Final Recruiting Visit Questions

Great list.  Trying to think if a good question to add but you've covered it pretty well! 

Ok.  Here's one.   What are expectations in the summer?  Is summer ball expected or are internships a possibility ? 

pabaseballdad posted:

Great list.  Trying to think if a good question to add but you've covered it pretty well! 

Ok.  Here's one.   What are expectations in the summer?  Is summer ball expected or are internships a possibility ? 

YES! Meant to include that one.  Thanks!!

While I realize this is the baseball coach you will be talking to, and you want to keep it about baseball, I do hope you are also asking student-athlete relevant questions.  Being an athlete in college can have some quirks which is why many don't graduate in 4 years.

Is there a min/max on credit hours per semester a player should take? 

Do you encourage players to take Winter courses to supplement their yearly credit requirements and stay on track for graduation?

Are online courses an option?

What tutoring is available?

Do you have scheduled study hall time in the practice schedule?

Is there baseball housing or is the player on their own in the dorms? 

Do you ask housing to match up players as roommates?

Are Freshman allowed to have cars on campus? (At my college there was freshman parking about a mile away from the dorms...this could be a problem for an athlete with very little time to walk that far.)

Will his meal plan be able to be used for away trips?

Looks like a great list.  I'm curious though about the ED question.  Why even mention ED or say you are assuming that they want you to do that?  Why not flip it around:

"Because we are concerned about costs and the uncertainty of financial aid, we are going to apply Early Action instead of Early Decision.  Would that jeopardize his spot on the roster?

I couldn't tell from your post if your son has one really strong preference out of these three schools or he is genuinely interested in all of them.  Unless he is absolutely certain that one is way ahead of the others, ED should be avoided at all costs.  Yet most of these high academics have EA, which should still be in enough time for the coach to sort out his recruits.  You give up way too much flexibility if you select one school for ED.

My 2017 has been really up front with all of the coaches he is talking to that he will not be applying ED because the final financial aid package will have a critical impact on his decision (but he told them will do EA).  All of the coaches have been very understanding and so far nobody has said that they are no longer interested in him.

Exciting, Smoke!!

I do have questions about a few of the questions... if he is looking at majors like engineering and computer science and he is looking at high academic schools, what is the purpose of asking if there is a major most players choose?   This sort of comes off as sounding like he is not academically focused.

..and if a coach is helping him through admissions, why the line of questioning about JV?  I don't know your son's priorities or abilities but I would think his "best fit academically and athletically" would not involve JV.   

Maybe you can add some questions about school environment, team environment, team rules, facilities, facility access, things players typically do with their limited off time, area highlights, (if a religious school) religious requirements, what the living quarters are like, weather issues, etc.

You pretty much have them all. The only other question I would ask is about mandatory morning lifting. Some programs have mandatory lifting at a specific time, usually 6AMish, which for a STEM major can be a problem since they are usually up until 2:00AM studying. My son's program always had the approach of "just get your work in", but this requires discipline on student to do this. 

Most importantly I would ask your son if he is really up for this. There is typically a 50%+ drop out rate in STEM majors and when you put baseball on top of it only a few can handle it. I would ask him if he is prepared to routinely get 4 hours of sleep and perform both academically and athletically. Is he willing to be studying on the weekends when his buddies are off having fun somewhere? 

Congrats and good luck!

Most questions I would have have been covered.

I don't think I'd frame the major question that way - I'd study the rosters and ask Coach what if any majors he would discourage, or what if any majors have been difficult for players. You might get a more candid answer that way than by asking about a specific major.

I'd want to know if there are  study desks, tutors, or other academic supports in place specifically for the team.

I'd want to know about mode of travel and accommodations, if applicable.

Do players room together or have non-baseball roommates?  There are good arguments for each, I suppose.

I know your son's looking at very high academic schools, but otherwise I'd be interested in graduation rate, 4 year graduation rate, and retention among the baseball players.

Health care at the school?  Regular care and also what if there are any injuries.  If your son needs Kaiser or some other contractual care, how far away is the nearest clinic, hospital?  

