<p>I was just wondering....
The kids who are recruited at D3 schools, is that a 4 year commitment or can they quit after the freshman year?
And also I've heard that they are awarded more FA than regular students, is this true?</p>
<p>Try the recruited athletes forum. There is D3 discussion there, not just D1 and D2:</p>
<p>[Athletic</a> Recruits - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/]Athletic”>Athletic Recruits - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>My daughter played four years of D3 college soccer (an '12 college graduate).</p>
<p>She was recruited by the coach to play at the college.</p>
<p>At a D3 college there’s no commitment that a student athlete must play all four years. My daughter had teammates who stopped playing after one season, after three seasons.</p>
<p>I don’t know if being recruited had any impact on her financial aid – merit and need-based.</p>
<p>
It is not supposed to matter at all … one of the basic definitions of D3 is no athletic scholarships (and more FA for athletes would essentially be that) … however I would not be surprised if some schools push as far into the gray as they can on this issue.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter since D3 cannot award athletic scholarships. There’s no commitment. I think they do ‘find’ additional financial aid for athletes…</p>
<p>It’d be unwise for a d3 school to favor athletes in fin aid. They can quit at any time, and a school with a history of reducing aid after athletes quit would be opening itself up for big trouble. Honoring extra generous aid for athletes who quit after one year also wouldn’t be the soundest fiscal policy for the school. Since a D3 school would assume some risk in awarding better aid to athletes, I think it would be safe to bet that most won’t.</p>
<p>I am a “recruited” athlete but it has no bearing on any aid and that was made clear early on. D3 doesn’t offer scholarships for athletics. FA is not in any way given to athletes for being athletes…</p>
<p>Recruited and in first year, still intending to continue to play. Scholarships offered (or not) were based upon academic eligibility. Recruited status meant coaches were communicating with admissions. I have no idea how much sway they had in admit decisions.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter in D-I or D-II for attendance either. You will lose the sports part of your scholarship money, but not the right to go to the school or any merit money. I know kids who dropped out of the sport without playing at all but they didn’t have to leave the school.</p>
<p>Until recently, sports scholarships were only for 1 year, so there was no guarantee on either side. Most coaches ‘guaranteed’ that if you played your hardest, your sports amount would not go down. There are some special rules about injuries, but I don’t know them. I do know coaches who honored the scholarship even if the student couldn’t play because of injury or medical condition. Classy.</p>
<p>My son is a recruited athlete at a D3 school. He did not receive any financial aid but he did receive an academic scholarship. I have no way of knowing whether his recruited athlete status had anything to do with his scholarship but his scholarship is not tied to his sport. He can quit his sport at any time and retain his scholarship as the only “strings” he has are academic.</p>
<p>He has had fun playing in college but if he wants to quit he can.</p>
<p>My D will be playing this fall for a D3 school for soccer. She was actively recruited by many D3 coaches that she also actively showed interest in. She ultimately picked the school for the school. It doesn’t hurt that she also thinks that the coach is terrific. She does not want sports to be a full time job. But is not ready to move down to a club level of play. Being on a team is part of her “being”. Hopefully she will love it and get a lot out of it. But if not, there is no pressure, she can quit. I have said many times to her, once your in school a whole life is going to open up for you, and you may decide to pursue other interests. She did receive Merit money from the school.</p>
<p>My son was recruited. The coach explained it to me this way. “Its a small school.” (Most D3’s are) “I’m friendly with the admissions people. So I can put in a good word for anyone. That being said, I get 3 spots. That means that I can ask for 3 athletes who need a little help getting in or maybe one that needs a lot of help and two that need a little help.” He moved on to my son specifically, “Your son doesn’t need help. He will get in, so I will just make sure that they know I met him and there shouldn’t be any problem. There is an honors program that includes a $2000 scholarship. I can also put in a recommendation for that. No promises but I can usually get that for students with the grades.” After my son was invited to apply for the program the coach sent an email that said if you are coming here I will talk to the right people about the scholarship. He never promised anything but he gave us peace of mind that he could come through. My son decided to go somewhere else s we thanked him and said he didn’t have to bother. </p>
<p>I know that doesn’t answer the question about FA but it is a little experience with the inner workings at college sports.</p>
<p>DisneyDad, thanks for sharing that. It’s exactly candid experiences like yours that make this forum so helpful to others for years in the future.</p>
<p>My only experience of this is from having gone to a D3 school over 20-odd years ago, where one of the guys down the hall from me was a very highly seeded high school athlete who opted to attend our small liberal arts college b/c his parents had gone there and it was a very high quality education, despite being heavily recruited for good D1 schools. Officially he got nothing based on being a recruited athlete, but what he did have the entire four years there was a work-study job as an assistant to his coach… that supposedly paid him to help set up before practice, clean up after, etc, but in effect paid him to practice. It wasn’t a lot of money, just the same hours and wages available to anyone else doing work study, but it was very much a special deal for him as a highly coveted athletic recruit. No clue if that’s at all common, or something that’s been cracked down on since.</p>
<p>I have a daughter who was recruited at a D3 school and she swam all four years. Quite a few of her fellow swimmers did not make it all four years. She went to a highly competitive LAC and the only way to get money was to be brilliant or qualify for financial aid. Athletes were not given any preference. My son is now going to a top 20 University that is D3 as a recruited swimmer and to my knowledge again money is given to students who qualify financially or a special scholarship that is given to students who have excelled above the rest. My son was recruited by a lot of elite LACs (NESCAC) and money was never discussed. If you want to go to a D3, money is available via financial aid or if your student is head and shoulders above the students attending. If you need money, seek out a D2 school if your athlete cannot compete at the D1 level. There is money at D3’s if you qualify for financial aid and some schools are very generous. Truthfully, if money is an issue, D3 schools are not the way to go unless you qualify for financial aid. i am not sure if this helps you but you can message me privately and I can share more of our experiences.</p>
<p>The NCAA specifically prohibits fin aid for D3 athletes that is tied to athletics. Some D3 schools give merit, but for the NESCACS, and also the Ivies, it’s all need based.
Probably about 1/2 of D3 recruited athletes continue sports participation all 4 years. They also spend significantly less time practicing and more time in academics than their D1 counterparts-the average D1 athlete spends over 44 hours a week at team related activities(and I don’t think that included parties) and less than 40 hours a week on academics.
For D3 shorter season and average 28 hours a week on team activities…
May be time to resurrect my old post about D3 vs D1</p>
<p>My son ended up at a D2 but also looked at D3’s and seriously considered one of them. He did receive academic scholarships from that one, but they were not tied to his sport and he had the grades to justify the award. There is no requirement for any athlete to remain in any sports program if they decide to quit- they may still remain at the school but would lose any athletic scholarships (D1 & D2). Like others have said, the D3 coach did not promise anything, but did have some ability to push for admission for certain athletes. My son did not need help getting in, but the coach did contact several instructors including one who had a son at the school in the same sport and have them contact my son to “connect” with him and answer any questions. As a D3 school, the coach could not offer financial incentives, but really went out of his way to make my son feel welcome. Like most D3’s, the school was smaller and my son was looking for a much larger school so ended up not attending. </p>
<p>I have a second-year D who was recruited to play at a DIII LAC that not only doesn’t have $ for sport but also doesn’t give merit aid. She does get some need-based aid which would not be effected if she decided not to play at some point. I am also fairly certain the FA aid office has no idea she plays a sport for the school.</p>