D3 official visits and general recruiting anxiety

My 2-cents:

These are D3 schools; you will be paying the tab (less any merit money). You as a parent have a vested interest in you son's welfare. The baseball program is integral to why your son will be attending one of these schools. All are reasons why you should go.

Ultimately, it will be your son's decision. He will be the one attending school. As a parent you have raised him, nurtured him and will continue to support him. The only way that you can provide him with the prospective he may need is if you go and learn, no different than what he has to do.

When my son went through this process; we went with him. When he met with admissions, I was allowed to "say hello" and ask a question or two, then he was on his own. I met with the coaches, the coach talked, we listened and then I excused myself so that he could meet with the coach.

Go, learn, but remember, your son will be the student and you will be the parent. Keep that in mind and you will both benefit.

My wife went on one Ivy OV and the school paid for her as well as my son, on another D3, (unofficial) I went. Sometimes we both went and sometimes not. The decision on picking a school was my son's with consultations with us.  

If they are interested in you, you will know. Silence is generally "we have moved on" however voice mails do get lost sometimes. Follow up with an email, if no ans then you know. 

Good luck. 

southwest prof, the school is permitted to provide your son's costs for transportation, lodging, and meals for an official visit to the campus, but they might only provide some of those costs.  Some schools will just provide lodging and meals, it all depends on their recruiting budget. 

Also, if you and/or your spouse accompany your son, which you should definitely do, they can provide lodging and meals for you during the visit if they have the budget to do so.  Given the qualify of schools you are describing, they will probably provide as much as they're allowed, but not all schools will do so.

Good luck!

swprof,

1, Maybe.  You need to ask.  Few D3s can afford to fly a recruit for an OV.

2. If you are paying for most of his college tuition, you need to go.  Would you buy an expensive house without seeing it first, or buy an expensive car?  It would come across as smart to me.  It is appropriate for you to meet the coaches.

3.  While your son is visiting his OV, you should try to make an appt with the Financial Aid office.  Plan your flight or logistics around your meeting with FA.

4.  I wouldn’t write “dream school” off yet, but I think it would be wise to pursue other opportunities and focus on those “schools that have shown your son the love.”  We had a number of schools get back to us after they had gone dark, and we were so glad we had moved on.  Hope for the best and plan for the worst.  

Good luck!

To Fenway, BOF, BishopLeftiesDad, and others who've been through it firsthand -

I've wondered about this before and still not clear: Do D3 high academic schools typically offer paid official visits... or do they generally not? I get that the amount and specifics could vary school to school, but in general in your experience... Do D3 high academics use (paid) OVs during recruiting or do they generally not? Many thanks. 

Soylent: this is precisely my question. To zero in on it: in the D3 world, does the label "official visit" mean program subsidizes student visit?

Of the three that we visited; one offered half (one-way only) of an airplane ticket. They all put him with a team player, spent the night and had meals with current players.

I did not get the sense that D3's were actively soliciting kids to get on planes at their cost and make visits. There was more of the "we would like you to come visit" on your nickel.

SG,

I can tell you that for our son's visit(more than a few years ago) and when he was the recruiting coordinator for that program(not that long ago), the travel was neither paid nor reimbursed. Once he or one of the players he was recruiting landed or arrived on campus, the school took care of everything from the pick up at the airport until return to the airport. For those arriving by air, the coaching staff made arrangements to meet the player at the airport and for his return for the flight home.

From what I know, that is more the norm in D3 than the exception, but there have been threads in the past to know there are some exceptions for D3 schools which cover even the travel portion.

southwestprof, I just saw your post and question.  You need to ask the Head Coach or Recruiting coordinator. We did and the Head Coach was completely up front. He wanted to get our son on campus to see the school, experience the environment and be able to compare it to the schools in CA where some interest existed.  No matter how much he wanted that to happen, there was no budget for travel. 

It actually was a great conversation because it helped us understand how much that coach knew about our son and how much he wanted him for his program. We also learned a lot about the academic strengths of the school we didn't know about 4 months before,  which more than convinced us the airfare to  support that visit was completely worthwhile.

I have a friend whose kid is being actively recruited by D3's for running  (go figure) and they are not paying for any travel expenses.  Food and room at the dorm, yes, but he has to get himself there first.

JCG,

I think that approach for visits would apply to the large majority of D3's and for all sports.

Our experience was we were responsible for air travel, and the school picked-up/provided every thing else for our son (we sent him alone.)  Schools were all high academic, high endowment:

1 NESCAC conference

1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

1 Northwest Conference

My experience with D3's are consistent with what everyone else posted. You pay for travel and once there the school picks up the costs for the student at least. When I went on one I stayed in a hotel (and paid for it) and my son stayed with a player and ate with them. (wherever they went they paid for him ) I was with him during the school tour, admissions, financial aide, and met the coaches with him. The rest of the time he was with various players.  

I will also say that sometimes it is better to NOT be on an OV, as I believe you are only allowed 5. 

southwestprof I agree with fenway don't give up on the dream school, but don't plan on it. My son had one Ivy very late in the process call him up and asked him if he could get his SAT score up by 50 points. (he was within two weeks of making a final decision) He hung up the phone and laughed and said "right I am going to study and take the test in the next two weeks and improve my score" 

I don't know what a D3 official visit is. 

The NCAA does not differentiate the rules based on level for an OV, there may be some schools that pay and if they do it becomes "Official" in the eyes of the NCAA

Thanks to everyone for your advice...Obviously, son will need to ask some questions!

