College Recruiting Strategy - Thoughts?

[girliesmom]

DH and I are at an impasse and I would like to get your thoughts on dd's recruiting strategy.

Background:
DD is a Sophomore; Pitcher with very good grades. She already has a comprehensive list of schools she wants to attend - mostly D3s with a handful of D1s. She's done her research - size, location, climate, academic fit, major, test score requirements, grade requirements, etc. She's also written to every coach on her list and has heard back from half. DD's team hopes to qualify and attend Nationals in August. Since Nationals is taking place on the other side of the country, I suggested that we tie in a handful of college visits to the coaches whom she's heard from already. I also thought that it might be a good idea for her to invite these said college coaches to come watch her play at Nationals (Note: she's also doing Pennsbury and will be inviting these coaches to come watch her play). During the August Unofficial Visits, she also hopes to discuss her performance at Nationals / Pennsbury with these coaches.

I should also note that DD has expressed that she has no interest in attending schools that aren't on her list. She knows what she wants. We understand and respect her position since this is her future. (There's a chance that she may develop interest in a different school at a later date, but let's just go with what's she's expressed - that is, she only wants to go to schools on her list).

Rationale for my strategy:
To help DD pare down her list of schools (there's many), I thought that it would be a good idea for her to visit these schools unofficially in August. She can meet with Admissions and the coaches (so that they know that she's serious about attending and not just fishing - ie. sending out a bunch of emails to see who bites), she can tour the school and the softball facilities, maybe talk to other students and most importantly, meet with the coaches in person. By visiting these schools and meeting the coaches, I'm hoping that DD will get a better feel if she'd like to go there and play for the particular coach. By narrowing down the list, I also hope that she'll be able to focus her efforts on her chosen "few schools" during her Junior year - ie. attend their college camps, keep in regular contact with them, etc. The current list is too large for her to do a decent job of keeping contact and it would be way too costly to send her to all the school camps on her list.

DD loves my strategy. (But her and I think alike). DH's thinks that it's a little too early to be visiting and narrowing colleges. He thinks that my strategy is a little too calculated and that we should take a more "wait and see" approach.


Question: What are your thoughts on my strategy? Is it viable? Too calculated? Am I limiting DD options too early? If you don't agree with this strategy, what do you suggest instead?

 

[sjross96]

I think you are both right. She needs to visit some schools to help see if the real world experience is in line with the criteria that she thinks are important on paper. I would say whenever you go anywhere for a tournament or other travel, make it a point to visit any schools that are convenient, even if they aren't on her list. This will help her develop a better sense for what is and is not important to her in a school and help with the decision making down the road.

Also, if she has coaches from schools that she is interested in responding to her with some mutual interest, she should definitely try to move those relationships along. Now, whether that means unofficial visits or camps or just continued contact, is really up to your family's preferences and travel budget.

 

[Greenmonsters]

No mention of test scores so I'm assuming that she hasn't taken SAT/ACT yet. Those scores will help refine your list. With mainly D3s as a focus, I'd start a little slower and do a few school visits/camps this year for the primary purpose of helping your DD better define/revise the list of things that are important to her, which should make her list more manageable. There is no substitute for first-hand experience i.e., large schools have much too offer but the reality of some freshman year core classes in a lecture hall with 100+ students might look/feel different than it sounds or a small school in a rural setting might feel just too small or isolated in person etc.

 

[sluggers]

By visiting these schools and meeting the coaches, I'm hoping that DD will get a better feel if she'd like to go there and play for the particular coach. By narrowing down the list, I also hope that she'll be able to focus her efforts on her chosen "few schools" during her Junior year - ie. attend their college camps, keep in regular contact with them, etc.

Sounds like an excellent plan to me.

He thinks that my strategy is a little too calculated and that we should take a more "wait and see" approach.

I understand his thought process, but I disagree with him. The more colleges she sees, the more she'll understand. Also, my guess is that after she visits a few schools, she'll quickly drop schools from her list.

We did about the same thing with my DD#3. After she went to a few schools, she could look at a map and decide if she was interested.

What you really, truly want is for your DD to be "invested" in the decision. If she feels she made the decision and this is "her" choice, then she will work harder to make it a success. (Plus, it saves a lot of time when she starts whining about the college...."Sorry, honey, but you decided to go there. You'll just have to work it out.")

 

[Fpcdad]

I think it's a great, well-organized and detailed plan, congrats! It's very viable...but I also think it important to realize that plans do (and should) change and evolve. Heck, I think it's healthy to change your mind a few times along the way as you will learn A LOT through the selection process.

