2020Hopeful posted:He has checked out all of the schools that have given him an offer and agree they have different vibes (most are D2/NAIA in SoCal, but also has opportunities in NW, which we are more familiar with). He has no problem with the religious aspect. Gathering information on academics to see how that fits into his analysis for picking the right fit. With HA schools now out of the picture, if one school has significantly superior academics or, conversely, is known for very poor academics, that might outweigh the baseball strength and/or vibe. He is interested in the sciences and likely will go to graduate school, so we are trying to be smart about picking a school that has strong academics so that he is prepared for graduate school, but also want to save some money knowing college is likely not the end of the road for him (hence HA D3s are out of the picture).
Schools and curriculum are pretty similar anywhere you go. The difference between schools has more to do with what they offer and the type of environment you'll be put in more than it has to do with what they are teaching. I would argue that unless you're going into business, engineering, or another field that relies heavily on connections/school reputation then it doesn't really matter where you go. As long as you pull good grades and prove your work ethic is there grad school is within reason no matter the school. It's not like he'll be missing out on a certain curriculum if he attends one of the smaller, less competitive schools. If notable HA schools are out of the picture choose a school based on affordability, location, culture, and baseball. Ivy League schools are better than other schools because they get the top students, not because of the curriculum for their Bio 101 classes.