Non-scholarship college recruiting

The question you pose is a common one.

Let me see if I can help you, based on my experience here in the Northeast, which is Division III territory.

01--they recruit as aggressively as the Division II and I programs. If a player is a Division I prospect they might lay off him for a bit until they see what happens with him in the recruiting process.

02--their timeline truly kicks into high gear right after the early signing period BUT they will do a lot legwork prior to that date. Many of our kids are currently making visits to many of the Division III schools this fall.

03-- I advise the kids who are interested in going Division III to apply for admission as soon as possible in their senior year---this does two things: first you get the process moving and secondly by applying the Coach sees that your interest in his school and program is sincere.

And funny things happen--we had a boy a few years back that came to early May of his senior year and had been admitted to a number of the top Division III programs in the area but no baseball situation--somehow or other he fell off the radar screen for these guys--a few calls and he had a baseball situation--in fact he was a regular as a Frosh-- having already been admitted academically made the process easy, say two days once he spoke with the Coach

03-- and do not believe that there is no money there for you in the spring--keep in mind that most Division III programs do not officially announce their acceptances until early in the spring--thus there is money there and if you are baseball player and the coach seriously wants you , you could very well know your situation financially and academically before the official announcements are made

04-- I your son plays for a reputable travel/showcase team the coaches might well be able to get you all the inside information that you are seeking

Hope this helps you

That is interesting, UCSB does offer athletic scholarships for baseball, and they are in the Big West conference.

If your son is good but not quit the caliber that would garner an athletic scholarship at a D1 school and wants to stay in California to play DII baseball, UCSD is a great option.

They are the only UC School in the CCAA, it offers some of the top UC education in California and is strong in Engineering and the sciences, the baseball program competes in one of the top DII conferences in the country and UCSD competes every year.

The coaching staff is well thought of and recruits slightly differently than the other DII programs in California as they tend to focus on bringing in freshman and develop them over the collegiate careers vs focusing on JC transfers, the competition to get on the team is high as it draws pretty well from across the state and who also want to focus on academics as well.

Coaches are thought of well as they teach at all levels starting from the fundamentals to how to compete and win at a high level, they play the game to expect to win and do. By brining in more freshman than JC transfers, they can focus on building a long term program and playing as a team vs turning the program over each year.

UCSD’s time line in recruiting is the same as DI schools as they tend to look for freshman, their goal is to look for the best players possible, but since they are a DII school, top players tend to focus on looking for DI schools first and they understand that, so they tend not to get early signing players, but have been known to get a few players who know they want to attend UCSD and have passed the school’s stringent entry requirements. They are at many of the top events and showcases in California and Arizona with the DI schools and scouts.

UCSD as a whole has its eye on education, they offer a small athletic scholarship (so small they may not mention it to the recruits) to those athletes who make the teams, but it that is not the selling point of the program, good news is that they are placing the best players on the field regardless of the baseball money the players are receiving since they are all getting the same amount.

Playing in La Jolla California’s weather and close to the beaches also has its advantages as well.

Well I've already learned some things.

The website I viewed listed no scholarships for UCSB baseball, but they were wrong. I researched a little more and found they had an error. This may tempt us to participate in one of their camps as there is at least a possible reward of scholarship.

UCSD, I found, has recently gotten around the NCAA ruling that they must offer some scholarships to remain a DII. They do this by awarding all athletes with $500 / year. This seems to conflict with the 25% minimum, but maybe they got a waiver.

I still don't know why anyone would committ early to a school like UCSD when there are no financial carrots. I'm pretty sure the poster referencing the DIII's was thinking my son is a senior. The DIII's here in CA that he looked at, said they were not looking at kids his age much yet.

UCSD is my son's number one choice right now, but I want to keep the other options open as he may develop more as he grows and fills out.

Blprkfrnks,
The 25% minimum applies to D1 colleges only.

Blprkfrnks - Just an FYI...Homerun04 has a son who played 4 years at UCSD...so you can take what he says about it to the bank.

You asked:

quote:

I still don't know why anyone would committ early to a school like UCSD when there are no financial carrots.

And then pretty quickly, you said:

quote:

UCSD is my son's number one choice right now..

You answered your own question. UCSD is one of THE top academic schools in California. Many, many kids in CA desire to attend (as your son apparently does)...very few get in. If baseball clears that hurdle for you, its a great choice!

One last thing...just so you have accurate information. Stanford does not offer academic scholarships...only need-based aid. For example, a student can attend for free if his/her parents make under $100K/year. There is still aid for incomes above that, but it gradually diminishes based on income and assets. Go to their website and read about the whole program.

I don't know about Cal Tech or the Claremont Colleges (Harvey Mudd, etc...). You should research them more too before eliminating them due to perceived high cost...it may not be that way for you depending on your family's income.

Your son's HS counselor ought to be up to speed on all of these types of questions regarding costs, etc... Talk with him/her too.

Good luck!

Great info, thanks.

