2020 D3 HAs check-in

Just a side comment.....PG does not place a high priority on tracking D3 commits. They are all about high profile D1 commits and they put a lot of energy into that. I think there are probably other places to get better information about who is going where in the D3 world. I would tell you where if I knew, but I don’t. 

adbono posted:

Just a side comment.....PG does not place a high priority on tracking D3 commits. They are all about high profile D1 commits and they put a lot of energy into that. I think there are probably other places to get better information about who is going where in the D3 world. I would tell you where if I knew, but I don’t. 

I think (?) for non-elite players, most commitment info in PG is self-reported.  You can go into your profile and indicate the college you have committed to.  Players are (rightfully) generally pretty excited to get the word out about committing, so I think most kids with a PG profile enter that info.  

For those of us new to this process, would you mind posting your son's academic and baseball measurables?  As the father of a 2022 RHP I am curious as to what the HA D3 schools are recruiting in terms of grades, test scores and velocity. 

Chico Escuela posted:

adbono posted:

Just a side comment.....PG does not place a high priority on tracking D3 commits. They are all about high profile D1 commits and they put a lot of energy into that. I think there are probably other places to get better information about who is going where in the D3 world. I would tell you where if I knew, but I don’t. 

I think (?) for non-elite players, most commitment info in PG is self-reported.  You can go into your profile and indicate the college you have committed to.  Players are (rightfully) generally pretty excited to get the word out about committing, so I think most kids with a PG profile enter that info.  

Do you think most D3 commits have a PG profile?  I would think a lot wouldn’t - but I could be wrong about that. 

Anybody who ever plays a PG event has a profile.   Hard to guess as to how many D3 kids that is, maybe 40% or 50% or so... Maybe more.  PG WWBA Atlanta has 400 teams.  That's a lot of D3 kids

Its true that a lot of kids never bother with their PG profiles though, too

Whenever I search PG for commits, I cross search PBR too.  That tends to help give a bigger picture.  

adbono posted 

Do you think most D3 commits have a PG profile?  I would think a lot wouldn’t - but I could be wrong about that. 

For the 8 or 10 D3s my son looked at, most had 4 to 6+ 2019 commits listed on PG.  The coaches I have talked with have generally said they can tip 6 or 7 for admission each year.  So I think PG captures a good portion of D3s, at least on the east coast (can't speak to other regions).  But it's not comprehensive, for sure (and PBR can be useful, too, as noted above).

22and25 posted:

For those of us new to this process, would you mind posting your son's academic and baseball measurables?  As the father of a 2022 RHP I am curious as to what the HA D3 schools are recruiting in terms of grades, test scores and velocity. 

Jr. is definitely prioritizing academics--he didn't pursue some D1s or D3s that might have offered him merit scholarship money, because he is chasing academic prestige (more than he should be IMHO...).  He got a little interest from a few Ivies and other HA D1s, but that never progressed far.  

Academics: 35 ACT, lots of APs, math- and science-focused.  GPA is good enough to get to at least the 50th percentile most places outside of CalTech and MIT, but he didn't take the first year of HS seriously enough so his grades aren't as good as the test scores.  Baseball:  6'1", heavy build.  Sits 84-86 and touches 87-88, but doesn't have great command (solid numbers of Ks, doesn't give up many hits, but too many walks).

One piece of advice:  The definition of "high academic" folks use on this site varies widely.  There are lots of great schools out there that I would call "HA" but that aren't MIT, UChicago, Swarthmore-type institutions that accept less than 10% of their applicants.  My son is aiming for that tier of almost-impossible schools (which he would not get into without baseball).    

Chico Escuela posted:

adbono posted 

Do you think most D3 commits have a PG profile?  I would think a lot wouldn’t - but I could be wrong about that. 

For the 8 or 10 D3s my son looked at, most had 4 to 6+ 2019 commits listed on PG.  The coaches I have talked with have generally said they can tip 6 or 7 for admission each year.  So I think PG captures a good portion of D3s, at least on the east coast (can't speak to other regions).  But it's not comprehensive, for sure (and PBR can be useful, too, as noted above).

Agree that it's not comprehensive. I think there is a prestige factor, both on the academic and baseball sides. There are 12 kids listed for Hopkins in the 2019 class. The stronger baseball programs in the ODAC, CAC and SAA seem to have pretty complete listings, too. But there is definitely a regional component for PG, too. Defending champion Chapman only has one 2019 listed, and perennial power Cortland only has two.

