<p>Thanks, everyone, for the great info in this thread. My son is a high school senior and plans to coninue playing baseball. We’re looking at more selective D-IIIs on the west coast.</p>
<p>My s finally cancelled his last 2 OVs-too much time away from school, and had to keep his grades up!</p>
<p>@OldbatesieDoc…my son did the same! He’s in another showcase today. It piggybacks with the Perfect Game Tournament.</p>
<p>I think he finally focused on the academics and has come to the conclusion that baseball, while a huge plus, isn’t the reason he’s attending college.</p>
<p>There’s enough Senioritis, application stress, and school work to overcome. He’ll deal with the schools when the acceptances (or not) come in.</p>
<p>My son last year was being pressured by 3 coaches to go ED. We explained to them that he would not make a decision untill he visited his final 2 colleges for his Official Visits because he wasn’t sure yet and liked them all. He was unable to schedule them in time jto apply anywhere for ED1 at these schools, however he stayed the course made his OV’s and chose 1 of the 3 schools for ED2 and got in to his first choice. If you are one of the Coach’s top recruits then you can wait it out, but the bottom line is you must be absolutely sure about the college being your #1 in order to go ED1 or ED2. Good luck. Hope it works out well.</p>
<p>Looks like S2 is pulling the ED trigger. The app is out, but VP/Admissions said it’s no problem to switch and the coach, I blv, probably wet himself. Looking at the total cost, I’m shocked I didn’t do the same. </p>
<p>It has been his number one school for years and for all the right reasons. This coach was VERY late to the party, but, he showed with enthusiasm. Good on all counts. Now he has to get accepted …officially. Shouldnt be an issue, but I’m one who likes all the details worked out. </p>
<p>About that tuition bill…OY</p>
<p>One more thing to add. Ignoring the post from dlbecker (which pretty much shows his lack of knowledge at all about the subject), make sure your son chooses a college that he loves outside of the sport, because injuries–sometimes career-ending injuries–do happen. It’s a lot more frequent in my sport (soccer), but I know several people, including myself, who went into the program with high-hopes and were forced to withdraw due to debilitating injury. Without going into too much detail, that is most likely what I will be doing next year after years of competing at a high level, because I’m potentially never going to be physically able to compete again.</p>
<p>Just figured I’d provide another perspective. Fortunately, I love my school a lot, but D3 is still a pretty intense time commitment, so make sure your son really likes the school, not just the program, just in case anything happens.</p>
<p>My son just broke his wrist for the 5th time (3-operations) D1 fall ball game, and yes the time commitment is alot between fall ball games, off season conditioning requirements, practices and in season games is alot, also the pressure can be intense. Add in class time, study halls, tutors, and travel. My son loved it and maintained a 3.0 GPA (Economics). Thank the Good Lord he loves his school, after some soul searching and dissapointment he has accepted that his sports career is over and is lookig forward to getting involved in other aspects of college life.</p>
<p>Bottom Line (My Advice Only): # 1 Pick a school with that is a good academic and social fit, # 2- Attend a school that you can see yourself attending without playing the sport, # 3 Do not pick the school based on a specific coach and or the sports program (coaches leave, programs change, ect…), # 4 Match your athletic ability to the program level (D1 you might never see the field, D2 or D3 you could be an impact player ect… # 5 Do not listen to any specific coaches promises (they tell multiple players the same thing) be direct and ask if you are a top recruit and where you fit in his specific program.</p>
<p>^re: the poster several posts above that stated that it is the college coach’s needs that drive the program and that there was no difference between D1 and D3 in that regard. In the past issue of the William’s alumni magazine was a profile of one junior who is doing biology research. His football coach noted that he was “dragging” at practice and told him that since his passion was in the lab he should follow that passion. If that meant no football, then recruit or not, he should drop football. That is a coach and a college that have their priorities right. It is one of the reasons my D fell in love with it and accepted the coach’s offer to go ED. NESCAC has found the right balance-- although the same can be said for the Ivy coaches I have known (including the legendary Carm Cozza who told my friend in college the same thing).</p>
Academics is prime for D3. Less travel time & it’s more regional & practical. Baseball however is the lengthiest season of all sports.
"Baseball however is the lengthiest season of all sports. "
Technically 3 sports, but college distance runners are expected to compete in XC, indoor and outdoor. That means they have July off
Tennis has fall and spring seasons. Tennis competition exists over a lengthier period of time than baseball.