After The Offer

You usually apply prior to signing the NLI. We applied ED. And in our case son already had his test scores done before verbally committing. 

As far as streamlining, our son's coaches (and I think most) have nothing to do with applying and how to do it. Make friends with someone in financial aid and admissions because you'll have questions.

As for HA schools they will have already done a pre-read with admission and FA before the verbal offer.  The coaches will then tell you financially what to expect and how to apply regular or ED knowing with some certainty that player will be admitted.

Francis7,

Very simply put for you to understand , this is why the HC asks for the recruit to submit info on grades and test scores before he makes an offer.

To further the point, back when my son was being recruited many schools would ask for his transcripts and test scores (if available) before they would even go watch him play. Today, however, recruiting is much more competitive and HC/RC will evaluate just to get a head start and then ask for the info.  The grades and test scores will also help with layering scholarship money.  For instance, if a coach can get academic scholy along with athletic scholy then that player will be more desirable, assuming the skills are equal.

TPM posted:

Francis7,

Very simply put for you to understand , this is why the HC asks for the recruit to submit info on grades and test scores before he makes an offer.

 

What about the underclassmen who commit way before they ever take the SAT?

And to add a point, you don't sign the NLI if there is no scholarship.  You only get an NLI if you are getting baseball scholarship money.  The preferred walk-ons and walk-ons do not get an NLI.  They may sign a piece of paper in front of the school and newspaper but it is not an NLI. 

After you sign NLI, all you do is continue to get better, enjoy your senior year, and graduate.  There is nothing after the NLI.  As long as you don't flunk or tank your grades or get in trouble, you just have to enjoy senior year and get ready for college ball.  Many go to summer school to get a foot up on academics, acclimate to college life, and learn how the college does things in weight room, conditioning, and other areas. 

Francis7,

That's the big problem with very early commitments and that's why the NCAA changed some of their rules.

Committing too early is not in the best interest of the recruit, not the program.

IMO, I think that people should focus on whats best for their player and not what everyone else may be or may not be doing.

JMO

Francis7 posted:

TPM posted:

Francis7,

Very simply put for you to understand , this is why the HC asks for the recruit to submit info on grades and test scores before he makes an offer.

 

What about the underclassmen who commit way before they ever take the SAT?

An underclass commitment doesn’t mean anything. It is not binding on either party. In fact, it only benefits the school. In the eyes of other recruiters a committed player is off the market - when he really isn’t. Until a NLI is signed during senior year nothing means anything. That has been discussed ad nausium on this site. 

Coaches work with the admissions offices.  Each school, at each level, is different.  Some schools have admissions officers specially for athletes.  They will tell coaches what the minimum test scores and grades are for that school.  Coach should tell that to the early committed athlete, then it's up to him to get that score.  Some do take it many times before they are admitted, it can be a lot of pressure if it's left until the last minute.

The key, at all levels, is for the athlete to ask the coach very specifically what he needs to do with grades and test scores to be admitted, hope that the coach knows what he's saying and is honest, and then make a plan to get it done.

Francis7 posted:

TPM posted:

Francis7,

Very simply put for you to understand , this is why the HC asks for the recruit to submit info on grades and test scores before he makes an offer.

 

What about the underclassmen who commit way before they ever take the SAT?

The coach will only make an early offer if there's evidence that the kid can successfully achieve the scores and grades necessary to get in.  For example, if the kid is a freshman and got a 4.0 and took the PSAT and scored 1500, and the kid is a stud, a coach may take a chance and make an offer.  In this case, the coach will tell the kid what he needs to achieve in order to get accepted - for example, I know of a several cases where the coach said "you need to score at least xxxx on the SAT, maintain at least a x.x GPA with no C's, and take at least x AP classes".  These were HA schools.  It's on the kid to deliver the goods.

"The coach will only make an early offer if there's evidence that the kid can successfully achieve the scores and grades necessary to get in.  For example, if the kid is a freshman and got a 4.0 and took the PSAT and scored 1500, and the kid is a stud, a coach may take a chance and make an offer."

I don't agree with this blanket statement. For it to be true for D1s, you wouldn't hear of offers being made to ninth graders except for academic studs and the reality is only baseball studs are getting those early offers (the rarest of whom may be an emerging academic stud). 

It is true that every coach will tell those who are being recruited what academic standards need to be met, but no power school waits until the academic resume is complete; those schools only wait until the requisite baseball skills emerge. 

During the holiday break several years ago, I was golfing with a PAC-12 coach. During our game, he was on the phone with seniors he had recruited and had given oral offers to as ninth or tenth grade players, several of whom had not yet met the NCAA testing milestone. While he was incredibly encouraging to each, it was clear that the onus was on the player to meet the milestone - the school was fielding a complete team with or without that player. And, this is one huge reason that that oral offers arent consummated - the kid didnt meet NCAA academic requirements - the oral offer was simply a way to lock a kid up and remove him from the market. 

The HA world is very different; but only a small minority of D1s have athletic standards which require more than the NCAA minimums.

It all goes back to this, to have that oral offer consummated: (1) the player needs to meet academic requirements, (2) continue to develop his baseball along the perceived track, (3) not have too many character issues, and (4) the coach needs to remain in place.

