First College Visit

This is copied from this site some time ago. Don't remember where but it is here..You may not ask all of these but I always printed this out and reviewed it with my son before a visit.

Questions for coaches

What kind of academic support does the college provide? (tutors, etc)

What is the team grade point average?

What is the team graduation rate?

What are some of the majors of team players?

What are your red-shirt procedures? Will I be red-shirted in my freshman year?

Does the scholarship cover summer school?

At my position, what does the depth chart look like?

Where do I stand on the recruiting list?

What are my scholarship opportunities?

How many assistant coaches are there?

How many freshman do you typically bring in, either as signees or as invited walk-ons, on average how many of them are still at your school 4 years later, and what are the normal reasons for leaving?

Are you happy with the University/administration? Are they supportive of the program and you?


Questions for Team Members

Does the coach teach at the school?

What is the morale of the team?

Does the team like the staff?

Is the coach interested in academics?

Do the athletes really have to go to all classes?

How long is practice?

Would you go to this school if you had to choose again?

What is the average class size?

What are the dorms like?

Are the professors accessible?

Do the athletic dept. tutors do a good job?

Pitching / Playing questions

Who is the pitching coach?

What is his pitching philosophy?

What is he looking for when recruiting a pitcher for the program?

What are the off season work outs?

How much rest does he want his pitchers to have in the off season?

Does he limit pitchers with pitch counts?

How many Freshmen pitchers pitch?

Are there any Freshmen starters?

How many Freshmen are redshirted?

Does the program recruit 2 way players?

Can a pitcher DH and pitch?

Are there any 2 way players on the roster?


Questions for Admissions

What is the average class size and ratio per professor?

Who teaches classes? (Professors, teacher assistants)

What is enrollment of college?

How is my major regarded?

What percent of graduates from my major receive jobs within three months of graduation?

What are the housing policies?

May I sit in on a class in my major? (as a guest)

How accessible are counselors to me?

Summary Question for Yourself

Did I have a good overall feeling about the school?

Would I go to school here if I wasn't going to play sports?

Will I fit into the athletic program?

Am I satisfied with the living arrangements?

Am I satisfied with the academic opportunities?

Many additional questions will, and should, come up throughout your recruiting process. The
bottom line in choosing a college is simple.... Choose a school that you would go to if you were not going to play sports!

Your chances of playing professional sports is very slim. Go to college to get an education, meet lifetime friends, play some sports & have fun! When the final whistle blows and you're 21 years old and out of college, what you will have is experience, memories and a college degree. Don't make the mistake of selecting a college only because they are the only school that offered you a scholarship.

Pick a college because that's where you would want to spend the next four to five years of your
life.

I don't know why people persist in advising athletes to find the school they would go to if they weren't going to play sports. That advice invites cognitive dissonance by telling athletes to pretend something that isn't true. If you know most of your non-classroom hours will be spent on baseball, it is stupid to pretend that baseball isn't an extremely important factor, maybe even the most important factor, in your college choice.

The odds of becoming a concert pianist are about the same as the odds of becoming a major league player. Would anyone tell an aspiring music major to pick the school he or she would attend if music wasn't a factor? Of course not! So why do people tell ball players to pick their colleges as if baseball isn't a factor?

If you get to school and something significant changes (i.e., you get hurt, you can't play at that level, you decide the commitment is more than you're willing to make, or you decide your life's calling requires a major not offered there), you can always evaluate your position and make changes as warranted. But if your heart's desire now is to make a total commitment to becoming the best baseball player you can be, you should pick a school that gives you the best shot at baseball.

Telling someone to pick the school he would go to if he wasn't going to play baseball is telling him to plan to fail at baseball.

(I'm officially an old-timer now, so I figure I'm entitled to a free rant.)

Swampboy, why would you waist the other half of your time (not playing baseball) in a school where your interest does not lie. In your scenario you should go straight to the pros that way you are getting where you want to go the fastest with the best coaching. Your argument, while interesting, does not compute.

BTW congratulations on your oldtimerness.

Why wouldn't you give a little on both. Maybe you could go to a good academic school (not great) if it gave you the opportunity to have a chance in baseball as well, (even if it was not your best chance). If the odds are very low, (as they are), why not think ahead.

When someone has to distort what I said in order to attempt to refute it, I usually interpret it as evidence that my position is sound.

I never advised anyone to go to a school that isn't a good academic, financial, social or other fit. I simply said it is unrealistic to tell a baseball player to pick a school as if baseball weren't part of the equation when it manifestly is one of the most important considerations for many players.