I seem to remember a lot of action during Sept, with a lot of camp invites, some of which conflicted. 

It was sometimes hard to sort out who were the REALLY interested, v the sorta interested. Of course the coaches have the same problem. 

Great thread, my son is trying to narrow down offers as 2-way player and one of his biggest questions is smaller liberal arts college vs larger university among the top HAs. Would love to hear how others on forum thought about the pros and cons of LA college vs bigger university with comparable academic prestige like Top 10ish in both categories.

Realize there are many factors to consider such as school location, strength of major, baseball fit in program, etc but the smaller vs larger question is his biggest dilemma now.

Zoom 2020 posted:

Great thread, my son is trying to narrow down offers as 2-way player and one of his biggest questions is smaller liberal arts college vs larger university among the top HAs. Would love to hear how others on forum thought about the pros and cons of LA college vs bigger university with comparable academic prestige like Top 10ish in both categories.

Realize there are many factors to consider such as school location, strength of major, baseball fit in program, etc but the smaller vs larger question is his biggest dilemma now.

The challenge with "large university HA" is that these tend to have the very top baseball programs - Stanford, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Cal, Virginia, Rice, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, UNC, etc.  If your kid fits into these schools baseball-wise he shouldn't have any trouble finding a home and probably wouldn't be looking at small LA schools anyway.

What if choice isn’t Power 5 large university but Ivy or Top 10 D3 HA university vs Top 10 LA colleges?

Zoom 2020 posted:

Great thread, my son is trying to narrow down offers as 2-way player and one of his biggest questions is smaller liberal arts college vs larger university among the top HAs. Would love to hear how others on forum thought about the pros and cons of LA college vs bigger university with comparable academic prestige like Top 10ish in both categories.

Realize there are many factors to consider such as school location, strength of major, baseball fit in program, etc but the smaller vs larger question is his biggest dilemma now.

1) How big is the college within the university?  I was an undergrad at a mid-sized university with a college of about 4,000.  IMO, that can be the best of both worlds.

2)  I teach at a big state university and I absolutely believe one can get as good an education at such schools as anywhere.  But in my experience, a small college (or smaller college within a university) means more attention from professors, and a closer-knit community (of students and of alumni).  Also, EVERYthing is more bureaucratic and more difficult at big schools--registering for classes, fixing a problem with your bill, getting a parking pass...  It is a rare month that I don't find myself silently cursing the bureaucracy at the school where I teach.  For me, a small college is a lot more appealing.

3)  BUT, plenty of people I know who went to big schools loved their experience and thrived.  I don't think there is a wrong decision--things can work out great for a student either way.  (Or not--but transferring is always an option.)

Zoom 2020 posted:

What if choice isn’t Power 5 large university but Ivy or Top 10 D3 HA university vs Top 10 LA colleges?

How important is playing D1?  My son would probably choose an Ivy vs. a D3 if he had the option, just because of the mystique of D1/Ivy.  For my part, I think the less demanding D3 schedule might make for a better college experience, and my son's future will be determined much more by how he does in the classroom than on the mound.  But there is no wrong answer as far as the colleges--you are talking about one very good school vs. another.  Size, urban vs. rural campus, how strong a school is in the majors of interest, how a player feels about the baseball coach--all the usual factors come into play.  

Chico Escuela posted:

22and25 posted:

For those of us new to this process, would you mind posting your son's academic and baseball measurables?  As the father of a 2022 RHP I am curious as to what the HA D3 schools are recruiting in terms of grades, test scores and velocity. 

 

One piece of advice:  The definition of "high academic" folks use on this site varies widely.  There are lots of great schools out there that I would call "HA" but that aren't MIT, UChicago, Swarthmore-type institutions that accept less than 10% of their applicants.  My son is aiming for that tier of almost-impossible schools (which he would not get into without baseball).    

Not to get too deep into semantics, but when I think true HA, I think Ivies and "little Ivies," which is the NESCAC plus these:

• Bucknell University
• Colgate University
• Haverford College
• Lafayette College
• Swarthmore College
• Union College
• Vassar College

Obviously, there's more that clearly belong in the HA class: MIT, Cal Poly, Emory.  I'm sure there's more.  And there's P5 D1s that are HAs, like Vandy and Stanford, but I think they have much more latitude to bend the admission standards for their athletes.

