Campus visits and applying

To each his own, but IMHO your colleague is off-base in telling you and your son how to go about choosing a school. But, perhaps I'm biased, because what you describe is EXACTLY how we did it with our Ivy-bound 2012.

Knowledge is power and you should get as much information as you can as soon as you can. In other words, don't make plans yet, make options. Visit as many schools as you can afford, time-wise and $-wise. Visit as wide a range of schools as makes sense, so your son can experience a representative sampling of your "typical" public school, private school, small school, big school, DI, DIII, North, South, East, West, etc., etc. --you get the idea. Of course, your son's skill level will ultimately inform your choices.

However, it goes virtually without saying that as you embark on your adventure, constantly work with your son on his "master" list.

Even though it turned out well for our family, in retrospect I wish we had visited MORE schools.

I agree 100% with Slotty. Do it the way you want to do it, and what makes sense to you and your family.

BTW....the best visits we had were unofficial visits. I think coaches, and deans are much more open and genuine when it is an unofficial visit.

My son is a 2013, and tomorrow evening (after mid-terms) we are going to talk about contacting coaches. One of the things on my list is having him line up a visit at a DIII which has shown some mild interest. Why shouldn't he take some initiative?

I'm with you on this one.

Not only did take my son around to certain colleges, I spent a lot of time watching college games and talking to parents of players to get a feel for their son's recruiting and playing experience.

At one top choice school I discovered a majority of players and parents detest and don't respect the coach. At another on the list during a conference tournament I got to talk with a senior bench player of one of the teams on my son's list. When a bench player who lost his starting position says he would go to war for his coach it says something. Especially when from the stands the coach appears to have a distasteful personality. Parents told me he has his players backs and only his players matter.

Totally agree with Slotty and others. Here's an additional perspective.

The guys need to really walk around a campus, see the students, talk to players and non players, to get a real feel for what the overall campus experience is like, regardless of the baseball. The degree is a lifetime investment, not just 4 (hopefully) years of baseball.

By summer/fall of senior year, if our sons ARE lucky enough to be on the short list with some coaches, they will make better decisions. Official visits, if they happen, will be the final research stage, not just the 1st footsteps on campus.

And IF they are lucky enough to have a fall OV and offer, they are more informed and ready to say yes or no based on a a deeper sense of the entire campus 'fit.'

BTW, I am having this same conversation in my house tonight, 2tex!

Another good reason to get a feel for the campus is a question I haven't seen much here lately ...

If baseball doesn't work out, would you be happy there?

quote:

Originally posted by BaseballmomandCEP:
The guys need to really walk around a campus, see the students, talk to players and non players, to get a real feel for what the overall campus experience is like, regardless of the baseball.

Here's a related story on why an un-official visit can be very valuable.

The recruiting/pitching coach at an academically elite (but not quite so elite baseball-wise) school saw my son at a showcase he attended the summer before junior year. He contacted my son afterwards, and my son exchanged emails with him a couple more times that fall. Then, in February of his junior year, we planned a trip that included a visit to that school and two others 600 miles away. My son reached out to the coach and set up a meeting (good practice for skills he would have to use numerous times in the coming months!) During our visit, the pitching coach talked with my son and me and wife and I for over an hour, took us on a short tour of the campus, showed us the baseball facilities, and introduced us to the head coach and a couple of players.

It was a great visit--the campus was beautiful, the students ambling about seemed happy and busy--in short, my son liked everything he saw and, to top if off, made a face-to-face connection with the pitching coach. Everything was very impressive about the school, particularly the players we talked to. They were so welcoming, so poised, so impressive--such gentlemen.

Long story short:

That trip confirmed that school as one of my son's second-tier choices (he ultimately committed elsewhere). Had he decided to commit there (which was not outside the realm of possibility), before the end of his high school senior year he would have learned that the pitching coach left to become head coach at another program. The moral of the story?--my son had enough information about the entire school (i.e. the campus, the students, the "scene," etc. etc.) and its baseball program that, had he decided to go there, he would have been able to base his decision on more than just the baseball program or the pitching coach.

I really appreciate everyone's comments. I couldn't believe that we were actually crazy (at least not in this case).

And you know, it's been really nice to see how many of the coaches have taken the time with him if they are available. The first experience was actually October of his sophomore year. Early? Sure. But the guy spent 15 minutes with a kid whose parent drove him two hours to campus, simply because we had emailed ahead that we were coming for the open house day. Our son was thrilled to meet a D-I coach who looked him in the eye, asked him questions, and explained what they like to see in players and how to market himself.

Hi 2013P, I will second and third the above in that you should certainly go visit before the Official Visit offer is extended. Some baseball programs have all their commitments lined up they get the Official Visit offers and will not extend an offer for an Official Visit unless you happen to be on the fence about committing to their school and they really want you. You may not get that Official Visit offer extended from the school if you have not already shown a lot of interest in their school and the baseball program.

Applying to the schools that you want to go to is also a good idea. If you happen to get interest from a school that you have not applied to and you decide this new school is the best fit, the coach can usually help you out with getting the application in to admissions office for consideration. In fact, the school my son went to insisted on having the admission applications sent through them so they could get all the players into the admissions office together.

I agree with everyone here.

Keep in mind that coaches are very stingy with OV's.

If you can afford to go on visits by all means do so, it's a good way to add or subtract interest for the player.

It's important for those that do not sign early to be prepared to submit application to one or two schools for admission. You don't have to go crazy, take into consideration academic interest.

It also seems that (at least D1) many incoming players are committed long before official visits are allowed. Therefore, unofficial visits are a must.