I acknowledge that some people would be well advised to pick a school as if baseball were not a consideration: walk-ons who don't have a guaranteed roster spot (which includes pretty much everyone at D3 schools), players who place a high priority on meeting ambitious academic goals on a certain timeline, players who know they want to pursue a narrow course of study offered by only a few schools, players who have family or other loyalties to a school that outweigh their own playing ambitions, and players for whom baseball is intended to be simply one enriching aspect of their overall college experience. All these people should assign baseball less weight when considering their options.

However, I still believe the advice is inappropriate for the majority of D1 baseball players. These young men who eat, sleep, and dream baseball; who have worked diligently for years to achieve the goal of playing college baseball; who have been offered athletic scholarships; who know they need a degree but don't have clearly formed academic or career goals; and who want to give baseball their best shot shouldn't be made to feel bad about making baseball central to their college decision. A player who is a good student but not qualified for an elite academic institution and who intends to major in something fairly generic, like business or education, can usually find many more schools that fit his academic needs than schools that are good baseball fits. For these players, it makes sense to solve the hardest part of the puzzle first.

Very big part of the decision SHOULD be if you like the place where you are going to most likely spend the next 4 maybe 5 years and where you will get most from your baseball experience as well.
DK had a few places to choose, he chose the place he liked the best, based on with or without baseball.

Everyone is different, however, I have found that once your player gets to school, chances are other things are going to become just as important (for some even more) as baseball. Make sure you are going to be in a place you will be happy.

TRRredwing21
Thanks for posting this question. My son is also a 2013 grad and is going to make his first visit in late May. The responses to your question will help him also. Good luck with your visit.

www.bristolcountyeagles.org

This debate about how best to choose your college has been chewed a couple of times.

BOF recognizes the value of an analytical approach. You obtain a clear answer to the most basic principles that make up the entire problem. You act on a logical solution that satisfies the greatest number of those parameters positively.

Swampboy & TPM acknowledge that in some matters the analytical approach needs to be augmented by a feeling of comfort or belonging that is hard to quantify.

Even the most rational and analytical amongst us can be subject to the whims of the heart. How else could Ford justify producing a Shelby Mustang GT500?

Swampboy that is an outstanding post.

PA Dino,

Very constructive comment. Thanks for getting us back on track.

Returning to the OP's question, BOF's list has a lot of good stuff you should find out before making a decision. However, most of those questions shouldn't need to be asked directly. You can either find the information yourself, it will come out naturally in the course of the coach's tour/sales pitch, or the recruit will figure it out by paying attention when he spends a couple nights in the dorm on a campus visit.

Do your homework on the team and school beforehand. Compare the last several years of signing classes to rosters and stats to get a picture of development and churn rates. Read the bios on the coaches and players. Look up the rostered players at PG to see how you stack up to where they were as sophomores. Read everything on the academic side of the web site, and check out some of the on-line tools that give the academic profile of the student body. Look at but don't put too much stock in the social sites that let students comment on and rank various aspects of campus life.

After that, just relax and enjoy the visit. Let the coach talk. Listen closely to distinguish between what he actually says and what you hope he'll say. Interact normally and ask those questions that naturally come to mind. Find out how much he knows about you as a player. Write some notes after the visit. Ask follow up questions as appropriate to keep the dialog going afterwards.

Best wishes.

P.S. Thanks, Coach May. Your opinion means a lot to me.

FWIW, I've always thought that the saying, "choose the school assuming you weren't going to play baseball there" was more of an intellectual exercise than a firm rule to live by.

I could be wrong and I understand its a personal preference thing, but I think its a good exercise that forces a person to try and remove baseball from the equation, at least for a minute or two.

At the same time it may be next to impossible too. It's like asking an 18 year old to watch a movie with Meghan Fox and imagine her as your sister.

quote:

I acknowledge that some people would be well advised to pick a school as if baseball were not a consideration: walk-ons who don't have a guaranteed roster spot (which includes pretty much everyone at D3 schools), players who place a high priority on meeting ambitious academic goals on a certain timeline, players who know they want to pursue a narrow course of study offered by only a few schools, players who have family or other loyalties to a school that outweigh their own playing ambitions, and players for whom baseball is intended to be simply one enriching aspect of their overall college experience. All these people should assign baseball less weight when considering their options.

Swampboy,

Good post and topic. I was going to respectfully disagree with your original post, but I see you have covered (above) where it does make sense. I totally agree that any player that wants to go pro, needs to find the best college program & coaches possible to help him prepare for the next level. For the most part, academics will not be the primary factor in their case.