Athlete support-  Nutritionist, Strength and conditioning coach.  Trainers- does the team have staff for daily therapy, rehab therapy, taping, etc? What support staff is around at each campus.   Tutor system for athletes?  separate or the same.  Indoor training for baseball?   How far away are the athletic facilities?   Shuttles to athletic facilities?  Shuttles to and from airport?  

Are there any legacy players at his position.  This came up for a friend.  2 brothers in the NFL, this kid comes in with a third generation legacy TE at Brown, friend never saw the field.

Majors, what departments work well with the athletes.  Some profs hate athletes, some work with them.

Sure, the more information, the better.  But, I wonder if there is a point of "overdoing it" and triggering irritation on the other end?  

Plus, I'm not sure how much questions/answers regarding playing time are helpful even assuming you receive a candid response.  No matter what the coach says -- "we absolutely expect Johnnie to compete for a starting spot at SS as a Freshman" -- the player will obtain playing time if he absolutely earns it, right?

Info digging with third parties makes great sense (other families/players, prior roster analysis, this forum, etc.).  

Admittedly, my comment might be more reflective of us not asking the coach a ton of questions for our 2016 currently at a HAD3 (no unpleasant surprises yet).  

Good luck!

I found this list while googling to find an answer to one of CACO3GIRLS's questions:

http://greatcollegeadvice.com/...ions-to-ask-coaches/

BOF posted:

You pretty much have them all. The only other question I would ask is about mandatory morning lifting. Some programs have mandatory lifting at a specific time, usually 6AMish, which for a STEM major can be a problem since they are usually up until 2:00AM studying. My son's program always had the approach of "just get your work in", but this requires discipline on student to do this. 

Most importantly I would ask your son if he is really up for this. There is typically a 50%+ drop out rate in STEM majors and when you put baseball on top of it only a few can handle it. I would ask him if he is prepared to routinely get 4 hours of sleep and perform both academically and athletically. Is he willing to be studying on the weekends when his buddies are off having fun somewhere? 

Congrats and good luck!

This is very important. My son was a Chemistry major, on the ASC track. He was also in a fraternity, so he had to have discipline and get his work in and still make time for Organic Chemistry and the tougher ones that come after that. 

Many a time there would be a party in his fraternity and he would be off at the library or locked in his room. 

keewart posted:

I found this list while googling to find an answer to one of CACO3GIRLS's questions:

http://greatcollegeadvice.com/...ions-to-ask-coaches/

Nice one Keewart!  That list is awesome!

b i g m a c posted:

Sure, the more information, the better.  But, I wonder if there is a point of "overdoing it" and triggering irritation on the other end?  

Plus, I'm not sure how much questions/answers regarding playing time are helpful even assuming you receive a candid response.  No matter what the coach says -- "we absolutely expect Johnnie to compete for a starting spot at SS as a Freshman" -- the player will obtain playing time if he absolutely earns it, right?

Info digging with third parties makes great sense (other families/players, prior roster analysis, this forum, etc.).  

Admittedly, my comment might be more reflective of us not asking the coach a ton of questions for our 2016 currently at a HAD3 (no unpleasant surprises yet).  

Good luck!

Good points.  I would not ask anything I can easily find out elsewhere. And answers to a lot of the questions that have come up are going to be volunteered by the coach as part of his pitch.   As for PT, in a perfect world you'd have seen the team play and know how you stack up.  But always assume PT must be earned.

I absolutely agree that a player mentality must be that he will have to earn everything and earn it again every day.  He should also realize that a Coach is likely to be encouraging and optimistic, particularly during the recruitment phase and then immediately start looking for someone better after you commit (that's his job).  But I also think it is imperative to ask the HC the question so you hear directly from him what his initial vision and assessment is.

CaCO3Girl posted:

 

Is there baseball housing or is the player on their own in the dorms? 

Do you ask housing to match up players as roommates?

 

Someone may/will correct me, but I think the NCAA cracked down on "athletic housing" some time ago for D1s  (not sure about D3s).   Someone complained at some college that players got the best dorms and better food.  

