College Visit? LOL!

[LMUfan]

I had one DD play D1 and another play D3. If I had it do over again, they both would have played D3. There is no comparison between an athlete's education at a good D3 school and a D1 school--meaning, they actually get an education at a D3 school.

Ray,

I'm sorry to hear that your daughter didn't get an education at her D1 school. However, I think it's not appropriate to assume that all D1 schools are alike.

My daughter certainly got a fine education at Loyola Marymount and graduated on time as promised. She also chose a relatively hard major in Natural Science which required her to carry 16 units during the spring semester including labs.

While LMU is a mid-major and not a BCS school they compete strongly at the D1 level. They also emphasize academics. Every freshman, on their orientation day, is given a T-shirt with their graduation date on it. In the years my daughter played softball at LMU every softball player graduated on the date shown on the T-shirt.

Getting an education is up to the student, not the coach. My daughter, who just finished her senior year, was selected conference student athlete of the year and next month she enrolls in school to become a doctor. And, in fact, being a D1 athlete had a big impact during her interview process for her new school. What you get out of college is what you put into it.

LMU, by most standards, is a tough academic school. There were 3 of her peers (non athletes) that left LMU after their freshman year and enrolled in the local D3 school (California Lutheran) and expressed gratitude that their classwork was much easier than it was at LMU. They went from C- students to B students. So, while they are more successful at a D3 school, are they getting a better education?

Now, of course, my example, like yours, is an isolated one. I brought it up to point out that it's impossible to paint all colleges with the same wide brush. Each university is unique and different. YMMV.

While your experience may have been a bad one, not all D1 schools are that way. Using a broad brush to paint D1 as some kind of evil empire is not exactly fair.

 

[Mark H]

D1, D3's and the rest vary in all ways. I think we can all agree, taking a pre med courseload while keeping the grades to get into your first choice med school all while playing D1 anything is a challenge to put it mildly. The time commitment for D1 softball is much greater than at D3.

 

[LMUfan]

D1, D3's and the rest vary in all ways. I think we can all agree, taking a pre med courseload while keeping the grades to get into your first choice med school all while playing D1 anything is a challenge to put it mildly. The time commitment for D1 softball is much greater than at D3.

Mark,

A good education can be had if the desire is there. My daughter took classes every summer and carried 18 units in the fall. Add internships and being the team's SAAC representative for three years and she was appropriately challenged. Her reward was that in the spring of her senior year she only needed 2 classes to graduate. She spent the extra free time by spending 2 hours per day in the batting cage.

She's worried that her load this fall will be too tough with 27 units worth of classes. I consoled her by saying that 18 units plus softball is equivalent to 27 units. I think that playing D1 softball has prepared her well for the rigors of her next step.

 

[Mark H]

Your daughter is to be commended and no doubt she must be very bright. No doubt carrying that kind of load and making the grades to get into your first choice of medical schools is a huge challenge.

 

[jimginas]

as rude as it seems the coach was....... (and she was), we don't know previous experiences or issues that led her to respond like this... WRONG, but nonetheless, there may be other issues...... understand coaches have personality, some good, some bad and don't take what appears bad as a personal thing...... you never know, she may keep an eye on you and she may call you as a rising senior.
My DD and I had a couple great experiences from college coaches (DIV3 and one DIV1), she clearly wasn't a DIV1 player, but was treated well at each school, invited to STAY in Dorms over a weekend, talked to at games and we didn't have a problem... so I suggest MOST coaches are more personable.
DIV I coaches have to be very careful, so as Sluggers suggests, be thick skinned and let it roll off your back. Don't WASTE time or energy on this one experience, but LEARN from it. (In life at work and other venues, you'll come across similar situations that you can learn how to deal with.)

 

[Simo]

My daughter wanted to play ball at Iowa and while I knew that her talent was not at that level, agreed to take her down for a visit that she arranged on her own with coach Gayle Blevins. Coach Blevins met with her one on one in her office and was as gracious and nice as one could imagine. Contrast this with a visit to Central College where the head coach delegated one of his assistants to meet for a few minutes and arrange a campus tour. I think we were there for about 1 hour and she said, "this is a waste of time, lets get out of here". She ended up playing D3 ball in the Iowa Conference, became a first team pitcher, and received a quality education which lead to her becoming a doctor of physical therapy. BTW, she went on to have a great career including wins against that Central team when they were ranked #7 in the country.