<p>I am a high school baseball player looking to play at d2 or d3 (possible lower d1) baseball on the east coast. I am realy looking to use baseball to get me into the best school (academic wise) possible. I have a 3.2 Uw gpa with 7 honors course and 3 ap's by the end of high school. If it means anything i am a left handed pitcher who is 6'2 165 and i throw low 80's but i am starting to grown so i am starting to throw harder. I guess the question im trying to get at is given my lower gpa what respected schools would i be able to attend and play baseball because i hear that athletic recriuts can get into schools with a below avg gpa for that specific school? Thank you to anyone who responds</p>
<p>btw i am a junoir</p>
<p>Recruited = Passion + Skill + Exposure + Persistence + Luck</p>
<p>I’ll assume you are a rising junior in September. Here is some starting suggestions for both baseball and academic: </p>
<p>1) Improve your grades and do well on standardized tests. Better grades and test scores give you more options. Options are a good thing in college baeball recruiting.</p>
<p>2)Find a travel team or American Legion team that will expose you to the college levels you seek (state, regional, national). Different colleges have different recruiting geographies. Get college camp information for schools you are interested in.</p>
<p>3) Get in the weight room, and put on some weight and muscle. Seek professional help with your pitching mechanics if you think it will help. Work on a long toss program, and work with J-bands to increase flexibiliuty, protect against injury, build your throwing mechanics. Velocity is what all college coaches will look at first. Since you are a lefty pitcher that will give you some advantages, and possibly a few more looks. If you can get your velocity up into the mid to upper 80s, you will absolutely draw attention to yourself.</p>
<p>4) Go to collegeboard.com to create a search profile for the kind of school you are interstested in. Go to d3baseball.com and do the same. Go to Boyds World to look through the stronger D2 and D3 programs to get a feel for who is who. </p>
<p>5) Narrow down your search to 25-30 schools. Focus on those schools by sending an email about yourself (baseball resume) including summer baseball schedule, grades, gpa, sats, etc…Request information from the coach/program about how they recruit, where they recruit and showcase camps that they will be attending. Your goal is get on their radar, and begin a dialogue with them. Don’t be shy, and don’t procrastinate. Request help from your parents or suggestions from your travel coach if needed.</p>
<p>6) Focus on the recruiting process. As you go through this process, you will find things that work well and others don’t. Repeat those things that work well, and don’t be afraid to make a mistake. It happens, and we’ve all made them. These coaches do this everyday, so them come to expect it. The process is not easy, and if you have someone to help you that would be best. College baseball recruiting can be difficult, but as you go through it you will learn a lot. Now is the time to get started. Feel free to come back here if you have questions. There are others who have been through it as well and they may chime in. </p>
<p>Questions, please let me know. Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m actually ending my junior year and will be a senior next year. The one thing that I realy have going for me is that my coach (both high school and travel) has an unbelievable amount of connections with coaches and put between 6-10 players in colleges every year. I’m just try to find a good academic school that’s d2 or d3 that would be a possibility. I’m not exactly looking for a school with the most success. So if you have any suggestions please let me know. And thank you Fenway your post is very helpful</p>
<p>O forgot to add that I play on a competitive travel team that plays in 4-5 showcases in the north east</p>
<p>ndfbfan13,</p>
<p>Okay, I understand you are on a travel team that attends showcases, and the travel coach has connections. You are not alone. </p>
<p>**However, are you attending showcases that are your target schools? ** If not, you may need to do an individual showcase such as HeadFirst, or Perfect Game Academic Showcase. You need to get exposure at the schools that you are interested in and seek your talents. There may be a showcase specific to the Northeast that is like HeadFirst, so you’ll have to do some research.</p>
<p>My son played on a national travel team that won many tournament championships, and a few national championships along the way. He had 25 kids from his organization go on to play college baseball this past freshmen year. Some are playing at the College World Series right now. Looking back, these team tournaments and showcases were not the best fit specifically for my son due to his academic needs. He received offers from schools that didn’t fit his requirements, so we kept looking. He went to personal showcases and select college camps to find his fit & the right exposure. He went to HeadFirst, then was invited to a select college camp at the school where he was offered right on the pitchers mound. It happens.</p>
<p>So, with that in mind you’ve got some additional info to add to 2) above. I would go to 4) above and create your profile in collegeboard.com. You can cross reference those with D2 and D3 baseball schools. Merging spreadsheets or Word docs works fine!</p>
<p>This is intended to get you started, but everybody has a different way of doing things. Listen to what others suggest, and decide how you want to manage your effort. Everybody’s path is different.</p>
<p>First of all thank you your post(s) are extremely helpful. Also I sat down yesterday with my parents and my coach to figure out the next step and what he suggested was to find schools that fit my need academically and then he would be able to call those coaches to reach out to them and possible get them to come look at me.</p>
<p>FYI…This should be enough schools to cross reference with your CollegeBoard.org profile.</p>
<p>From d3baseball.com</p>
<p>[New</a> England Region Teams: D3baseball.com](<a href=“http://www.d3baseball.com/teams/region/new_England]New”>Region 2 teams - D3baseball)
[New</a> York Region Teams: D3baseball.com](<a href=“http://www.d3baseball.com/teams/region/new_york]New”>Region 3 teams - D3baseball)
[Mid-Atlantic</a> Region Teams: D3baseball.com](<a href=“http://www.d3baseball.com/teams/region/mid-Atlantic]Mid-Atlantic”>Region 5 teams - D3baseball)</p>
<p>D2 Baseball Search - Click on “State” and it will sort alphabetically once you’ve selected D2 and Baseball.
