Colleges who CAN START RECRUITING EARLY befor D1's

[Orange Socks]

DD started getting calls from D3 after attending the Headfirst Honor Roll camp after her Freshman year. Back then recruiting was the wild wild west. The conversation was more about introductions, educating DD about the process and keeping in contact. DD was in contact with an Ivy AC, who then became coach at a NESCAC in NY. They actually had a player from DD's TB team there. She reached out to DD and kept in contact. Also received several hand written cards from coaches, which was very impressive.

Ultimately, DD decided on an in State high academic D3 that was not on our radar. Lots of conversations with parents a few years ahead of us in the process steered us straight and of course DFP helped too. We knew she could compete at the mid major level, but she didn't want to work that hard. Ha! She actually is working her A$$ off, both athletically and academic(not all A's.)

She won the team MVP this season and earned all conference accolades the past two seasons, which I don't think could have happened if she chose D1. Based on what I see in the D1 landscape, and the stories that are emerging I don't think she would be playing today.

 

[Orange Socks]

I think it depends on the conference. With the D3 schools dd (and now ds) are familiar with, they will actively recruit and have their top prospects go through the academic preread - typically this time of year if they are rising seniors. Some will also do a financial aid preread if you ask. One sent the financial aid calculator along with the preread and made it clear to only continue with the preread if the financial aid calculator gave you a number you felt comfortable with.

They will do more prereads for more recruits than they have spots for as they want to be sure a recruit can get through admissions. Even a preread is not a guarantee, but it gives you a pretty good idea. It will also help the coach decide if they can support the recruit through admissions. Some schools allow more coach support than others. At the top conferences, it is much less likely that there will be walk-ons. DD’s team did not have them.

DD's former TB teammate is at an Ivy. She admitted that her scores were not very good, but guess what! She's a pitcher. If your scores are bumping the bottom threshold of an acceptable score, the coach can help push you through the admissions process. Also helps if the coach recruits players that have perfect scores too that may not necessarily be impact players.

 

[Vertigo]

DD's former TB teammate is at an Ivy. She admitted that her scores were not very good, but guess what! She's a pitcher. If your scores are bumping the bottom threshold of an acceptable score, the coach can help push you through the admissions process. Also helps if the coach recruits players that have perfect scores too that may not necessarily be impact players.

Yep. I truly believe for an athlete it is actually easier to get into an Ivy academically than some of the high academic D3’s.

 

[Orange Socks]

Yep. I truly believe for an athlete it is actually easier to get into an Ivy academically than some of the high academic D3’s.

This is absolutely true. Just like it's harder to be a vet than a doctor.

Know a kid that graduated from Amherst last year. She had her heart set on Dartmouth and actually considered giving up. Ultimately, she got accepted to Amherst Spring of her Sr year and had an awesome softball career. True High Academic softball recruiting process requires abnormal amounts of patience and fortitude. Gotta put your blinders on. While all of your buddies are verballing left and right and enjoying signing days, you are crying inside until the day finally happens.

Test early, test often, spread that net wide, be realistic about skill set and academics, consult others who are years ahead of you in the process, have your financials in line, and be patient.

 

[marriard]

I've heard it said that DIII recruiting feels more like a "walk-on" situation for all due to the uncertainty of the athlete actually making it on campus. The admission is one piece of the puzzle, and I was under the impression that finances will be another piece.

Not really - well not at the good ones anyway.

Most high-academic coaches (and most coaches in general) have a VERY good understanding of who can and can't get past admissions at their school.

If coach is uncertain, I am sure it can feel a little 'walk on' - that is the coach saying 'if you can get in, we will have a roster spot - but getting in for you is borderline'.

And yes, finances are certainly part of that equation - but in general that can be worked out if it is the right school for the person.

DD was recruited and offers across all divisions. She will tell you the D3 school she ended up at, recruited her much the same the D1's did.
But she also had to wait until December of her senior year to get through admissions before she was 100% confident to say this was the school she was going to.

 

[malletfinger]

I deleted my response because it came across as pretentious and preachy. I do realize that many people who don’t qualify for aid cannot afford to pay completely out of pocket, even if they have been planning for it. I think everybody can agree that the cost of higher education has gotten out of hand..

Apologies Pattar, didn't mean to cause you grief. I think we all agree on the cost issue, yes. It has become so that the admissions and fin aid offices, other than the coaches, continue to be equally important in whether an athlete can join a college team.

 

[_MIA_]

Apologies Pattar, didn't mean to cause you grief. I think we all agree on the cost issue, yes. It has become so that the admissions and fin aid offices, other than the coaches, continue to be equally important in whether an athlete can join a college team.

I didn't lose any sleep over it.. I've made my view on this pretty clear on here. I think a parent should try and get their kid into the best school they can, even if that means taking out a reasonable amount of loans. I also realize that not everybody thinks that way and that is fine.

 

[malletfinger]

Not really - well not at the good ones anyway.

Most high-academic coaches (and most coaches in general) have a VERY good understanding of who can and can't get past admissions at their school.
[...]
DD was recruited and offers across all divisions. She will tell you the D3 school she ended up at, recruited her much the same the D1's did.
But she also had to wait until December of her senior year to get through admissions before she was 100% confident to say this was the school she was going to.

This is all highly educational for me; thanks to all that responded and clarified.

If I were to try to unify the comments I've heard outside of and here at DFP, I think the skill level of the student athlete involved has to be included (along with team/institutional need). The recruiting advice talks I've attended separated out the "blue chip" recruits from the other recruitable athletes, where the blue chips (and probably those close to that level) got more of the traditional recruiting experience. For the other applicants, it was explained that they had to work a bit harder to get attention and admissions support (if available).

To further clarify, I didn't mean to imply selective D3 teams had a lot with walk-ons. It was described to me was that until they feel the student athlete can get in (via pre-reads, etc) the coaches couldn't afford to spend too much time (or budget) on a large group of applicants, only to find out that most did not gain admission. Once they reach a certain comfort level of admission (and yield) status then the love from the coaches flows more freely I was told (as marriard indicated).

The counselors giving the talk did mention stories about D3 recruits (in all sports, not softball focussed) that were denied by admissions after a successful summer read. And stories of others who gained admission but did not make the team. The phrase was "technically, all D3 athletes are walk-ons" despite being "recruit worthy".

A side note: In my greater area, I know the details for a couple of recent softball admits to highly academic D3s, one to Swarthmore and the other to Amherst. Interesting that they were also spring admits... patience and fortitude indeed.

 

[Orange Socks]

I didn't lose any sleep over it.. I've made my view on this pretty clear on here. I think a parent should try and get their kid into the best school they can, even if that means taking out a reasonable amount of loans. I also realize that not everybody thinks that way and that is fine.

I can agree with this. For certain schools, the opportunity to attend could be life changing. Would I fully fund via loans...NO. but having a loan in your name makes sure the student has some skin in the game and will take it more serious. But please get a marketable degree that will have you make earning money after graduation.

 

[_MIA_]

I can agree with this. For certain schools, the opportunity to attend could be life changing. Would I fully fund via loans...NO. but having a loan in your name makes sure the student has some skin in the game and will take it more serious. But please get a marketable degree that will have you make earning money after graduation.

Yeah you don't want to be in the hole for 250K in loans when you get out for sure. I had about 20K (my wife had about the same amount) in loans when I graduated which, at the time (graduated in 97) , was about 10K less than a year's tuition at Tufts..lol.