Another Camp Question

I'm not an expert and others will offer their more refined opinions, but I'd start by asking your son: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Then I'd find a list of schools that offer that major, within your budget that you can afford to send him to. Then I'd run that up against what their baseball programs are like and determine if your son would fit (location, campus size, travel issues, etc). Then I'd send them letters to express your interest to help you determine if any of them would be interested. I'd invite them out to see your son play and see if they show up.

For those that respond or show interest (even if they don't show up), I'd go visit them unofficially and look around. See if he likes it. I'd consider having your son play in a camp for the top few that appeal to him to show his commitment and interest.

After that, see what happens.

Keep in mind though that the 4.1 is good, but his SAT/ACT scores and class placement are very important in determining academic money for those D3's and Ivys. Also don't be blind to the fact that a 50% scholarship to Harvard will result in your contribution being reduced to a paultry $40K/year or so (others will check my math but its still a bunch).

A $8K academic scholarship and walk on at an in state school might cost you $13K or so per year.

Do your research and do the math.

Good Luck!

Headfirst honor roll camps top the list - they do camps in several locations in the county. Next would be the Stanford camp. Both cost $800ish. Stanford runs for 3 days; hf is 2 days. In both, lots of coaches with a strong emphasis on "academic" schools.

The schools represented range from small LACs to large state schools and cover the entire country.

My son went to a showcase and a camp as a sophomore, and in my opinion showcases/camps are not that helpful for a sophmore, unless he is attending for experience.

I wouldn't worry if funds are tight now - I'd save for next year.

Disagree - as to headfirst and stanford.

S went as a rising junior to both. The contacts he made as a rising junior paid off in spades the next year.

As a rising junior he was a 5'8" and 120lb. Lhp who sat 80. He gave his transcript to many coaches - and in the process began to learn how to speak to coaches. The next summer, at the same camps, he was 5'11" and 135 (that's pretty small). He was up to sitting 85.

The advantage of attending as a rising junior: coaches remembered him from the previous year. The direct result of being remembered: coaches came to watch him pitch (instead of the hit or miss of throwing in front of whatever coach happens to be watching for your 10 batters).

The summer as a rising junior translated directly to exposure (the magic word) the following summer. He is attending a school which recruited him from those camps. (He did no other camps or showcases; he did not play at any tournaments. He did play 2 years of scout ball. His (very small) HS could barely field a team)

What state do you live in where a sophomore after just four quarters as a frosh is already elected into National Honor Society?

JMOFF Thank you for your response. You gave us alot to think about in terms of the cost to attend an Ivy. Our son would have to receive a BIG academic scholy to make that type of college a possibility, so we should probably spend money with that in mind at this time.

My son plans to be premed, so should not have a hard time finding a school with his major. As for class rank, my son is #24/150 at this time and yes, entrance into NHS as a sophomore is allowed in our state. ACT/SAT do not come until next year.

Does anybody know how much do state schools weight strong academic performance when considering baseball players for their program?

2014Prospect,

You've receiving some solid baseball advice. HeadFirst did wonderful things for my son and many on this site. In addition, I would suggest your son go to collegeboard.org, create a profile, and start entering academic requirements, location, etc in their search engine. Review the results with Mom and Dad, and discuss next steps. This is your starting academic search list. Your starting list could be even further refined once you have SAT scores in hand. Working in parallel with your academic search will be your current baseball search. Ivy and Elite D3 LACS recruiters may be interested in him now, but THEIR real recruiting starts once they see his SAT or ACT board scores.

quote:

JMOFF Thank you for your response. You gave us alot to think about in terms of the cost to attend an Ivy. Our son would have to receive a BIG academic scholy to make that type of college a possibility, so we should probably spend money with that in mind at this time.

As far as academics and $$ that is a different matter. Ivys and most elite academic D3 work on Need Based Financial Aid. It is extremely rare for Harvard (or any Ivy) to provide an academic scholly, as nearly every student is pretty darn smart. You should go to one of these Ivy college sites, and start entering financial data (using their financial aid calculator) to get a better idea of the cost, and your expected family contribution. FYI...Most colleges today provide a financial aid calculator. In addition, if his intended major is pre-med (and he wants to play baseball too), he should find a school that will work with him on such a difficult major. It will not be easy.

Best of luck going forward, and please ask questions if something needs to be clarified.

Good stuff, Fenway....you made a point that I never thought about before. Is it true that colleges will "wait in the wings" until they see SAT scores? If a kid has good SAT scores will that accelerate the recruiting process? Just looking for a bit of motivation for my son!

Once a player clears the hurdle academically to get into a school, there is no further academic consideration given by the baseball coach. No gold stars or special bonus points for clearing that bar with room to spare.

Of all the financial aid packages, the Ivy league schools are by far the most generous. Within the IVYs, Princeton and Harvard are the best - followed by Yale.

Schools "beneath" the IVYs offer academic schollys in varying amounts - for example, Johns Hopkins gives a handful of merit scholarships. Schools "beneath" that level offer more merit aid. If you have Ivy league academic stats - 4.1+, 730 SAT (33 ACT), those schools will try to "buy you" from an Ivy (e.g., Tulane) with very large scholarships.

It's too early to do anything more than study and work hard on baseball and begin the long process of researching colleges. If you haven't done so, WWW.collegeconfidential.com is a good college site.

BB13,

The coach wants the best baseball player he can get through Admissions. I have heard of Ivy coaches "waiting for players to pass the academic hurdle" that Goosegg refers too. Common sense would tell me that a coach isn't going to wait very long. These Ivy baseball coaches are getting 7-10 players per year out of many, many hundreds of recruits. It is real important to understand where your son fits in the Academic Index (AI) as it relates to his athletic talent. If his AI is high, and he is a "baseball stud" then possibly the coach would "wait in the wings" longer than if a recruit had a low AI and is a marginal player. Understanding the Academic Index

In terms of need based FA packages, I agree with Goosegg that the Ivys are the most generous. There are several publications that prove that. Recently, I read about two Ivys (Cornell and Dartmouth?) that have instituted programs that will match any other Ivys FA packages in the context of athletic recruiting. My understanding was that Princeton and Harvard were historically providing the most FA for athletes using institutional grants, and these other Ivys want to remain competitive. It is after all an athletic conference and business partnership when you really think about it. Each school wants to be in the hunt for the best athletes that it can get admitted.

Goosegg makes a great point that the more you move away from the top academic schools the more they will try to "buy" you with large scholarships. We saw some of this, and it sounds like Goosegg saw some of this with his son. I have nothing against the practice, but it is important to recognize it when you see it.

Best of luck going forward.