The current swimcloud NESCAC Women’s team rankings. 2 offers + 1 conversation
If you sort the rankings by championships rather than dual meets, it will align with the actual conference championship meet results. That’s what the coaches care about the most.
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In truth, D24 is diligently focusing on the academic offerings, the vibe of the team and the vibe of the school and the town rather than rankings. Many of you have said focus on the schools and coaches who show you love, and that’s very much where her focus is on. She’s actively meeting with existing swimmers before making a definitive commitment decision.
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That’s the right approach!
When does she has to given a decision? She can’t help too much time left. This part is hard!
Are these 2 offers at schools where your daughter was able to visit during her college tour this summer? If not, I do not envy her position of making a decision sight unseen. I know plenty of kids do, but it sure presents an additional challenge.
Websites for schools and towns have such a lovely chamber of commerce marketing vibe. I guess too late now as you are not likely to have her do an overnight from out of the country, but hoping she was able to see these places in person.
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I hope she is getting excited about her choices and has found a place she loves
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D24 found zoom calls with existing member(s) of a squad to be extremely instructive about team vibe, training, as well as the overall school experience as student/athletes, and very useful in helping her reach her final decision. For most international students, where the coach is able to organize it, it serves as a useful proxy to recruits unable to attend OVs, and complements regular admission presentations and campus tours.
Commitment decision time should roughly coincide with most OV schedules.
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I’m glad she was able to connect with the athletes that way. I know for my daughter, the overnight visits and getting the feel of the teams played a huge factor in her decision making.
on a related note, how do you keep an offer active when you have overnight visits scheduled that have not yet happened. The timing is so tricky. Don’t want to give up a bird in the hand, but too many unknowns to commit yet.
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Are you talking about an offer from the school that is the upcoming overnight visit? Or a separate school that has offered? The best practice is to ask the coach about an offer’s expiration date.
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Offer from a school after OV but with other OVs outstanding.
You say “Thank you, I am very excited for this opportunity. I have another OV in x weeks, and I am hoping to see that through before making a final decision.”
All you can do is be honest. Most coaches will be ok with that. They want athletes to be happy with their decision too. If they feels like he cannot wait, they will tell you.
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And I think you have to decide if you want to play for a coach who can’t be flexible, or who might think you should pick him on the spot. I can see a coach not being able to wait 6 weeks, but one or two? They all know the OV schedules and that everyone can’t go to an OV the very first weekend the visits are available.
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Agreed. It will give the athlete more information to help make a decision. It doesn’t change the course of action though. People feel like they can’t say there is another school in play, but coaches know that to be the case.
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I agree recruits should be honest about other schools being in play. But…some coaches do react poorly to not being the number one choice, and may require a very quick decision deadline, or I’ve even seen them pull offers when it became clear they weren’t the number one choice school (but that’s not all that common IME, just possible).
These communications can be difficult like @dogdoo said, especially for families and students who haven’t done this before and/or don’t have a coach or counselor helping them through the process.
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The athlete has nothing to loose. In that case it’s highly unlikely that he would have extra time to decide, and the offer would explode regardless.
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