Gap year consideration questions

get him out there and get him seen this summer.  There is plenty of time.   Gotta start making a plan though of what schools he wants to get in front and what showcases and tournaments he wants to play in this summer. Gap years are cool.  Can be great for a young person's motivation and self-awareness.  Harvard recommends a gap year to all students admitted to Harvard.  Kids push so so hard these days.

But he doesn't need to take a gap year for baseball reasons.   This is the summer to really go to work. 

Jacjacatk,

Interesting question & situation.  IMHO it is going to be a matter of what is most important to him and what his eventual goals are.  Based on his desire to target high academic D3 he’s at no disadvantage to start  showcasing now.  Even if he would have tried to showcase earlier with high academic D3s, I’m not so sure they would have been ready.  Their recruiting timetable is now until late Fall to get ED admissions help from the Coach.

There are a few folks on HSBBWebs who’s son has done a PG year maybe they will chime in on their experiences, reasoning, cost and outcomes.   I would look into what the Admissions Depts of the various schools your son is targeting think of PG years.  I know some are big on it and some are not so much. 

Good luck.  

I believe if he takes three classes in a semester the eligibility clock starts ticking. The player has five years to play four. 

You our need to sit down with your son and build a business plan ASAP. Pick conference you believe he could compete. Then pick schools in that conference that are good baseball, academic, social and cultural fits. Start with a list of 40-50 schools. Some he will end up crossing off his list. Some of the schools will cross him off the list by lack of interest. Then figure out how to get in front of your list of school. Head First would be one avenue. The Stanford camp would be another. There are others. 

Email the coaches of programs of interest. Express interest in the school and the baseball program. Ask them the best way to get in front of them. Then when the event occurs email again saying you will be there.

As others have said, D3 schools do not start recruiting until about this time. This is the summer for your son to be seen. Many d3 schools would love to see a kid with your sons measurables. Most schools will tske a look at your son this summer. If they like what they see, they will be in contavt this summer or early fall. 

Like RJM said, make a plan, select schools thatvare a fit and get in front of them. Stanford camp and the head first showcases will have the type of schools you seem to be targeting. 

My 2012 did a PG / gap year.  He was also very young (13 years old as a high school freshman).

We never encountered a college admissions officer or baseball coach who frowned on the extra year.  To the contrary, all were supportive particularly given the issue was age (and the corresponding emotional maturity and ability to handle college).

Your son would simply be a 2017 instead of a 2016.

That said, this Summer is the most important recruiting timeframe for a 2016.  You are not "behind" in the context of the recruiting timeline for most D3s and some D1s for a 2016.

Should your family choose to do an extra year, there are an infinite amount of things that could fill the extra year.  As noted above, too many college courses will start the eligibility clock ticking which is something you would want to avoid.

Happy to discuss more.

I wonder are there opportunities for kids who want to take a gap year and play a sport while doing it?

In my son's case, he'd still be able to play travel (17u) with his current organization, including a spring season with a HS equivalent team. I think if he were to do a gap year, he'd concentrate on the appropriate physical training for that, while picking up college credits part time, probably to knock out any college "breadth" requirements that weren't covered by AP credits, or a foreign language.

We're in GA, and I think finances will likely preclude any long distance trips for academic showcases. I know EC has a smaller scale academic showcase, and the Florida head first is probably doable, but does PG or someone else do something in the correct vein for his academic/talent combination?

I don't know if other schools do it, but  the U of CA system regards any student who completes even one college level course after HS graduation as a transfer applicant, with a whole different set of rules and requirements. Might be something to be careful of.

