What Is A Good Scholarship Offer At This Time?

As you've been reading here for a while, I am assuming that the school meets your son's needs academically and geographically.

Scholarship money tends to go first to pitchers, then Up The Middle. A good offer for a position player may not be as good as the offer to a pitcher. What is your son's position?

When calculating costs, take into consideration tuition, fees, housing, books, and meal plan. Then consider your own resources to make sure the 'fit' is there for your budget as well.

How would this school rank as your son's ideal fit?

hccs -
Congratulations on the recruiting interest. The $ amount of a "good offer" is going to vary greatly by family. For some, any offer will be great while a few others won't be happy without 100%. Understand that a 100% scholarship, made up of just baseball money, is very rare. It is always better to make sure that the school making the offer is a place where your son would be happy and where the cost of what the scholarship does NOT cover is something the family can support. IMO, a 50% or greater offer of just baseball money is a "good offer".

Congratulations to you and your son. As others have said, good offers vary from school to school and position to position. As a general guide an offer of 50% or higher of all school costs(tuition, room and board, books, travel to and from home) is a very good offer. Notice that the posters talk about % not actual money because the actual money costs will vary from school to school.

Financial packages should include athletic and/or academic money and will usually include a small amount in loan form. When I say a small amount of loan form I mean 2-3 thousand dollars.
However the bulk of the package (80-90%) should be non loan amounts. For example using your figures of the school costing 20K, you may get 10-12K in academic and/or athletic money and another 2-3K in a student loan. That's a decent package.

What you do need to be aware of is that the financial packages are usually better at the beginning of the recruiting process than at the end. So if your son recieves from a school thats a good fit for him both academically and baseball wise a good offer you should seriously consider it now because later that money may not be there. My son's high school teammate, (he played SS and my son 2nd), was recruited heavily by Notre Dame. During the early signing period he was invited for an official visit and was offered a package totaling about 50% of all costs. He was told this was the money they had available then but they would not guarantee it would be there in April. He committed right there and then. My son was offered the same package but at a D3 school. Even though we accepted, we were not bound because D3 has no national letter of intent rule. So we had our package and sat back and waited to see what else came through. Even though he was made very good offers from D1 schools he still chose the D3 because of the academics and because he wanted to play right away.

If I were you I would try to find out what other players that play your son's position got as packages from that school. That should give you some insight as to whether the offer is a good one for that school.

Good luck and you should be very proud of your son for recieving offers so early.

quote:

It is a good school, with an outstanding academic program and a solid baseball program.

What school?

Regards

quote:

Originally posted by Baseball25:
Even though we accepted, we were not bound because D3 has no national letter of intent rule.

What makes you say D1 NCAA AD's NLI's are binding?

Be careful of the some colleges 'conditions' associated with the NLI's.


Regards
Bear

p.s.

The letter of intent as far as I know is signed by the student athlete, his parents(both if living) or legal guardian and the school. It binds the school to provide the student with the financial package they promise and it also binds the student athlete to that school. This is different from a verbal commitment which is non binding.

Furthermore, once a NLI is signed other schools are prohibited from recruiting that particular student athlete. This has been the rule for years. If it has changed, I'm not aware of it.

Two years ago we had a kid sign a NLI to play at Florida. It was signed by the player and only one parent. He then signed another NLI with Miami. The NCAA ruled that because the NLI signed with Florida was only signed by one of the kid's parents it was not legally binding and the Miami one was binding because it was signed by both parents. The kid went to Miami.

Feel free to double check the rule at the NCAA website.

A goof offer at this point is one that gets you into a school that is a good fit, that you feel good about, that has a coach you really feel good about and want to excel for, that offers a good academic fit, one where a players feels good about thsoe players and students around him, one that a family can afford....

Beyond REAL practicalities (can you afford it) %'s and $'s are simply another way of keeing score and IMO not near as important as fit.

Observer 44 has hit it DEAD ON. It's about fit, which, in turn, is about everything.

My 05 was "recruited" by two D2s and a D3. The D3 had NOTHING he wanted to study so that was out. At one D2, I asked his academic chair about the core curriculum and the guy just looked at me. Goodbye school #2. Luckily, the second D2 had a great coach and a "city" campus my son preferred. His academic chair knew everything about her major, the core and also knew every one of her degree candidates. The blend (baseball and academic) came to approximately 50% but honestly, once my son said "I want to go here", I didn't care. He reports next week and we're thrilled for him.