Zoom 2020 posted:

Great thread, my son is trying to narrow down offers as 2-way player and one of his biggest questions is smaller liberal arts college vs larger university among the top HAs. Would love to hear how others on forum thought about the pros and cons of LA college vs bigger university with comparable academic prestige like Top 10ish in both categories.

Realize there are many factors to consider such as school location, strength of major, baseball fit in program, etc but the smaller vs larger question is his biggest dilemma now.

Has he visited yet?  My son initially thought he preferred one kind over the other, but after doing overnight visits at both types, he discovered he was more influenced by the feel of the school, the coaches, the players and what they told him, etc. than about LAC vs university.  Certainly the educational opportunities are different but just as good at either.  Sometimes you can visit a class when you visit, either the coach or admissions might be willing to set this up.  And even just the presentation in the admissions office (or the online video) gives a sense of how the school presents itself.

57special posted:

I seem to remember a lot of action during Sept, with a lot of camp invites, some of which conflicted. 

It was sometimes hard to sort out who were the REALLY interested, v the sorta interested. Of course the coaches have the same problem. 

This.  Just as you are wondering how interested schools are in your son, the coaches are wondering how interested any given player is in their school.  Players start to make decisions, things shift, and shift again, throughout September.

Dirtbag30 posted:

Chico Escuela posted:

22and25 posted:

For those of us new to this process, would you mind posting your son's academic and baseball measurables?  As the father of a 2022 RHP I am curious as to what the HA D3 schools are recruiting in terms of grades, test scores and velocity. 

 

One piece of advice:  The definition of "high academic" folks use on this site varies widely.  There are lots of great schools out there that I would call "HA" but that aren't MIT, UChicago, Swarthmore-type institutions that accept less than 10% of their applicants.  My son is aiming for that tier of almost-impossible schools (which he would not get into without baseball).    

Not to get too deep into semantics, but when I think true HA, I think Ivies and "little Ivies," which is the NESCAC plus these:

• Bucknell University
• Colgate University
• Haverford College
• Lafayette College
• Swarthmore College
• Union College
• Vassar College

 

Obviously, there's more that clearly belong in the HA class: MIT, Cal Poly, Emory.  I'm sure there's more.  And there's P5 D1s that are HAs, like Vandy and Stanford, but I think they have much more latitude to bend the admission standards for their athletes.

No offense intended at all, but I'd broaden that list a lot.  For instance, you have two Centennial Conference colleges (Haverford and Swarthmore), but not Johns Hopkins (and the folks from Dickinson and other Centennial schools might have something to say about this, too).  If you go by test scores and the other usual measures, then you'd need to add (just off the top of my head):  UChicago, Carleton, Washington in St. Louis, Washington & Lee, Georgetown, Davidson, CalTech, Case Western, Pomona and lots more.  Many schools I just listed are more selective by standard measures than most on your list.  And I know I left out a lot of schools (so apologies to anyone reading this whose alma mater I slighted).  [Also, Colgate stopped fielding a baseball team quite a few years ago.]

Anyhow... I think the moral of the story is that there are a lot of really good schools out there.  

Absolutely agree that all those schools should be included.  My list was not intended to be exhaustive and I admitted I was leaving many worthy ones out.  

I meant to say Cal Tech, not Cal Poly.  And NYU belongs on the list, as well!!!

And, don't worry ... I'm not going to get offended someone on a baseball blog thinks my list of schools is lacking. lol

So how do you decide which fall school camps to attend?  Coaches almost never say "no thanks, we're moving on."  And camp dates conflict.  All the schools my son is considering require flights and a missed day of school, too.  

I felt like I had a pretty good handle on this process up to this point, thanks to the good folks on this site.  But now, when I thought my son would be in the home stretch (which I guess he is), it's really hard to know how to play this.    

Dirtbag30 posted:

Absolutely agree that all those schools should be included.  My list was not intended to be exhaustive and I admitted I was leaving many worthy ones out.  

I meant to say Cal Tech, not Cal Poly.  And NYU belongs on the list, as well!!!

And, don't worry ... I'm not going to get offended someone on a baseball blog thinks my list of schools is lacking. lol

Point of privilege! I’m offended !! Please don’t use “Cal” language. 

