<p>My JR D has received emails from 3 coaches about either athletic or academic summer camps at their schools. All 3 have seen her play. Unfortunately all three camps conflict time wise.
The one camp is from a school that saw her play once and may not see her play again unless she attends his camp. This school may be a "dream/reasonable reach" school. The second school is one where she is more likely to be accepted academically and may be at a lower level athletically. However, the second camp includes sessions with professors to understand the academic experience. The second school would be more likely to give her merit money, if accepted. I think our efc is probably too high to qualify for fa. The second school may have multiple opportunities to see her play since it is likely to attend tournaments her club team will play in.
Which camp should she attend, the low reach school's camp, or the academic safety's school camp?</p>
<p>We are in the process of deciding about camps also. My daughter really wants to attend camp at her top school, even though it is OOS D1 where she will likely get little in the way of FA/merit. I am unsure of the amount of athletic scholarship money she would get, so the other money will be important. Her dad and I want her to go to camp at one of her other top choices, where she would likely get significant FA. All the schools at the top of her list are “reasonable reach” schools, ie. she falls within the top range of the 25% - 75% of accepted students. But all are highly selective which makes them all true reaches in my opinion! That said, she will probably end up going to her top choice school’s camp, she has her heart set on it.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would choose the reasonable reach school’s camp, especially if she really wants to go to this school and this would be the only chance for them to see her again. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks!
Both schools are DIII schools that offer engineering. She wants to major in engineering and also play soccer in college. The other school is about 15 miles away, so the coach can see her play anytime. She’ll never know if she can play at the UAA conference level unless she attends the UAA university camp.</p>
<p>marymac,
Great question. We’ve become extremely skeptical of the word “camp” in our house over the last couple years. Was this a personal invitation from each coach or a mass mailing from the coach? I would want to know more about who is going to be at the camp, and why it is important to be at the camp. How many invitees do they expect? Will the recruiting coach and head coach be there (don’t laugh)? Do they make “slotting & tip decisions” from these D3 camps? I think more information is needed (the devil is in the details) to make a determination which to go to. We’ve seen a lot of shenanigans with “camps” in the past, and I would absolutely make sure I’m investing my time and money where there is a possible return for you and your daughter.</p>
<p>With all camps being equal, I would go for the dream/stretch school. Aim high!</p>
<p>marymac – Definitely the dream/reasonable reach school camp, but bear in mind that UAA coaches supposedly have less influence than others in the admission process. Still, if she’s a strong student (and female engineering students have a nice advantage) and a good athlete, it’ll be good for her to spend a few days at the coach’s camp.</p>
<p>My advice is based in part on the experience of my S, who attended several camps and whose club team (from NJ, too) played in high level tournaments, ranging from NC, to PA, to NY, but not in New England. The only way he could be seen by the coach of one of his favorite schools, a top NESCAC LAC, was to go to his camp. He went, earned the support of the coach (but not a slot) with Admissions, and was just accepted ED II, with a varsity spot waiting for him. Like your D, there would be merit aid passed up, and we were rolling the dice on the need-based aid (sending him to this school will be a real financial stretch), but playing a sport for one of the best LAC’s in the country in one of the toughest conferences is what he’s been working toward, academically and athletically. It wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t gone to the camp.</p>