athlete being recruited meaning if you are a top five recruit versus a top 150 recruit. In my daughter’s sport being a top five recruit means of the top six schools you get a look, in the three programs where they place a premium on winning you get a serious look in the other 44 programs you need to get into the school first before they give you any consideration. Because of that the top 1-4 athletes get recruited and everybody else is on their own and when you are in that category and get an OV you go right then and there versus saying well maybe it’s not my first choice.</p>
– yes, i have had “unofficial” visits with my schools and met their coaches and taken the official Admissions Office tours and and Info Sessions as well as done my online research big time. It comes down to a 60/40 semi-tie for my 2 top schools and then the others i may get OVs at (another 1 or 2 more than my top 2 are looking definite for OVs) are far far 3rd, 4th and 5ths choices to me. </p>