Chico, we're in same boat as you where there are only a limited number of 3-day weekends in Sept and Oct before the Nov 1 EA/ED deadline for son to visit schools for overnight stay to watch a practice, sit in on a class or 2, hang out with the baseball team players, and observe the overall vibe of the school. Any of these visits will require missing 1-2 days of school in order to travel as well as be there for a Friday or Monday to attend a class when college is in session.

All of son's current baseball choices are private colleges whose names are mentioned in the posts above but we simply decided that we can't be traveling non-stop every weekend so we asked son to narrow down his list to 2-3 schools based on whether he wants mid-sized university or small LA college. And we are only going to visit schools where he already has an offer by email or phone call and a formal pre-read done via admissions liaison. We aren't visiting any schools that are simply sending camp invites after seeing him at summer showcases or where coach says he is really interested without verbal/email offer and pre-read ahead of visit.

The 2 biggest issues for him are size of school (does he want a freshman class size of ~400-500 students vs 1000+) as well as general name recognition. All of these HA schools are great and well known to those in the know including future employers or grad schools, but he has the impression that liberal arts colleges lack the general name recognition to the "man on the street" compared to universities. I'm trying to help him understand that's not the best way to look at things but he's a teenager and influenced by what his high school friends say about colleges. He sometimes says he'd rather go to a school like UCLA, Texas, USC, Michigan, or Duke even if it means not playing baseball because at least everyone knows those schools, albeit mainly because their football/basketball teams are on TV every weekend.

Sigh...

We are going through the HA D3 process now as well, and I agree it seems slower than I thought it would be.  Son has offers from two HA D3s (i.e. will support him ED/EA) but the coaches have said that the word from admissions is that it could go either way so that worries us.  Son is taking the ACT again in a few weeks so hoping to raise that score to help the cause.  Another HA Ds that is one of son's top choices is interested but doesn't know if they can support him unless he raises ACT. He is currently at a 32 superscore but has some room to raise two of the sections so we are hopeful.  Grades are only so-so so he needs higher test scores.  He is definitely shooting high with these HAs and it's a question for us of how much risk he should take in applying ED without a better guarantee of admission.  I'd be interested to hear thoughts on that.

He has an offer, including academic merit money, from another HA D3 (he is at the top of their range of test scores) but he's not very interested in them.  My hope is to find some school in the middle that he likes (and can get into) and likes him.  We are visiting a few this week that are in that middle range and have expressed real interest so maybe one of those will fit the bill. 

There are other schools that expressed real interest during the summer ("want to get you to campus", "we will definitely be contacting you in the fall", etc.) but don't seem to be taking any steps.  Like Chico, I don't know if they are out there and just slow, or if they have moved on.  Interestingly, they are all NESCAC schools and maybe they have enough demand that they don't need to be aggressive (or maybe have enough demand that they have moved on).  Hoping we find the right fit, but there are so many aspects to the "right fit" - including being admissible - that it's not easy!

NESCAC schools are among the slowest responders for my son, too...  Williams apparently is just always slow, based on what I read here.  I don't know about the others.  Getting to places like Middlebury, Colby, Hamilton for camps is not easy--hard to justify just because a coach said during the summer that he's interested.  On the other hand, most places seem to want to see my son at a fall camp before they make a decision.  Maybe that means he's a marginal candidate--although even so, if a camp is his last chance to get over the hump, then I guess he should go?  (Which still leaves the question which camps to choose?)

"Name recognition" is an issue for my son, too.  And like most HS kids, my son knows about 1) schools he sees on TV for sports, 2) (most of) the Ivies and 3) not many other institutions.  In case it helps: I attended a school that no one in my HS and many folks in my small southern town had never heard of.  I literally had people tell me things like "too bad you didn't get into [State U.]"  (State U. is a great school; but my alma mater is in the top 10 of most college rankings.)  I didn't want to borrow for college and this school offered me a scholarship, so I enrolled feeling pretty sorry for myself.  When I got into the wider world, I learned that my college actually has very high global name recognition.  (Who'd have thunk it?  17- and 18-year-old kids know less about the world than the middle-aged folks who actually hire college graduates...)  If a kid has the chance to go to an Ivy (and the cost is similar), that's a great choice. But there are quite a few other great choices out there also.   (I went to an Ivy for grad school.  Great education, but not perfect; nothing is.)

