<p>Hello. Yes, I am new to this process, for D3.</p>
<p>Basic information: I expect she'll be top 20% in her class, plays a sport at a state level not national level, do not know SATs and SAT2s. Is looking to play at D3 schools not D1 schools. Any advice for the timeline? Seems to be as early as late sophomore year. When does she begin to contact coaches? She will be attending the 'showcase' tournaments etc, but it appears that they are not enough. </p>
<p>Thanks for all replies.</p>
<p>No athletic scholarship money for D3, so not sure what you are asking about. Sometimes more academic/merit money goes to athletes with high GPAs, scores, who can make immediate contributions to a team.</p>
<p>I know there is no $$$ - Just asking when she should contact coaches, is there a process broken down by year etc. I hear more kids ‘committed’ by the summer before senior year…</p>
<p>It depends on the sport, but fall of Junior year is a typical time to initiate contact. By that time you have some test scores to report along with athletic accomplishments.</p>
<p>My D2 started the whole process in the Spring of her sophomore year. She was top 20% of her school, D3 bound. Regarding timing, it depends on the sport. Her sport was a Spring-club sport so starting during her sophomore club season was appropriate. If the sport is a Fall sport, I’d wait until Summer before junior year. </p>
<p>AM3 - If you can tell us the sport, we can be more helpful.</p>
<p>Doing/hv done Div 3 w son and did Div 1 w daughter. Vastly different. </p>
<p>What sport? That will help.</p>
<p>As an FYI, berecruited.com is free. D3 sports will recruit as late as Spring of Senior year as they don’t know who will show up. If the coaches are interested, they can have admissions do a pre-read to see about admittance. Additionally, most will ask your daughter to apply ED so they know who they are getting and if theybhave any, pull weight with admissions. </p>
<p>Make sure your daughter would love the school and want to be there if she couldn’t play the sport. If not, don’t bother. After the visits (unofficial…you pay all expenses, but she will most likely be given a meal or two and a night with a potential team member) the kids tend to be on a high. Let her. Then compare and contrast. Talk about the academics and don’t forget the cost as there are NO athletic scholarships! Ask other kids about coach. </p>
<p>S2 fell for one school after a great visit, but ultimately chose to apply ED to a school that truly fit his academic parameters. The coach had not responded, but he figured he would just try out. Sure enough, coach called after S2 had a great interview with an admissions dir. He’s on the team if accepted. Things have a tendency to work out as long as you don’t lose sight of what is important. </p>
<p>Good Luck and Load up on aspirin!</p>
<p>Anothermom, I think it also helps to know how accomplished she is as an athlete and student relative to the D3 colleges she’s applying to. If she’s applying to Williams or Amherst, for example, the issues are different than if she’s applying to a college where a 1620 SAT superscore will get you in.</p>
<p>With what little information you’ve given, the most precise advice that can be given is that earlier is generally better than later, assuming that she has something to show the coaches. I’ve got a late blooming baseball pitcher son who is now a senior - it would have been ridiculous for him to try to send highlights to coaches as a sophomore, as he looked and threw with the velocity of a high level little leaguer. Several of his teammates got close to their full growth by their sophomore year, by contrast, and were well-advised to hit the showcases then, as they were impressive. Your daughter is presumably closer to her ultimate physical optimum, so earlier may well work for her. </p>
<p>As many have and will point out, the important thing is that she find a college that she’ll like irrespective of the sports, as for many reasons the sports may not work out. If she’s top 20%, a D-1 state college may be her best (and cheapest) option, and then she could maybe play club sports. (Sorry, I know that’s not what you’re asking.)</p>
<p>Also, high school and club team coaches handle these issues every year, and usually they’re happy to give advice to you as to both where your daughter likely stands in the college pecking order and what she needs to do. Remember, those coaches both emotionally and professionally can achieve nothing greater than to place their players on college teams. Let them be your resource and advocate.</p>
<p>If you’re talking about soccer, this thread has some possibly useful info. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/665704-division-3-soccer.html?highlight=d3+soccer[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/665704-division-3-soccer.html?highlight=d3+soccer</a> There’s a huge range of D3 opportunities. The less selective the school is - whether academically or athletically - the later she can wait. Summer before senior year will work for most programs outside of NESCAC, I believe.</p>
<p>Ah, yes, the sport is soccer, and while the ‘little ivies’ would be lovely, I can not say whether or not she’ll have the SATs for them, as she tends to hate standardized tests, and do poorly on particularly long exams (runs out of time). That said, she’s a very, very intense worker and has very strong visual skills (draws well, crazy keen memory for directions/spatial orientation stuff ). Yes, there are club coaches willing to help, and yes, that will be a route to pursue, though I am not interested in spending $$$ for the add on services offered by some organizations to “get your kid into college to play X sport”. She certainly wants to (and will) play in college, but the academics come first…and I do not think she wants a club college team, but rather the college team. </p>
<p>As to accomplished, I would say ‘fairly’ on a state level. No regional or national teams. </p>
<p>I suspect she’ll be looking a step below the Neasac schools, with one or two of them as a reach or so. I wanted to know when she would need to be proactive, as opposed to waiting to see what happens. I think she will need to feel out more where she might fit in as to play time as hs goes on, but she certainly wants to play and not bench sit, and certainly will end up where she can get assurances about play time. </p>
<p>The thread cross posted by fauxNom was great!</p>
<p>Credit and thanks to Bellybones over in the Amherst forum for linking to this extremely enlightening (and scary) series of articles on the D3 process at many colleges:</p>
<p>“There was a really good multi-part series in the NY Times on D3 recruiting a few years ago. Here’s a link to the original series: [The</a> New York Times > Sports > A Series: The Athlete’s Edge](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/ref/sports/2005_RECRUIT_SERIES.htm]The”>http://www.nytimes.com/ref/sports/2005_RECRUIT_SERIES.htm)
and a link to a follow up that they did with the same schools a few years later: [Unexpected</a> Turns on Recruits? Path to Graduation - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Unexpected Turns on Recruits’ Path to Graduation - The New York Times”>Unexpected Turns on Recruits’ Path to Graduation - The New York Times)
Lots of reading, but good, first-hand reporting on how it works at top LAC’s, particularly Haverford (the subject of the series).”</p>
<p>Thaks Otisp, I appreciated those articles. After two other not AR, this will be an interesting journey, and one that feels that it will begin sooner than the non AR kids’ paths to college.</p>