<p>My best friend has five kids. Which is one of the reasons I am posting for her - who with five kids has time:) Anyway, her oldest daughter is a junior in a large well-regarded public high school. Her grades are about a 3.5, her PSATs were mid-600's. She starts on the varsity soccer team as a center mid, she played varsity tennis as well as varsity lacrosse. As for ECs, pretty much she prefers social actiivities. She would love a school where the weather is OK, and the kids are more social than deeply academic on average - however, she is extremely bright and will be bored out of her mind with the environment if the other kids and the curriculum aren't challenging. She is best at creative projects and would probably like courses with practical application, like PR and Communications. Any ideas from this group? Note, I am a recent joiner, and have been so impressed with the quality of information that I wish I had found it when my D, now a senior waiting for the results of this process, before we embarked ourselves on the search and application journey. Hence, I am asking for my best friend, who has stood by me over the years too.</p>
<p>My Dad [soccer coach] wrote a letter of rec for a girl to Colgate and said girl is very happy there. The younger one, who he also coached, is looking at Middlebury(?), among others.</p>
<p>Neither girl is what would pass for the tops academically on this board but neither is either one an academic slouch.</p>
<p>Very competitive. A friend's daughter was an all-city level player in Portland and had only marginal interest from any D-1 programs. Walked on at UCSB and got cut soph year.</p>
<p>You may want to check a few websites that cover soccer and the college recruiting process. Here's one example:</p>
<p>When it comes to soccer in college, I do not think that there is anything that comes close to the guides produced by Charlie Kadupski. You can find older versions of the guides at most online bookstores. While the versions do not change that much from one year to another, you may want to check the author's own website for the latest versions. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.thesportsource.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.thesportsource.com/</a></p>
<p>Hi - the first thing that pops into my mind when reading the post was playing Division III sports ... there are no athletic scholarships in Division III but the level of play ranges from very-very high on down ... some teams heavily recruit while others wait for the students to contact them first ... and the kids playing are playing for the love of the sport. In D3 it might also possible for this student to play multiple sports for her school.</p>
<p>I would make 2 suggestions ... first, research schools ignoring the sports angle first ... when she finds schools in which she is interested (academics, size, location, feel of school, etc) then she should contact the coaches in her sport(s) ... given your description of her academics and athletics I would think most D3 coaches would be happy to talk about their programs with her (most schools have a form to fill out on their web-site to contact coaches).</p>
<p>Second, I would suggest checking out which schools are in D3 ... while this is the wrong sport <a href="http://www.d3hoops.com/regions/confstd.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.d3hoops.com/regions/confstd.htm</a> provides a good look at d3 schools (click on the standings link and you can see what schools are in which conference) ... most of these schools would also have a d3 soccer program. Similarily, if you go to <a href="http://www.laxpower.com/common/college_women.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.laxpower.com/common/college_women.php</a> you can see who has D3 lacrosse programs.</p>
<p>and for D3 soccer </p>
<p>Thank you for the help. Looking at that list of D3 teams, it seems as though there are universities as well as LAC. She is looking for a place that has something like 5000 undergraduates, and hoping she won't have to freeze (Californians are actually spoiled, we know). I suppose looking at this that Emory would be her stretch school and then my friend can move on from there in identifying other places. My kids aren't this kind of athlete, (there is no recruiting for ballet dancers and origami experts...) so I am not familiar with this process, but I believe she should now start contacting the coaches, right?</p>
<p>I second Emory.</p>
<p>You think ballet is a problem; try finding D3 schools that recruit for skateboarding! ;)</p>
<p>
[quote]
so I am not familiar with this process, but I believe she should now start contacting the coaches, right?
