There are many reasons why a student picks a college. If you're not a highly sought after student athlete, then your first priority should be on the schools educational programs. What do you want to get out of your college education? Is what I always ask potential students. Of course there are other elements that come into play, like location, cost, campus life, that are all very important, but not as important as would you end up with when the college days are finally over.
School me on D3 softball
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This is very true. In Texas there are tons of D3 coaches at showcases looking at talent and looking to fill spots. Maybe in some of the lower level less competitive schools they aren't attending showcases, but I talk to them every weekend. AND they HAVE money to give!!! They will never tell you I have no money for the 2020 class like you hear from the D1 schools.
Couple things to add from my experience with DS & DD1.
SB is not a money making sport although I heard that the new TV deal, some of the SEC and PAC-12 schools are closing in.
Talking to coaches you will find out that just because a D2 is allotted 7.2 athletic scholarships does not mean they are fully funded so the coach only may have 5 of those 7.2 given to him/her by the school. It is a school by school thing, the 7.2 is the limit. Your athletic scholarship can vary year-to-year but most coaches are people (not nut-bags) and know college is expensive and while it isn't guaranteed it kind of is as long as you make the effort so they budget for it. YMMV but I think this is fairly common in small-D1 and D2 outside of the P5 schools which I know nothing about. Again this is my experience talking to actual coaches.
Our experience was D2-D3 coaches mostly said they hold a roster spot for 2-years and your job is to earn the other two. Kind of makes sense because it is hard to judge someone on one season as they may only get limited exposure sitting behind upperclassmen. Several coaches in D3 we heard hold open tryouts for the last couple spots as mentioned previously. Our experience is the better or more competitive the D3 conference the more likely the roster spots are all taken by recruits. The small state colleges (the ones named after a small city that play in conference against the other within the state) do recruit but that varies and walking on is a bit more common. Another factors of note are if the coach is full time or part time. In some programs the coach is part time so they don't really have a recruiting budget or the time. If the coach has a second function (AD & softball coach) or similar then they tend to be more on par with what a D1 does in terms of recruiting. Finally the endowment plays a bit part because the pool of cash is what it is and the larger the endowment the more likely the coach is full time and the more wiggle room the school has overall on scholarships.
In our experience DD1 talked to a D2 coach who offered her in the 4-6K range as an OF coupled with her academic scholarship money but that was still more net than the D3 she committed to this spring because she got a state tuition waiver & honor-college scholarship. The D2 coach was pretty straight forward and said the key positions (read pitcher) get larger athletic scholarships but he doesn't have money to give a full ride (generally best he said was about 1/2). Her choice since she was going to grad-school anyway was D2 coming out with 30-40k in loans or D3 state school with 0 loans and some $ for her masters.
Also it is worth checking accreditation with respect to major. Some majors like business related have independent accreditation and if you go for your MBA/CPA they carry more weigh when applying. Also check the rate at which people make the end goal like nursing majors and who pass test. Those things really matter in the end because you want a good education.
CoC
SB is not a money making sport although I heard that the new TV deal, some of the SEC and PAC-12 schools are closing in.
Talking to coaches you will find out that just because a D2 is allotted 7.2 athletic scholarships does not mean they are fully funded so the coach only may have 5 of those 7.2 given to him/her by the school. It is a school by school thing, the 7.2 is the limit. Your athletic scholarship can vary year-to-year but most coaches are people (not nut-bags) and know college is expensive and while it isn't guaranteed it kind of is as long as you make the effort so they budget for it. YMMV but I think this is fairly common in small-D1 and D2 outside of the P5 schools which I know nothing about. Again this is my experience talking to actual coaches.
Our experience was D2-D3 coaches mostly said they hold a roster spot for 2-years and your job is to earn the other two. Kind of makes sense because it is hard to judge someone on one season as they may only get limited exposure sitting behind upperclassmen. Several coaches in D3 we heard hold open tryouts for the last couple spots as mentioned previously. Our experience is the better or more competitive the D3 conference the more likely the roster spots are all taken by recruits. The small state colleges (the ones named after a small city that play in conference against the other within the state) do recruit but that varies and walking on is a bit more common. Another factors of note are if the coach is full time or part time. In some programs the coach is part time so they don't really have a recruiting budget or the time. If the coach has a second function (AD & softball coach) or similar then they tend to be more on par with what a D1 does in terms of recruiting. Finally the endowment plays a bit part because the pool of cash is what it is and the larger the endowment the more likely the coach is full time and the more wiggle room the school has overall on scholarships.
In our experience DD1 talked to a D2 coach who offered her in the 4-6K range as an OF coupled with her academic scholarship money but that was still more net than the D3 she committed to this spring because she got a state tuition waiver & honor-college scholarship. The D2 coach was pretty straight forward and said the key positions (read pitcher) get larger athletic scholarships but he doesn't have money to give a full ride (generally best he said was about 1/2). Her choice since she was going to grad-school anyway was D2 coming out with 30-40k in loans or D3 state school with 0 loans and some $ for her masters.
Also it is worth checking accreditation with respect to major. Some majors like business related have independent accreditation and if you go for your MBA/CPA they carry more weigh when applying. Also check the rate at which people make the end goal like nursing majors and who pass test. Those things really matter in the end because you want a good education.
CoC
- Nov 18, 2013
- 2,258
- 113
Pretty spot on from what I’ve seen too. DD played D1, DS was recruited primarily by D3’s, but chose not to be a student athlete. D1’s are allowed 12 scholarships, but they aren’t all fully funded either. P5 softball scholarships are guaranteed and can’t be lost for athletic reasons. It’s not as good as it sounds, but it is better than year to year.
Talent can vary at all levels, but D3 seems to have the widest range. The upper schools might have several kids who could make a D1 roster and others have several who couldn’t make a HS varsity roster. Best advice we heard is pick a school your kid will love attending regardless of softball.
Thanks Coach...took the words right out of my mouth!! I have been to California and Florida to recruit this year. as a DIII coach. Have attracted lots of interest in coming to NY! Even might have a player verbal in November which just is saying I want to play for your school
We did this three years ago. Here is what we learned. D3 has little money for anyone making something over 140k. DD had a 35 ACT and a 4.5 weighted GPA with 5's on all her AP tests but her 4 in Chem and still no D3 offered any academic money due to our income and yes she was recruited. Fall of her SR year the phone rang regularly from D3 coaches and admissions.
I really think this depends on the school. DD transferred from a JUCO to a D3. She had a 3.94 after 2 years in JUCO. Between the wife and I we make a pretty good living. DD received a $32,000 a year academic scholarship from the school she ended up going to. In all she had around 15 schools that were talking to or wanted to talk to her ranging from D2 to D3, majority were D3 though. All had academic money to offer because of her GPA.
Similar situation here without the JUCO. DD narrowed down her search to 1 d2 and 3 d3's. All offered some academic money. Her final decision was based on a number of factors but was also the school that offered the most academic $. She is now a sophomore working on a 7 year DPT program.
@Anthony Vertuccio - Good to hear you are not just showing up for the sunny weather!
Great to see you last week - hopefully run into you again before end of season
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I guess I should of included some school names. DD did not cast a wide net limiting her D3 search to baby Ivys, U Chicago types of schools.
