NESCAC baseball programs

You need to speak with the coaches----this is a well kept secret

TR is correct. You need to speak to the coaches. Using my son's experience, expect most coaches to tell you that they can provide admissions support for 2 to 3 players. However that does not mean that your academic achievements can deviate too much from the normal admit. They usually have a good relationship with admissions and are reluctant to support anyone that is too far outside of the norm. The coach will be able to tell whether you are in the ballpark as regards to grades and test scores. Also they will all tell you that the admissions decision is totally up to the admissions department. In my opinion that's the way it should be. They have the best feel for who will be able to make it at their school. They don't want anyone to fail. Good luck.

Here is a good article that gives you some insight into how admissions works for one school.

Recipe for Success

The overall process of admissions at a NESCAC school (Wesleyan) was the subject of a book, The Gatekeepers. Well written.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gatekeepers

RJM - My son had a similiar experience to what TRHit and BO outlined. He was interested in a a NESCAC school and a D3 highly selective academic school in Virginia. Both coaches were very interested in his baseball skills and determined he was an academic fit after reviewing his HS transcript and academic resume. To their credit they never committed anything, and told us it was totally up to admissions. He visited the VA school and spend time with the coach who spoke very little of the baseball program. They continued to call him every week as part of the recruting process to try to get him to apply for ED. I would have a heart to heart with coach if RJM son is very interested given the current time frame. You can send me a PM if you have specific questions.

My son was recruited by and visited four NESCAC schools. None of them said they would make an acadamic exception for a player. All four wanted to see my son's transcripts. Two of them ran them by admissions and two looked at them and said my son would have no problem being accepted.

My son ended up applying early decision and was accepted at one of the schools. He did send the application to the coach who gave it to admissions.

If you need more info you can send me a pm.

1&3 - Congrats, that is awesome for your son. I'm sure he is very excited to be going to his first choice. He knows where he is going, and he doesn't have to be writing more applications over Christmas break. My son is very relieved as well, and now he can really enjoy his senior year.

Are the rules for how often NESCAC schools can practice in the fall the same as all other D3 institutions? I thought I had heard that they have restrictions on fall ball, if it is even "allowed"

quote:

Originally posted by marshall tucker:
Are the rules for how often NESCAC schools can practice in the fall the same as all other D3 institutions? I thought I had heard that they have restrictions on fall ball, if it is even "allowed"

The three NESCAC schools I'm closely familiar with don't have fall ball. I can't speak for the others.

FWIW, here is a 7 min. segment from College Game Day in 2007, from Amherst-Williams football--the only D3 game to ever appear on CGD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...ure=player_embedded#

Off season supervised practices are not allowed in the NESCAC in any sport. Most of the schools will have captain's practices that are not mandatory.

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad that I'm on the same page here. While I would expect that academics come first at any school, especially in this particular conference, it is a pity that they aren't allowed to practice in the fall. Obviously in the case of Trinity, assuming that these rules apply to them as well, it doesn't hinder their performance.

MTuck - My son was recruited to some of these schools. In one visit we were invited to watch "captains practice" in September and were reminded before practice started that NESCAC rules prohibit formal practices. We then went out to the field and watched, what looked like a normal College tryout disguised as a captain's run scrimmage.

leftyshortstop

"Captains Practice" is just that--the captains run the practice but only existing roster players partake


What is a "normal college tryout" as you term it?

As I understand fall practices, (from watching them while my son was on official visits and unofficial visits) Freshman and transfers play scrimmages with existing players while coaches observe and instruct. To me they looked like tryouts to the extent that freshmen get reps to see what they have, walk-ons are trying to impress coaches and get roster spots, and current players seem to get looks at different positions. Recruits, or "prosbies" as they are often called, sit in the dugout (or in a showcase chair outside the dugout) and observe. This is how I saw them while while accompanying my son.
This particular "captains practice" in the NESCAC looked the same as the others except for a few minor differences that I am happy to discuss with you via PM. Just reporting to another parent what I observed as a parent of a prosbie who has since signed in another conference.

My son's experience was totally different. No coaches in sight, in fact coach does not know who attends. However any freshmen are able to attend. They all run things differently, so you can't generalize. As a side note my son is loving it and my wife and I could not be happier.

lefty SS: You have a pm