visiting schools on one's own nickel

We used to do this for my daughter.  When we were headed to Southern tournaments, she emailed various coaches and mentioned that we were going to stop by and asked if there was a good time to do so.  We stopped by even if they didn't respond and for the most part, when we stopped by their offices and they saw my daughter in person, they became really interested.  In fact, on one occasion the head coach stated that she had some work to do on the field and offered to open up the batting cage while she was down at the field.  She worked on the diamond and "watched" my daughter hit.  From there, she had an offer.  Of course your mileage will vary.  

The season has already ended for many HA D3s, and most of the others will finish up this weekend. I would recommend trying to call the coaches. Your son is a RHP, right? That makes it a little easier to get a feel for interest since the velo question is first and foremost. I think the problem is that these coaches don't really know where they stand with their 2020 recruiting class since so much will happen during he coming summer and fall. The straight-shooters will probably tell him that. But I think the best way to get a feel for his chances at any of those schools right now is to have a conversation.

We have done this and usually it involved combining one or two of these visits with another nearby school's prospect camp. We always tried to include an admissions tour. As an example, my son contacted a Northern CA school he was interested in last fall, essentially telling them "I'm going to be in the area and would love the opportunity to visit". He got a response and ended up spending a couple of hours on campus with the assistant coach. He found out that this coach had been watching him, but the only prior contact had been my son sending stats/video and receiving generic responses. It lead to another visit with the pitching coach and although my son did not receive an offer before committing to another school, it was well worth it. If you're targeting HA schools, I recommend that you confirm that your son meets the general academic requirements before spending the money. Is he a 2020? 

MidAtlanticDad posted:

The season has already ended for many HA D3s, and most of the others will finish up this weekend. I would recommend trying to call the coaches. Your son is a RHP, right? That makes it a little easier to get a feel for interest since the velo question is first and foremost. I think the problem is that these coaches don't really know where they stand with their 2020 recruiting class since so much will happen during he coming summer and fall. The straight-shooters will probably tell him that. But I think the best way to get a feel for his chances at any of those schools right now is to have a conversation.

I think that's sound advice, but...  My son has had some good conversations with coaches in person and does all right via email.  But picking up the phone to initiate a call is asking a lot...  It's a life skill he has to learn eventually, but I don't see it happening yet.  (Returning a call, sure.  But that's easier.)  Do you think it's worth emailing along similar lines?  

I'm going to second what MidAtlanticDad said about the phone calls and also suggest that you might be able to knock out several schools/coaches in question at one of the larger HA events such as Headfirst, Showball, Stanford, et al. if you're not already planning these for summer. That might also whittle down the list a bit for the schools he ends up deciding to visit if you can wait until fall. My son visited quite a few NE schools last summer, via road trip, and it's really tough to get a feel for campus vibe, etc. when nobody is there, so I'm not sure they got a fair shake. Ended up not a deciding factor, based on other aspects, but I feel like the visits he did in the fall were much more impactful. Best of luck!

You're probably better off holding out until later in the summer or earlier in the fall if money and travel is going to be expensive. No sense in heading out now if you don't know where they stand with your son. With applications not due until November you can still take visits in Sept and have plenty of time to make a decision on the school. Plus that gives you a whole summer to possibly get in front of other schools. He might get an offer in August and it ends up being the only school he needs to visit. As far as the expenses, that's just kind of the way it is. Imagine driving 6 hours for a visit, staying overnight and not getting an offer. Happens. 

Wait a little bit, see what you're working with in terms of offers/interest and then decide which schools he wants to see as a student and which he wants to see as a baseball player. 

Thanks all.  Adding some things in response to posts above...  

Son is doing Showball in July, and will see some (many?) of these coaches at the WWBA this summer, too.  Waiting a while may be the best strategy.  But there is a window in early summer between the end of HS exams and the start of the summer baseball season when son can travel and I can go with him (17-year-olds can't rent cars or hotel rooms), and I wondered if it might be worthwhile to reach out to a few schools prior to summer.  I do agree summer campus visits aren't ideal, since most students are gone.  (My son is my youngest, so I've done the college application gauntlet before, although not with an athlete.)

He ought to be OK in terms of academic qualifications.  You can't ever take admission for granted these days, but adding a few mph to his fastball is likely a bigger hurdle than his grades or test scores.

Chico Escuela posted:

MidAtlanticDad posted:

The season has already ended for many HA D3s, and most of the others will finish up this weekend. I would recommend trying to call the coaches. Your son is a RHP, right? That makes it a little easier to get a feel for interest since the velo question is first and foremost. I think the problem is that these coaches don't really know where they stand with their 2020 recruiting class since so much will happen during he coming summer and fall. The straight-shooters will probably tell him that. But I think the best way to get a feel for his chances at any of those schools right now is to have a conversation.