I also recognize that others do not have that go pro goal, but are very passionate about baseball and participating in college baseball. As the NCAA advertises....they will go pro in something else. For whatever reason their talents (or lack of pro baseball talent) will take them in a different life direction. For the latter group, I think advising them to select a school as if they will not play baseball is appropriate and prudent. My observation is that both groups are well served on HSBBWeb.

Congrats on the Old Timer status! You are now entitled to random rants!

I think I see this topic differently than some because I've never necessarily seen the two objectives as running counter to one another.

I don't think it's bad advice to suggest to a 9th or 10th grader that he ought to be giving some thought to the sort of college or university he wants to attend and give him the tools he needs to learn about them as schools. Big/small, liberal arts/highly quantitative, state-supported/private, highly social/less social, highly rigorous/less rigorous, nearby/distant: the sort of dimensions that give a school its character and go a long way toward shaping the composition of its student body.

If the 9th or 10th grader follows through on the advice, he'll come to realize that schools tend to fall into categories defined by dimensions like the ones cited above; and, before long, he'll begin to create a list of schools that he thinks line up pretty well with his interests and aptitudes. As the list lengthens, he'll begin to recognize which ones have baseball programs that correspond to his skill level and level of dedication to the sport.

I know this can work because my son was given this advice early on by a highly successful Division I coach in Florida, and he followed it. As the recruiting process emerged for him, he put a good bit of effort into trying to find a school that met both of his objectives...and baseball couldn't have been more central or significant to his effort.

The day I knew that it was really working for him was the day we were walking through a campus and he turned to me and said, "Dad, I don't think I'd fit in here as well as I would at some other schools." For me and my bank account, that was a significant comment because its baseball program had made the highest percentage offer of athletic money of any we were considering. It also had a strong baseball program. However, because he'd come up with a group of schools that he thought he'd like and that fit him baseball-wise, he had other acceptable options.

Sure, our sons can transfer if they wake up one morning at college and discover that their baseball picture is very different from the one they envisioned; but, why go through it if they don't have to? Baseball can be central to a player's college picture and not necessarily exclude them from trying to figure out as best they can which schools make the most sense for them as students.

quote:

I acknowledge that some people would be well advised to pick a school as if baseball were not a consideration: walk-ons who don't have a guaranteed roster spot (which includes pretty much everyone at D3 schools), players who place a high priority on meeting ambitious academic goals on a certain timeline, players who know they want to pursue a narrow course of study offered by only a few schools, players who have family or other loyalties to a school that outweigh their own playing ambitions, and players for whom baseball is intended to be simply one enriching aspect of their overall college experience. All these people should assign baseball less weight when considering their options.

It isn't either/or at high level D3 college baseball. I think it can be the best of both at every level. Whatever is the best of both varies from player to player, student to student and family to family.
There is not one size to "fit."
Ours, ended up choosing a D3 school and program which had top academics and top D3 baseball and a coach who recruited him better than any DI coach.
That coach generated visions of him playing after college far more vividly than any DI program.
Ours is not the only one who did that.
Our son didn't even know of the school he attended until he met the head coach at the Stanford Camp. He would never have attended that school without baseball. He lived baseball, but knew he also had to make a great choice for an education, since baseball ends for everyone at some point, as an injury did for him after 4 years in Milb.
I have a tough time with the concept that a different process exists at DI vs other levels.
Different choices are made based on personal preferences and experiences and the available options.
I don't think there can be many in college baseball at any level who have have a greater love and passion for baseball than JH. He is not an exception at the D3 level but he certainly is exceptional.

Great post. As a father of a 9th grader we discuss college and life success issues such as getting into a top graduate program on a regular basis. However, his skills at baseball may make the decision harder. My daughter, who is a good athlete but not good enough to play D1, has decided to focus on academics and go to Texas. My son is a much better athlete that will have better college options for baseball and the same academically, but unknown whether he will be good enough to play baseball at a college that has the things he is interested in academically. We both take a work hard and a wait and see approach. It's great to see these posts from people that have been through the experience.

Wow, thanks for all the replies guys. I'm definately going to use those questions this weekend

Clayton great post as usual. Baseball is a big part of the decision for some kids. There are many things to consider. Sometimes want you really want and what is really best for you can be two different things. There is no one way to do this answer out there. Each individuals situation is different.

Do your homework and above all be honest with yourself. Things will work out just fine.

I agree with Coach May, excellent post by Prepster.

So my season hasn't been going so well this year. What do I say to the coach and if he's seen me before, do these early season stats count for that much. (We've had 7 games so far)

Tell him you are a slow starter.