My D is trying to play lacrosse in college. She is looking for a preppy, fun vibe but very strong academics. I want her to stay in the north, so the NESCAC’s seem like the best bet. She has the grades to get into any of these school, but I am trying to figure out the best fit for her. Any advice much appreciated!
Most of the NESCAC schools will feel comfortable to a kid who wants preppy and fun, and all have great academics. It may depend more on how strong a player she is.
I’d take a look at all 3 of the Maine schools (I think Colby is the strongest in women’s lax, went to NCAA tournament this year, and definitely comfy for a fun-loving prep). Tufts has a very good team -outlasted Colby at NCAA, but is less preppy. Wes is the least preppy of the remaining NESCACs, but Isuspect lots of preppy kids are having plenty of fun there too.
While it really helps at these schools to have the recruitment hook, being the player they want is not always simple. I’d reach out to some coaches to see where there’s interest.
I’d also think through preferences such as proximity to a city (Tufts and Trinity win this category), majors, gen ed requirements, etc. While Colby, Bowdoin, and Bates share many attributes with each other, they share few with Tufts. Williams has tutorials. Wes and Tufts have lots of students living off campus in houses, while the remote schools have everyone on campus. Makes for a different vibe.
What year is your D? She should be filling out the online recruiting questionnaires, contacting coaches and sending video. Agree with the above, adding that visiting schools if at all possible is the best way to gauge fit. If she can play for top NESCAC Lax teams, she might also look at DI schools that play at a similar level, like some schools in the Patriot League.
NESCAC schools all have very strong D3 lax programs. Middlebury won the national D3 championship this year (as well as the NESCAC title). In addition to Midd, Tufts, Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Colby, and Amherst all were national tournament selections. If your daughter plays for a club lax program and has been evaluated as a lower D1/very strong D3 potential lax recruit, any NESCAC school would provide her with what she is looking for. Some are preppier than others but NESCAC schools all have more in common than they do differences. If possible, visiting these schools would help your daughter decide on the best fit. Assuming she is a rising junior, you may want to check out the individual clinics held at many of these schools. She would interact with coaches and players and get a better sense of fit. The best way to find out about these clinics is to fill out the recruit questionnaire for each school. I am sure there are many opinions, but I would say (in no particular order) Midd, Bowdoin, Colby, and Trinity tend to be on the preppier side. Wes, Bates, Conn College, and Hamilton are the least preppy. Amherst, Williams, and Tufts reside somewhere in the middle. Academically, they are all very strong with very competitive admissions.
Does she want to be on the best team even if that means she’ll sit on the bench? Does she want to be a starter even if that means it’s on a team that may lose a lot? Most women’s lacrosse teams are becoming teams of ‘starters and the bench.’ Coaches are making fewer and fewer substitutions and that means about 16-18 players get into a game (unless it is a blow out) and the rest sit on the bench. The one exception I know to this practice is Rollins College, where the coach substitutes them in like a hockey team so about 24 players see field time every game. Playing time is a big deal.
My daughter had to make this choice. She would have been a star at many of the schools with teams that don’t win (Smith, Presbyterian, Kenyon) but would have been a bench player at the top schools (mostly because she was really small). She went with a new team, so everything was unknown except that there would be a lot of losses. It turned out better than she (or I) could ever have imagined as the team wasn’t half bad in years 1&2 and made the NCAA tournament in years 3 & 4, she started every game for 4 years, and she got the education she wanted. Win win.
Middlebury is a top team year after year. In fact, often the top team (7 NCAA championships).
I don’t put as much stock in making the NCAA tournament as @gardenstategal does. The D3 bracket has 42 teams (D1 has 20; D2 has 16). NESCAC is a very strong conference and always has several teams in the tournament, but other teams are also always there - Gettysburg, F&M, Salisbury.
If by preppy you mean colleges that appear to be favored by boarding school graduates, look into Bowdoin, Hamilton, Williams, Middlebury, Trinity.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-cafe/2125130-groton-like-colleges-p1.html
@twoinanddone , I meant Colby might be the strongest of the BBC schools (and most Polar Bears would argue that.) Yes, 3 of the 4 schools in the semi-finals were NESCAC schools. And most of the rest of the conference was in the top 16. Agree that Middlebury is consistently at the top of the heap in recent history.
And I fully agree on your counsel on picking a team. We have a friend who just finished her freshman year at a D1 school where she played exactly 3 minutes this season. It’s hard to stay excited in that situation.
I can’t speak for Tufts, but Wesleyan doesn’t consider the one-family houses, or “wood-frames”, it owns and furnishes, to be off-campus. Yes, it’s a different vibe than a campus where a majority reside in dormitories, but, the cost appears on the student’s bill as room and board nonetheless.
