I have been giving this a lot of thought for my S24 together with his college counselor and coaches. He and the OP’s D seem to have a lot in common; he has played the sport since he was 5 and it’s just a huge part of his identity (he practices or competes or does physical training for it every day, of his own volition without prodding.
Because of this, we have started fairly early and have segmented the search list by varsity reach vs club sport with great facilities for it (to make the latter more palatable and less of a failure if varsity does not happen) and by geographic area (as S plays an outdoor sport that requires good weather), and have made sure to include academic matches, safeties and reaches with undergrad business programs into each of the following categories: a) sport match in perfect weather (could not find sport safeties in good weather with undergrad business program), b) sport match/safety in imperfect weather, c) sport reach (but not huge reach) in perfect weather and d) sport huge reach in perfect weather with club sport and great facilities. We have a manageable list of 20 for now to motivate him, organized along those options (4-6 per category) and a short list of 5 exemplifying each category (which he will be encourage to look at over the next 3-6 months); but behind the scenes from him the list is closer to 40-50 as it is too early to know where his academics and sport performance will be at end of sophomore and junior year. We have been advised that it is not unusual in our sport to submit resumes to 40-50 coaches by the summer between junior and senior year if you really want to play varsity; in order to be speaking with 4-5 coaches if you are lucky by that summer. We are hoping this would yield 4-5 schools with varsity potential and 8-10 or so with club/facilities and great weather. First (and last) time we are doing this but it’s proving to be a great motivator both for academics and the sport. Any thoughts and recommendations; please PM me, so as not to hijack this thread.
You should start a new thread so as not to hijack OP’s, and also to get more eyes on your request for insights. It would also be helpful to know the sport.
OK, thought it would be interesting for OP to know what we are doing in approaching their process. I did not intend to hijack and will remove the request for input to be provided here. We prefer not to specify the sport for confidentiality reasons on the basis of other information available re our family from other postings in CC.
For men’s soccer, starting with a pool of 50 schools in 9th grade would not be unusual. You really just don’t know which schools will be interested. I think casting a wide net is ideal.
Thank you everyone for the really helpful and encouraging advice. Some of those schools were already on DD’s radar but others she will explore.
@lr4550 The D1 impact has a knock-on effect on D3 because the 2022 players who might have gone D1 have fewer options so more of them are in the hunt for D3.
@gablesdad Don’t worry about hijacking. I found your strategy very interesting.
Some d3 schools are very affected. In my son’s sport, soccer, the #1 and 2 teams in the nation (Tufts and Amherst) both had every single senior return. There were fewer spots for '21s.
(Also, as a result some '21s took PG years, or reclassified as '22s, thus increasing the pool of '22s vying for the same (or smaller) number of spots).
@NoraBarnacle thanks for the clarification. I had no idea that D3 was so impacted. We’re definitely late to the recruiting game! My D22 would like to play her sport if the school she eventually settles on has it at the D3 level. Her list isn’t particularly long and (thankfully it sounds like) is based on fit way more than her sport.
She has reached out to a handful of D3 coaches not necessarily to get a recruiting spot on a team but so that she’s on their radar if they will allow her to try to walk on if she winds up at the school. It’s a short list! She doesn’t want rural, and she’d be happy playing club if she goes for a bigger school on her list that has D1.
Anyway I’m not sure what your D22’s sport is but for LACs outside of the NESCACs I love all the suggestions so far, especially Whitman. Others could be Macalester, Colorado College, Carleton/St Olaf’s (both not toooo far from Minneapolis). And for sure those Ohio schools mentioned as well as Kenyon, Cornell College, College of Wooster, Oberlin…… There are so many rural schools in Ohio if smaller is okay with your daughter!
Might feel being at a school of NESCAC size painful if not on team, yet wants a more rural experience at a liberal, non-Greek dominated and not too artsy feel; likes walled campuses that give a traditional college bubble feel. Seeking a larger, yet rural school similar to Bates, Hamilton, & Williams.
No mention of intended major or of any career goal.
My impression is that your daughter is confused and a bit directionless regarding her future. Maybe she could benefit from a PG year at Exeter or Andover which should allow her to either get the sports focus out of her system while experiencing a boarding atmosphere with students from across the country & from different areas of the world or could result in a more determined focus on her sport or on her academic & career outlook.
This thread is frustrating due to lack of sufficient information such as her sport & her academic & career interests.
To be blunt, based on the scant information provided and the unrealistic parameters, I suspect that there is a maturity issue which suggests a PG year may be worth consideration. Her wishes suggest a fear of growth–which is understandable.
I see nothing contradictory about the various factors that OP’s teenager is working through…athletic recruitment is difficult and requires two parallel college lists.
It’s also reasonable that one might not want to attend certain LACs if they can’t play their sport.
Further, many HS rising seniors do not have a good idea of what they want to major in, or their future career…and often times, LACs and/or smaller universities may appeal to these students. None of those things suggest a ‘lack of maturity’ or need for someone to ‘get the sports focus out of her system’.
They do to me when requesting a walled campus/college bubble feel but not too jocky & not too artsy & not small, not conservative, not in the South, not urban, not Greek dominated, etc.
@Mwfan1921: Regardless, you miss the point of my post which is an attempt to draw out more information from OP as any of the proffered suggestions could be shot down based on the stated parameters.
P.S. OP’s “desires” are all negatives (not this, not that); a couple of positives would be helpful.
OP can share what they see fit, and many, likely most, teenagers will have competing factors in their list of stated college qualities. That’s what all applicants ultimately have to sort thru…prioritize the factors, see which schools fit best, and decide what factors one can ‘give’ on. Every school will require some give, there is no perfect fit school.
Thank you @Mwfan1921 for saying it better than I could have. Not going to engage in a public discussion of my DD’s maturity. I chose only to share certain things as I was seeking thoughts on only one aspect of DD’s search. Her preference for a LAC is precisely because she has not yet settled on an academic focus, never mind a career track. I greatly appreciate the ideas shared by many on the thread.
Also, “not small” referred not to the LACs but to the potential alternative list of midsize universities. I saw nothing contradictory about the OP’s list of preferences.
Hello, I’m sure nobody was holding their breath on this but wanted to let those who were kind enough to reply to my despairing thread know that my DD was ultimately recruited for her sport and accepted ED to her dream school and we are over the moon for her. It was a very stressful year for the 22s but in this case persistence and self-belief, as well as a lot of miles on our poor car to hit every ID clinic we humanly could, paid off. Thank you