Chico Escuela posted:

NESCAC schools are among the slowest responders for my son, too...  Williams apparently is just always slow, based on what I read here.  I don't know about the others.  Getting to places like Middlebury, Colby, Hamilton for camps is not easy--hard to justify just because a coach said during the summer that he's interested.  On the other hand, most places seem to want to see my son at a fall camp before they make a decision.  Maybe that means he's a marginal candidate--although even so, if a camp is his last chance to get over the hump, then I guess he should go?  (Which still leaves the question which camps to choose?)

Chico - I don't necessarily believe your son is a marginial candidate but I think the Coach wants his entire staff to see your son before making a 4 year commitment on his baseball skills, and making an Admissions recommendation.  There is very little turnover on NESCAC rosters.   Attending these camps is an opportunity to get face time, and try to move the opportunity forward.  It demonstrates interest.   It is also an opportunity for your son to decide if this is the place for him.   If your son is like my son, you may be in for some surprises as far as what schools he liked and disliked.

Despite all the positives my son's RC had for him at a showcase, there is little doubt in my head that they probably would not have offered if we did not attend their prospect camp to seal the deal.   It was an opportunity for the HC to make up his mind and move forward.

Good luck and godspeed!

I'm dealing with the name recognition problem with my son, as well.  I don't know what everyone else's experience is, but we're past the days of dictating the agenda. For it to be worth the time and money, he's got to be highly motivated to put in the prep time to travel across country to attend camps (with only one school there) and perform well or it will be a wasted trip. But that motivation is hard to come by when he's never heard of the schools before (because of his youth and limited world experience) and doesn't understand how employers and grad schools DO know all about them.  Factor in the teenage skepticism of anything coming from mom and dad and it's an uphill challenge.

I miss the benevolent dictatorship days.  

We are in the same boat as a lot of you, although my son is now casting a wider net than just HAs.  He is talking with/doing visits at D2, D3 and NAIA schools, some of which are HA and some not.  They are all private schools and the cost to attend varies widely after taking into account merit/athletic money.  On the high end, the HA D3 he is really interested in will likely cost us upwards of $300K (no merit or athletic, though we are not giving up on the very "slight" chance we may get some need-based aid) and on the lower end, for the schools that offer merit and/or athletic money, we would end up paying about $80-$90K.  As appealing as a HA school is for name recognition/prestige, we've told him that he will really need to think about whether it make sense in light of his career goals (i.e., if he pursues a career that requires grad school, he will be on his own for that if he chooses the $300K undergrad).

He has visits (no camps) lined up at these schools in Sept/Oct and I am hoping all the pieces will start to fall into place and we'll be able to narrow our list down further based on whether he likes the school, coaches, teammates, location, etc.

As to determining if there is true interest, our approach has been to have my son request a call with each coach that reaches out to him by email or text with what seems like legitimate interest.  If a coach is not responsive to a request for a call, that school comes off the list.  He's gotten really good at talking with coaches now and almost every conversation has given my son a good feeling for the level of interest--the coach is either super "pumped" about taking it to the next level or it is clear that there is some level of interest there, but not enough for us to spend the money on a trip/camp or to miss a visit with another school because of all the overlaps with limited weekends this fall. 

2020Hopeful posted:

 

As to determining if there is true interest, our approach has been to have my son request a call with each coach that reaches out to him by email or text with what seems like legitimate interest.  If a coach is not responsive to a request for a call, that school comes off the list.  He's gotten really good at talking with coaches now and almost every conversation has given my son a good feeling for the level of interest--the coach is either super "pumped" about taking it to the next level or it is clear that there is some level of interest there, but not enough for us to spend the money on a trip/camp or to miss a visit with another school because of all the overlaps with limited weekends this fall. 

Are these calls following (at some point) a prior opportunity by the coach to see your son play?  Or are the camps specifically for that opportunity?

Dirtbag30 posted:

2020Hopeful posted:

 

As to determining if there is true interest, our approach has been to have my son request a call with each coach that reaches out to him by email or text with what seems like legitimate interest.  If a coach is not responsive to a request for a call, that school comes off the list.  He's gotten really good at talking with coaches now and almost every conversation has given my son a good feeling for the level of interest--the coach is either super "pumped" about taking it to the next level or it is clear that there is some level of interest there, but not enough for us to spend the money on a trip/camp or to miss a visit with another school because of all the overlaps with limited weekends this fall. 

