I am looking for a reputable college counselor that is experienced with high academic players particularly for a LHP and experience with Ivy or Ivy plus schools.
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Then u are looking for fenwaysouth!
Hi.
First, welcome.
Second, you didn't say what year your son is but if he's a 2025 or 2026 HS grad he should go to HeadFirst or Showball ASAP. All 8 Ivy head coaches plus many other high academic coaches will be there. It's the easiest - and only - way to get immediate Ivy and Ivy+ exposure.
https://www.headfirsthonorroll.com
Third, you don't necessarily need a consultant specializing in Ivy/Ivy+ recruiting. What you need someone to with expertise and contacts - someone to evaluate your son and get him in front of coaches at the appropriate level.
Showball will pitch you on their recruiting services during the camp.
Others on this board will offer other options.
I think Joe Oliveira does a good job, based on reports from friends who have used him.
https://www.oliveirabaseballco....com/obc-commitments
Last, it is very difficult to get an Ivy or other high academic offer. Super duper competitive, even for D3. Please keep your lens open.
Good luck!
Seconding the Showball (and Headfirst) advice. SB is the one with head coaches guaranteed but both are productive. My son is a LHP. Feel free to DM if you have any questions.
I agree with everything Good Knight, Speed Demon, and Wildcat said. My son went to Headfirst and showed very well (position player) against a large field and gained immediate traction with multiple schools. Never used an advisor. He had the on-field ability to get coaches' interest and the grades, courses, and test scores to clear the admissions hurdles. Headfirst was a great investment for us.
@Texas posted:I agree with everything Good Knight, Speed Demon, and Wildcat said. My son went to Headfirst and showed very well (position player) against a large field and gained immediate traction with multiple schools. Never used an advisor. He had the on-field ability to get coaches' interest and the grades, courses, and test scores to clear the admissions hurdles. Headfirst was a great investment for us.
Yep. 100%.
I didn't want to say it, but glad you did ... if the OP's son is good enough the family won't need an advisor. The colleges will come to them.
Just want to say that there are many ways to get exposure, to Ivies and all other schools. Headfirst/Showball is one way that works instantly if the player really stands out. Frankly, for pitchers, you should know ahead of time what the FB velo is, and whether it will stand out.
There are other ways. Sending an email that includes GPA, fastball velo (preferably verified by PBR or PG), and video is another way - if coaches are interested, they will tell you how to be seen by them.
Having a reputable HS or travel coach who is willing to make contacts with the schools of interest, even if he doesn't particularly know the coaches, is another way. Presumably the player is playing baseball at school and in the summer?
I assume the OP is looking for a paid consultant who can evaluate the talent level and has connections to coaches. I wonder if that is more or less expensive than the other ways?
@A Sha posted:I am looking for a reputable college counselor that is experienced with high academic players particularly for a LHP and experience with Ivy or Ivy plus schools.
Recruited=passion+skill+exposure+luck. You've come to the right place . There are many posts about Ivy recruiting on this website. If you click the magnifying glass on the title bar you can search for the answers to your questions.
There are many people here that have gone through the Ivy recruiting process. The first thing you need to establish is your son's skill set. Here, we call that "fishing in the right pond". Most Ivy recruits were recruited by other D1 programs. So it stands to reason that your son will need (or project) D1 athletic skills. After you determine that, you'll need to focus on an exposure strategy...how is your son going to get in front of the decision makers or the decision maker's proxies (asst coaches, travel coaches, etc). Lastly, he'll need exceptional grades and SAT/ACT scores, and a rigorous course load. If your son hits on these 3-4 areas and has some luck then he has a chance.
I'd re-read all the responses in this thread and research what they are saying. If you have questions, then ask. Its pretty easy to figure out the academic side of the equation. The athletic side is a little more "squishy" depending on what year your son is. Does his high school coach or travel coach have a network of college coaches that includes Ivy coaches? Your son will want to approach those high school/travel coaches to let them know of his goals, and ask if they can help with his recruitment. Your son is going to require a team of people to help him with recruitment to anywhere in college baseball especially now...the landscape is changing.
