RJM, MTH, and others
My son (pitcher) told me early on that he would not have been able to do what he did as a position player. Those were his words based on his situation. I recall the discussion vividly because he was thinking about asking the coach about becoming a two-way player. His freshmen year there wasn't much offense and he felt he could contribute. I asked him if he had enough time to do this, and he quickly realized that he didn't have time for two workouts let alone the position players workouts. His pitching coach was extremely flexible with workouts, bullpens, and strength and conditioning. Knowing your position coaches style and willingness to work with your schedule is incredibly important. We had the most success with these type of position coach discussions with D1 Ivy, D1 Patriot, and select D3s with engineering. Other D1 programs were not as flexible or forthcoming with information.
Totally agree with MTH and Ripken Fan that the "kid is the (major) factor" and time management is absolutely critical. However, I also believe some D1 programs can overwhelm these kids where the kid isn't given the opportunity to be the factor. There are only so many hours in the week, and I got the sense my son milked his time for 4 years as a student athlete and engineering major. As an example, when he came home for winter break he would sit at our dining room table every day for a month getting a jump on next semesters school work. He was that disciplined and that interested in his school work. As I've stated before this was my single biggest concern when we dropped him off in the Fall of freshmen year. By the end of first semester, we weren't as nearly as concerned.