Are these calls following (at some point) a prior opportunity by the coach to see your son play?  Or are the camps specifically for that opportunity?

This is after coach has seen son play at a showcase or other event and has sent and email or text saying they saw him play, like what they saw, and are interested in seeing more.   At this point in the process (for a 2020), if they haven't seen my son play at all, I can't imagine there is any legitimate interest. 

I've been through this with HA D3, send email:

Subject: Request for Phone Call - Campus Visit

"Hi Coach,

I'd like to set up a call with you to discuss my strong interest in "college" and arranging a visit."

Having a five minute call with the HC will cut to the chase.  His response or lack of response will tell you if you are in the running for one of his slots. 

• Quite a few of the HA D3 top recruits are being considered for Ivy spots and the same recruits are looking at the same top HA D3 colleges.  The HC is anxiously waiting to hear from these kids right now and get them to visit.  Columbia, Harvard and few others still have 1-2 spots. (These schools are talking to a few of our program players as late as yesterday). This is typically what is going on late Aug-Sept before the HA D3 HC gets serious.
• Most of the students for HA D3 are all arriving to school, the HC's are preparing for them, and consolidating their notes from players from the recent HF - SB Camps.
• AND, with school just starting, the HC's have other roles at the school which they get paid for...

Be patient....

Sons timeline: 

• Late July early August: HA D3 HC request pre-reads
• 8/12 Son had to reach out to HC of current school asking results of pre-read
• 8/19 Son scheduled Sept 4 visit to his top 3 HA D3 picks
• Late August son knew he was out at Ivy
• Sept 3-4 visit
• Offered support in the HC office while visiting
• No offers were over the phone or by email
• Committed few days late Sept 6-7th....
• Applied ED Oct 27

Son is at Middlebury, happy to take PM's....

Good luck.

 Edit :  Son was seen multiple times by all the schools who offered (HF, SB, WWBA).  The HA D3 HC's knew he was pursuing and still in contention for an Ivy spot...no cigar

GOV hit the nail on the head with the one message all of those seeking HA D3s need to hear:  Be Patient!!

2017 went through the whole HA search ordeal, and I fully understand the angst at this stage.  Gov's timeline is typical for those kids who have certainty at their school of choice and are willing to go ED.  It wound up very well for him, but if your search does not mirror his, do not panic. 

It is hard to know with much confidence how many on this forum who sought the HA schools wound up applying ED and ended up at their definite school of choice.  I would guess about 25%.  That suggests most kids went through what my son went through and many others here now face: uncertainty.  That leads to a much more challenging process as it all plays out from now until really March. 

Nobody ever said it would be easy to (1) gain admission to a HA school, (2) be recruited for the baseball team, and (3) find the right fit financially, particularly when no athletic money can be offered and few get merit money.

My son had lots of interest from many attractive HA schools, mostly D3, but none were a definite fit of those factors.  So he was steadfast with every coach that he would not be applying ED and was willing to take his chance with admissions.  That left open a great deal of flexibility, but it does lead to uncertainty and anxiety (especially when friends are all committing).  With a potential in-state HA public school as an option, my son was stuck waiting until late March to make a decision.

Unfortunately for most players, it is more a marathon than a sprint to the HA schools.  This is a critical window where campus visits must be made to those schools of most serious interest and potential match.  Should one arise that truly is the perfect match, go ahead and commit to apply ED.  But if one does not meet that criteria, keep the search open and apply to multiple schools so you have options with the various financial assistance packages.  These coaches are used to waiting and are willing to if they like a player enough. 

It is a huge decision and commitment...be sure to find the right fit.

2020pitcherparent posted:

He is definitely shooting high with these HAs and it's a question for us of how much risk he should take in applying ED without a better guarantee of admission.  I'd be interested to hear thoughts on that.

This is risky.  If the coaches aren't saying he is green-lighted (or the equivalent), then he might indeed not get in.  So then you have to have a backup plan, which presumably should be a school where you are confident he can get in Regular Decision without support, but where the coach also likes him.  And maybe with academic money too. 

The good news is that these exist.  Also, since some supported (even slotted) players end up not getting in ED, there is a reshuffle in mid-December also.  Some coaches can support a player in ED2 (if it exists), or even might be able to help in RD. 

