Unofficial Visit Request

Ig,
Congratulations. I'll bet your son is bouncing off the walls, as he should be.

I think the interest is probably genuine.

It's easy to get all excited, I know, I was, and so was my son. My advice is, take a step back and ask, "is this school really somewhere that I want to go?". It takes a clear head to answer that objectively, and for me that was something easier said than done.

Best of luck, enjoy the ride.

If your son is a junior and is already getting this type of interest, I would be cautiously optimistic. It certainly is too early to know whether they'll make an offer in the future, but it sounds as if they definitely want to get to know him and have him become familiar with their program. It is awesome that he is on their radar screen so early in the game!

If your son has even mild interest in this program, it probably would behoove you to make the trip. (Even if he ends up not liking the place, it will be a beneficial trip in that he will learn what he doesn't want in a school or program.) If it is a big time ACC school like you say, the program most likely will be extending offers by early next summmer -- if not even earlier. Because of this, if your son receives an offer from them, he probably won't have the opportunity to take an official visit before he is asked to give them an answer. And even if he is able to visit the school next summer, he won't be able to see what things are like during the school year when everyone is on campus.

Best wishes to your son as he starts the recruiting process!

CPLZ, Infield 08,
Thanks for the good advice. We'll probably go if for no other reason than to start the process of getting a handle on where he belongs. Our son is not really excited about the process because he heard "horror" stories from some 09 kids that recruiters will talk to you for 30 minutes on the phone. His mother and I can are lucky to get 30 words a week out of him. His comment to me was, " i just want to go to a good school and play baseball. i don't want to talk to these guys." Another lesson to be learned.
Personally, I'm more cynical about things; comparing the process to the definition of a job interview: "two liars talking to each other."
The wife is happy though, another travel destination.

Infield 08. I think you're right about timing. It seems kids are getting pressured early, rightly or wrongly, so it's important to try and get a handle on things as soon as you can. High class problem I guess.

CPLZ: Good luck to your son @ West Point. I have a nephew who's a freshman @ Air Force.

Thanks again.

ps. I was hoping TPM would comment.

Here I am.

As a 2010 I would take the unofficial visit during the baseball season, unless they are asking you to committ early. Football weekends add lots of pizazz, but remember your main goal is finding out about the baseball program. Sometimes they have more time to spend with you off season, that may be their reason.
You want to see the team play, and see fan support during baseball season. Leave football games for your official visit.

If he "has" to go during football season, try to make it during fall baseball practice - watching a practice can be quite illuminating...

The smartest thing we did was to go on unofficial visits during early spring of my son's junior year.

It sounds like your son might be a player that could have opportunities to sign early. Waiting until you can go on official visits (fall of Senior year) might not give him the optimum amount of time to make the best informed decision.

Don't be surprised it you get offers or pretty specific commitments while on the visit. If this happens you may feel like you need to make a snap decision, I would caution you and more importantly your son to take your time and make sure it's the right fit. If they want your son that bad they can wait until you have time to check out the other schools he is interested in.

One good way to get a feel if the school you are looking at is one that goes for early verbal commitments is to check out the unofficial websites of the schools you are looking at. You will probably find a list of early commitments for your sons class or the one before him. The school my son was going to attend had 4 or 5 early commitments when we visited in March of his junior year.

Good luck!

I don't know about everyone else, but it was pretty near impossible for us to go on ANY visits during spring of junior year. With baseball season eating up 40+ games, there was no time to be heading to any college campuses. Fall of junior year was much more doable.

thanks all, you're a smart crowd. tpm, i mentioned you partly because it's your son's alma mater that's making their interest known now but of course your knowledge is sound no matter what you're talking about. who knows how serious it is but personally my feelings are that given the reduced roster spots available my son would be better focusing on schools that i would call less of a baseball factory, but its always nice to appear to be wanted.
it's kind of interesting now because my son currently attends a top academic private school that competes in the finest athletic conference in the state. people have asked me when he first went there as a freshman why go there its not a top baseball school. but he was discovered nevertheless and i think maybe that model may be best going forward for college too. good academics and avoid the baseball factory. focus on WF, BC and Duke maybe.

quote:

Originally posted by Infield08:
I don't know about everyone else, but it was pretty near impossible for us to go on ANY visits during spring of junior year. With baseball season eating up 40+ games, there was no time to be heading to any college campuses. Fall of junior year was much more doable.

