I got educated heavily on this site by reading a lot of posts in this couple past weeks. Finally, I have the urge to be part of the group now and I am excited to hear from all of you. People here is really helpful and supportive!
Ok let me start this - My D is a junior and she has been emailing coaches since last June. Some coaches came to watch her at AAU last June and most kept in touch with her. D has pretty competitive grades ACT 32 GPA 4.67, top 3% in class, got 5 in 3 AP exams she has taken so far, currently in IB and will finish 11 APs by senior year.
She is looking at only D3 schools because she wants to focus in academics and she doesn’t think she is a D1,D2 material either. There’s a highly ranked small LAC in the mid-west called her after seeing her highlights video and they talked for an hour. The phone call went really well. I couldn’t hear what the coach said but could figure out most of the convo based on my daughter’s responses and she filled me in after too.
LAC coach was trying to provide as much as info about her school during the phone call and it sounds like a great fit for D academically and athletically (feedback from the coach). D asked if there’s anything she would like to improve on, coach basically said “Nothing” even though it sounds too good to be true, but D was delighted. Coach also suggested ED and invited her to visit. We planned to visit in two weeks and D was offered an overnight with a team member.
Coach sent emails to D’s club and HS coach for recommendation yesterday. Things look very smooth and D and I are still shocked. D got another couple colleges show high interest and got some personal letters but not as aggressive as this one. I believe it is a bit early to recruit for D3, isn’t it? Was it because of D’s stats?
What should we ask the coach when we are there in 2 weeks? What should I expect from this visit? How interested she is from what you hear so far? Is it just part of the process? We are very new to the whole recruit world.
Thanks in advance!
Depending on the sport, I have heard of recruits being unofficially offered spots as early as after sophomore year (i.e. lacrosse).(Contingent on continuing to meet academic and sport criteria.)
Being offered official visit is a strong sign of the coach’s interest.
An official visit will allow your D to see if team is a good fit.
Beware - there are no athletic scholarships for D3. Are you interested in using sport just for admission? Could you pay full price? Does school offer merit aid? Her academic stats could earn full tuition scholarship at some state schools.
Thanks for your reply Hippobirdy. It’s volleyball and it is not an OV because we paying for everything. D3 schools don’t usually have the budget to offer one anyway.
I noticed that there will no athletic scholarships at all and the school we are visiting is a need-based only. We tried to punch in numbers on their calculator but there is zero FA. I think it is because we own a business and the debt is not showing as personal’s. I am not sure how to play with the numbers yet but will ask the admission office once we have a chance.
We didn’t think of any particular school for D to be admitted using vball because we live in CA and vb recruit here is too competitive for D and she had never thought of going out of state. But the introduction to this LAC definitely made it to my D’s first choice now. I would love her to go there to have an excellent college experience and to do what she loves - vball.
I know there might be money offered somewhere else with her stats but the coach might not like her as much as this one so it is definitely a dilemma for us. Who doesn’t want some help to pay for expensive college? I am so nervous and also excited if the coach offers an verbal commitment and requests an ED.
It is a new challenge for me as a parent since D is my only child. Everyday there’s something new.
Kchen,
You seem to know the drill about D3 schools. No athletic scholarships, but being a recruit can help a good applicant get into a great school. Caution is in order, however, because of how quickly things can change.
I don’t think it is too early. I assume that volleyball is a fall sport at the college, so it makes perfect sense for the coach to recruit now. Admissions for next year probably are in line and the coach will be pretty busy come fall.
I am hoping that you are planning to go with your daughter and stay in a local motel while she stays with a team member. There are a couple of reasons for this. You can try to pull out from her what she likes and dislikes about the school while it is still fresh in her mind. Also, you should meet with the coach. Often the coach actually wants to speak with a parent. Some coaches like to see what the parent is like under the theory that he or she can learn a little more about the athlete (the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree). And, the coach can sell the school a bit more to the parent and can determine the level of interest since in all likelihood the parent will be footing some or all of the bill.
When you and your daughter meet with the coach, stay in the background until the end. Have your daughter prepare 3 questions in advance. Have her prepare an “elevator speech” – meaning she should be prepared to answer the question “tell me something about yourself.”