My son's school counseler has proven a little unreliable, so my son and I both are double checking things she says. If he was a senior today he would be all over UCSD, but kids do change in these last few years. He still has to take the tests this year, keep his grades up, and keep improving at baseball to keep these colleges on his radar.

Very nice info on UCSD. He met Coach Hobbs at the Stanford Camp and Coach Hobbs keeps him aware of any UCSD news through e-mails. UCSD is quite far away, and although he says that he wants to get away, our first one came home quickly after saying the same thing.

We aren't closing the door on Stanford and Harvey Mudd, as we are below that $100,000 level. Cal Tech does not have a good baseball program as far as I can tell.

Be careful with your counselors--one of our players sent me a list of schools that his counselor had given that were to be good matches for the player both academically and baseball-wise and was asking my opinion-two of the schools did not even have a baseball program

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Have a goodly amount of experience with both schools and have delt with them for a number of years, still in touch and have a good ongoing relationship with both schools and two of the current long time assistant coaches, Myers at UCSB and Addison at UCSD. Delt with Hobbs when he was at SBCC.

My older '05 (4.3 GPA) was recruited and offered by both schools...

Here is the UCSD process as we saw it...At the time UCSD was the ONLY DII in the country that offered no athletic $, but IMO the only Elite DII academic in the state...so we sought them out, and they persued him...transcipts were checked in August by admissions and approved...he was then offered and accepted an an offical trip and did a workout for them, and was tabbed one of their top 2 recruits and a two way guy...he got a good look at the program, school and talked at legnth to the players...since no Athletic $ there was no NLI, BUT they have a system they used...offered a letter that traded a comitmment on the part of the program in return for a comittment NOT to go to any other DII in the conference...and my son was not either legally or morally bound, if he received any offer from a DI he had an "out". I suspect they still do something similar.


Specifically to your questions....

- same timelines for UCSD, but hard for the DII's to compete with the DI's during the fall period, but UCSD does pretty well since they are so highly though of academically. BUt I suspect they do not fill all their slots in the fall, but I would look back at the program archives website to see what I could figure out, and ask them if they are in touch with you.

- Turnover? If you mean walk on competition...Certainly there will be rigid competition at both, I would go in eyes open and fully aware of the challenges/opportunities/pitfalls and armed with a plan B and C if need be. I am pretty sure that if you get to this point, Myers and Addison will be straight up if you ask them, and are willing to accept the answer.

- "...recruiting, coaching, or treatment of the players?" AS you want high academcis in CA and have researched and have an interest in both programs and it would appear to be mutual...Best option I see is to attend a camp at both...you have time, and I believe they both do numerous camps, summer, christmas, fall...well worth the investment when you are focused with a school...

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Although I know nothing about your kid, the chances of making the the UCSB team as a freshman walkon are pretty slim. If he is not cut, he would likely be redshirted which might be good if he needs development.

I would recomend attending the camp at UCSB to get a honest opinion about your son's skill level from the coaches(don't wait for the evaluation, talk to them during the camp). You might also consider a UCD camp as their admissions standards for engineering students is similiar to UCSB and making their team will take the same skill level as UCSB.

You probebely won't find out much about the coaches while attending their camp. You'll probebely need to PM people posting about these programs for that info. Attending the camps will however give the coach an opportunity to honestly evaluate your son before you send him off with a vague promise for "an opportunity to make the team" or "compete for playing time".

Good luck

btw I did not mention attending a UCSD camp as I assume the coach saw you son play at Stanford camp and has expressed his opinion?

When I started this thread, I didn't think UCSB offered scholarships at all, but from what I've read here, they do, but possibly they aren't fully funded. I would think that UCSB is already talking to some high baseball skill 2010 recruits.

I guess the root of my question was whether a school like UCSD is already talking to or focusing on 2010's. I was thinking that as an academic school, they might wait for grades from the junior year and SAT/ACT scores before getting too active. My son sent his fall scout league schedule to Coach Hobbs, and I noticed a UCSD staffer at his last game (could have been watching anyone). I'm not sure whether he should continue to send e-mails or call them to show interest now or kind of wait it out knowing he has done enough and that they are watching.

blprkfrnks: UCSD is quite possible starting to look at 2010's. I am not sure they have completely locked up all 09s, but I do think they are working on '10s already. I know my son got emails from them very early in the fall of last year (he's 09). And you will see them around a lot during scout league watching a lot of kids. If you are interested in them, you need to let them know it. You don't have to be exclusively interested in them, but do HAVE SON let him know of his interest, especially if he has the grades/SATs. They have an excellent DII program, and of course the school is top notch.

Blprkfrnks: don't forget that you generally will get aid from the more expensive schools. My son was a case in point; was being recruited by VMI ( about 30,000per year) and was told no financial aid cuz we made too much money. He wound up at California of PA (10,000 per year). We later received the financial results from VMI, and he would have paid much less to go there than he did at cal, but, too late!

The elite academic schools are now charging dramatically lower tuition for people with annual incomes under $150K. If household income is around $70,000, you might go free or nearly free to an elite academic school . . . At $150K, you will probably pay around half of the "full" costs.