Georgia, has several d3 schools, I know it is a big state but you might start with these. They vary from a large research University to small liberal arts colleges. What type of school profile fits him. The season is wrapping up but I would try to get him to some games, and maybe look at the campus' of some of these universities. He can see what d3 Baseball is about and get an idea what the campus looks like.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki...ion_III_institutions

http://www.d3baseball.com/teams/region/south

Jacjacalk:Top 96 has an Academic showcase at Davidson(NC) July 21-22. A good number of schools are there that may interest your son for just under $400. If your son is a pitcher only there is a reduced rate. May be worthwhile. As other posters have said it's not too late. Many of the D3 academic schools and some D1s my son considered were still filling spots fall of senior year. My son's catcher landed a spot on a small liberal arts higher academic school just before start of his high school senior season. Good luck!

jacjacatk,

The eligibility rules are significantly different for D1 versus D2 and D3.  In D1, a player's eligibility will expire no later than five calendar years after he first registers as a full time student at any collegiate institution.(12.8.1)  The other divisions have no calendar limitation; instead they count full time terms and a player is allowed 10/15 full time semesters/quarters. (14.2.2)  There was a well publicized instance of a 50 year old field goal kicker in D2 a few years ago, who returned to his college after a rather extended absence!  So it is practical to wait up to one year (but not more than a year for D1 and D2--a player starts burning seasons of eligibility).  He just needs to be sure to not register for whatever the institution considers to be full time.

My own opinion is that a gap year is likely to be literally a waste of time.  Are you hoping he'll play 4 seasons of college ball?  Then a gap year will mean that he'll leave college a year later.  It probably means supporting him financially for a year longer.  It probably means delaying the various kinds of maturation that a college experience provides.  IMO, unless there are significant emotional or physical maturity issues (6'4", 185 is a big, strong 2016), then he should go to college.

http://www.perfectgame.org/eve...ault.aspx?event=2798

this is a link to Perfect Games academic showcase in Georgia in May.  May be what you're looking for.

If this was my son, the only reason I would consider delaying the start of a 4 year college would be if DI was the goal, and I believed that the additional year would put him in a position to compete for a scholarship at a good academic DI. If he would be just as happy at a good DIII, then he has plenty of time left to be recruited for a 2016 admission (if the time is used wisely). His size alone will interest many DIIIs.

But if DI is the goal, he does have some options. Post Grad high school is one, but it's usually very expensive. That's not for everyone, but it might fit the bill. I know that Darlington School is on GA, but I don't know anything about their baseball program.

A good Junior college baseball program could be another way to go. Live at home, earn credits, train like a college athlete, and gain exposure with DIs. The down side would be burning a year of eligibility, but with your son's situation it sounds like he could graduate early regardless of where his goes. You would also want to make it clear to the coach that the goal is to transfer to DI after one year. That might be a problem for many.

My son is currently in a PG year at a boarding prep school.  Like yours, his birthday is in the middle of summer.  Although he did very well in HS, prep school has been a tremendous experience for him.  He had several options to play D1 coming out of HS, but the prep year to slow the process down and get him more time has been good in our situation.  I can't think of a single reason why any school would consider a prep year as a negative.  That was not our experience at all.  Dialog me if I can answer specific questions - just an FYI, I'll be out of town for the next few days, but I will reply to you.

Crazy thought and perhaps extreme, but highly common..........go to a private school and "reclass," meaning repeat the year and then finish at the private school.  Your son now I think is a 2016 (Jr).  Send to a private school and have him repeat Jr. year again, making him a 2017.  Unless he played varsity sports as a freshman he should be able to play varsity for remaining two years.

Perhaps an extreme option and a financial burden for sure, but very common in northeast especially for hoops and football.  Super extreme and even more expensive would be send him to a boarding school in same fashion (repeat Jr year).

Your profile says you are from Georgia.  Look at Rabun Gap School in Ga.  Solid baseball program.

Just a thought.

I'm sure you already know this, but there's a very good academic DIII with a good baseball program right around the corner from you....Emory. Put him on their radar and take a visit.

Yeas that was the Big Research University I mentioned in my response. Great school, My little brother worked there after grad school, and they usually have a good baseball program. They get some D1 drop downs quite a bit because the degrees offered.