I guess one of the few benefits to living in the North was that our hs baseball didn't start until April so we were able to take advantage of the late Feb and March college season.

What a great site! Thanks for letting me join. We're in a similar situation: 2010 grad w/ some schools wanting us to come to a football game and get on their campus. We've heard from 1/2 the PAC 10 schools so far, along with a few others. We're not sure what to expect once we get there. I assume that if we get an offer, it will be be for the athletic part of a scholarship only. We haven't applied to any schools and haven't taken the SATs yet. With most of the scholarship $ being academic rather then athletic, the best offer may come from a college that offers less baseball wise but more "other" scholarship wise, right? How do you factor that unknown variable into the equation when looking at offers? I assume the coaches don't influence the other scholarship opportunities.

The blending of academic and athletic money is not as simple as you think. I believe most money is all athletic and little academic. there are lots of rules in the NCAA and i believe without a certain GPA you cant get academic mixed with athletic. im sure there are others who understand more than i do.

Right now your son's focus should be grades so he can go to the schools of his choice esp if he's interested in Pac10 and of course continue to develop his baseball skills. Nothing matters if he cant get into the school academically.

quote:

Originally posted by Or Dad:
What a great site! Thanks for letting me join. We're in a similar situation: 2010 grad w/ some schools wanting us to come to a football game and get on their campus. We've heard from 1/2 the PAC 10 schools so far, along with a few others. We're not sure what to expect once we get there. I assume that if we get an offer, it will be be for the athletic part of a scholarship only. We haven't applied to any schools and haven't taken the SATs yet. With most of the scholarship $ being academic rather then athletic, the best offer may come from a college that offers less baseball wise but more "other" scholarship wise, right? How do you factor that unknown variable into the equation when looking at offers? I assume the coaches don't influence the other scholarship opportunities.

quote:

Originally posted by igball:
thanks all, you're a smart crowd. tpm, i mentioned you partly because it's your son's alma mater that's making their interest known now but of course your knowledge is sound no matter what you're talking about. who knows how serious it is but personally my feelings are that given the reduced roster spots available my son would be better focusing on schools that i would call less of a baseball factory, but its always nice to appear to be wanted.
it's kind of interesting now because my son currently attends a top academic private school that competes in the finest athletic conference in the state. people have asked me when he first went there as a freshman why go there its not a top baseball school. but he was discovered nevertheless and i think maybe that model may be best going forward for college too. good academics and avoid the baseball factory. focus on WF, BC and Duke maybe.

igball,
I don't consider the ACC schools baseball factories, which would mean 35+ coming into fall and then getting cut. The ACC frowns upon over recruiting in general. In 3 years at Clemson not one player was ever cut after fall semester. You don't have to worry about your son showing up in the fall and then competing for a roster spot, fall roster is spring roster unless the player becomes ineligible.
They recruit seriously who they are interested in. If your son has gotten an invite for an unofficial visit, I would imagine it is genuine interest. There are two parents here whose sons just verbally commited for '09, they both told me their experiences were honest and sincere, the same as I had found with our player. PM me with any questions about the program.
BTW, since I now know the school, don't worry about going to a game in the spring to learn about fan base, they pack the house every game.

Or Dad,
Welcome to the HSBBW! Your son does not have to apply to any schools at this time, just answer questionaires and have your son take the SAT or ACT and register for the clearinghouse this year and remind him that not only will his baseball ability open doors but good grades as well.

