Hamilton vs. Washington and Lee

My son recruited to W&L but chose another school. Very unique place...I liked it more than RightyShortstop did. OLD SCHOOL in every sense of the term! Something specific? Did you visit? Did you see them play?

We did visit and he was very impressed with the school plus the coach seems to be a straight shooter. We are still trying to see W&L, Hamilton, and Union play, it is very hard to fit one of their games in during baseball season plus with W&L being about 7 hours away makes it that much harder even with their road games factored in.

ken,

You have a pm.

same back at you

ken - sent you a pm

W&L is also one of the schools my son is considering, and I always get paranoid when I see a bunch of PM's flying back and forth about a topic!
Is there anything I should know about W&L that isn't being said publicly?

Not at all, its all positive talk about the school and program.

I know just a bit about both, but I do know from personal experience that they are night and day regarding weather and culture. Both are good, just very different. Not my expression, but Hamilton is "Canada," while W&L is where Gen. Lee's horse is buried. W&L very, very selective academically.

Yes I hear you about the 2 being so different in cultures and weather, problem is money is almost the same and both schools are very good academically so he has tough choice to make.

I did notice that when I looked at the W&L roster they were short in upperclassmen. I am not sure if that indicates anything or not. Others have posted that the W&L field is excellent.

My son visited W&L when he was going through the recruiting process. He ended up in the NESCAC (not Hamilton) but seriously considered W&L if his first choice had fallen through. The field is nice although a little removed from campus. They have indoor cages connected to the home dugout which is a nice touch. I do have a friend whose son is playing there after transferring before his sophomore year. He seems to like it a lot. One note on the non baseball side. I have been told by many people that they have a strong alumni base that stick together and help W&L grads with their careers. Good luck.

Ken, did your son decide, or is he still weighing his options?

He is up at Hamilton as I type doing an overnight visit along with the accepted student day, He should decide today.

After a couple of years where it appeared the program was making great strides, the Hamilton baseball program has had a very tough year. They sit 0-9 in conference play, having been swept in all three series.

They seem to be a few pitchers away from contention. They were in every game against Williams this past weekend, but could not get a win.

It`s Hamilton! So glad this is now behind us.

Congratulations to your son. Maybe I will see you at a game over the next three years. Did he get to attend the doubleheader yesterday?

Awesome. Congrats on your son's decision to attend a great academic school and play baseball.

Thanks guys I am sure we will cross paths again.
The DH was up at Williams.

I'm a little late to the party, but as a Hamilton Grad (82), you made a great choice. The baseball season is short (it can snow in April/May), but the quality of the education is excellent!

There have been alot of changes since I left (drinking age, fraternities gone, etc.), but Don's ROK is probably still the local watering hole!

Congratulations to your son on a great choice! Assuming his summer plans have not changed, I look forward to to running into you. Let me know what team he ends up on.

Ken, can you fill us in on some the plus's and minus's of each school that went into the decision. I am hoping my son can play for either one day.

Congrats

BK, first I need to reinforce what I am sure you already know and that is the coaches at both schools and a few others that my son had on his list stated they can not provide any help as far as admission is concerned.

Coach Stickley at W&L is the only coach I had a conversation with as I wanted to stay out of the baseball side of my son’s decision. I found him to be a great guy with a good sense of humor and a very honest guy.

Both Hamilton and W&L are very generous with aid; the bottom line is if you are admitted they will make it affordable. A visit and an interview I think is vital for the admission process at both schools.

W&L does have a fall ball season vs. Hamilton is not allowed by their conference.

One other main factor in the decision was the Mom thing, she did not want my son to go too far away from home with Hamilton being a 5 hour drive vs. 7.5 hours to W&L and no public transportation option at W&L.

I hope this helps and do feel free to ask if you have anymore questions and best of luck to both you and your son.

Ken

BK, I think the lack of upperclassmen has alot to do with kids at these schools tend to studyabroad during jr. or sr. year. I know my son plans to also.

Ken,
Thnaks for the info.
That sucks not getting any help but congrats and good luck.

That was one of the big draws for me. All I asked of my son was if he could not play baseball there would he still go. If either school was a D-1 program I could understand but if a kid is looking to go to schools like we are talking about then baseball should only be a small part of the equation.

Birdman it looks like he may skip the Bridge League, he wants to make as much money as possible this summer and with him working on the beach he will not be able to make the games.

Just wanted to post a nice story about my son.
http://www.allshoremedia.net/i...:features&Itemid=202

Sounds like a great kid. Congrats.