<p>My athlete D had been told by an Ivy she needs to commit by Nov 1, just over 3 weeks away. This Ivy her number 2 or 3 choice. She is also considering other Ivies and non-Ivies, but OVs are yet to be scheduled. She would like to allow the recruiting process to continue to a "normal" conclusion at the other schools, but is afraid of missing this deadline. Any advice on how to handle this situation?</p>
<p>We had a similar situation. Have your D contact her #1 choice and ask if she can expedite the OV. Nov 1 is going to be the commit day for a lot of athletes.</p>
<p>A lot of coaches want the recruiting process wrapped up by the November signing day. Our DD also needs to have a decision in by Nov 1st, but we knew that and are planning on that. She is done with all but 2 visits and is only going to consider those schools IF they come through with a nice package. Signing in November is pretty standard for most sports. The next signing day isn’t until spring and if your DD goes elsewhere and a coach held a spot for her, they are left with candidates they don’t really want. I don’t blame the coaches for wanting commitments in Nov.</p>
<p>Agree with the above, it is expected to be able to make a decision by this time if your kid is a wanted D1 athlete… Get on the phone and talk to coaches at top choice schools, be honest and up front and let the chips fall where they may.</p>
<p>Is Nov 1 a commit day for most sports? Does anyone know about XC/track? I know signing is in February.</p>
<p>A lot (most) schools that can support an athlete through admissions want you to commit to them by applying ED/EA - and the deadline for that is Nov 1.
That’s pretty much regardless of the sport.</p>
<p>[National</a> Letter of Intent Home Page](<a href=“http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/nli/nli]National”>http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/nli/nli)</p>
<p>Here is the schedule for 2012-2013</p>
<p>There is no “normal” in the recruiting process, and count your blessings! I am not sure that the process you are seeking - where a recruited athlete can harvest offers from a bunch of schools they may be interest in, evaluate them all and over the course of a few months make a decision which to accept - ever existed, but it certainly does not exist today.</p>
<p>Think of how many athletes would die to be in the position of being pressured by their #2 choice Ivy for an Early Action commitment.</p>
<p>That being said, I understand that the position you are in is not an easy one.</p>
<p>I would suggest that the first thing you do is make sure that #2 admissions is prepared to issue you a Likely Letter.</p>
<p>Then, as Varska suggests, contact the #1 choice and ask if they are prepared to issue you a Likely Letter. Their response will dictate whether to accept or decline the offer to commit to #2.</p>
<p>On the benevolent side, think of all the positions you will be opening up for other athletes at all of the other schools you were considering.</p>
<p>Excellent advice, alloutfor ivy. Also, it seems to me that if your child does not already have OVs scheduled at those other schools for before November 1, that is probably a sign that your child is not a top prospect at those schools. Taking an offer from a number two or three choice when it is a sure thing sounds prudent to me, but only you know your child and the extent of/reasons for his or her affection for choice number one.</p>
<p>Take the bird in the hand!,</p>
<p>Well, it seems in my D’s sport (XC/Track), come coaches like to give OVs after the XC season has ended. She has already been on one OV and leaves today for another. Two other schools want to make arrangements with her for OVs. The school she’s going to this weekend is very, very high on her list. She was wondering what to do if coach offers her a spot while on the visit.</p>
<p>editor–it is not uncommon for girls to fall off senior year in XC/track as their bodies develop so it makes sense to wait for some senior year times before finalizing their recruiting.</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone for responding to my question! Your responses have helped to clarify our D’s position quite a bit. Phone call scheduled today with #1 - which was actually requested by #1 and not us (now that she bumped her ACT to a 33, she is “ok to recruit”). #2 is offering a likely letter, #3 for some reason likes to wait until January or February which is very late for my D’s sport - they are non-Ivy but an excellent (and much cheaper) option. We will let them know also what is going on with #1 and #2. Yes, we very very much appreciate the very good position my D is in. She worked extremely hard to put herself in this position; her high school has never sent anyone to either #1 or #2. Will keep you updated on how this works out. </p>
<p>PLEASE COMMENT ON THIS: By the way, we the parents are in that “grey” area where we make a little too much $ to qualify for any need-based aid, and we don’t make enough to easily afford an Ivy. We believe, however, that in the end an Ivy education is an excellent investment and truly the environment our D will thrive in. Any comments on that??</p>
<p>It would depend on what she is planning on doing after she graduates. If she plans on working after she finishes her undergraduate degree then an ivy lealue shool is a good investment. If she plans on going to medical school then not as much because her ability to get into medical school depends primarily on her MCAT score, science GPA, and research and not which undergraduate school she goes to. If she plans on going to law school or MBA then her graduate school is much more important than her undergraduate school.</p>
<p>My son loves the Ivy he chose. I think the connections he is making make it worthwhile - I don’t think the academics are as special as we were led to believe (classes are large, TAs are uneven, professors (at the into and intermediate levels) are uneven). Now that he is into upper level courses in his major, the academics have improved.</p>
<p>While all hasn’t been as great as the illusion painted by the school, if he (we) had to do it all over again, he’d be at the same school. My D is now applying to college (non-athlete). She is applying to the same school (though it is not in her top tier of choices).</p>
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<p>From anecdotal evidence, Ivies have a way of determining (and providing) a lot of “need-based” financial aid for athletes that they are truly after.</p>
<p>UPDATE: D talked to #1 choice yesterday, she is not in yet, but still very much on the radar. I don’t want to talk about number of spots, etc, as I don’t want to give the sport away. Lets just say she is on the bubble. As some of you have pointed out, #1 also has the Nov 1 deadline, and will let my D know where she stands in a couple of weeks. </p>
<p>Thank you for all your responses and advice; keep it coming!! GolfFather I would like to believe your anecdotal evidence; but so far all indicators point to a big goose egg for financial support.</p>
<p>UPDATE: WAITING WAITING WAITING. #1 Ivy has talked to and emailed my D basically telling her to hang in there and she will know before Nov 1. So yes, thinking she is insurance policy for #1. There are SAT scores coming out on Thursday that will determine whether some on the list will make the cut academically. Last year this blew up on #1 and they had only a couple left on the list. Keeping #2 Ivy informed in case #2 changes their mind and want the Commit before Nov 1. #2 coaches are pretty experienced and go through this Nov 1 stuff every year so hoping they are cool with the wait game. Prepping Common App for both. </p>
<p>Any advice for how to play out this next week would be very appreciated! Not fair that parents and recruits only get to go through this once and go up against coaches who play this game of poker every year!</p>
<p>I would maintain good communication with school #1, #2, and #3. Remember there are NCAA restrictions which limit the number of times the coach can initiate contact with a recruit and for different sports different rules apply. In general I believe that a coach can initiate contact (i.e. call) only once a week but there is no limit on the number of calls that a coach can receive. I would have applications for both ivy’s ready to be submitted. I would Email all current information to all coaches (test scores, grades, and results). I would have D call coach #1 and ask him when he expects to find out if the other recruits had made the cut. On that day (or before Oct 30) I would have D call coach #1 back and then call coach #2. Before she made these calls I would discuss with D what she would want to do for different responses from coach #1. Good luck!</p>
<p>Commenting on Minnesotafats, who asks for input on whether “Ivy education is an excellent investment.” Yes, it is! I have a slightly different perspective than Swimkidsdad. I did undergrad at Ivy and professional degree at non-Ivy. In the decades since, every employer has taken note of the Ivy degree during interviews, salary consideration, etc. even though my undergrad major is totally unrelated to my professional degree/career path.</p>