<p>My son is being courted by a Div. 1 Coach for athletics for 2013. They have already run his academics thru admissions, and we have submitted detailed financial info. The coach contacted my son today and told him that academically he will be admitted, and he now is trying to get more academic money for him. We do not know if they plan to offer any athletic scholarships. The Coach told my son that he should try to find out how much he could get academically from a similar program (this is a fairly competitive school academically) and mentioned a couple of other programs that he knows my son is interested in. The coach can then use this info to try to get more money for my son. </p>
<p>I have no idea how to proceed with this request. We are doing all of this on our own- not using any recruiting services. The only way I know to find out how much another school would offer academically would be to apply to that program and wait for a financial package to be offered with admission- just like everyone else does. Is there some way that anyone here knows to determine what a school might offer prior to acceptance??? This information would only be used for negotiating purposes with the school of interest. I will be so glad when this is over...........</p>
<p>Also, so far, the discussions have been between the Coach and my son. Is it time for me to start talking to the Coach since we are now talking about the money end? I have tried to stand back until now. Thanks for any help I can get!</p>
<p>I find that request a bit out of the ordinary… If it is an Ivy then they cannot give money for athletics, if not I assume they can. I do feel like it would be appropriate for you to become involved at this point. Is it possible for you and your son to sit down face to face with this coach and have the $$ talk. Both of my kids received athletic $ to varying degrees and never did any coach ask what kind of aid they could get anywhere else. Seems an odd request to me.</p>
<p>Absolutely. Your son has done an excellent job if he got it to this point. I’ll assume you and your spouse “coached” him, but he did the communication with the coach. I like that approach, and we took a similiar laissez-faire approach. However, the topic of money has come up and I think it is time for the parents to get involved with the coach and Financail Aid dept. </p>
<p>As I understand it, the coach wants your son to apply to some other schools to see what type of merit aid your son would receive. The coach wants to do this for leverage against his own school to help you get more money. Reading between the lines, it sounds like the coach really wants your son (on the school’s dime) and he is out of athletic money for a 2013. This seems like a big effort on your end, but I’m not sure how much skin the coach has in this. Don’t get me wrong, I think their effort to get you merit aid is a good one. However the steps beyond that seem to add complexity to the situation. From what you’ve shared, I have a lot of questions.</p>
<p>We had a simialiar discussion with a top SEC baseball program a few years ago. One of their recruits de-committed, and the recruiting coach pursued my son. We met in his office and toured their world class facilities. Incredible facilities. The coach told us he had no atheltic money left, but my son would qualify for lots of merit aid based upon his GPA and SAT scores. He got back to us with some awesome numbers, but my son researched the school and program a little more (we knew someone on the team). The money was very attractive but my son decided against pursuing it because of the program demands, and he didn’t think he’d see any game time until his junior year. So, bottom line is I would research the heck out of this situation, as well as all the angles. I’m not convinced going to other schools for their merit aid offers is going to change this schools merit aid offer substantially. If it is a quality education then it may be a great situation and he may get an opportunity to play his sport. </p>
<p>Best of luck going forward. Please let us know how everything turns out.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses. My son did talk to the Coach again and they will be making a financial offer sometime next week. At that point, I will start talking with the Coach. We will also be making a trip to the school and so can talk to him one on one at that point. I think he is trying to get some leverage to get as much money as he can for my son. He apparently mentioned to my son that one of his players already got an increase in his offer by showing them an offer from another school. This is not an Ivy, and they do have athletic scholarship money, but most of it goes to a different sport at the school so this sport does not have as much. The other schools interested in my S are a Div. 2 and a Div. 3; the Div. 2 is a UC and they are not giving out much right now due to budget cuts. The Div. 3 of course has no athletic scholarship money and the Coach has told my S that if he is accepted to the school, he is on the team. Academic scholarships would depend on his grades and test scores. Nothing in writing so I won’t hold my breath. The school in question here is a top notch school academically and has the perfect program for my S. It meets all of his criteria and would be a dream school for him. While my H and I have helped as far as putting together a highlight reel, setting up a website, etc. my S has done all of the legwork and talked to the Coaches. Once he gets the offer, I will get involved as far as the money goes. I would love for this to work out for him as it is definitely his top choice, but we are still pursuing other avenues and he will apply to wide variety of schools. I will keep you posted.</p>
<p>Thanks for the update takeitallin. That puts things in a much clearer perspective for me. If this is your son’s dream school, it is a top academic school, and your son would receive some academic money that sounds like a great situation to me. Remember, academic money would be cut and dry for 4 years. He keeps the grades above the min GPA he gets the money every year. Athletic money can be more tenuous with coaching changes, and shifting roster moves. Coaches do all kinds of things with their athletic money. Academic money is a much safer bet because it is under your son’s control. You can ask for additional athletic money, but that may be pushing your luck depending on the sport and the minimum scholarship amount % if in-state or out of state (possibly alot more).</p>
<p>While I’d be all in on your son’s dream school, I would still be pursuing other options as a contingency. I think you and your son are doing all the right things. Please let us know if we can help.</p>
<p>This definitely is his dream school, but he has a list of others at which he would also be very happy. We absolutely will continue to pursue all avenues until something is definite somewhere. He has come up with a great list of reaches and safeties in all areas, including financially, academically, and for soccer. Up until last year, he said he didn’t care where he went to school as long as he could play soccer. He has matured a bit and now wants an academically challenging school as well. We also feel like the academic money is a better bet, but we will take what we can get! Thanks for your input!</p>
<p>D1 boys soccer program that is a dream school academically - must be a UC or a Private. Doubt that it is a private school since they have more endowment money and can bank roll top athletes with good grades. So, of the UCs - I doubt it is UCLA or UCSB they do not need to beg admissions for soccer academic money. You live in SoCal - so probably looking at a SoCal school - maybe UC Irvine???</p>
<p>The Div. 3 of course has no athletic scholarship money and the Coach has told my S that if he is accepted to the school, he is on the team. Academic scholarships would depend on his grades and test scores. Nothing in writing so I won’t hold my breath.</p>
<p>I always assumed that too…but my daughter ended up picking a D3 school, because her package offer was better!</p>