I think that's sound advice, but...  My son has had some good conversations with coaches in person and does all right via email.  But picking up the phone to initiate a call is asking a lot...  It's a life skill he has to learn eventually, but I don't see it happening yet.  (Returning a call, sure.  But that's easier.)  Do you think it's worth emailing along similar lines?  

There's no down-side to the email, I just think he could glean so much more from a brief conversation. If he's willing to do a test run, try roll playing with him on the phone. You can start by making it as easy as possible playing the coach, and leading him through the conversation. If he's ok with returning calls, I would guess that he's half way there.

If you're planning on hitting a few, there's no reason not to try to reach out to more if they are on your way or in the area.   Heck, my son went to the 14U USA baseball trials in Cary, as a young 13 year old.  We were close to UNC....emailed a coach and told he we'd be on campus.  Said "call when you get here".  We got to campus and there were quite a few players (from the older age groups also in Cary) walking around outside the field (it was locked).   We called the assistant, he came and opened a gate and showed us around.  You should have seen the looks on the faces of 6'3 200+ pound guys when the coach opened the gate for my son, who at the time may have been 4'9 and 90 pounds!     All it took was an email

Chico Escuela posted:

...............................

But what about schools that son is very interested in, but that haven't been particularly encouraging? (Not discouraging and more than a camp invite, but essentially responding with "keep in touch and we hope to see you play this summer.")  If son emails and (diplomatically) says "I'm going to be in your area, would you like to meet with me?," will coaches give him a sense of whether they have real interest, or is he going to get 15 minutes of time as a courtesy just because he asked?  I wish son could say "please tell me whether you are interested enough that I should spend hundreds of dollars to see your school."  How close can he get to that, if at all?  And what's the best way to go about this?

So, for those schools he is very interested in, but has not heard anything back I suggest emailing and following up with a phone call to tell them you will be in the neighborhood or on campus for a tour on X date then show up.     See how the coaches  respond.  BTW...."Sorry, my son is shy" is not a good enough excuse to not call.  Have him pick up the phone and dial.  If my kid (off the charts shy) can do it, any kid can do it.   It is a matter of wanting it enough.

For those schools your son is mildly interested in have him email a week or two in advance that he will be in the neighborhood or on campus for a tour.   See how they respond.  

As I like to say, you get one shot at HA recruiting.  Make a good impression, show them you want it and you've got the talent and maturity to do handle it.   Good luck!

As always, JMO.

I've gone through this twice now with HA's and we waited til after HF/show/Stan to actually visit schools that showed interest. A few schools, the oldest visited twice, once during summer and then in fall to see if he REALLY liked the school and the guys on the team.  He was given offers during the summer visits but small liberal arts colleges are practically asleep in the summer. The second kid waited until summer was over before he visited schools he hadn't seen on the trip we took with the oldest brother.  Camps at those schools, during the school year, made a big difference. One afternoon/evening during the school year will tell him a lot.  If you can hold off, I would, especially if $ is a factor like it has been for us.

Looking back, we did it all kind of backwards. Son did about 200 generic emails to coaches within a specific geographic area. If one responded with a camp invite, I'd research it. If it seemed like one son would be interested in, he would follow up with an email. If the conversation seemed good or for some reason we really like it, he went to a camp. We ALWAYS combined that with an academic visit.

On the downside of this approach, he went to camps at eight schools across the Midwest, and ended up at a school two hours from home where he went to his first camp.

On he upside, he said every camp and visit showed him more about what he wanted, or didn't want, in a school.

Thanks (again) to all.

This might be better as a new topic, but let me start here:  Other than Headfirst and Showball, where do NESCAC and other mid-Atlantic/Northeast HA schools go to spot players in the summer? 

Any info on which schools are usually seen at the WWBA?  (I know Johns Hopkins was there last year... don't know about any other HA D3 schools.) 

For my guy, we visited local schools within a couple of hours drive, and all the coaches were happy to meet and talk(sort of a hint that you're fishing in the right pond, as they say). For schools that involved plane flights, we made sure they knew of him specifically before we invested in going there, and even then, even though there was encouraging feedback, we decided not to go because of the expense, AND, that the expense wasn't THAT encouraging. 

  I would agree that you go to a HA Showcase(s) and go to the schools that show interest in you. Makes for a hectic, speed dating'ish Fall.

Our experience was for the HA schools and D3's, if your son e-mails them and tells them he is planning a visit to the area to visit some HA schools over a particular weekend/time period and meet with some coaches, he got a very high rate of response encouraging him to come.  They would typically ask for a date and time window, and then they would set up the meeting.  This worked particularly well because (1) you are genuinely showing interest in the school by visiting, (2) by noting you are meeting with other HA schools and coaches, it implies there is other school interest which might make them more interested knowing there is interest and competition, and (3) your son can gauge the level of interest in person. 

