Fractional scholarships can complicate the decision making process...

Posted this in another thread, but decided to add it to the recruiting forum.

Fractional scholarships can make finding the best fit more difficult. Would you rather go to an SEC school with a chance at playing in the WCWS or to a school with a better academic reputation, and a higher percentage of athletic/academic scholarship money? What if you knew some of the SEC schools pushed their players into specific majors to keep them eligible? What if the SEC school had 25+ girls on their roster, while the other school had less than 20 (NCAA limit is 20 players in the dugout)? Auburn had 10+ players sitting in the stands during the WCWS. If a school is bringing in 8+ recruits/class how many players are they "pushing out" every year? What are the chances your DD will finish her college career with a degree in a major that is in demand?

How much is a trip to the WCWS worth? In my example below, assuming a player stayed all 4 years at the same scholarship percentage, the difference out of pocket would be $96K dollars....

ABC school
$40K/year - tuition, books, lodging and meals
20% athletic scholarship
~ $32K out of pocket

XYZ school
$40K/year - tuition, books, lodging and meals
80% athletic scholarship
~ $8K out of pocket

Quick question that is sort of related to this...

How much does being in state versus out of state play to these situations? Since tuition is lower for in state students, does that apply when a scholarship is involved? Does that have some influence on who schools offer to?

Although the greatest % of participating teams in the WCWS are SEC,
it's not the only way to get there.

But your question that you pose is a really good one.
Father's of younger DD's like me really appreciate these types of discussions.
I've learned so much about the recruiting process and collegiate level play for our experienced forum members.

The limitation of Majors many D1 players are "allowed" to declare really shocked me.
That's a big one.

Roster sizes - that's another.
And roster grade level %'s is another to look at (how many freshman, sophomores, juniors, seniors)

Chose the school that is the best fit for the kid and her future - While going to the WCWS is cool it will not pay off her student loans and feed and cloth her for the next 40 years ...

Cobb_of_Fury said:

Chose the school that is the best fit for the kid and her future - While going to the WCWS is cool it will not pay off her student loans and feed and cloth her for the next 40 years ...

Click to expand...

DD spoke with some SEC schools, but we choose what we hope will be a better fit for her and her future. I guess only time will tell, but there are times when she asks "what if"....

spleen1015 said:

Quick question that is sort of related to this...

How much does being in state versus out of state play to these situations? Since tuition is lower for in state students, does that apply when a scholarship is involved? Does that have some influence on who schools offer to?

Click to expand...

It probably does not directly influence who schools offer to unless there is some other influence - for example one college coach in Florida was told outright to start recruiting Florida instead of just California as the school wanted to see more Florida girls on the roster (and there was no reason there wasn't).

Otherwise, yes to everything you ask.

Often schools will offer scholarships to cover books/lodging/meals and less tuition to in-state students figuring that tuition is easier to handle for those players, while offering more tuition based money to out-of-state players. It is in their interest to be creative to make it easier for students to choose their program. Smart programs know how to direct recruits into other money a well (especially DIII where there is no athletic money).

Daughter went through this last year "specific majors", told them to pound dirt wasn't willing to change. Don't kid yourselves they are going to play the top 8 fielders 100% of the time once conference play starts and they may pitch 3 but the break down will be obvious on who they think can get it done. If they are not in the top 13 players on the team your on the chopping block. There are a lot of all-state studs riding the bench in collage, also a bunch with injures their freshman year that wash out pretty fast.
The comment about the wcws means more to the parents(bragging rites) than the kids, I personally know 3 people that played at the WCSW two won the tittle and it's not a big deal to them. I would be willing to bet if you asked them if it was worth 96000 they would tell you no.

spleen1015 said:

Quick question that is sort of related to this...

How much does being in state versus out of state play to these situations? Since tuition is lower for in state students, does that apply when a scholarship is involved? Does that have some influence on who schools offer to?

Click to expand...

Don't forget that many schools count "in state" students from other states. We live in Illinois and dd went to school in Missouri and we were still, "in state." Some universities have "in region" as well. If academic monies are needed, the coaching staff of that school can not go to the academic people and ask for money. That is an NCAA violation. I don't know how this works at D-IIIs. When DD was at one D-II, the HC actually left when the academic people came in. We had submitted dd's info already in the application process and we had a good idea on the monies she would receive though nothing was official. At another school, we met with the academic people and by the time we got home from a round about tour of some schools, we had that school's breakdown and applications for academic monies.

Cannonball said:

If academic monies are needed, the coaching staff of that school can not go to the academic people and ask for money. That is an NCAA violation.

Click to expand...

This is true.... When I was coaching D2 Basketball we were not allowed to ask academic/financial aid for money for the students.... however we did get to know all the options, weird scholarships, grants and so on and we passed this info onto the prospect's family so they could ask all the right questions. There is money all over the place especially if you know (or are told) where to look,

I've had two kids who were college athletes. In both cases we talked about choosing a school based on the majors and the fit, and then looked from that list for the sport.

DS was a wrestler (D3) who picked what was the right school - then a coaching change happened after his freshman year and a semester later he transferred to a school that only had club wrestling which he did as a junior and then concentrated on school. Wrestling at his first choice went from a great experience to torture almost overnight.

DD was a triple jumper (D2) and also changed schools (and majors) after freshman year. Her major and talent level really narrowed her choices but once the major changed, it opened up the possibilities of a lot more schools. She wound up competing all 4 years.

In both instances, several coaches told us to go where our kid thought they would be happy if they suffered a career ending injury the first week of practice.

If you are the rare kid that is going to be a D1 impact player, then the sports might matter more, especially in a team sport like SB. Otherwise, I say make sure your kid is happy. Unhappy kids get bad grades and drop out.