We went through this recently…d24 decided in 9th grade that she wanted to play d3 lacrosse. We told her all along she had to get merit, as we would not qualify for aid and we did not have $320k to pay for her undergraduate education. She did all the tournaments and id clinics and received a lot of interest - of course from many of those no merit top LACs (which we said were off the table). She narrowed it down to five schools - in PA, DC, OH, and NY. She decided NOT to ED, as she didnt need to at those schools to get in, and the coaches all assured her she had a spot regardless. She received a lot of merit from all of them.
And guess what? During the past year she started getting excited to go to a big school, and has done a 180. She said she couldn’t imagine herself at any of her final choices without lacrosse, and she knew she was 1 concussion, broken leg etc away from not playing. So while she hasnt quite finalized it, she is likely going to a big state school that has a fabulous club program for lacrosse!
I guess this is all to say - id keep several paths open, as things can change!
I’ll throw this one out there because it’s the perfect school for the right kid.
Cornell College (not University) in Iowa. It’s smaller than what she is looking for, but perfect for a kid who wants to combine sports with lab classes. Cornell College is one of the few One Course at a Time schools. What this means for athletes is that everyone is on the same schedule. You’ll never have an evening lab (quite common in larger schools) Everyone is in class 9-3 and practices are either early morning or late afternoon. Very much like high school. And if you suffer an injury and are out for a few weeks, it’s easier to make up one complete class than part of five different classes.
Guaranteed 31K merit. Close enough to Iowa city, but definitely a small town. The college and town partner for many events and the Cornell Library functions as the town library as well.
You mean 4.0 out of 4.5?
It’s also possible that their GPA’s were higher in season because that’s when they clustered their easier courses. My sophomore year roommate was pre-med- their coach maintained a list of courses for their season, and a different set of courses for their off-season. No surprise that the “easy A’s” were taken in-season, and the tough pre-requisites were taken during training/workouts but no competition semesters!
U hartford has a grad psych program and undergrad psych, will give a lot of merit money.
Anecdotally, my kid always did better grade-wise in season because he was ruthlessly organized and knew he had to be efficient. Being out of season, he suddenly felt like he had endless time to do things, and was less-organized.
Edited to add – in season, he was attentive to choices which impacted his on-field performance, like getting enough sleep, staying healthy, eating well, not partying. Out of season, when it was just weight training, speed and conditioning, he didn’t pay as much attention to those things and usually got sick, plus he wasn’t as organized.
What region of the country are you located in? If looking to keep costs down, I would recommend focusing on schools within driving distance (plus you will get to watch them play more!). Based on her profile, any of the Liberty (mostly western/upstate NY), Centennial Conference (mid-atlantic) and even a few NESCAC schools would be great (someone mentioned Denison, also a great midwest option). All give tons of merit aid.
Liberty:
Union
Skidmore
St. Lawrence
Centennial:
Gettysburg
Dickinson
F&M
Muhlenburg
Midwest:
Denison
Carleton
Macalester
NE
Trinity
Conn College
Carleton does not give “tons” of merit aid. They have small awards for National Merit finalists, but otherwise give only need-based financial aid.
Almost no merit at Skidmore and Trinity; very little.
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