Obviously the ideal is a place where he needs the coach support to get in, but with that support the coach says he has a good chance of getting in.  But, as Backstop22 says, it can take until March to play out.

Chico Escuela posted:

NESCAC schools are among the slowest responders for my son, too...  Williams apparently is just always slow, based on what I read here.  I don't know about the others.  Getting to places like Middlebury, Colby, Hamilton for camps is not easy--hard to justify just because a coach said during the summer that he's interested.  On the other hand, most places seem to want to see my son at a fall camp before they make a decision.  Maybe that means he's a marginal candidate--although even so, if a camp is his last chance to get over the hump, then I guess he should go?  (Which still leaves the question which camps to choose?)

"Name recognition" is an issue for my son, too.  And like most HS kids, my son knows about 1) schools he sees on TV for sports, 2) (most of) the Ivies and 3) not many other institutions.  In case it helps: I attended a school that no one in my HS and many folks in my small southern town had never heard of.  I literally had people tell me things like "too bad you didn't get into [State U.]"  (State U. is a great school; but my alma mater is in the top 10 of most college rankings.)  I didn't want to borrow for college and this school offered me a scholarship, so I enrolled feeling pretty sorry for myself.  When I got into the wider world, I learned that my college actually has very high global name recognition.  (Who'd have thunk it?  17- and 18-year-old kids know less about the world than the middle-aged folks who actually hire college graduates...)  If a kid has the chance to go to an Ivy (and the cost is similar), that's a great choice. But there are quite a few other great choices out there also.   (I went to an Ivy for grad school.  Great education, but not perfect; nothing is.)

If there are a bunch of these coaches attending HA fall show cases (such as HeadFirst), is that an opportunity to get in front of them again without trekking to every campus? Here is a link to the list of coaches attending the South East camp in St. Petersburg, FL in September: https://www.headfirsthonorroll...l-southeast-session/. Could open some more doors as well...

Chico Escuela posted:

So how do you decide which fall school camps to attend?  Coaches almost never say "no thanks, we're moving on."  And camp dates conflict.  All the schools my son is considering require flights and a missed day of school, too.  

I felt like I had a pretty good handle on this process up to this point, thanks to the good folks on this site.  But now, when I thought my son would be in the home stretch (which I guess he is), it's really hard to know how to play this.    

Choose the one(s) that seemed to be the best fit for your son, AND the one(s) that seem truly interested in him as a ballplayer. Not always easy to do, but we wouldn't go to any camp where Son didn't get a personal  phonecall(s) from the coach. Even then, be prepared to knock 'em dead at the camp. If you are rolling the ball over to the P or hitting weak pop ups then don't expect a lot of action unless your player has a hell of a fastball.

Was talking with son who will be a Soph at a NESCAC.... If you're a pitcher, freshen up your video showing improved velo…. Son thought that would have more of an impact than showing up at a camp in 4-6 weeks.  Same for a position player, show some new video w updated velo's and possibly new strength gains.

From the field...best of luck to all of you.

Also, that SEast HF Showcase is great timing for a lot of you...few spots left.  Obviously key to identify if college coaches will be attending from a school your son is interested in.

AND...  Specifically ask the HC of the college your son is interested in if he has slots left.  NO B.S time.  Would be complete waste.

Freshen the video folks.

I've been away from the board for several years but a PM from someone who's son is considering the school my 2016 attended brought me back.  Nice to see so many familiar members still helping parents with this crazy process! 

I'll add our experience to this thread for what it's worth.  In Aug of 2015 we were in the same boat as has been described by several posters here.  Locked in on D3, hoping to use baseball to get him into a HA school - not top HA but schools like the mid-level Centennial Conf schools and others in the northeast.  He had lots of marginal contact, emails, invites to prospect camps, etc. but nothing resembling an offer.

He attended Headfirst on LI early August and killed it (he's a RHP).  Had interest from a HC from a HA school in Wisc right there after he pitched (which we knew nothing about until after) and then nothing.  Crickets.  

We were on vacation later in Aug when the emails began coming in from coaches that had seen him at Headfirst.  Those emails were offers to visit campus, meet with the coaches, attend classes, stay over with the team, etc.  None of those offers included asks for him to attend their prospect camp.  All the visits were set in Sept/Oct.  While he was receiving the invites to visit XXX schools - he continued to receive emails and offers from other schools to attend their prospect camps in the Fall.  He also played for a Fall team in hopes of attracting some attention (we had already signed up and paid for it when the interest started coming in) which was a waste of time and money.  

