Personal Observation of D3 Softball

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Apr 6, 2017
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Our D3 in town wants all our town kids. They offer great scholarships for good grades and my non softball 21 year old lives at home. About 6 blocks from campus. She’s cheaper than a state school and will be a teacher ,elementary Ed. Living at home has been a huge money saver.
No financial aid.
 
May 27, 2013
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People who can get a tremendous amount of need based financial aid. I 100% can not afford for my child to attend a D3. Don’t qualify for a dime if need based aid but don’t make enough to have 150k saved for tuition


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Some D3 schools give out a lot of merit money as well.

ETA: Some of the D3’s near me offer a lot of merit money that would help rival the tuition of our in-state flagship public university.
 
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Jun 8, 2016
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This place is amazing. Seems like most everybody paid in full for their house and cars..impressive...;)
 
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May 20, 2015
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Some D3 schools give out a lot of merit money as well.

ETA: Some of the D3’s near me offer a lot of merit money that would help rival the tuition of our in-state flagship public university.


DD1 got a ton of merit money......looking at our FAFSA, she IS going to school in Boston at a fairly high academic D3 with good internship opportunities cheaper than she could have gone to UMAINE (where she wouldn't have played, either).
 
Nov 18, 2013
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Ah, um,

The top collegiate softball teams in the US are all well-funded D1 programs.
And except for the Ivy League (which is quasi-D1) and a few others (Duke, Stanford, Cal), most HA schools are D3 (MIT, Univ of Chicago, NESCAC, UAA).

But more to the point - D1 and D2 provide scholarships; D3 does not. So we know what might make a player choose D1/D2 over D3.

What I’m asking, in a thread about the high level of D3 play, is what might make a potential D1/D2 talent choose to play D3 instead? And, more broadly, what other types of players are in D3 that make these teams so good?

There are as many reasons to do something as there are people to do it. But the decision to attend a certain college and play softball at that college is deliberate. I’m looking for commonalities among D3 athletes.

I don’t think an athletic scholarship plays a big role in girls playing D3 vs D1/D2. Most girls playing softball arent getting much, if any athletic money. The ones who are likely pay out of state tuition and could play at a small state school cheaper than they’re paying at a D1/D2 school. That would certainly apply to kids pondering D3 or D1 since they’re likely fringe players. DD was a fringe player. Not knocking them, just being real.

The majority of D3’s have fewer academic resources than a P5 school so if academics were the driving force it would make more sense for these kids to choose D1. Wisconsin D3’s were mentioned earlier. They’re primarily smaller state schools and no where near the top of any academic rankings. The softball teams are competitive, but not quite the level of the average D1/D2.

There’s such a huge variety in both the level of softball and quality of education within and between divisions I don’t think there are unique commonalities as to why a kid would choose D3 over D1/D2. It could just come down to opportunity. A kid with one D1 offer might have a whole slew of D3 opportunities to choose from.
 
Apr 20, 2015
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This place is amazing. Seems like most everybody paid in full for their house and cars..impressive...;)

And all national merit scholars. I have a smart kid with a solid gpa but looking through the d3 schools in my area she would be eligible for peanuts in merit aid compared to tuition. Trying to help her make a smart decision balancing quality education, her love of softball and financial stability


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Jun 8, 2016
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And all national merit scholars. I have a smart kid with a solid gpa but looking through the d3 schools in my area she would be eligible for peanuts in merit aid compared to tuition. Trying to help her make a smart decision balancing quality education, her love of softball and financial stability


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My comment was a tongue in cheek one related to loans..both my wife and I had loans coming out of undergrad (almost 40K combined). We survived..we also shared a car and rented a 1 bedroom apartment for 6 or 7 years after graduation and waited 8 years to get married. Everyone is different, I get the trepidation about having loans.
 
Apr 20, 2015
961
93
My comment was a tongue in cheek one related to loans..both my wife and I had loans coming out of college (almost 40K combined). We survived..we also shared a car and rented a 1 bedroom apartment for 6 or 7 years after graduation and waited 8 years to get married. Everyone is different, I get the trepidation about having loans.

Yep I know it me too. I have so many loans from graduate school despite having a full academic ride to college I will probably be paying them in retirement. Trying really hard to start my kiddo on a better path


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Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Yep I know it me too. I have so many loans from graduate school despite having a full academic ride to college I will probably be paying them in retirement. Trying really hard to start my kiddo on a better path


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We paid ours off when I was a postdoc after graduate school. My wife (then girlfriend/fiancee) was working full time as a teacher at that point. Luckily I didn't pay a dime for graduate school ( I actually got a stipend every month) but unless you are Engineering/Hard Science major that usually isn't the case.

Like @MNDad said a lot of education is what you make out of it. The quality of the actual teaching often isn't any better at these highly ranked schools. What it does often provide, outside of something nice and shiny on your resume, is an environment
where you are surrounded by other high achievers which can sometimes be useful.

Schools are so expensive nowadays, it is tough. I wish I could blame my salary on that but alas that isn't the case..lol.
 
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