BTW...Being a LHP is always a bonus. He'll get additional looks just because he is left handed.
JMO. Good luck!
You don't need a counselor to tell your player to take the most rigorous courses their high school offers. They should take the most difficult math they reasonably place into and should not drop the foreign language after two years. Take recognizably "core" classes (English, Math, History, Science, Foreign Language), and, if an elective is available, take more core classes. Don't drop any difficult courses during the baseball season.
Unlike some big public universities, Ivy League schools provide no special tutoring services to athletes, especially since varsity athletes make up about 20% of the student body; that is, one of every five undergraduates plays a varsity sport. Students can only miss about four classes per year for sports or travel. Your player needs to be academically prepared to succeed or the experience off the field will be terrible.
Good luck and let us know how the journey goes!
Even if you wish to outsource the Ivy/HA recruiting responsibilities to a "service", the very experienced forum members here will need some more basic info to guide you. Speeddemon already mentioned one I'd never heard of that looks slick and impressive. Geography may be inflluencing this. I'm surprised no one has brought up "Gary D" at PTW.
Graduation year, geographic location, & some assessment of skill level, metrics (FB velo) and level competition played would be very helpful. Agreed being a LHP, you're son already has a leg up finding the path of least resistance! If your son is a '25, AGREE with all others that Headfirst and Showball ASAP are musts and even the AZ Senior Fall Classic TRYOUTs. I do believe there's someone on these forums offering discounted registration to BOTH late July-early Aug HF AND SB in a separate thread.
There are often presumptions made about what HA recruiting actually is. I found this video some time ago and it was very helpful clarifying. I do believe all three in the video were/ are college coaches. The highest end HAD3s (CalTech, U Chicago, MIT) and the Ivies recruit rather differently...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TybDQ5FXMiQ
Good luck
Agree with all the other posts above and, as mentioned, the board is very helpful as I first heard about Showball and Headfirst on here.
For some background, we just went through this a year ago with my 2024 RHP. He went to Showball at the beginning of the summer after his Sophomore year, which in retrospect I think was too early as none of the HA D3 schools were recruiting Sophomores (want to see Jr year grades and test scores) and he was too young for the D1s (really Ivies mainly since that is mostly who was at Showball) to talk to him. Once August 1st rolled around, several of the Ivies who saw him at Showball reached out and starting asking for video, etc. He didn't have a great summer travel season after Jr year with velo not as high as had been previously and so went to Headfirst at the end of the summer (with velo back up) and got multiple D3 offers but no D1. We also used a recruiter, although I don't think it really made a difference as the school he is going to found him independent of the recruiter and offered him at Headfirst after they saw him in person.
At least in my limited experience, seems to me that going to Showball and Headfirst the summer after Junior year has the most bang for the buck for HA. The only other place where multiple coaches came to see him pitch was at WWBA the summer after his Jr year, including some who had seen him at Showball. The other thing you will run into with HA is a lot of them really want to make a decision by the time early decision applications come around as many of them (but not all as mentioned) have "slots" and can get some guys in early decision who maybe otherwise wouldn't be admitted through the regular pool (my son likely falls into this category LOL).
Hope this helps -- good luck and enjoy the ride as it will be over before you know it.
Feel free to DM as well if ?s.
https://x.com/CoachBeede/statu...253495046473/photo/1
Guess FG wants a piece of the pie as well. I have nothing but praise for their FG app and how it helped us. It's America, don't blame him for trying to leverage the success of his app and other credentials into something he can monetize. Not for us, but it's up to the consumer to decide if there's value there.
BTW, Coach Beede's YT channel is a treasure trove of interviews with college coaches. It helped us identify potential fit, and ID NEW programs that weren't even on our radar or that we had erroneous preconceived notions about. One program in particular SURGED up our target list b/c of this. It's a great recruiting resource as well. Lots of "a day in the life" vlogs across YT about schools in general to peruse once target/offer lists are established if schools are far away. Great place for parents to do some productive homework and churn up nervous energy in trying to "help" their kids.