He ended up applying ED to the first school we "officially" visited which had been on his list and we all agreed seemed like a good fit for him (we had seen many other schools unofficially prior to that).  The weekend he visited his school - a Centennial Conf school he had targeted - they also had their prospect camp.  None of their official recruits who applied ED and were admitted attended that prospect camp.  

All of that class had PG profiles and updated their profile to show that that had committed to that school after the ED decisions went out.  As did the commits of most of the other D3 schools he looked at or recruited him post Headfirst - admittedly I spent way too much time looking at that stuff back then.  You won't get a true picture of D3 commits until after the early decision word goes out later on.  

Son had multiple HS and Summer team teammates who went through same process with schools like Trinity (CT), Emory, Union, Skidmore and others that I'm blanking on now but all were invited to campus for visit to meet with coaches and stay over.  All sent transcripts for pre-screen prior to visit - and all received an "offer" of coaches help through admissions if they applied ED at that meeting - with the usual disclaimer that nothing was guaranteed with admissions.  

At this stage I would not have son attend a prospect camp at a single school (without other schools attending) unless he had detailed conversations with that coaching staff and they said some of the things noted above - like we need the whole staff to see you, etc.  Don't get me wrong - we were looking at the same sort of camps mid-Aug of 2015 before he received offers to visit schools but I don't think the coaches are expecting to pull a lot of that year's prospects from those camps.  

I can recall multiple posts back when I was here every day, all day about emails from coaches and how you can tell the difference immediately between an offer to attend camp - and an offer from a coach that is interested.  They don't beat around the bush, you don't need to read between the lines - they spell out clearly that they saw you play at XXX, they liked XXX about your game and they want you to come see the campus and meet the coaches.  

Happy to answer any questions if I can.  I wish everyone luck with the process.  I can tell you that my 2020 does not play baseball and isn't trying to play sports in college and the process is just as crazy for non-athletes.  We've visited multiple top tier schools in the northeast this summer and the info sessions/tours are at capacity multiple times a day with people from all over the world coming in (paying $10k more than these schools cost in 2016).  BU had 65,000 applications last year for ~3000 spots.   

Good stuff MK.  The challenge folks are having here is how do you get the HC to respond.  My NESCAC soph thought new video highlighting improved velo, better views to show arm action and ABs would be best right now.  If the college HC is interested he will respond.   If the HC truly needs to see a player more, the HC should be able to be direct about it. If he can’t I’d have reservations.

Typically the schools don’t recruit out of their camps... But there are exceptions.... The HC has to give the player the time of day over the phone to sell that he needs to see the player again. It is hard to justify dedicating funds for one schools camp in Northern Vermont. 

Give the HC a reason to respond to you. A baseball reason.

A few players here are late to the process and haven’t been seen, or only for a few reps, so this is a challenge for some.

Apologies for redundancy in my post.... Very weird recruiting year I’m hearing w HA D3’s.

Gov - belated congratulations to your son and your family on his great school selection! 

I think we're in agreement on the campus showcase camps - without some sort of communication with the coaches prior to the camp you run the risk of a lot of travel and expense with little return. 

How to get the coaches to respond/communicate - that's a good question.  One thing I haven't seen mentioned - having son's travel or HS coach reach out to coaching staff (after player has emailed, called, etc).  Some coaches may be more responsive to a coach reaching out than they would with a player (and some still might not reply but it's worth a shot). 

It was mentioned in one of the posts above, there is one more east coast Headfirst camp in Sept.  It looks like the current confirmed coach list is shorter than I remember but I count our son's attendance (and his performance) at HF as the number 1 factor in him getting offers.  I know it's very expensive and it's potentially also an expensive trip but for us it was the smartest money we spent the summer he attended. 

This is a great thread.  So much good info and it is awesome to see Dads of current college players helping out with ideas & information.

I live vicariously in the HA threads.  My 2021 has the grades & the smarts but he has no interest in the HA route.  And I have to let him drive the bus. I would love for him to be a HA kid but more than likely once he's done with playing Baseball he wants to be a coach, and doesn't want the vigorous academic challenges that are the HA reality.  His older brother did the HA thing (without playing sports) and the time & effort it took to get A's at a HA were very intense.

Anyways, great thread...