[NCAA</a> Sports Sponsorship](<a href=“http://web1.ncaa.org/onlineDir/exec/sponsorship?sport=MBB]NCAA”>http://web1.ncaa.org/onlineDir/exec/sponsorship?sport=MBB)</p>
<p>We are doing the same thing. Just finished Junior year and getting serious interest from 3 northern schools, but going to a different showcase to get in front of my #1 school.</p>
<p>Good Luck!!!</p>
<p>ndfbfan13,</p>
<p>I applaud your travel coach for helping you. That is what good travel coaches do, and it sounds like he has your best interests in mind. However, don’t let your travel coach be your only source for baseball leads & exposure. In other words, you have to reach beyond his network of influence and get in front of other college coaches on your own. Trust me, this is a numbers game. The more college coaches that see you the better your chances become, and the more options you have to chose from. I can’t emphasize that enough. I have seen this first hand with our experience and by watching and listening to my son’s former travel team mates. The player must take ownership of the process, and you must be the one reaching out (email, phone) to these college coaches.</p>
<p>On an entirely different topic, I thought about your academic profile above. I’m not so sure why you are down on your academics. You’ve taken a rigorous approach to your academics with 7 honors and 3 APs with an UW 3.2 GPA. If you make and effort to bring your grades up that will look very favorably to Admissions. You did not share your SAT, which is a huge factor in all of this. So, it is difficult to make suggestions when someone doesn’t have the “big picture”</p>
<p>To clarify your statement ** “because i hear that athletic recriuts can get into schools with a below avg gpa for that specific school?”**. Sometimes this can be true if you are an elite athlete being recruited for D1. Most D3 schools require you to be close to the general populations grades and SATs, so it probably will not apply there. No D3 athletic scholarships. I’m not familiar with D2 admissions requirements or athletic recruiting, but it may closely resemble D1 becasue there is scholarship money available but only 9 scholarships for a fully funded team. A D2 baseball team does not have a limit to the number of roster players.</p>
<p>If you PM me, I will send you a link to a website that has New England and Northeast specific showcase and recruiting information. I also contribute to that site. We’re not allowed to post those kinds of links on this site.</p>
<p>I’m in a similar situation.</p>
<p>Looking for a small school in NE/NY/PA.</p>
<p>IB Candidate at the #7 school in the country Class of 2012
3.2 UW 4.2 W
29 ACT
Captain Varsity Baseball team Junior & Senior (3 yr V)
Captain Varsity Golf Junior & Senior (4 yr V)
RHP (mid 80’s)
EC’s…worked on US Congressional Campaign (we won), State Senatorial campaign (we won), Marketed and created cards for grief counseling 501(c)(3), established school credit union, Treasurer of Econ Club, Intern for Bank Pres/member of Fed Reserve</p>
<p>I live in FL and play on a travel team. I also work at a baseball camp which is owned by former major league players, so am lucky with instruction and guidance, yet it seems that the process has changed in the past few years.</p>
<p>I’m getting alot of feedback from a NY private school. Very excited about that, but don’t want to put all my apples into one cart. Do I leverage one to another? There are two schools in NEWMAC league that I’m interested in, yet haven’t heard back fro one coach. How do I reach out to him w/o being annoying?</p>
<p>Any ideas on schools would be great!
