getting noticed by colleges

[MsDinosaur]

If DD is 99 percentile smart, would playing SB help her get into an Ivy or a Stanford if she is an above average player.

I'm also wondering if playing SB might be a way for my DD to get her foot in the door at a selective school, InsidePitch. My young DD has a 4.0 avg, gets 99th percentile on the annual state tests and for some reason has had a desire to go to Yale since she was about 10. (I'd be fine seeing her go there or to many other schools.) However, she's currently a B level player, not A. I'm imagining that she'd have to get pretty darned good at SB, even with the brains. Just from what I've observed, a lot of girls playing softball are smart kids.

P.S. Did you notice that one of the NCFA showcases in PA was specifically for girls with high academic credentials? Has anyone had any experience with that showcase?

 

[iMlearning]

My DD said that she'd like to stay on the east coast...how do you find out what colleges have good softball programs? I can't imagine it's just by the rankings each year. We know education first, but most larger colleges will have what she is looking for (at least what she is considering at the moment in 8th grade She does fantastic in school- a lot smarter than her father- and she was just voted friendliest girl in middle school. Does that help lol

 

[nekha123]

It's crazy that we need to start thinking about this when they are this young. I too have a 12u player...just starting with club ball. Love the responses so far. They're a great help. And great question, Coach 11.

Yeah, it's seriously crazy. But who cares, that's the way world functions. Btw, i'm new here and I see you are also new if i'm right

 

[Bouldersdad]

I'm also wondering if playing SB might be a way for my DD to get her foot in the door at a selective school, InsidePitch. My young DD has a 4.0 avg, gets 99th percentile on the annual state tests and for some reason has had a desire to go to Yale since she was about 10. (I'd be fine seeing her go there or to many other schools.) However, she's currently a B level player, not A. I'm imagining that she'd have to get pretty darned good at SB, even with the brains. Just from what I've observed, a lot of girls playing softball are smart kids.

P.S. Did you notice that one of the NCFA showcases in PA was specifically for girls with high academic credentials? Has anyone had any experience with that showcase?

Brown Yale Harvard or any ivy league will be grades first. If it is her dream to go that route then softball even at school will be 2nd to academics. Make sure she has the highest ACT possible.

When we played Brown in Tx this last spring I got the opportunity to set with some of their parents. And talking as softball parents do. I discovered that they are like most in the ivy league a continually young team. Mostly sophomores and freshman. And this happens every year as alot of their upper classman have to bail on the sport due to academics requirements.

Tim

 

[InsidePitch]

Brown Yale Harvard or any ivy league will be grades first. Tim

Having had one kid just go thru the application process and seeing some kids with lesser grades get in over better GPAs at some of the top tiered schools, I figued if grades are pretty much the same at the top then maybe a coach wanting a kid might have some sway over the adminissions team.

 

[Dtwn92]

Great and informative thread.
Question for those who had a daughter who had more than one offer, what was her deciding factor on the schools she picked? academics or program?

 

[InsidePitch]

In NJ we had a very good HS boys BB championship. One young man from Plainfield HS was recruited to Yale. He could have played at a lot of big D1 schools.

Justin Sears, the Yale-bound senior who said he picked Yale “not as a four-year decision but a 40-year decision,”

Most will graduate and go pro in something else. Unless you are destined to go Pro, pick your school for schlastics.

 

[LAdad]

If DD is 99 percentile smart, would playing SB help her get into an Ivy or a Stanford if she is an above average player.

Yes.

Ivy League schools do not give sports-based scholarships, but they do recruit most (probably all) of their players in pretty much the same way as other schools. All students at an Ivy need to meet the school's requirements, but once they meet those, the coach can bypass the rest of the selection process by 'claiming' the player. However, the coach has only a limited number of those 'free passes' available. For softball, I think 3 or 4 per year. Considering the size of the team and the high turnover mentioned by Tim, there must be a number of players who got into the school without such help.

So if you are academically at a level where you could reasonably apply at an Ivy league school, and you can play softball at a level where you could play at at least some D1 schools (if only you could get the coach's attention), then, yes, softball may give you the edge over other qualified applicants. I once heard someone complain that an Ivy coach at a showcase didn't want to look at their players if they didn't have an SAT over 1950, so you can take that as a minimum. (I'd aim a bit higher; pretty much all Ivy applicants take the SAT at least twice to boost their score.) That said, we found that even with high grades it wasn't necessarily easy to get an Ivy coach's attention.

Ivy schools mostly rank in the bottom third of D1 softball schools, so you don't need to be an ASU-level player, but you do need to be at least a potential D1 player. (On average, Stanford seems to take their sports more seriously.)

 

[Amy in AZ.]

If you want a top university, with a great softball program, consider U of Chicago. My son knew several of the players there. His education was top notch and he has never been without a job, since graduating in with an economics degree. He is highly recruited throughout the country, just because of his education.

 

[AimHigh]

Great and informative thread.
Question for those who had a daughter who had more than one offer, what was her deciding factor on the schools she picked? academics or program?

That's a great question. My daughter talked about comfort level with the team, the coach and an instinct about feeling good about the campus. Her choice would not have been our choice, but we felt comfortable with her choice.

In terms of academic fit, clearly young people go to college to earn a marketable degree. But.....let me be frank, picking most schools solely on academic interests can be almost mythical. My daughter is in national honor society, I am a professor at a Big 10 university and my wife is an educator as well. Clearly we value education. Yet, my dd does not know what she wants to study. I'm fine with that as the average college student changes majors at least three times. So while academics are the driving force behind going to college, don't let it be the sole force as students do change their minds, often. Sometimes comfort and perceived fit are more important.