You, however, should be prepared to ask the hard questions. Most likely the coach will ask your daughter whether she has any questions, and when she has run out of them, the coach will turn to you and say “do you have any questions?” Then MAKE SURE you ask the following questions: 1) will my daughter get into this school; 2) would you request a “pre-read” for her through admissions and let us know the result; 3) where does my daughter sit on your recruiting list (i.e., is she at the top, middle, bottom); 4) HOW MUCH PULL DO YOU–AS COACH–HAVE WITH ADMISSIONS; and 5) will my daughter have to try out for the team and will you make cuts?
Good luck and may the force be with you.
Thank you so much for your advice goingthruaphase. It’s really helpful! I was about to ask D to email coach which part she wants us to be with them because we are flying with her and will drop her off at the campus. I usually prep D for what to think and say and let her do the talk for any communications with coaches. I think I would let her do as much as possible and will see how much the coach wants us to get involved. D’s club coach hates parents involvement and I was trained not to say too much since day one lol.
I have a question though…will any D3 school try to be creative about FA money even though we are not qualified for anything based on their calculator if they really want D to be on their team?
Unfortunately, all the schools that show high interest and D likes are need-based only except one. It is a business major only and the number one entrepreneur school nationwide. Graduates make more money than kids from IL. Sounds attractive but D wants to be a vet, so I don’t know if that works… go into vet school with required classes and a business major? Maybe a good choice for a vet who wants to run their own clinic. This school gives 100% or 50% scholarship based on merits and stuff… but the environment doesn’t seem like a fit for D since she is not too business minded (but it might be good because she will get trained to have it?). We visited last summer and she thought the students we met are not her type of people… but she is still considering provided the fact that the coach there is really sincerely and already told her she will be his major player right the way…tough choice…
Also to add more info to the mid-west school, the coach is the athletic dept director and has been with the school for 16 years already. Do you think she has more say at the admission office?
Kchen,
Enjoy the visit. It can be quite exciting.
The level of coach “pull” with admissions is less an issue of length of tenure as it is the relationship between admissions and the athletic department. Surely, a coach/athletic director with 16 years of experience will know the admissions drill. He or she will know which kids have a shot of getting in and will how to configure the recruit list for admissions. However, how much pull the athletics department has at a particular school is more a function of school policy and admissions. This is why you should ask the coach point-blank. If the coach is honest (and most are) he or she will tell you.
Finally, I will say I have heard of anecdotal stories of D3 athletic recruits getting generous needs based awards-perhaps more generous than would have been offered if they were not an athlete. Of course, this is not the official policy of any D3 school that I am aware of. So, it is just a matter of a whisper here or there. I would encourage you to ask the coach about “financial aid” in a very general way and listen very carefully to the response. Sometimes a coach may run the very general numbers for you to see where you would fit in.
Bon chance!
Kchen,
Your D sounds like she has a great academics and based off the coach’s response it sounds like she is really talented at volleyball as well. To be honest, I bet she would be able to get into this midwest LAC on her own, esp since the only good midwest LAC I know of is Grinnell, and Grinnell really is not thaaaat strong. I’m not sure about their volleyball program, as I have no exp with this.
If your D had those academics stats, even without being a future athlete, I would expect her to be shooting for a mid-high level NESCAC. She would have a chance at those schools even without the extra pull from athletic recruiting. The help from the coach would probably make her a shoe in at a nescac school. I don’t know if your D wants to live in the Northeast, but if she does (new england has some beautiful seasons) then I’d encourage her to look at Williams, Midd, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Bates, Colby, Hamilton.
Good luck in the process! The best thing you can do is be upfront with your coach about asking for pull in admissions.
Thanks for your kind words d3athlete. It’s not Grinnell that we are visiting but it is another LAC that’s quite similar to it but with a higher admission stats in 14’. Yes D doesn’t mind going to East and she has been talking to most of the schools you mentioned too. But this one has a head start of her recruiting game and the school seems like a fit not only in academics but also mentality of the student body.
I will post something about the visit once we are back from the visit. Hope D will like it!