Questions before verballing/Div III/NESCAC

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Oct 4, 2011
43
0
Colorado
Hi, for those that have been through this before, my DD could use some help. She has a call scheduled with her fav school/coach this Friday who seems to be very interested and will likely invite for an overnight which would result in a verbal. This would be a significant expense and she'd miss school and softball, but worth it if it's "the one." What questions would you have her ask given that she's already been there for a camp, it's DIII so $ isn't the issue and NESCAC so pretty high academically?
 

TMD

Feb 18, 2016
433
43
What "verballing" means in DIII really depends on the school. Since there is no binding National Letter of Intent for DIII, verballing generally means that you really want to go to that school and if you go the coach really wants you to play softball.

My daughter is a Junior going through the same process, primarily looking at smaller private DIII schools. She's developed a pretty standard list of questions that she asks when meeting with coaches. Since your daughter has been to the camps and already knows she likes the school, some questions to ask may include:

- What is the coaches approach to the fall. Does he/she have try-outs? Are girls that the coach specifically recruited still required to try out? (you'll find answers across the board, from "we don't recruit a girl to make her try out and cut her" to "we open the fall up to walk ons and use the fall as a kind of try out for them" to "we hold 3 days of open try outs and everyone is open to being cut")
- What is the coach's ideal roster size?
- What are your primary position needs for my class?
- Does the coach/team require "study tables" or does he/she have anything in place to help ensure the girls are performing academically? (We've talked with some that require study hours and others who will meet with each player weekly to review academic progress).
- Maybe some questions about team chemistry/bonding.

There area bunch more...those are what I remember off the top of my head. Good luck to your daughter!
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
Obviously if you are talking NESCAC it's all about the academics, so the real questions should be making sure she is 100% set on that side of the house, I would think softball would just be the icing on the cake, unless you are independently wealth getting financial aid squared away as far as academic, loans, grants and any other civic organization scholarships is big. Then also making sure she meets with the dean or dept head of whatever major she is looking at, as well as getting some time to meet with current players and get a good feel for work life balance which should be pretty fresh since the season has started, at least she won't have to acclimate to the weather, snow from our last couple inches over the weekend just melted today :D but being from Colorado you should be used to April snow showers. Conn College is right down the street although we are the bottom of the NESCAC academically the place really looks nice it's right across the street from the Coast Guard Academy lots of brain power between those two schools. I also would not have her feel a tremendous amount of pressure to make a decision on the spot, especially if she has any reservations at all, she can always play the I really need to go back home and talk to my parents card, any "offer" will probably be there tomorrow, that does not necessarily mean next month..did you mention what year she was?
 
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Mar 26, 2013
1,934
0
Have they discussed her intended major?

Find out about any conflicts softball has with classes/majors and how they resolve them.
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
Would your DD need an academic scholarship to attend the DIII? If so, I would find out as much as you can about your options. If not, I am sure the coach would love to have her! What coach would not want a good player for FREE?
 
Feb 15, 2016
273
18
IME/IMO, the biggest NESCAC challenges are getting admitted and financial aid.

I have talked to several D3 coaches at private schools about this whole process while going through it with DD1 and then while talking to them about other players I coach. The good ones understand the situation when $40+K is involved in per year cost of attending the school. A big challenge for these really good academic schools is competing with D2 schools that can offer money upfront. It is sometimes hard for parents and players to have the patience to wait until well into senior year of high school to find out: a) did they get accepted and b) how much in grants and scholarships did they get. I would be very confident as a parent if a D3 coach is spending time recruiting my DD and I would be wary of a D3 coach who is putting pressure on a player to commit prior to knowing the cost. Public D3 schools are a whole different can of worms.
 
Mar 14, 2009
22
0
Hi, for those that have been through this before, my DD could use some help. She has a call scheduled with her fav school/coach this Friday who seems to be very interested and will likely invite for an overnight which would result in a verbal. This would be a significant expense and she'd miss school and softball, but worth it if it's "the one." What questions would you have her ask given that she's already been there for a camp, it's DIII so $ isn't the issue and NESCAC so pretty high academically?

NESCAC, first congratulations, all the CACs schools are great (not good, GREAT schools). My daughter graduated from Tufts last May. The coaches, in general, get 3 pushes in admissions (players on the bubble who the coach can draw attention to). The push is no guarantee of admission. No academic scholarships, none. Why you ask, as the financial aid person said to me 5 years ago, how would we decide who gets academic aid to? They are all top of their class, within a few points of perfect SAT scores, and all are talented. That said, they award financial aid based on need, usually the total amount indicated by the EFC from parents. We paid about the same as our local State U for her education and at the NESCAC's the education is unparelled, second to none, including the Ivy's. It is also the best DIII athletic conference in the country. My dd has 4 NCAA championship trophies. The conference wins multiple NCAA championships each year. Look at the Lear Cup standings. But, it is difficult to get in. This year Tufts accepted 14% of their applicants and Williams and Amherst less than that. If she can get in, she should go.

Not sure how she has a phone call with a coach in her Jr year and the overnights must be for the Fall, acceptances are all out for the NESCAC this year.

There is no Fall season in the NESCAC for SB, that is so players like mine can play multiple sports. The facilities are top notch at all the schools. There are no conflicts with classes/majors, we had several engineering students and pre med on both the SB and field hockey teams, the school makes it work and academics first.
If you have any specific questions pm me. Good luck, it is the most exciting time in both your lives and should be enjoyed.
 

obbay

Banned
Aug 21, 2008
2,199
0
Boston, MA
I'm sure your stats are correct, but 14% sounds high for Tufts, they are that selective!
They are also extremely tight with Financial Aid.
As said previously, the colleges in that conference are all top shelf and have excellent networks for their graduates.
Best of luck to you both!
 
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