Kudos to your DD on being focused on what schools she wants on visit. My DD's are HS juniors, and they've done their fair share of research on a variety of colleges and universities and trying to match them with their academic goals and athletic capabilities. My personal view is that my girls gain the most knowledge from simply walking a campus, visiting the student union and maybe taking in some of the athletic facilities. We've done a couple of unofficial visits that are obviously the most informative for us, but just the experience of being on campus (during a camp or even just a drive-by) has proven to be very beneficial. It seems to help cement their opinion of the school in general, which is ultimately what's most important after the whole softball experience is done.

Best of luck, and enjoy the ride!!!

 

[girliesmom]

No mention of test scores so I'm assuming that she hasn't taken SAT/ACT yet. Those scores will help refine your list.

DD wrote the ACT in December and she's waiting for her scores. Yes, I agree. Her score will help refine her list. Hopefully she'll get them soon. If she scores below expectation (ie. anything 29 and under), then we will postpone the visit. (She's only a sophomore - so there's certainly time to retake and improve her score). However, if she scores well (and we all hope she does - preferably a 32 or higher), then it'll show to the schools that she's within their test score range / admit range, then maybe the coaches will become more serious about her - at which point, the visits will make better sense.

She was recently speaking with a D3 coach who told her that she's a little early for 2018 recruiting. But he liked what he sees on her video and has told her that she's on the shortlist for 2018. He also impressed upon her that it's the school who has final say and that grades and test scores are determining factors in her admittance. Based on that convo, it would appear that while she's on his radar, he isn't going to get overly interested in her until he knows that she can get in. If she tests well and then goes on a visit, we hope that the coach's interest would really ramp up.

 

[Indiana]

I think sophomore year is a fine time - we did the same thing with my DD. We even visited a few schools during freshman year. DD knew that she wanted to go out of state, so we took the opportunity to visit schools whenever we were traveling to visit family, for softball tournaments, etc. We took a few college-visit specific trips as well. Real interest from the D3s came once her junior year GPA and test scores were complete.

DD was able to narrow her list to two geographic areas. By August, just before senior year, she was in last-stage talks with a few coaches. In the end, she went off on a tangent and is instead attending a large school for an academic program (no more softball unless maybe club). The tangent happened late, and it all happened very quickly, but I think all of the research and visiting that we did throughout high school led to DD making a decision that is right for her.

We would occasionally bring a few of DDs friends on visits with us. One friend is going to attend Tufts - a school that we all visited during freshman year!

 

[girliesmom]

What you really, truly want is for your DD to be "invested" in the decision. If she feels she made the decision and this is "her" choice, then she will work harder to make it a success. (Plus, it saves a lot of time when she starts whining about the college...."Sorry, honey, but you decided to go there. You'll just have to work it out.")

Thanks Slugger. Agree. We don't want to make the same mistake our friends' dd made. Our friends, thinking that they know what's best for their dd, cajoled her into going to a particular school 1.) because it was close by; 2.) for the softball program; 3.) because the school had her major. It wasn't the dd's first choice. Half way through fall training camp (ie. 3 weeks into school), she told her parents that she wanted out. She hated the school, hated the coach, hated her teammates and she blames her parents for "making her go to the school". She held in there for the 1 term and has now transferred to another school that has a joint softball program with an associate school. Because of the late transfer, she's not going to be able to play softball this season and will have to wait until the fall to join her new team. Our take away is, this is our DD's decision. Where she goes to school and who she decides to play for is her decision. We'll guide her but in no way will be tell her where to go. She makes her bed, she lies in it.

 

[girliesmom]

In the end, she went off on a tangent and is instead attending a large school for an academic program (no more softball unless maybe club). The tangent happened late, and it all happened very quickly, but I think all of the research and visiting that we did throughout high school led to DD making a decision that is right for her.

DD has several large highly academic D1s on her list but is concerned that that the time commitment to play D1 will be too great for her. She does not want to sacrifice academics for athletics. In our conversations, she has mentioned that she will give up varsity softball (and play club) if she had to choose. Her concern however is, without softball, she's not going to be able to gain admittance into some of the more selective schools since "girls with her grades are a dime a dozen" (her words not mine). I'm curious, did your dd's decision not to continue playing softball affect her acceptance into the school she goes to? Actually, that's a silly question - because it obviously didn't affect her admittance. But I'm curious, could it have? I'm glad to hear that she followed her heart and did what's right and best for her versus caving into peer pressure and "doing" what her teammates expect her to do. Kudos to her!

 

[JAD]

I would focus your attention on any D1 schools your DD is interested in now. The D3 schools are usually a year behind the D1's because they want to see more classes on the transcript and an SAT/ACT score. Prime time recruiting for D1's should be the summer between her sophomore and junior year. Scheduling an on campus visit is great and can help gauge a schools interest in your DD. If they pawn you off on someone from admissions for the tour, they are not very interested. A graduate assistant moves your DD up a few notches. Assistant coach tour means they are interested. Head coach tour - your DD is on their "wish list". Good luck!