<p>D is lucky to be receiving invites for officials - quite a few more than the 5 max. Can someone whose D has gone through this process for rowing before offer advice/share their stories for "committing" to the officials, what July 1 looked like, and when coaches started to say - here's my offer - take it or leave it with this deadline.</p>
<p>July 1st was a really busy day for my D, and you are right in that it can be a lot for the recruit to juggle. She was thrilled to hear from some of the schools who rang on 1st July, and surprised by the interest of others. It did seem that many coaches were pretty intuitive to the level of her interest in them by early July, and I imagine that her level of enthusiasm came through in her various conversations. Some coaches were openly miffed when she declined their OV offers, which made her feel quite awkward - she did take all 5 OVs allowed. The “take it or leave it” conversations didn’t come into effect until the autumn.
Congratulations on those OV invitations, and good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks Mayhew - and you know the selection invite helps. Were the coaches there any help in the process when your D was there?</p>
<p>No, the coaches at selection were not involved in any conversations with the girls about the process. Sort of funny though as a couple of the coaches there had been recruiting certain girls throughout the spring. But there was a definite line that was not crossed - while at selection, that is what the coaches were focused on - no chatting on the sides trying to pick up or influence a recruit. Very professional. However, LOTS of talk amongst the girls, needless to say!
And it was a bit tricky for the girls at selection camp because they are out on the water for a good bit of the day, so actually taking a phone call or having a conversation more than one minute long was a challenge on the 1st. Yes, it was our impression that the selection invite definitely makes a difference.
However, probably the majority of girls get recruited to fantastic schools/teams while never having been noticed by USRowing, etc. obviously :)</p>
<p>My D also received invite to selection, and received several official invites already. With most big rowing schools are also great academically, it’s really tough to choose! And then there’s July 1st phone calls! Now that the youth nationals are over, told D to spend time really researching schools and settle on a top 5 – the list kept changing for the past several months!</p>
<p>imafan and goplay: This is a really exciting time for your girls - quite stressful but also quite thrilling - ! I wish you & your Ds the best of luck with everything, and remember, that everything ultimately works out just the way it is meant to, even if that is hard to see and believe during this often unpredictable process. When the dust settles, your D will surely find herself at the place that is just where she ought to be 
Good luck!</p>
<p>Mayhew, so I was thinking yesterday that my D will get 3 kinds of calls on or after July 1. #1 – she’ll get calls from her top 5 choices #2 – she’ll get calls from schools she could consider, but that are not immediate commitments for officials #3 – she’ll get calls from schools that are really not on her radar at all, and it’s unlikely that she’ll need to continue a dialog with these coaches.</p>
<p>I was thinking of helping her prepare a list of choices in each category and a “cue-card” conversation for each of those three categories. Any suggestions for how to tell colleges in group 2 that you’d like to continue conversations, but you’re not ready to commit to an official – and group 3 that while their school is really great, you have options right now that you’d like to pursue.</p>
<p>Any help in wording would be Great!!</p>
<p>imafan,</p>
<p>We are struggling with the same issues you have. Actually, I need advice for group2 right now - D has received official invites, one of them was from a school which is not on her top list right now but she could consider if she does not receive one from her top list. What should she tell this school?</p>
<p>I just stumbled across this, and as a current HS junior find it extremely helpful.
A question for mayhew, or anyone with a recruited OW D, what were their stats?</p>