Right now I am helping a close friend whose '06 is being recruited by 10 D1s and a bunch of D2s. They are going a bit crazy BUT the young man recently decided where HE is comfortable. It's at a great academic D1 with a strong Big East program about 1.5 hours from home. We should get a verbal next week and an early sign in November on a blend of somewhere around 25-40%. He could easily get 70-80% at a some other D1s and D2s (or nothing at an Ivy) but my friend also doesn't care. Again, the STUDENT felt when it was right.

Also, keep in mind that baseball is "one year" money while academic scholarships are four year money (assuming grades are kept up). That also factors into it. Ideally, he'll have enough baseball money to keep the program committed to him BUT the bulk will be academic to protect his full four years.

I always told my players to pick their school as if they were going to break a leg on the first day. If they aren't happy without baseball, they're in the wrong place.

Best of luck to you and your '06. This is a stressful time but it works out great if you keep your balance. Ultimately, he will give you the answer. They are not stupid just because they are young.

Excellent post 05 Dad. You are 100% correct. That's the same advice I gave my son. Much to my surprise he actually listened to me this time and his decision worked out perfectly for him.

There is indeed outstanding advice being put out in this thread

I have been shaking my head all summer at some of the goofy decisions being made out there IMHO. I highly suspect some people are choosing the school where the most money is being offered simply so they can tell others how much money they got. Say what? What about the fact that other school is better academically? Or forget the fact that another school is leaps and bounds ahead in their baseball program? Granted it is a personal decision and the best fit may have been selected. I highly doubt it though when all the parents keep saying is who they turned down and the fact the others did not offer the same money. These people didn't even need the money.

Cleveland Dad brings up another point.

How many of you have seen a dad (or mom) who insist that their player WILL go to a big D1 (ie: Arizona, Wake Forest, Florida). That's dad's fantasy but maybe not the student's. Possibly dad really want's to be Scott Boras.

Then in November, when the athlete "only" has six offers from "lesser" D1s or, god forbid a D2, it is a HUGE failure. What should be one of the best days of the kid's life (signing an NLI) becomes one of his biggest disappointments.

That's sad, unnecessary and, ultimately, unfair to a young man.

The posts here should make people understand what an individual process recruiting is. A good offer to one might not be considered a good offer to another.

A player could be highly valued at a school and that school could be a great fit, but may only have two scholarships to divide. Obviously, there wouldn't be as much money in that as maybe elsewhere.

A good offer in my opinion is a place that meets all of his individual desires and needs (whether that be location, size....) as well as a place where he's wanted and valued as a player and a person. A good offer would be when you leave that school and you/he thinks "this is it!".

Exactly Lafmom. We never went into the whole recruiting process with a pre-determined idea of what we wanted to get out of the schools money-wise. Ignorance? Perhaps some would see it that way. But I think the "fit" is the most important thing. Each school is in a different situation as to what they want to spend on a player...and each player is in a different situation at to what they are looking for in a school. The best case scenario is when the two coincide and you have that "fit". Money isn't the be all and end all, there are other more important factors in the equation, IMO.

lafmom is right on! Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. A fully funded D-1 will have 11.7 scholarships. A smart coach will recruit and divide the 11.7 to where the majority of players on scholarship feel as if they have a good scholarship. The “top” recruited player would be disappointed in less than a 70% scholarship and the less talented players will be thrilled with a books scholarship.
Fungo

Observer, 05dad, lafmom, luvbb and others have said it very well in slightly different ways. I'll try to say it on more time in yet a different way...

A good offer is one that makes you certain, with all factors considered, that THIS is the school and program for you. It can range from a guaranteed walk-on spot to a full ride and still be a "good" offer.

Your son and you will know it when you hear it.

My son summed it up best for his dad and me when he told us that he had decided to go to OU because "I feel that they want me the most." He wanted to go where he felt that he was really wanted by the coaches and that made the decision a very easy one. Everything else aside, that was the determining factor for him. He signed in the early signing period because of this strong feeling that he had. He hasn't regretted it at all and feels that he did find the program that was the best "fit" for him.

Justbaseball...nicely synopsised...So much truth and wisdom in this particular thread from all. Beyond the hype, the numbers and the ego these are the considerations that will help allows our son's to grow, enjoy and prosper.