I am not so sure of your last question, but the coach has to offer 25% minimum for scholarship or nothing (recruited walk on), depending upon whether it is a fully funded program (use all 11.7). Don't worry about scholarship options at this time, because in the end the "fit" is what is important, and teh amount of scholarship dollars should only be one of the final considerations.

Wait - I'm confused. How is it that 2010 grades are already being contacted by coaches and wanting them to come to their campuses? I thought the initiation date was November of Junior Year. Am I wrong?

gamefan, it's Sept. 1 of junior year for colleges to send letters -- and July 1 following junior year for phone calls that are initiated by the school. If college coaches want to talk to prospects even before that date, there are ways they can do it, such as contacting the high school coach or select coach and asking them to have the prospect call them.

Thanks for the response. Let me clarify my question. Non-athlete college bound students get a financial aid offer sometime between Nov. and April of their senior year which may help them in their college choice. College athletes may get get an offer earlier for their sport, but do they have to wait for any academic scholarship offers? I know that fit, baseball-wise, academically, and socially are most important, but college X offering a 25% baseball scholly and no other money is a lot different than college Y offering a 25% baseball scholly and a $5k diversity scholly on the academic side. Is the only way of knowing the complete picture, waiting until April of your senior year? If so, will coaches tolerate waiting?

Also, was the comment above about the NCAAA not allowing the mixing of the two accurate?

Or Dad- there are specific criteria by the NCAA to allow blending of the academic/athletic money for a student athlete. Off the top of my head the student must meet 1 of these requirements:

top 10% of high school class
1200 SAT (math and verbal portions)
3.5 gpa or above

If your student meets any one of these requirements their academic money will not count against the 11.7 scholarships allowed the baseball team.

There are many knowledgable posters that will quote you chapter and verse on the NCAA rules. You can do a search on this site as this has been discussed many times here.

I'm sure it depends on the school and the coaches but when our son's athletic offer was made the coach checked with admissions to see what kind of academic scholarship our son was eligible for (based on his grades and SAT score). We knew right away in the fall of his senior year how much his athletic/academic scholarship would be. This was a private school and they are much more generous with merit aid as compared to the public schools.

But we did not fill out a FAFSA because we knew we would not qualify for any need based aid. If you qualify for need based aid in addition to merit aid and athletic aid it might not be finalized until later in your sons senior year.

Cabb is rirht about the three requirements.There is one more. A cumulitive ACT score of 105 or more can be added to the list.
If a student athlete qualifies in any one of the four, he has upped his stock as a recruit tremendously.

Good advice here about the athletic/academic blended aid requirements. The one thing that has been eluded to but not said, is that if your son does not meet those minimum requirements, it is highly likely that the coach will not allow the player to take academic aid in addition to the athletic aid offered, even though the institution may be very generous.

quote:

Originally posted by baseballtoday:

Nothing matters if he cant get into the school academically.

AMEN!

quote:
_________________________________________________
Originally posted by Cabb:

But we did not fill out a FAFSA because we knew we would not qualify for any need based aid.

_________________________________________________

CaBB, even though we KNEW we would not qualify for any need-based monies, we were told last year by every college we spoke to that it not only was imperative, but required that we fill out the FAFSA form. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want to because it was like filliing out an application to go into space! I just don't see how you got by without doing it! Was it a long time ago since you went through college entrance? I ask because we were also instructed that we have to fill it out every year until he graduates! (My head is getting dizzy from even thinking about it!)

quote:

even though we KNEW we would not qualify for any need-based monies, we were told last year by every college we spoke to that it not only was imperative, but required that we fill out the FAFSA form. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want to because it was like filliing out an application to go into space! I just don't see how you got by without doing it! Was it a long time ago since you went through college entrance? I ask because we were also instructed that we have to fill it out every year until he graduates!

Same goes for us.

My son's aid was all athletic and we were told we did not have to fill out any forms and we never did. I thought that you only had to do this if you are asking for need based $$ or academic money.
But I can understand why you might have to regardless, correct me if I am wrong. The way economics are changing for many families , do you have to fill out forms by a certain date to qualify?