At my son's school, the incoming freshmen could request roommates (athletic or not), and most of the baseball players had a baseball player roommate.  One had a basketball player for a roommate.  It is nice in that they keep the same schedule/hours.

CaCO3Girl posted:

 

Will his meal plan be able to be used for away trips?

Usually the meal plans are for on-campus meals, which may include some "dining dollars" at other restaurants on campus.  

When son plays away trips, they get a per diem in cash.  They usually stay at hotels that include breakfast and then receive meal money for lunch and dinner.   They quickly find out how far the money will go.  Sometimes during mid-week away games, dinner may be a quick stop at a convenience store or grocery store that has prepared foods so they can get back on the bus.  

And, apparently not all college's per diem are the same. 

During high school, son's travel team traveled together without parents so we gave him $25 per day for food.   This prepared him well for college.   

Do you place players in summer leagues?  what leagues?

Do they have Baseball cheerleaders? 

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions.  When I showed my son the list of questions put together here, he said, "I'm gonna have stay an extra week."

You've all been super helpful, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Backstop22 posted:

Looks like a great list.  I'm curious though about the ED question.  Why even mention ED or say you are assuming that they want you to do that?  Why not flip it around:

"Because we are concerned about costs and the uncertainty of financial aid, we are going to apply Early Action instead of Early Decision.  Would that jeopardize his spot on the roster?

I couldn't tell from your post if your son has one really strong preference out of these three schools or he is genuinely interested in all of them.  Unless he is absolutely certain that one is way ahead of the others, ED should be avoided at all costs.  Yet most of these high academics have EA, which should still be in enough time for the coach to sort out his recruits.  You give up way too much flexibility if you select one school for ED.

My 2017 has been really up front with all of the coaches he is talking to that he will not be applying ED because the final financial aid package will have a critical impact on his decision (but he told them will do EA).  All of the coaches have been very understanding and so far nobody has said that they are no longer interested in him.

Schools he's considering do not have EA.  Just ED.  One offered to let him do ED 2 so he could pursue a riskier choice elsewhere but the other two want him to go ED 1, or don't have ED 2.  At this point he's leaning slightly to one that only has ED1, but this trip could turn things upside down.

Just not sure how to do what you suggest without EA/ED2 being available options.  Wish they were, though!

I don't think there is "one size fits all" when it comes to the decision on whether to ED or not. At this point it looks like my son will apply ED to his first choice school. Even though he has excellent grades and ACT scores this is a school that rejects 90% of applicants so even with coach support there are no guarantees. ED gives him the best chance and yes, we do realize we will not be able to compare financial aid but I don't think in our case the aid will vary that much from school to school. I think our decision might be different if he were a pitcher, if he had extremely high GPA and test scores, or the school had a acceptance rate in the 25 - 30% range.

^^^ Yes.  ^^^

Well said Louise about the ED/EA consideration.  It really is specific to each student and how strongly they want to go to a particular school.  And I was surprised by Smoke's answer that 2 of the 3 schools his son is considering do not offer both ED and EA.  My son has several really high academic schools on his list and all of them offer both options, so Smoke's must be the "elite of the elite" where they can readily exclude from the applicant pool any student who is not 100% certain they want to go to that school. 

I do wonder if it hurts the "only ED" schools' baseball options though because after the ED pool is settled, if a coach missed several players who he thought would get in but did not, then they have to wait until late Spring and Regular Decision candidates to move to the next pool of players.  Meanwhile, a lot of their competition is aware of who been accepted EA and they can get down to financial aid packages and settle on a roster of known recruits before the only ED schools can.

For us, it comes down to the ethics dilemma combined with the uncertainty of what kind of financial package can be provided.  The ethics end of it is two-sided:  are we willing to back out of ED if the package is not enough to make it work, and could the school/coach use ED as a means by which they say "take it or leave it" knowing the student really has no other options having gone ED?  In some ways, I am glad my son does not have a "must" school on his list and that eliminates ED entirely from our consideration.  And he has been very open about that with the coaches and I think they believe him.