Hey All!
I’m looking to get recruited by DIII schools (Chicago, JHU, CMU etc) for swimming and started filling out recruiting questionnares and emailing coaches in the beginning of this summer (I know, kind of late).
To give an idea of my times, I would be #2-4 fastest swimmer at these schools in around 2-3 events.
And as a student, I have 4.0 GPA, 35 ACT, 800 Chem, and hope to get 800 on Math II this fall. Also, senior year schedule is vigorous.
So, I’ve been in contact with these coaches via email for a few months now and am planning to meet two at my big meet for the end of summer swim season. However, for coaches at schools that aren’t close by to this meet and cannot attend, I will not be able to meet them.
Ideally, I want to verbally commit to a school before November 1 and to do that I need to receive an offer. For those who have gone through the recruiting process already or are currently receiving offers, how do I broach the subject of an offer (both in person or via email)? I don’t know whether it’s a topic to stay away from until the coach brings it up??
It is getting late and you do need to get things going. In most cases you can’t expect an offer to appear out of the air. Often in order to get something, you have to give up something. In your case you’ll just need to let the coach know how interested you are in that school. You tell the coach that his or her school is one of the one’s at the top of your list. Of course only do that if it’s true. And then ask if it’s possible you will be invited to one of the overnight visit (OV) sessions held in the fall for the recruits. With this the coach will know you are interested and more than likely you will receive an invite. Travel to and from school for the OV is almost always on the recruit’s dime though, so you do have to be aware of that.
For the coaches that you will be meeting soon, you can do something similar. You must let them see your interest and then ask if the interest is reciprocated. If you have never been to the school in question, then asking if you will be invited for an OV session makes a lot of sense. In most cases the coach wants you and your parents to get a good feel for the school so that you are in a position accept an offer when it is made. Good luck to you!
You have great academic numbers that will get coaches at those schools very interested.
Your swim numbers sound good too (although i don’t know swimming).
Looking back at our experiences with similar schools, my observations would be:
for schools you are really interested in and where your times are a good fit, arrange for a visit on your dime. Imo this is really important for the types of schools you are looking at. It proves to the coach that you’re serious and it makes you stand out. Its well worth the investment for your top fit target schools. Since it’s no obligation and little effort required by the coaches, you shouldn’t have much trouble setting these up.
its not too late in the process, but it’s getting there act quickly.
Good advice above. Swimming doesn’t require the lead time of most sports because it’s based on times, so the coaches should be able to assess interest quickly. Because this is essentially ED, you should visit before you apply because you’re going to agree to attend if accepted. Plan now, and coordinate with the coaches, to visit in the early fall while school is in session. These schools are all greattach but have different vibes. You’ll need to figure out where you want to be.
By no means are you late in the swim recruiting world. As the poster above said your times are your times. A face to face is not needed so no worries. Send emails to all the coaches at the schools that you are interested in with all of your stats, both academic and swim. As was stated as well, OVs are essential to get a feel for team and fit. OVs do not happen until school is in session. During dialogue/emails let coach know about your interest in an OV. Remember there are only a few weekends during the OV time period since the coach will expect you to apply ED if you want his/her help with admissions.
NO worries your time table is fine.The schools will want an academic preread before allowing you on campus so get transcripts, test scores together as you will need to send them to coach.
My two sons have gone through this swim recruiting process over the last few years.
Best of luck
Thanks, you guys! This really clarifies a lot although what I’m afraid of is sounding too forward so if I straight up ask about overnight visits it won’t sound too pushy?? (I would word it as best I could).
Also, do you think I should ask the coaches that I’m meeting what my rank is relative to other kids that they are recruiting? Because I know for this school that I would be one of their #2 swimmer based off their current roster and the coaches always email back “good job” etc when I send them in-season times. They also offered to meet me but never offered a phone call. Should I be worried they’re not interested if they don’t offer a phone call?
And really thanks to everyone, you have been so helpful
Great advice already given in this thread. I would only add that in Division III recruiting, not every team has the budget to pay for OVs. Not sure about UChi swimming. So the lack of an OV offer in D3 may not mean a lack of interest. Also, your grades/tests are just about perfect so that won’t be an issue, it’s going to depend on your times. Rather than compare your times against those of the team’s current roster - see how you would do at the conference championships. If you are in point-scoring range, those are the times that will excite a coach. Example, UAA Conference Swim Championships - Womens 200 yard IM, it took around 2:10 to advance to the finals and score. With your grades and conference-caliber times, I think the coach would be very interested in discussing the possibility of admissions support. One last thing, I spoke with a WashU track coach and he said one of the most important things was that the recruit shows a genuine interest in his particular program. It sounds crazy with schools as highly ranked as UChi and WashU, but a lot of kids that are hoping for Ivy or Stanford will also reach out to top D3s as ‘safeties’. Coaches are very leery of talking admissions support with an athlete that they feel may only accept if his other plans fall through. So make it clear that you’re very interested in his school and be able to tell him why. Good luck!
@englishsheepdog - Don’t worry about sounding pushy. You want to sound interested, so asking if you would be considered for an OV should help demonstrate interest to the coach. Coaches speak with many recruits and they don’t want to waste time with those that are not actually that interested in their school. You want to show that you are seriously considering their school.
I wouldn’t ask the coach where you rank versus other recruits. It’s not needed. Instead do the work to get invited to OVs where you can start to make informed decisions. Another way is visit the schools and meet with the coach on your own if that’s possible.
It’s great to be able to talk with the coach on the phone before meeting him or her. Don’t wait for the coach to give you a call or offer his or her phone number. It’s easy to get the number from the school’s website. Or send an email and ask the coach if a talk via phone would be appropriate before meeting at the swim meet. Again, don’t look at this as being too forward. Instead you are demonstrating interest and you need to do that to move forward in this process.
if your times are good enough, you can always go to the school you really want to attend and talk to the coach after you’ve enrolled at the school. There are no scholarships in DIII and your scores/stats look good enough to get into the schools you are interested, so you don’t need the coach’s approval. Just show up, ask for a tryout and if you are good enough you will most likely be on the team. There would be no reason not to keep you around.
^Right on. @GrudeMonk A kid who is now wresting for Duke put it this way, “I think you need to go get what is yours. If you really want it, go get it! Call them, write them, let them know you are not just trying to get through admissions and that you really want to be part of their program.”
I love that – it cuts right to the heart of it. If you are truly a college-caliber athlete and driven to succeed, you didn’t achieve that by getting out of the way of someone that wanted it more. Approach your recruiting the same way you approach your sport. Call, email, hop in the car or get on a plane and visit. Go and get what’s yours.
Thanks for the motivation and all the tips! I actually received an email this morning from CMU discussing OVs! The email (although it was not personalized to me) said that
"Because of the number of student-athletes interested in coming to CMU, we do limit these visits to people we believe can flourish in the academic environment of a setting like CMU as well as make an impact on our swimming and diving program here. We feel like you are a part of that select group athletically and if you are truly interested in learning more about where you fit with us academically - please contact me and then, I will encourage you to try and take a trip to see us. "
So, obvious next step is to contact him and set up an OV.