Young gun dad- son just started 2 weeks ago in college. He received substancial merit aid and the FAFSA WAS NOT required at his particular school for the merit aid or the athletic aid. It does vary at each school and I agree, most will require the FAFSA.

As has been mentioned here before, there is a great website, collegeconfidential.com that has tons of info about everything you could ever ask about college (except good recruiting info-buts thats why we come here).

Always a good idea to ask what each college requires.

So, the timing question still remains. If the kid qualifies academically (high GPA, class rank, SAT) and he gets an offer on the athletic side - when does he find out what is available to him in the total package. For the non-athlete, this comes winter/spring of senior year. Does the athlete find out sooner, since they are sometimes being asked to verbally commit during junior year and being asked to sign a NLOI Nov. of senior year? Does the coach help get the "whole" offer out earlier?

quote:

If the kid qualifies academically (high GPA, class rank, SAT) and he gets an offer on the athletic side - when does he find out what is available to him in the total package.

I think this is going to vary from school to school. At some schools, the coach may be able to get a very early answer for you on the merit-based package. At other schools, you may have to take your chances and hope for the best if you commit before learning what the aid will be.

I could be wrong, but I highly doubt that a coach who makes an offer in the summer or early fall after junior year will be willing to wait until spring of senior year for an answer.

Best wishes as you evaluate your options!

I don't think it is required. The school did ask us to fill one out every year but you could tell them you weren't interested or ineligible and that was the end of that.
I most cases we were told subject to HS transcripts and receipt of SAT scores the exact amount of the academic scholarship right away. The coach estimated it based on what we told him and the official amount which was slightly higher came within a week . A D11 school had us apply for admission before they would even make an offer. We had the student number and formal acceptance and got the scholarship package right away.

TPM ,
Maybe I was a bit harsh with my comment about baseball factories. I stand corrected. Good to hear about the upfront dialogue. Thanks for the feedback.
Frankly, I don't know how people find the time to visit schools now. Our son plays fall baseball on a team that travels each weekend concluding in Jupiter in October and will start basketball when he gets back. I think this will be a very busy and complicated process but who's complaining?

An invite for an unofficial visit at your son's age is significant, and demonstrates real interest. My experience is that there are several tiers of visits, with an unoffical visit demonstrating fairly serious interest, and a school's Junior Day reflecting medium interest. The official visit really only comes into play if you haven't verballed over the summer and are still being courted by a number of schools. An offical visit usually implies an offer will be made, but not always.

On the grades issues discussed, my motto is to not let your grades limit your opportunities. the better his grades, the more schools there will be willing to look at your son.

quote:

Originally posted by igball:
TPM ,
Maybe I was a bit harsh with my comment about baseball factories. I stand corrected. Good to hear about the upfront dialogue. Thanks for the feedback.
Frankly, I don't know how people find the time to visit schools now. Our son plays fall baseball on a team that travels each weekend concluding in Jupiter in October and will start basketball when he gets back. I think this will be a very busy and complicated process but who's complaining?

My son never took up an offer on an unofficial visit, but I know that it is done frequently nowadays because recruiting has changed. Nowadays many programs that know are recruiting you as well as other top schools want you to visit before you make up your mind, and these days I guess it's early.
Let your son know that he will be in Jupiter so they can watch him play, if he has interest.

Unofficial Visit questions. Son is a 2010 grad and looking at taking a few unofficial visits this fall. Do we set up the visit with the school or the coach? What if the coach knows who you are but you haven't gotten any letters from them yet? Do you then send an email to the coach letting him know we will be visiting his school and ask him if he has time to meet with us?

If the primary reason you are going to the school is to talk to the coach about playing for the program, then setup the unofficial visit with the coaching staff, specifically with the head coach or recruiting coach. If they are not interested in your player and you are not so inclined to attend the school without baseball you will know it and you can move on.

Contact the coach and let them know you are interested in playing for his program, it can be by any means possible, via a call or email would be my preference.