<p>Hi everyone we need advice. What happens if athlete signs with D1 school next week NLI, but later decides to attend D3 school and play sport there. Kind of our situation. The D1 school fired coaching staff where our D verbally committed(full scholarship) signing day is next week. D3 school contacted her that she was accepted but we do not have any financial package yet. The D3 school is a soccer powerhouse and tops academically D loves both schools with D3 slightly ahead. What would happen if she signs D1 and then later decides to attend D3 school.</p>
<p>A National Letter of Intent is basically a contract. If you sign one, you have to attend that school for one year. Google “national letter of intent” – there is a website that explains everything. If there is any doubt, she should not sign the NLI. And just because signing day is Feb. 2 doesn’t mean you HAVE to sign that day . . . you can sign later, as long as the school still wants you, has spots, etc. And unfair as it sounds, even if the coach(es) is/are fired, leave, retire, etc., the student athletes still have to honor their NLIs.</p>
<p>I agree, do not sign the NLI if you don’t have that intent to attend. Aside from what cgpm has said, it just isn’t in good faith if your daughter prefers the D3 school. Good luck! Those types of quandaries drove me up the wall before my daughter signed back in November.</p>
<p>The verbal commitment is non-binding but once she signs and sends back those papers, she has sealed the deal.</p>
<p>interesting, my daughter signed a NLI but she was 16 when she signed it…is that legal?</p>
<p>Age has nothing to do with it, it has to do with grade in school for NLI and whatever the time period is for the particular sport.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the advice we are meeting the new coach Sat. She is not going to sign right away. Only other question is that on the NLI web site the letter is only binding to participating schools. D3 does not participate in the NLI’ does this matter. I realize it is in good faith the siging but how could the athlete be penalized for deciding to play D3(they do not belong to NLI group). Thanks joekel</p>
<p>The national letter of intent is the agreement that you are accepting the athletic scholarship that the school is offering you. D-3 schools do not offer athletic scholarships and therefore the NLI does not apply to them. Only D-1 and D-2 schools offer athletic scholarships and they are the ones that use the NLI. That being said, D-3 schools still have lots of money for scholarships; they just are not allowed to offer ATHLETICS scholarships. Good luck on her decision!</p>
<p>I’m assuming that your daughter has been in contact with the D3 coach, too, so s/he would be more than happy to have her on the team. In that case, I would contact the coach of D3, tell them that your daughter prefers their team and school but that finances are a concern. Ask them to speed up their decision about financial aid; they can do this. Even if the NLI is not binding, you want to be fair to the D1 coach and let her know as soon as possible if your daughter is not signing. D3 may do this as a ‘favor’ to D1, but even more importantly, D3 college now knows that your daughter is definitely enrolling and playing.</p>