the school visits ranged from 40k students city campus to middle of nowhere LAC under 2k students. interestingly, taking aside academic fit, she expressed a liking from small to biggest school, knowing full well the experience would be quite different, including the classroom setting environmen, faculty attention, advisory, counseling time and advice
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I would think she would be able to at least have a conversation with the McGill coach and determine how competitive she would be for a spot to compete for the school - or at least see where her times fall. With them attracting D1 level athletes to their already strong team, I would think that the ability to make line ups and actually compete may be a concern so if swimming in meets as part of the team is important to your daughter, a coach supported application to a school where she is being actively recruited may be more attractive then the possibility of getting a spot (sort of like an unrecruited walk on, it seems) even if McGill may have the “stronger” international reputation.
This recruiting game is not for the weak and it requires our kids to do a lot of thinking, have a lot of hard conversations, and have to make tough decisions a lot earlier in the process then non athletic applicants. Hopefully she lands in a place she loves and that loves her back
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she had an in depth conversation with the McGill coach, and the D1 equivalent times corresponded to cuts that historically have always secured a spot. As it stands, she’s #5 on his list, but he also told her that the Canadian process means that many swimmers will be contacting him after having submitted their applications since admission comes first at McGill. She’s done her homework, and has adjusted her overall approach accordingly.
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It also looks like many Canadian university swimmers are graduate students, which is an additional wrinkle. The average age of rosters is much higher than for U.S. colleges/universities. That would substantially impact team dynamics as well as likelihood of securing a roster spot.
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I agree that your daughter should pay attention to the size of the town, the size of the school, what else there is to do in the area when she’s not swimming. Being an international student, she’s not going to be going home for weekends or short holidays. You’ve not said where you live but if you live in a decent size city, going to Grinnell Iowa is going to be a BIG culture shock (going to Grinnell can be a big culture shock to someone from Chicago or Kansas City, never mind from Europe or Africa or India).
My kids looked at a lot of schools and some we could rule out immediately, including very small D1 Presbyterian College in Clinton SC. Just too small and too remote for either of my kids (and they were both looking for small schools). They both would have thought McGill was way too big (although one said, after only a few months in college that she could have ‘done’ FSU - the difference between a 16 year old looking at a huge college and an 18 year old college student with ‘experience’ under her belt).
I just think there is a big difference between a tiny rural school and a McGill. There is a difference between Colorado College, in a city (although a very conservative city), a Reed (in a very liberal city with no sports) and Stanford, Cal, NYU, or McGill. Yes, kids adapt, but that’s a lot of adapting to do for an 18 year old coming from a different country.
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some of the recruiting challenges are much more basic. we traveled half way across the world to do a visit which was scheduled several weeks ago, D24 asked to confirm the exact time a week ago, followed by phone messages, but has yet to receive confirmation, for a school with a confirmed pre-read. of course, some posters will continue to repeat that is a measure of a coach’s real interest in a recruit. but it’s still somewhat psychologically challenging for a teenager.
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Yes, sometimes it’s a lack of interest. But do not underestimate the level of disorganization among some of these coaches. Some (many) can barely keep track of emails, appointments, etc. They have outside jobs, summer camps ($), and are often very low tech. Others may disagree, but we have seen this over and over.
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Any chance that particular coach is no longer there?
Just to clarify because I don’t want to misunderstand- you traveled to a school with a pending preread, planned a visit but the coach/school did not confirm the meeting/ or did not show? That would be terrible to experience.
Date of visit confirmed weeks ago, emailed a week ago to confirm exact time, left messages this week to confirm exact time, immediately after college tour… several hours drive to get there tomorrow.
Her question to me was simple: am I that low on their recruit list?
Most likely coach is busy or disorganized or a bit of both. However, I suspect your daughter is not at the very top of the list (but not necessarily at the bottom). No sense worrying/speculating. You’ll know tomorrow. There is nothing you can do today other than cancel the trip.
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As hard as it is. I hope you are enjoying this time with your D. I had the best time doing a 1200 mile college road trip with my D a couple of years ago. I hate the process but looking forward to doing a similar trip with the younger ones later this summer.
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Wow that’s really strange. I think, even if an athlete is low on the recruiting list (but ON the list somewhere) the coaches would be motivated to meet with them. Most especially for someone who traveled halfway around the world, can’t just reschedule that easily, for sure. I sure hope the coach is there waiting for you when you get there tomorrow!!
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This.
We had a coach who came to showcase games specifically to watch my D and subsequently provided great feedback, but then dropped off the face of the earth, never to be heard from again. We had a coach who came to showcase games specifically to watch my D, but who never let us know until after making an offer. We had a coach who never responded to requests for a meeting at a visit and we toured the campus on our own, but who then later made a trip to see a showcase game and made an offer.
And everything in between.
My takeaway: Many coaches are not organized and have large lists of potentials recruits.
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Coaches are just employees like we all are. They have children with birthday parties, illnesses, pets that get lost, parents who need emergency help. And some are just not organized or good with technology. It would be disappointing not to get to meet with the coach, but I bet it will all work out and she’ll get to meet with the coach, and asst., someone hanging around the pool. And she’ll get to see the school.
As said above, enjoy the trip and tours. She might get there and say ‘NO WAY’ and then the coach has spent time on a non-recruit. It happens on both sides. But she’ll have options.
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We had a coach do that. By the time he called back, we were on our way home after cutting the visit short due to an impeding snow storm.
It was a bit of a bummer not meeting in person but the primary objective was to check out the school, and they just kept up contact over the phone, and email.
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It may be tempting to write off a no-show, disappearing coach, “I wouldn’t want to swim/play under someone like that,” but sometimes they reappear as if nothing weird ever happened and become eager beavers. Who knows why? Again, could be trouble ranking recruits, or simply disorganization. They have no office support, have a hundred daily emails they check on their phone since they may not be in the office in the summer, etc., etc.
They also may confuse who is who. We still recall erroneously receiving a stunning “not academically qualified” email (words to that effect) from one coach, who then contacted us a couple of days later after that school’s positive pre-read.
It can be very frustrating indeed.
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We had something similar. When my D was finalizing her commitment, the coach asked her something about her ROTC experience (which she didn’t have). The coach probably had a lot of phone calls that day. Hopefully they recruited the right girl! 
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So sorry this happened to you. I knownhowndisheartening this can be. Just hug your kiddo and help her to move on. The process can be brutal for parents and kids, and seeing our kids hurting or disappointed and nothing we can do about is so tough
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Just in case this helps you:
Because of widespread coach disorganization, plus understanding they have a high volume of inbound emails, we would always make sure our emails had the coach and 1-2 assistant coaches copied on each message.
Sometimes the coach delegates to one of them, or passes the meeting on to one if they get jammed up.
Also, if possible, helpful to have each of their cell phone numbers.
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