D2/D3 in Pennsylvania

goMO, There are 21 Div. 2 schools alone in Pa. Many are state schools which are fairly afordable. My daughter goes to Westchester U. which runs about 6K tuition only. Their baseball team is useually ranked in the top 20/25 nationally. Shippensburg U was in the Div 2 World Series last year. Mansfield U is useually at the top of the PSAC league. They recrutited my son this past year although he went elsewhere. Check out the NCAA Div. 2 Colleges/State Order web site for more info. There are lots of Div. 3 schools also but most of these are private which means $$$$.

You may want to check out Marywood U. in Scranton.My oldest son just started there and received about 50% for acedemics for numbers around your sons,they are looking to beef up the male population there so that accounts for I think part of the reason. They are a lower end D-3 program but it is still baseball at the next level. Do not be put off by the sticker price at the private schools,they still need to compete with the state schools for the students. Good luck with the process!

Thanks!

Coincidentally, we are in Scranton right now at a tournament, although its raining pretty hard now. We did get a game in this morning, and my kid did pretty good at the plate. A local college coach and I happened to say hello to each other and he asked which team my kid was on. After telling him, he said he was impressed with his swing and was interested. He gave me his card and asked me to call him to give him our schedule for Sunday.

I'm not a snob and I don't get overly impressed with names or levels. I just want a good fit academically, socially, and baseball-wise, and at a price I can afford.

So many options...

Moosic Mets tournament? If so my son was working at the Scranton HS field today. There is suppose to be a few games at Marywood tomorrow. What team is your son playing for?

Yes, Moosic Mets. He's on the College Select team.

I'm sitting here in the hotel bored to tears. Just can't get into college football yet..

My younger son,a 2010 catcher plays for Farrah Builders who is also in the tournament but he did not make the trip. Best of luck with the rest of the tournament and if you do need any more info on Marywood let me know.

How did College Select do in that game?

we won 8-3. It was a close game early, then we scored a bunch of runs in our last at-bat. My son had the first 2 RBIs with a ground-out and double (both with 2 outs and 2 strikes).

It should've been a close game all the way, but the rain got to the pitchers and it just got sloppy. Umps kept it going until it was official..

Good to hear. My son is on the team too but couldn't make it this week due to school commitments. Good luck tomorrow!

goMo,

This baseball world is a small one! My son came in to pitch (for the LI Tigers) the last few out of the game before the umps called. He later told me that the ball was so slick all you could do was try to throw a straight pitch down the middle - no curves, no sliders, no nothing.

Son started next morning and pitched 3 solid innings against NY Nine.

Pretty good competition - lots of well established teams.

Who won the tournament?

not sure who won. we played 3 games on Sunday and took off from Marywood after the last game (lost by a run to the Bayside Yankees).

Cardinalsfan - glad he got to come back the next day. It was very obvious that conditions were really bad for pitchers on Saturday.


Interestingly, the phone rang last night at home and it was the coach from Keystone college. Said he liked the way my kid swung the bat and wanted him to come up and visit. Don't know alot about the school, but its nice to get a call!

Hi --

Back to the cost of schools...If there is a D3 school that your son is really interested in, don't be totally discouraged by the sticker price. You may already be aware of this, but most students do not pay the full price at many of these fairly pricey private schools, and some of them guarantee to meet your financial need according to the financial aid formulas, which they may even tweak themselves to be more generous. If you haven't already, get a good college guide such as Fiske, or something that lists more schools such as the Newsweek publications. They generally list what percentage of the total cost is being given back to students through various types of aid. You also can probably find that info on individual college websites. Over and over, both at colleges and from our school guidance counselors, we hear not to be discouraged by the high price of private schools and if you have one or more you are interested in, you might want to at least give them a chance to let you know what you would qualify for. If you go in with the idea that you know it may or may not work out, then it may be worthwhile for you.

Thanks Casey!

Yes, there certainly is some sticker shock with the price of some of these schools (well over $40K). He will have to get some $$ because, although I make a decent salary, there's not alot left over each month after the mortgage, etc. The colleges may think I'm wealthy, but I have dust in my wallet!!

We do have the Fiske guide and I read it religiously. I did one of those EFC things online, and it doesn't look good. They think I must be Bill Gates according to what they think I can afford..

It certainly is a thrilling adventure, between the travel team, college investigations/visits, etc.

Yeah...unfortunately the formulas don't reflect the significant differences in cost of living across the country. Income that would be affluent in some areas may just cover the basics in others such as the northeast urban areas. Good luck with your search.

Sticker price is jusy that.Gomo as I stated above,my son had numbers close to your kid and we are paying 15k a year for a school that had a sticker price of 37k per year.Some schools offered more and some very little so do not let that put you off on your son`s search.We are soon to start this all over again with my 2nd son (2010)but this time we have a little better bargaining power.

Ken - good info. Thanks!

Marywood seemed like a real nice school. Nice field and surrounding area. The majors seem to be Health related (Nursing?) Education and Performing Arts. Business and Marketing are only around 7%.

We also got contacted by a school in MD that looks interesting. So many things to consider...