[/quote]
that certainly would be an appropriate next step ... making oneself visible to D3 programs is always a good idea.</p>
<p>That said there are hundreds and hundreds of D3 programs so which ones to contact ... I would recommend flipping the process around. First check out schools ... size, location, majors, etc ... then contact those schools that pop up ... this will be a lot shorter list.</p>
<p>I started a thread on recruiting called " Is enthusiastic coach call = likely letter?" that has lots and lots of wisdom on athletic recruiting.</p>
<p>Sounds a lot like my niece. Smart enough, but not one to over-intellectualize. She went to UMass Amherst on a soccer scholarship and had a fine time. She grew up in the South and found the weather acceptable, though she went back to the Carolinas after graduation. In her 30's and still plays soccer.</p>
<p>Yes, I have seen the "enthusiastic coach call" thread, thanks. And I will suggest she take a look at UMass Amherst.</p>
<p>Might mention Holy Cross -school similar to Colgate- very good LAC. Holy Cross has Div 1 soccer and lacrosse programs. HC is also starting construction of a new soccer complex that should be top notch.</p>
<p>If she wants to be recruited for soccer, she needs find out what her level is. My friends D plays soccer for a D-1 program, and I can tell you that she could not play tennis and lacrosse since she played club ball year round to be at that level. Her coaches and colleagues who have graduated from her club team would be able to give her some idea of her playing level, along with the highschool coach. Many kids who are standout players in highschool are not even D-3 soccer players for college. The next question is whether she wants to make that kind of commitment to play NCAA soccer. Even D-3 teams can be a huge commitment depending on the school. I know several girls who play club level because they love the sport, but just do not want to put the time that playing for the school would entail. So these are all of the soccer considerations.</p>
<p>As for schools, if she is set on going to a southern school, she might want to look at some programs like Eckerd, Stetson, Rollins for the smaller schools. Davidson would be a reach, Elon is becoming hot, College of Charleston is a wonderful school and Virginia has Mary Washington, James Madison, College of Richmond, all great schools. American is a great name recognition value, as is Catholic. GW treats its athletes very well, and there is a lovely MT Vernon campus for girls. Goucher is a good choice in Maryland as is Loyola for smaller schools. And St Marys College of MD is also a standout.</p>
<p>Has this girl played on other teams outside of her high school team? My impression is that most girls who want to play college soccer are playing on multiple teams - school, travel and ODP. I'd agree with Jamimom that her coach would be the best advisor as to what level she can shoot for.</p>
<p>Alumother, Premiere Div. I Soccer programs are looking for ODP Regional soccer players. Lower Div. I and Div. II schools will recruit strong Club players and ODP State players.</p>
<p>If a scholarship is not the issue, she can use her soccer as leverage (to help with her app) with Div. III coaches.</p>
<p>i've been recruited by some top notch division III schools (academically). i've played a high level of club soccer for 6 years (super y, i don't know if that means anything to you), but academics comes first. i applied to the ivies, but i realized that soccer's been too important in my life to give up. so i'm probably looking to play at one of those 4 DIII schools, if i get in. but you will not be recruited unless you play a high level of club soccer (high school soccer means absolutely nothing) and are showcased in national tournaments. Super Y League, Region I are good leagues to be in.. ODP is not as important as it used to be but it's still highly regarded.</p>
<p>Odp , tournaments etc are important. BUT the coaches need to see you play. If you are interested in a school write the coach during your junior year. Tell them where you will be playing, what number jersey you will be wearing etc. There are many soccer players out there and only limited spots. If a coach is going to a tournament (many upper level tournaments list the schools that will send coaches) let the coach know you are interested. Follow up with emails. The coach can not contact you till the summer before your senior year. But you can contact them as often as you like.</p>
<p>High school is not important. You need tournaments, odp, region 1, y league .. to show you are a top player.
Division 3 can not give athletic money but can give academic money.. so do not discount any school. Soccer is not like BAsketball, they are not busy handing out free rides. Even at many D1 programs, many of the players are paying there way through.</p>
<p>"ODP is not as important as it used to be but it's still highly regarded."</p>
<p>WRONG</p>
<p>Look at the roster of Top Div. I programs. They are loaded with Regional ODP players. The newly formed Super Y league was made up of kids that were not able to make ODP regionals on their own. I have yet to see a non-ODP/regional player make one of the top programs. Some ODP players use Super Y as a practice league. That's the way it is today!</p>
<p>yeah, basically you need the y league or region 1 to put on your resume and to increase your level of play, but coaches probably won't come to league games unless they're like finals (for example, we were invited to the y league finals in chicago). but you need to do well in these leagues in order to be accepted to the showcase tournaments, which is where the coach will see you play. (here in NJ, the PDA girls showcase is HUGE, I was able to guest at that one) and the day after Christmas i went to the Orange Classic down in Florida. Depending on where you live, I know there are some good tourneys in the midwest region as well.</p>