SG,

To answer your question, generally not.   Our flight was not going to be covered on the D3 "OV", but there is nothing preventing them by the NCAA from covering it.  I think it is most important to understand that D3s don't have very large recruiting or operating expense budgets.  His specific OV was going to include a tour, football game, stay in dorm with baseball team, watch captains practice and spend time with the Coach before departing.  I was going to meet with FA office on Friday at 3pm..  All other costs were going to be covered by the D3 NESCAC.  As it turned out, my son committed to another school (his alma mater now) before we booked the flight.  I recall it was $99 round trip direct flight for each of us on Jet Blue.  I had rental car points and I was going to stay with a college buddy. 

You can contrast that with a D1 Patriot League OV.  They covered all his expenses, and my wife's hotel room near campus and her meals.  My son and wife decided to drive rather than fly, but they would have covered it.  They wanted to stop to see some other nearby schools.  It turned out to be a great trip because my son figured out what he didn't want.

It never hurts to ask what they will and won't pay for.  Just ask them to clarify what is covered and not covered, and they will tell you straight up.  We had no issues.

southwestprof,

Lots of good responses.I'll add my son's experiences to the mix since he was in your son's shoes this time last year.

1) My son did not go on any official visits per se. Instead,he qualified to take all expense paid trips to the colleges he visited through their diversity programs.Many of the D3 schools that were recruiting him have these and they are open to any student that meets their requirements and is selected.The coaches can and do use their influence with the program directors in the selection process.If a coach wants you on campus and you meet the requirements you're in.

At least that was my son's experience.He flew to the east coast twice from SoCal and had more trips he could have gone on,but decided against going due to his academic workload at school.He had three AP classes,Spanish 4,and two other classes.The heavy workload and the cross country traveling while fun was tiring, and each time he missed at least one day of school.

2) My son went on his trips solo.He navigated the airports and connections by himself.At the destination the schools picked him up.My son met the head coaches and toured the athletic facilities with them.They had breakfast together too.

I met his college coach for the first time earlier this week at the beginning of new student orientation.He emailed my son as soon as we arrived on campus and requested a meeting with the three of us.It was a 20 minute meeting very casual. The coach seemed like a cool dude It was weird since I had very little interaction my son's HS coach.

A HS teammate of my son's visited a different NESCAC school.His dad went with him and they paid their own way.The dad stayed in a hotel while the player stayed with a ball player in the dorms.They met the coach,toured the school and facilities,met with FA, watched a homecoming game on the sidelines,son went to a party,dad checked out the town.All in all a great 3 day trip for father and son.

While they were in Maine, the head coach told my son's teammate that he was his number one recruit, and if he applied ED with that designation he could just about guarantee he would be admitted.He applied ED and was admitted ! He's at first year orientation as I write this.His baseball skills opened the door to a very selective college that he would not have been admitted too otherwise.Needless to say both father and son are ecstatic

3) I found the net price calculators to be accurate.We own a small business and we entered all the information from our 2012 tax return(most recent at the time) on the calculators.The discrepancies I found had more to do with how each school handles home equity.For example, at my son's school(NESCAC need blind) they do not use the home equity in your primary residence in their calculations.A couple of schools in The Patriot League(not need blind) that were recruiting my son DID use home equity in their calculations and the difference was staggering.

4)My son was recruited by the Ivies too.At this point in time last year those schools had already made offers to players at the top of their list.My son sent one final email to each of the Ivies that he was in contact with.He asked them point blank "where do I stand in your 2014 recruiting class, and I would appreciate a candid response" They all responded right away. It was not the answer he wanted to hear but at least it was candid and he was then able to move on.I suggest your son do the same.Don't take it personally. Oftentimes it's a numbers game.One of the IVY coaches told my son in that final email that he believed he could contribute offensively right away,but they were only recruiting 5 players and 3 of them were pitchers.They had already made an offer to a guy they slotted ahead of my son.That's the way it goes.

It sounds like your son has some great options ! Good luck to him and if you need any help let me know

My son's experience was much the same as others. Wedrove to all of them. We paid our own way eccept we usually had lunch sometimes with the coach. 

He went to several schools more than once. The first was usually a day trip in fall. Then an over night over the winter. And again in the late winter or early spring for a scholarship honors day. He would go to the campus and compete with other students for scholarships. These scholar days are held at many D3's. 

Actually, they do. 

I agree with Redbird here. "Official" visits to a D3 are not counted towards the 5 allowed for D1. A recruit can have as many "Official" visits as they can get. I do not believe that many D3's have the budget for official visits. I do not think I know of a recruit who has ever had one. 

A prospect can have an unlimited number of official visits to Division III schools, but no more than one official visit per school.  They can take as many unofficial visits as desired.

BLD - They are very common at the high academic level.  The schools would like for the recruit to pay for the travel portion but when the recruit demonstrates that he can't afford the travel the school can come up with the money.  Sometimes that money comes from another school program (i.e. diversity or academic interest).

Many thanks to all for sharing first hand info. So what is the rough time frame for D3 OV's? Do these occur primarily Fall of Sr year? Is there sort of a window/time frame on the calendar where these take place?

Yes, Fall of senior year.  After high school & college starts back up.

This is a great time for your son to evaluate the fit with the team and coach.  I would request auditing some college classes in your son's intended major with an escort while a parent goes to the Financial Aid office.  Typically, the coach will sit down with your son before the visit is over to lay down his cards.  He will ask your son to do the same.  Be prepared for that discussion.