Timing of athletic aid discussion

D is a senior and has been handling all recruiting communications with the coaches from her targeted schools, all for an equivalency sport where commits typically happen fall of senior year. That said D, started the process later than most, but in time for the big national tournament over the summer that most coaches attend. The schools are all D1 with one Ivy.

She recently went to her first official visit to the school that has shown the most interest (non-Ivy). I did not attend the OV, since I know the school and ultimately it will be D’s choice. After the visit, she said that the coach said she was one of his top recruits, would have an impact on the team, and would play a lot.

He said she should visit the other schools and let him know if she would like to attend his school. She’s been pre-qualified by admissions and they have rolling admissions for athletes.

I asked her if the head coach mentioned scholarships and she said he didn’t bring it up and she didn’t ask. So, my question is: when and how should this subject be approached? We will have no need per FAFSA, but aid would still be beneficial to our family.

Thanks!

Ask ASAP if you want it since amount will be limited. Knowing will better inform the choice of college and ability to commit early. Coach will probably ask you to complete FAFSA and possibly a more detailed form. Coaches all hope athlete will qualify for FA and it will be hard to convince coach otherwise. Probably best that you ask not your kid. This will not be an issue for you with the Ivy.

He is probably waiting for her to finish her OVs so that he doesn’t have an offer hanging out there for a month, tying up a scholarship or roster spot while she continues to shop. If she’s ready to commit to this school if she gets enough money, she should tell him so. Then he will make an offer with (probably) a short deadline.

My daughter had money offers come at different times depending on the coach’s recruiting philosophy and, likely, how many scholarships they had to offer. She had two good offers come unsolicited, in July before senior year, and one come as it sounds like this coach wants, i.e., after she’d finished her OVs and let him know she was ready to decide among the schools she had visited. Just keep in mind that the coach is juggling his scholarship budget and the recruits–I do not envy them this process.

If athletic scholarship is a discriminater, have the conversation early. The same parent should attend every official visit, regardless of familiarity with the school (my opinion).

It’s tough, but I think you have to ask if it is a factor for you. We went to a few visits where the coach was avoiding the topic and I wish I would have been more direct. Because we were looking at all divisions, merit and athletic aid were often talked about in the same sentence by the coach. I was very put off by the D3 coach who wouldn’t discuss it at all, and didn’t even direct me to a person in the FA office who could help, but really just walked away. Coaches have to understand that money is important to families, and it can be the greatest school and the greatest team in the world, but if you can’t afford it, your child can’t attend.

Because finances were really important to us, I just started asking. One coach said she didn’t give aid to freshmen. Okay, then, off the list. One coach was new to the school and didn’t understand how the school aid and the state aid worked, but I could figure it out from her athletic offer.

One thing I would have done differently is getting the FA info from the schools (merit, talent, need based) before the visits. I’d run the NPC, but some were pretty far off so I couldn’t get a good idea of what we needed to fill the gap. I also didn’t have any idea of what other recruits were being offered or what to expect. Two players on daughter’s team got more. The coach screwed up by offering them too much and then couldn’t even things out in future years. (Daughter had more in merit aid and outside scholarships, but that didn’t make her feel more valued by the coach).

I think some of the bigger programs have a formula, and they don’t stray too far from it. Certain players get 1/4 scholarships for freshman year and it may go up to 1/2 by junior year. Very few get full athletic scholarships, but may get a combo of athletic and merit.

I think that for the money conversation, that has to take place with the parent. This is the exception to the normal rule that your kid should be the one talking to the coach. I know quite a few kids just directed the coach to the parent when it was time to discuss scholarships or how the Ivy process works.

S committed early, so I didn’t get real deep into this. He had 2 Ivy coaches ask to talk to me after they talked to him. Basically the reason they wanted to talk to me was to make sure I understood how the Ivy money worked, and whether I was OK with letting S choose that route. One of his D1 $$ offers came in over the phone from a coach S talked to on a regular basis. He had heard S had an Ivy offer so wanted to be sure we knew they were prepared to spend money on him. The other was at a sit down meeting with S, parents, Head and Assistant Coach. They basically presented the offer to me, with S off on the side kind of watching. They all knew that in the end if the parent isn’t ok with the money, it doesn’t matter how good the team and school fit are, the kid isn’t going there.

You may need to call the coach yourself. Just introduce yourself, thank for the visit, ask if he has any questions for you, and then ask him to explain how the finances work.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I contacted the coach and he gave me a very detailed explanation of what was available.

Seems the same as everything else. As parents, we are worried about asking questions and causing problems. When we finally get up the nerve to ask, the coach just goes through his answers, A, B, C. They are used to hard and uncomfortable questions. For us, it is usually a once in a lifetime coversation. For him, he has the same conversation 20 times every year.

Not beating up OP for that by the way. I think we have all done the same thing, I know I have. My advice is always to talk to the coach, but I hesitate sometimes too.

I was trying to let my daughter handle all the questions per advice received on CC and other places, and finally she just looked at me and said “Can you just handle the money?” She was, after all, 16 years old, and really had no idea how to get $55k, how much she’d be getting from grants, loans, scholarship, or me. She had no idea how much I made or contributed to a 401k or how FAFSA worked (neither did I). I just took over the talk about funds. I think the coach was relieved too, as discussing finances with a 16 year old isn’t all that much fun either.

So I just did/do all the finances. I’ve also received criticism about doing her taxes, but there really isn’t any other way to do it. I have to do mine, then hers, because hers need info from mine and mine need info from hers. And I filed the FAFSA forms. I’m just a control freak, I guess.

^^Twoinanddone - you are a very helpful and knowledgeable control freak. think of all the CC posters you’ve helped out by dealing with the money side of your daughter’s sports/scholarships! so dont worry!

Asking college coaches about scholarships can be really uncomfortable but it doesn’t have to be. Coaches know the topic is coming. Recruiting is an investment and student-athletes and families should feel okay treating it that way.
The best way to ask is usually, “How much will an athlete with my stats usually qualify for in scholarship money?” A coach that is serious about making an offer won’t beat around the bush.