The player has absolute control over 1 - 3 and an oral offer is trumped by any failure. Any coach who intends to remain a coach will keep on his recruits to meet those requirements.

Goosegg posted:

"The coach will only make an early offer if there's evidence that the kid can successfully achieve the scores and grades necessary to get in.  For example, if the kid is a freshman and got a 4.0 and took the PSAT and scored 1500, and the kid is a stud, a coach may take a chance and make an offer."

I don't agree with this blanket statement. For it to be true for D1s, you wouldn't hear of offers being made to ninth graders except for academic studs and the reality is only baseball studs are getting those early offers (the rarest of whom may be an emerging academic stud). 

It is true that every coach will tell those who are being recruited what academic standards need to be met, but no power school waits until the academic resume is complete; those schools only wait until the requisite baseball skills emerge. 

During the holiday break several years ago, I was golfing with a PAC-12 coach. During our game, he was on the phone with seniors he had recruited and had given oral offers to as ninth or tenth grade players, several of whom had not yet met the NCAA testing milestone. While he was incredibly encouraging to each, it was clear that the onus was on the player to meet the milestone - the school was fielding a complete team with or without that player. And, this is one huge reason that that oral offers arent consummated - the kid didnt meet NCAA academic requirements - the oral offer was simply a way to lock a kid up and remove him from the market. 

The HA world is very different; but only a small minority of D1s have athletic standards which require more than the NCAA minimums.

It all goes back to this, to have that oral offer consummated: (1) the player needs to meet academic requirements, (2) continue to develop his baseball along the perceived track, (3) not have too many character issues, and (4) the coach needs to remain in place.

The player has absolute control over 1 - 3 and an oral offer is trumped by any failure. Any coach who intends to remain a coach will keep on his recruits to meet those requirements.

I'm not sure what you disagree with, but my comment was not intended to be a blanket statement - I was referring to HA schools (think Stanford) that do have rigorous admissions standards.  For schools without rigorous standards, I don't think this thread applies.

Son played for a HA mid-major D1.

He was asked by the coach for transcripts several times, before and after the offer.  Also questioned several times about the language requirement.....best to get it done in high school rather in college.

Once son accepted the offer, ALL communications from other coaches "mysteriously" stopped.  

Son was asked to apply ED and the coach sent over the list of incoming players to admissions, but he was vetted way before he applied.

Your son will still need to play competitively, and work out, while in HS.  He needs to show up in August ready to go.   Son had a high school teammate whose parents thought he could stop playing travel ball after the offer.  BIG mistake. 

Also, son needs to stay out of trouble.  Not only in HS, but also in college.   Weed, alcohol, girls......

Smitty28 posted:

I'm not sure what you disagree with, but my comment was not intended to be a blanket statement - I was referring to HA schools (think Stanford) that do have rigorous admissions standards.  For schools without rigorous standards, I don't think this thread applies.

No, there is always a base score required for any school, even if it's not super high.  You need to know what it is.  Sometimes players have to work hard to reach that score; I've known them to be taking the tests down to the wire.  Everyone should ask the coach, at the time of committing, what will be needed.  SAT/ACT prep classes do raise scores, taking it several times can raise a score - but you need plenty of time for those things.

Just saw a 2020 kid post on twitter the other day that he was opening his recruitment back up (was a Notre Dame commit) because he was not accepted into the University.

State school (but a good one) posted all the requirements for admission on their web site. We went through them and knew he could get in. That was the case for every school he looked at. We all knew his academic ability and the level of dedication to work in the classroom. He's naturally bright and school comes easy, and he's good with relying on that for Bs in most classes.

Could he be a straight A student or hit the dean's list every semester? Yes, if he wanted to. Does he want to work that hard? No.

Both parents and kids have to be realistic about their work ethic and ability and how much they're willing to put into academics and baseball and choose a school that fits those criteria. I can't imagine the misery if he had gone for some of the HA schools that were somewhat interested and was trying to navigate all that along with baseball if that wasn't what he really wanted to do.

My son just committed to Georgia Tech and we've had a few conversations with quite a few colleges. My son has a 3.9 GPA (unweighted) and 1180 on SAT. He's cleared for GT and auto accepted to program of choice.

People have raised good points on the early commits. Here's what we heard on campus from coaches:

• Stanford's requirement is a 3.8 and 1300 on SAT, yet they've got verbals from 7 Sophomores, who haven't taken the SAT yet.  https://www.perfectgame.org/ra...uiting/Rankings.aspx
• UNC's requirement is a 3.0 in Core and 1000 on SAT.
• Virginia has auto acceptance for 12 players. Meaning no testing required (ACT or SAT). However, you don't apply to Business school program until Sophomore year ("2nd year")
• Columbia has lower 3.25 GPA requirement for athletes.
• Once the NLI is signed the offer can not go down and scholarship is renewed annually. They can not decrease the offer year to year. They can increase only for good grades or helping out, etc not for anything athletic performance related. 
• They can also allocate more money if kids don't come to school and go to the draft. They redistribute.

The offers can be taken away and like others have heard stories of schools pulling offers on the day of NLI.

So it is quite scary. They can also be pulled if you're grades drop, skills drop, you get slow or put on too much weight, etc. 

Hope that insight helps. 

Erik