College letters

[Granny Smith]

My dd is a Sophomore in HS. Earlier this Fall she received a couple of “boiler plate” type letters from some colleges, basically saying “Now that you are starting to look at schools, keep us in mind. We can’t talk to you until Sept. 1 of your Junior yr. Blah, blah, blah.” We have no idea how she got these letters. One she received address to her gym, while the other one she received at our home address.

My dd competed level 9 last year. She did make it to Easterns and did ok, but did not make podium on anything. She looks good, she’s a solid gymnast, but not a stand out (not elite, nor the L10 by “freshman” year kid). We have no idea how these letters came about. She did compete Easterns with an injury that required surgery immediately following Easterns. Due to the recovery time involved (she hadn’t really worked all 4 events until November), it has been decided that she will do 9 again this year. We are hoping for similar success as she experienced last year and just to stay injury free this upcoming season. She is making progress since the injury, skill-wise, but she is not bumping up to 10. I do have to wonder how that will affect her in the whole college process. I never realized how stressful these HS years were going to be.

I don’t want to discount these letters, but really believe that the schools that sent them are “reach” schools. Do they send them to everyone? Was someone really interested in her? Just wondering if anyone has any insight on these letters, I know that schools send them out but what is their true meaning? I wish I had a crystal ball….

 

[bookworm]

If she made it to Easterns, that's how she ended up getting the letters. i have spoken with several college coaches who (not surprisingly) have said different things...one coach said they sent letters to "all National qualifiers, regardless of how they finished...because you never know if Nationals was just an off day"....another coach "only sends letters out to 10 gymnasts we are interested in"..another sent to "the top 25 or so..and if someone was an event champion". So with that said, and if you think the schools that sent them are a "reach" for your daughter, then my guess is the schools are sending out feelers to see if there's any interest from girls that they have their eye on.

I do know that in watching this process over the past few years, results and how the gymnast does is not the only determining factor in who gets signed...there is a pretty decent college program that has rebuffed several excellent Level 10 gymnasts (who have been 10 for a while and done well at JOs) , telling the parents that they were "15th in the depth chart" (and they only had 2-3 scholarships so that basically means you're not ON their depth chart) and signed a first yr L10 who went to the NIT and another who finished 54th-ish at JOs so you shake your head and say 'what the heck"...well in talking to others, the coach at this college knew these 2 signees "from way back when he used to run a camp, and they've stayed in touch" so...you just never know what will be the deciding factor so keep your options open.

If realistically, she will not be considering Level 10 until her Junior yr, you should start to look at programs out there that have signed Level 9s and first and second year 10s..and concentrate your efforts there. Depending on how pro-active her coach is, he/she can market her to these schools with the skills she is doing and training. I have seen girls be signed who haven't competed in yrs (always injured) but their coaches must have said the magic word because they get full rides and actually do well in the NCAA setting. There's also D2 and D3 to consider..while not having the full ride per se, they can make merit money happen or "need" money ( and sometimes "need" means the school "needs" you)

 

[Granny Smith]

Thanks for the information bookworm. We have definitely not ruled out D2 or D3 schools. Dd has even seeked out some of their coaches and has been communicating with them already.

We (dd and I) figured that the one school sent letters to all Eastern qualifiers because other girls on her team received them, but the other school as far as we know, dd was the only one to receive a letter - so that is the one that really baffles us.

We are planning to start visiting schools this upcoming Summer and that's where the questions come from. Do we visit these schools that have sent letters (who we probably wouldn't visited otherwise) or just focus on the schools that we had on our radar? I guess we will have to make those decisions soon.

We were planning to start visiting schools this past Summer, but thought it wouldn't be such a hot idea after she just had surgery, besides I knew she was a little early considering it was the Summer before her Sophomore year.

Yes, she will not do 10 until her Junior year, but in all reality she is doing the same skills that most of our 1st yr 10s will be doing. It's not my call, but I'm hoping that she will be a very strong 9 and not have that "deer in headlights" 1st yr 10 season next yr. That is something that she really needs to sell to the coaches that she contacts. Most of them already know she is coming back from injury (from a camp she attended in early Fall), but she can honestly say that she is bringing a new skill to all of her routines this season. So, at least she can show that she can overcome injury and continue to progress regardless of level.

As you can see, I can make some serious lemonade!!!

 

[bookworm]

Thanks for the information bookworm. We have definitely not ruled out D2 or D3 schools. Dd has even seeked out some of their coaches and has been communicating with them already.

We (dd and I) figured that the one school sent letters to all Eastern qualifiers because other girls on her team received them, but the other school as far as we know, dd was the only one to receive a letter - so that is the one that really baffles us.

We are planning to start visiting schools this upcoming Summer and that's where the questions come from. Do we visit these schools that have sent letters (who we probably wouldn't visited otherwise) or just focus on the schools that we had on our radar? I guess we will have to make those decisions soon.

Before you make any visits (because you'll be spending YOUR hard earned money for visits in the Jr yr) , contact the coaches/schools that you are thinking of visiting and see where she is in their rankings...i.e. if they say she's in their top 3 and they have 3 scholarships to give out that year, make a visit. If they say she's in the top 15, and they only have 3 to give out, don't bother with a visit unless she really is interested in that school and would go there without gymnastics. You want to know that your daughter is seriously in consideration for a scholarship before you make the trip. Most all the college programs will be happy to have you visit, especially in your Jr yr because they're not paying for it, but you really need to zone in on schools you think will be interested in her. Your club coach can make some contacts; invite college coaches to your gym to visit and in turn, if the college coach likes your daughter's skill set, ask her to "consider an unofficial visit to their school" (that's when you know to go!!)

 

[bribri514]

Also, to add on to what bookworm said, if your DD is really serious about specific schools and will be recruited for their gymnastics team, her senior year she can go on "official visits". You can go on up to five and the school who is recruiting you pays to fly you out to the school and you get to stay with girls on the team and see classes, the dorms, the cafeteria, the gym, and get a great feel for actually competing for the school and going there. You won't have to spend any money at all on it. But the coach has to be serious in recruiting you and offer the official visit, so you can't depend on it. Good luck to your DD!

 

[bookworm]

The thing about waiting to do official visits in your Sr year (so you won't have to pay for them) is that most of the scholarships are verbally committed in the Jr year. When we went on my daughter's "official" visit this fall, the school paid for everything like Bribri said, but the girls who were there for the weekend were the ones who had verbally committed the year before...there were no girls there who were vying for a scholarship in the next year. My point is that it's risky to try to wait til your Sr year to save the money because all the spots might be gone...

 

[bribri514]

Very good point bookworm! I forgot about that part with timing. I guess I mean if your DD is really serious about getting a D1 scholarship and does verbally commit, she'll have a chance to visit schools and you won't have to spend lots of money for her to visit a million different schools. However, it's not common and they occur senior year after verbal committing is done, but before generally even the first official signing day senior year. It's a balancing act between finding the best fit school and getting a chance to visit to see and saving money. Seems like the whole college process is that way!