Knew it was the right fit when.....HE sat ME down and in a logical and rational adult conversation gave me a clear well though out decision based upon all the factors we have been mentioning INCLUDING plan B in case his plan A didn't work (for reasons he could not currently see.)

Knew it was the right fit when.....When a very attractive offer came in at that time and it only confused him for a few minutes. And he returned clearly to his initial choice.

A good offer means different things to different people. I think too many make their decision based on money.

It's hard to tell what a really good offer is for an individaul until one gets to school. That really big offer may not seem so great if he is not happy with time on the bench, struggling in the classroom, or at odds with a coach.
When making the decision, the offer should be the last consideration on the list.

Thanks for all the great and really thought out responses. The right fit for the school is very important but as someone stated, that may not be known until he gets there. When I think back many, many moons ago to when I was 17, I have to ask myself now did I really know what I wanted? Now I am asking my 17 year old a lot tougher questions than I had to deal with... (D1, D2 or D3, in-state or out of state, big school or little school,etc...) Heck I didn't decide what college I wanted to attend until in the winter of my senior year in high school and now as a parent of a potential baseball recruit, I am asking him to decide even before he starts his senior year. Some kids know exactly what they want, many don't or aren't sure. One thing is for sure however, the recruiting machine is in full gear and coming at any baseball recruit at this time. I guess instead of my original question of a good scholarship offer, I should have asked how can I slow this train down so we can think things out logically.

The only way I know of to slow it down is to take some risk and ask for more time on decisions. It may work, but it may not. Remember that the colleges cannot wait forever...that there are likely other candidates for the scholarship your son is being offered and if another candidate is willing to say 'yes' while you are pondering, you may lose that offer.

Good luck!

TPM...hccs...

IMO...Right on it both of you.

Specifically...hccs..Yep, the recruting train can move very quickly and the scenerio can change minute to minute. At some point you have to make a decision, and the reality is that it may not be the right one. There is no way to know for absolute certain, and we all drive ourselves nut trying to out psyche the thing. I think it is very important to have the mental, emotional and fiancial resources to adapt and adjust to the new reality and unexpected challenges that you and you player find after that perfect decision. IMO that is as important as the decision itself.


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I heard that the amount of athletic scholarships for a D1 baseball program will increase within the next few years. Does anyone know anything about that?

Southpaw07,
It is only a discussion item at this point. Here is a link and excerpt of a 8/15 article from NCAA News Online Pitching The Issue

quote:

11.7 isn't enough

Baseball programs are allowed 11.7 scholarships, but their squad sizes routinely can be somewhere between 27 and 33 members. That has led to discussions about ways to increase the amount of aid and the number of student-athletes who receive the aid.

"One possibility would be to increase the 11.7 to, say, 14 for room, board, tuition, fees and books," Keilitz said. (Dave Keilitz, executive director of the American Baseball Coaches Association) "We're also looking at a number for tuition-fees only. We don't have a number yet, but 26 or 27 would put most everybody on equal footing when it comes to the cost to the student-athlete."

quote:

Scholarships are a major concern with the cost of education, Gaski said,noting that other sports more closely align the amount of equivalencies with roster size . "Scholarship allotments for women playing volleyball, softball and s****r are closer to the percentage of the number of players than it is for baseball."

Forgive me for quoting almost the same materal, but the part about linking scholarships to roster size seemed like novel material to me.

Excellent article to read completly.

Very interesting about the impact of limited scholarships on baseball player transfers.

Never thought about it that way.

FYI, There are new articles posted on the NCAA News Online site every 2 weeks.

hccs,
Very good point and one that needs to be addressed.
While our son's friends are just THINKING about what schools they might want to apply to, ours have to make decisons on where they want to go, almost a year before they graduate.

That is why I keep harping , do your homework well in advance.

Duly noted, RHP05Parent.

HCCS,

Every response you've received is correct and good info butI'll put it to you as you asked it.

For a pitcher, an offer of less than 50% is not a good sign. In almost all cases Pitchers get the most and that usually varies from 50-100 percent for a schools "TOP PROSPECT." I promise there is a pitcher or three getting 75-100 percent.

If your son is their top prospect, expect and, ask for a high number if your flexible on what college you'll attend. If the school is your only choice in your son's heart of hearts they may play that.

Just depends on what you want. But these numbers are pretty much in-line with top pitchers in each program.

And please remember that the percentages discussed would be of the whole cost as available at the school: tuition, fees, housing, books, food plan.