Prefer business/finance, but good with Econ. 5yr MBA is a plus.</p>
<p>…“I’m getting alot of feedback from a NY private school. Very excited about that, but don’t want to put all my apples into one cart. Do I leverage one to another? There are two schools in NEWMAC league that I’m interested in, yet haven’t heard back fro one coach. How do I reach out to him w/o being annoying?”</p>
<p>Chargers2012,</p>
<p>My two cents is not to put any apples in any carts until you have an offer. Until you have that offer it should be about getting your name in front of as many head coaches as possible. You have good grades, and great ECs. What are you doing for exposure to reach out to all these schools? What showcases and camps are you attending? It is so important to get in front of these coaches in the summer and fall of rising junior and senior years. Send emails, call them and remember they are busy looking at a thousand other kids right now at these showcases and camps. By going to the showcases and camps, you can get their attention, and that is the best way to start a dialogue with them.</p>
<p>As I suggested above, create a search profile in CollegeBoard.org and cross reference it with D1, D2, D3 schools you are interested in. This is the easiest thing to do. You’ll probably get schools like Bryant (D1), Bentley (D2), Babson (D3) for business majors. Trust me, there are plenty more. Once you have the schools profiled that meet your requirements, reach out to the coach with your baseball schedule, academics and baseball resume. You’ve got to get hooked into where they are recruiting, and who they are recruiting. If they are not interested or you don’t hear from them, continue the process. Sometimes they will get back to you, and you’ll think they forgot about you. This the way it works. But you have to be aggessive, and organized in who you are going after. I suggest 25-30 schools to start. As you do this more and more, you will get better at it. Good luck and let me know if I can help.</p>
<p>Thanks, fenwaysouth!</p>
<p>I am heading to East Cobb next week, Tufts in August where just about all the coaches will be, and then to the individual colleges for tours and coach meetings. </p>
<p>I have YouTube videos from DeMarini, Time to Sign and Headfirst camps. I have sent them to all the coaches and weekly update all, individually on what I am doing. </p>
<p>Babson would be sweeeeeeeeeeeet!!!</p>
<p>Charger2012,</p>
<p>Sounds like you are off to a great start. In about a week (> July 1) you’ll know what colleges are interested, what their next steps are, and how effective you were in your first round recruiting effort. No matter if the results are good or bad, continue to network and research. Modify your approach as you see fit, you will get better at this. Usually the next steps are for the college to get you on their campus for a select camp, unofficial visit or official visit. The official visit may not be offered until school is back in session. I know Tufts had offered my son an OV in the Fall (2 years ago) to include a football game, an overnight, and time with the coach and team. A select camp can either be at the school or hosted by a nearby school. I think Tufts attends Harvards camp, and they may host their own. Tufts is a very successful D3 program, and a very good school. I guess you’ll know more in August. </p>
<p>My two cents and son’s approach…When a coach calls after July 1, listen very carefully to what he is saying…and not saying. Try not to read into anything. As another CC poster has told me: “Coaches are the masters of ambiguity and deception”. Be polite, thank him for his call, and tell him you are interested in his program for all the reasons you have researched. Take some notes after the call and follow up with email thank you and any additional information he requested when appropriate. Continue your search with other schools just like nothing happened. Your goal should be to get as many interested schools as possible…this gives you leverage and it gives you options. Coaches are interested in players that are wanted by other coaches. Coaches are less interested & less motivated to action if a player is not being recruited by other coach. Always keep your search moving forward.</p>
<p>It sounds like you are doing all the right things at the right time. D3 baseball recruiting is going to really pick up here in the next 3-4 months. As I stated before, keep researching, networking and sending out notes. That aspect of recruiting is not sexy, but it is so important. Please let us know how it goes, and let us know if you have questions. Good luck!</p>
<p>Again, fenwaysouth, my thanks!</p>
<p>Marketing will be key. As I am the ‘product’, I will work on selling myself. You have helped with timing. I wasn’t aware how much more recruiting would pick up after July 1. I have been invited to visit, but not an OV…yet. </p>
<p>Just pitched today and will be off to email the coaches. </p>
<p>How do kids who cannot afford the showcases, manage? It seems unfair.</p>
<p>fenwaysouth, sounds like you really know a lot about this baseball recruiting. We are in the same boat as some of the other posters (upcoming senior). Need all the help I can get trying to help son manuever through this baseball recruiting stuff. (I’ve got a softball player too, and know a lot more about that process) wondered if you had any suggestions for someone “down south”. We live in Texas and are looking at warm weather states for college. Baseball skills are strong, but academics even stronger (IB candidate - top 4% of his class). even if you can’t help us, sure am glad you are a resource for these other kiddos. and thanks for the links and additional information. VERY helpful posts! Amy ps- good luck to Charger2012. sounds like any school would be lucky to get you!!</p>
<p>amytntmom,</p>
<p>Welcome to CC, and thanks for your kind words. We went through a lot a few years ago with my first son, and made plenty of mistakes along the way. I learned alot by reading some of the more experienced posters, and trying to understand how their situation was similiar to my sons. I’m getting ready to do this again, as my middle son is now a rising junior.</p>
<p>I may be able to point you in the right direction, if you give me an assessment of where you are and where your son wants to go. I’m not as familiar with schools in TX, but I do understand the process for D1, D1 Ivy and D3 pretty well. I suggest re-reading post #3 in this thread to get ideas. I strontly urge anyone to create a search profile in Collegeboard.org. </p>
<p>There are others on this site that are also very experienced in baseball recruiting, and they may give you an additional perspective…that is the power of this site. Everybodys journey is unique.</p>
<p>The type of info that would be helpful would be:</p>
<p>College Baseball Level Desired: Division 1, 2, 3
What regions does he want to go to college?