As the saying on this website goes "Go where you are loved" and there is no better way of knowing until you visit.  For schools/coaches who have not seen him in person, send the grades/test scores in the e-mail and a video link. 

And I second the suggestion that the best time to visit is the Fall of Senior year in HS.  The teams are in Fall practice so your son can meet the players, see how the coaches work a practice, and most importantly, see for himself what the competition will be on the team for playing time.  And some coaches will even arrange to have him sit in a class of interest to get that experience. A couple even had him spend a night in the dorm with some of players.

Our view is the money spent visiting the various schools was a prudent investment in making sure he found the right college and team fit. It was definitely the most important part of the recruiting journey.  Good luck with the search!

Agree with others that you'll have to visit schools that invite you in the fall, stay with players, meet coaches, tour campus, etc.  It's annoying - you can do at most two in a weekend, and school is missed - but it's important.  So, what is the point of travelling early summer, other than you have the time?  If it's to see whether he likes a city vs. a rural area, a big university vs. a liberal arts college, etc. then that's a reason to go, although all that can take a backseat to baseball love.

It's probably going to be the schools who offer ED support at the end of the summer that are going to matter.  After they have seen a player in a game or showcase, they ask for transcripts and test scores, and run it through their admissions office.  They don't get very excited until admissions gives the green light.  It's perhaps kind of early for that.  It has been said before on this site that HA D3s wait to see who the Ivies and other D1s don't take, which is why the activity is intense at the end of the summer.

Your son can send his summer schedule to HAs now, and he can also ask schools of particular interest where they are going to be (tournaments, showcases, etc.).  In my son's case, some said they would be at WWBA, and D1s were at other big tournaments.  One D3 said they would not be at any of the tournaments he listed.  He went to that school's camp in late July, because we could drive there; after camp they asked for transcripts, and then after admissions approved, they offered ED support and invited him to visit (in the fall).  Another school contacted him in late June and did the pre-read then.  The same basic pattern was followed by various schools after Headfirst in August.

anotherparent posted:

Agree with others that you'll have to visit schools that invite you in the fall, stay with players, meet coaches, tour campus, etc.  It's annoying - you can do at most two in a weekend, and school is missed - but it's important.  So, what is the point of travelling early summer, other than you have the time?  If it's to see whether he likes a city vs. a rural area, a big university vs. a liberal arts college, etc. then that's a reason to go, although all that can take a backseat to baseball love.

It's probably going to be the schools who offer ED support at the end of the summer that are going to matter.  After they have seen a player in a game or showcase, they ask for transcripts and test scores, and run it through their admissions office.  They don't get very excited until admissions gives the green light.  It's perhaps kind of early for that.  It has been said before on this site that HA D3s wait to see who the Ivies and other D1s don't take, which is why the activity is intense at the end of the summer.

Your son can send his summer schedule to HAs now, and he can also ask schools of particular interest where they are going to be (tournaments, showcases, etc.).  In my son's case, some said they would be at WWBA, and D1s were at other big tournaments.  One D3 said they would not be at any of the tournaments he listed.  He went to that school's camp in late July, because we could drive there; after camp they asked for transcripts, and then after admissions approved, they offered ED support and invited him to visit (in the fall).  Another school contacted him in late June and did the pre-read then.  The same basic pattern was followed by various schools after Headfirst in August.

 

 

THIS. 

Chico Escuela posted:

Thanks (again) to all.

This might be better as a new topic, but let me start here:  Other than Headfirst and Showball, where do NESCAC and other mid-Atlantic/Northeast HA schools go to spot players in the summer? 

Any info on which schools are usually seen at the WWBA?  (I know Johns Hopkins was there last year... don't know about any other HA D3 schools.) 

If your player wants to be seen by MANY northeast coaches all at once, you might consider http://www.thelynninvitational.com/. It might be the biggest independent event in the northeast.

The NorthEastern and BC winter camps also brought in coaches from D3 HAs to assist when my son attended.
maybe your player contact the coaches of his target schools and ask if they will be there?

This is from BCs camp description:

Schools that have attended in the past: American International College, Babson College, Bates College, The College of Holy Cross, Franklin Pierce College, Northeastern University, Harvard University, Trinity College, Merrimack College, University of New Haven,  Southern New Hampshire University, Stonehill College, Wheaton College (MA), Nichols College. MIT.

https://www2.nuhuskies.com/spo.../BSB_0104163810.aspx

https://camps.jumpforward.com/...mpDetail/Index/11569