@tigermaman If you do consider the international events, you should most definitely do the designated ones (assuming you qualify). You will have logistical support from USA fencing, teammates to be with, and if things happen to go really well and your daughter makes top 32, she’ll earn points. I think it’s really hard to go on your own to an international event if you’ve never done it before.
You should be looking ASAP at the upcoming events to see which to plan for, they are happening now. Be careful about deadlines - they are very early and it is almost impossible (not to mention wildly expensive) to qualify as a late entry.
@SpaceVoyager Thanks, we are keeping track and have our list. Just keeping our fingers crossed that she will make the team (not a given, but we are hopeful).
Agree with SpaceVoyager that — especially at the Cadet level — you should be targeting the designated international events.
Another question for you @SevenDad and @SpaceVoyager : when my fencer sends out an update about her results at the October NAC, what would be the best way to talk about the results that were less than what she hoped for? Any reason to “analyze” them, or to just simply state what they are?
@tigermaman…sent you a PM.
Hello, this is my first post, but I’ve read this entire thread. Thank you!! I have a very specific question that I had hoped to PM to some of the very experienced folks here (who are open to that!), but I can’t PM yet. To ask the question properly, I need to share some specific information regarding my child, which is why I’d rather not post it here directly. If anyone would be willing to take a question, please PM me!
With the demise of the forums on fencing.net, does anyone know where “Unverifiable Rumors and Dubious Gossip About 2020 Collegiate Incoming Fencers” will eventually be posted?
Good luck to the seniors who are hitting “submit” on their early applications today. Hard for me to believe that it’s been four years since my kid did that. It’s also very odd to think that, when the chart comes out, my first thought won’t be, “How does this affect my kid on the depth chart?”
I’ll get in touch and let the person know there has been a request to post here. Seems like a logical place for the list
Thx @chelsea465
It might make sense for @skieurope to chime in as to whether it will be allowed.
I have no issue with a list being posted, albeit probably in a different thread.The challenge, as I understand it, is that the request is for the list to be posted as a link to an external doc, which is not allowed per forum rules.
Anyone familiar with the recruiting process at Barnard College? I understand Barnard’s admissions department is independent of Columbia College’s. Assuming the coach has some recruitment slots to offer, how is that coordinated between the two separate admissions departments?
Recruitment for Barnard works exactly the same as for Columbia. The applicant simply has to advise the head coach of her choice to attend Barnard.
Nov NAC is coming. Is this normally the event for college coaches to show up?
@purplevine2021 - Funny story. I was once talking to a fencing parent who was a Special Forces veteran. Among other things these guys are prepared to detect surveillance and are always on guard for ambushes. When his son met with coaches during the son’s recruitment year, the father was amazed at how well the coaches knew his son. Some had been following his son since the kid was 12 years old! …and the father said to me, “I was Special Forces, and I never saw any of these coaches observing my son.”
Short answer is that most college coaches, particularly at the DV1 level, attend all NACs, primarily to scout Juniors, but also to check out top Cadets. Expect them to be there. Expect them (hopefully) to be observing your child. Feel free to take your shots at introducing yourself if only in passing.
Two replies to recent posts:
- I'm working on figuring out how to continue the “Unverifiable Rumors and Dubious Gossip About 20XX Collegiate Incoming Fencers” tradition. I think we'll try to do it here (as the site is "confidential" after all) but need to figure out how to host spreadsheet.
- Regarding college coaches at NACs...I remember one coach mentioning that s/he does not even wear college gear at NACs so s/he could travel relatively incognito. But it's a bit like being a restaurant critic, right? You can try to blend in, but everyone still knows what you look like thanks to the headshot on the college team webpage.
That said, I’ve also seen college coaches get inundated with supplicants at a NAC. My advice is to be respectful of their time, but feel free to make an introduction.
FWIW, I find the Jan NAC to be the one that draws the most college coaches outsife of SN. Because many colleges are still on break/the Jan NAC (at least in recent years) offers both Junior and Div1 events…and so will feature the right age/skill level to scout. Many college teams attend en masse compared to other NACs.
Thanks a lot for BrooklynRye and Sevendad’s experience and suggestions!
@SevenDad How do you host a spreadsheet? Perhaps you can work with @skieurope to determine the best way to get the list to CC while minding the forum rules. It really does belong here, no?
@newfencermom Happy to try and help. My daughter fences for a D1 program and we went through the whole recruiting process.
@fencingmom: Working on a solution. Will let thread know when I get to a solution that works within CC rules.
Does anyone have thoughts about whether an applicant who has a LL should pass on an alumni interview? From the applicant’s perspective, there may be more downside (e.g., an awkward conversation with the alum) than upside.
When offered an interview, the overwhelming majority of applicants meet with the alum to whom they’ve been assigned. But as the number of applications to selective colleges has skyrocketed, interviewers may be grateful not to spend their time meeting with, and writing up a report about, a student-athlete who’s almost certain to be accepted.
Any sense as to how AOs view “Applicant declined an interview” in this context?