Has your son played travel baseball locally, regionally, nationally?
What position(s) does he play?
What showcases has he attended, will attend? Does he have a PG rating?
Has he starting the recruiting process by reaching out to coaches?</p>
<p>Academic Major?
UW GPA
SATS/ACTS
Class rank = 4% you told us that already
Extracirculars
APs</p>
<p>If you feel more comfortable discussing this in private, you can send me a private message. </p>
<p>Please let me know how I can help you.</p>
<p>FWIW…I found this D3 baseball timetable (borrowed from another thread) from a coaches perspective. Since most on this thread were considering D3, I thought I would post. My personal viewpoint is that good D3 baseball is as competitive as non-elite (ACC, SEC, etc…) D1 baseball baseball. There is little difference.</p>
<p>1) The summer is spent “developing a recruiting list.” Recruiting directors really start the process of making contact and developing a dialogue in the fall. There is continued follow-up at key events to follow kids that they hope to recruit and to broaden the number of prospects. </p>
<p>2) The real recruiting begins after the November D1 signing period. What happens is that many kids that hope to be recuited realize they may not be recruited to a D1 program. As such they start focusing on the reality of finding a school that makes sense where they can play baseball. THis leads them to D3.</p>
<p>3) From November into the spring (and even into the summer) the focus is finding kids that want to attend the school, fit the academic profile and can make and contribute to the team.</p>
<p>4) Lastly, the schools are focused on recruits meeting their academic profile, having the means to attend the school and from a coaches prospective the ability to contribute to their team.</p>
<p>I’m in a similar situation except I’m a rising junior! Fortunately I happen to live in Cobb and so as a young boy I started my career at East Cobb! The opportunities that players get from playing here is amazing! Due to this experience I went to a camp at Kennesaw State University and was told if I ever wanted to play for them to get in touch with the coach! But I don’t think ksu is the right fit for me and so I’m now beginning to explore my other options and am talking with my coach to get his guidance on colleges! Another fortunate thing about playing at ECB is we almost always have a few pro scouts looking at us at tournaments. What colleges do you think I could get into with a 3.7 UW gpa?</p>
<p>**What colleges do you think I could get into with a 3.7 UW GPA? **</p>
<p>HHS2013,</p>
<p>The short answer is probably most. However, you have presented one piece to the puzzle…your GPA. There are many pieces to the puzzle to college acceptance than just your GPA. Standardized test scores will play a large part, as well as extra ciriculars, possible athletic recruiting may help, and as well as the level of classes you take…AP Calc will look better than Honors Calc or just Calc for example. The bottom line is you need to be able to tell your parents and travel coach what it is you are looking for academically and athletically. Parents and coach will help you find it, but you must take the lead in this effort. I know that is difficult to understand as you have not been in this situation before. I have a rising high school junior, and he is going through this same drill that we went through a few years ago with his older brother. It is difficult to look into the future to see what it is you want to do with your life at 16 or 17. If you are unsure, you can always go to a school that offers a broad range of options. These are the choices you will be faced with.</p>
<p>The second part to this is the baseball recruiting. It sounds like you’ve been around baseball long enough to know where your talents fit in terms of D1, D2, D3. That is good information to know, because then you know what schools to pursue. My personal option is that if you are not being recruiting by top 50 D1 baseball schools or pro scouts it really doesn’t matter if you select D1, D2 or D3. My best advice is to go where the academics, and financial package are best, as well as a coach & baseball program that wants you.</p>
<p>That is great that you’re going to sit down with your travel coach to explore options. I’d strongly urge you to create a college list then review it with your travel coach. This shows maturity, and that you are taking ownership of the situation.</p>
<p>Best of luck and let us know if you have any questions.</p>