The NESCACs are great schools, and with women’s LAX don’t forget to look into the not too distant past when Hamilton and Trinity were off the charts. These are very competitive teams that could compete well against many (although not all ) D1 programs.
The problem can be with admissions, particularly with the more elite, which can be very tough for young women. Even a flawless transcript means virtually nothing for some of the NESCAC schools. In addition to the grades, an applicant should bring some other skill to the table.
So go at it. Write, call and meet with the coaches. Send the coaches tapes. See if you find any traction. You probably shouldn’t limit your search to the NESCAC, however. There are some other schools that are equally good from an academic perspective and could provide some quality LAX (Swarthmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr).
You didn’t saywhat year your daughter is. If she’s a rising senior, it’s time to get moving. Most schools have their rosters decided by the end of the summer. If she’s a junior, she has a little more time but once the D1’s set their rosters, any time after Sept 1, things start moving for D3 schools. The better the team, the faster they move.
Saw it happened many times. Girls who were superstars in high school/club committed to D1 teams as sophomores in hs but never saw the field. One friend played 2 years at BC, quit, and they played for the national championship for the next two years.
I’m a bit taken aback by the statement, “she has the grades to get into any of these schools”. Many of the NESCAC’s are very hard to get into, and regularly turn down students with 4.0 GPA’s and 34+ ACT’s.
^Perhaps she means “she has the grades to get into any of these schools as a recruited athlete.”
These schools do turn down a lot of kids with stellar academics but if she passes the academic pre-read and is on the coach’s official short list she should be fine.
if the student is a rising junior or senior and recruitable, she would already be being contacted by colleges including NESCAC schools. Our D21 has quite a few LAX-playing friends (rising juniors) and those girls will likely know by this fall where they will commit. Girls LAX recruiting starts early. Also, great scores plus recruited athlete isn’t always a recipe for acceptance. None of these schools are a shoo in even for athletes.
What are her academic stats? Saying she has the grades to “get into any of these schools” is really naive, and frankly not enough. There are only a very very few slots each coach is given per sport in NESCAC. Your daughter has to fit the academic profile of the best liberal arts colleges in the country which reject sometimes 90% of applicants and still fit an athletic need. If the coach doesn’t need her position he or she won’t waste the one or two chits they have on her and move instead to a position that will fill a need he or she has to be able to win the conference. Passing the academic pre read is only step #1 and speaks nothing to whether she will have the coach’s chit in admissions. Agree that none of the NESCAC schools are a shoo in as well. Have some backups…and work it out soon because they will require you to ED if she is a recruit. Best of luck
Adding to @homerdog 's comment (#12), college coaches are not allowed to contact 21’s until Sept. 1. Therefore, only the D1 level players will know in the fall what schools have interest. Lacrosse recruiting rules changed two or three years ago. For NESCAC schools, pre-reads for 20’s will take place this summer and these athletes will commit to the admissions process (most applying ED this fall.). There is no guarantee of admission at the NESCAC schools. There are other strong academic D3 programs that have also been mentioned. They are also currently focusing on recruiting 2020’s. OP - is your daughter a rising junior?
@xyz123a thx for the clarification. If she’s a 21 then she won’t be contacted until Sept but she may already know which coaches have seen her play. We know some 21 girls lacrosse players and they know some D3 coaches have followed them around a bit. Nothing official from D3 coaches until Sept. I bet those D3 coaches already know who they will be reaching out to in a couple of months. She should definitely fill out forms on the schools’ athletic websites. Go to the girls lacrosse page and you will find somewhere to click for prospective students and that leads you to forms to fill out to show interest in playing at the school.
I should have said D1 college coaches - sorry for the confusion! D3 schools are not bound to the same rules as D1, so those conversations can happen anytime. The reality is that D3 schools ramp up their recruiting after the D1 dust settles in the fall of junior year.
DIII coaches can contact student-athletes, and vice verse, at any time. DIII is not limited in the same way as DI, with the exception that OVs can not happen until Sept 1 junior year.
I do agree that DIII coaches are focused on 2021’s right now, but that does not mean they are ignoring student-athletes in other years. Importantly, over 50% of women’s lacrosse programs are at the DIII level, so there is much activity there. OP should be filling out recruiting questionnaires, reaching out to coaches, sending video and visiting schools now, even if she is just a rising junior.
Didn’t the NCAA change the rules last month that allow coach contacts with sophomores on 6/15 of their summer? for class of 21, that was last weekend.
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@makemesmart, I believe lax is one of few sports (football, men’s hockey, basketball) that are exempt from this rule change.