<p>Can anyone offer any insight into the whole process ?</p>
<p>extractor,</p>
<p>Welcome to CC. There is a lot of wisdom and experience in this site related to this topic. What specifically do you want to know about Ivy and NESCAC baseball? Each is similiar in some respects but very different in other areas. Can you tell us where you are in this process, and what your expectations are about the Ivy and NESCAC? That would be a tremendous help for all of the contributors.</p>
<p>fenwaysouth , T.Y. for your reply. I can see from previous threads that you have much experience in this matter . My sons have been contacted via emails and phone calls after being seen at showcases by both nescac (for baseball and football) and two ivy schools (for baseball) . Their AI’s barely qualify for Ivy although their course load was very vigorous (3/4 Honors or A.P.). What effect does ethnicity have (if any)? Please advise . T.Y. E !</p>
<p>Extractor… search the threads here… there is a lot of information regarding football recruiting at the Nescac and ivy levels. </p>
<p>Also, ethniticity can matter… it depends on what the school needs and what ethniticity you bring to them. In broad strokes, every school wants a native american, while the lament here is that Asians are overrepresented at the IVY’s. It is a factor especially at some Nescac schools, but less at others. We would need more info to assess, however there is a Hispanic and african american forums here.</p>
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<p>I have a whole lot of insight that hopefully I will be able to share in entirety soon. In the meantime though I’m still in the middle of it so I’ll share the most important lesson which I learned yesterday:</p>
<p>GET SEEN BY THE HEAD COACH. This is crucial especially when a school is making commitments/decisions early. Getting seen by the assistant coach or recruiting coordinator is important…as a starting point. I really wish I knew this much. Example that just happened to me yesterday: call from a top choice on July 1, multiple calls/emails back and forth, perform really well in front of head coach at their camp nearly a month later, and I hear this directly from his mouth yesterday: “We really want you and would offer you right now but I’ve already committed two kids at your position and I can’t turn back on that.” Had I been seen by the head coach earlier perhaps I would be the one committed to that school at this moment. Recruiting coordinator saw me several times but that is only good up to a point.</p>
<p>EXTRACTOR - to answer your question very directly, I don’t specifically know what affect ethinicity would play in athletic recruiting at an Ivy or NESCAC school. I can only offer my best guess. My best guess…Ivy or NESCAC Coaches are always looking for the best possible athletes that they can get through Admissions. I don’t think ethnicity comes into play when coaches are evaluating athletic talent. Where it may come into play is when the coach submits a pre-read to Admissions to see if the candidate can or could be admitted. I think your question is more related to Admissions policies of the institution rather than athletic recruiting. Many, many universities have a goal of ethnic diversity for their Admissions dept. I’ve seen breakdowns of ethicity at most schools my son was interested in. Here is an example of an ethinicity breakdown:</p>
<p><a href=“http://admissions.cornell.edu/downloads/EnteringClassProfile.pdf[/url]”>http://admissions.cornell.edu/downloads/EnteringClassProfile.pdf</a> </p>
<p>In all honesty, I would ask the coaches you are talking to what role ethnicity could play in your son being admitted…see what they say. Ivys and NESCAC schools have very high admission requirements, and almost everyone has to have a “hook” to get admitted. In my son’s case, I know for a fact that his college was looking for multi-dimensional, and multi-talented candidates who brought something to the admissions table. They turned away kids in Early Decision with perfect SATs presumably because they weren’t multi-dimensional or they had a certain number in mind from a country or ethnic profile Admissions set in advance for the year. If your son’s goal is attend one of these schools, I would absolutely pursue it vigorously with the coach and then with Admissions. Good luck, and please let us know what you learn. </p>
<p>MONSTOR - in addition to being seen by head coach, make sure you are negotiating with head coach. I noted that in this thread the “BEst Advice: What you wish you had known/done” #53 back in June initiated by fogfog. </p>
<p>I think it would be a timely read for everyone going through the athletic recruiting process right now to see what mistakes or sage advice others have posted.</p>
<p>[College</a> Confidential - Search Results](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/search.php?searchid=24322326]College”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/search.php?searchid=24322326)</p>
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<p>So, Monstor, what are you doing (sorry if I missed it in another thread)? Couldn’t you let this coach know you will be recruitable for the next year instead and do a PG or gap year? My son was seen late and we are thinking of taking this approach, although he has some nice DIII prospects and may change his mind after he visits the schools.</p>
<p>Extractor…have you discussed our son’s AI with Ivy coaches? You say he has a borderline AI but with a heavy AP courseload. We asked an Ivy coach if GPA’s were given a boost if coming out of an especially rigorous school (in our son’s case a New England Prep School) or for AP courses. He said maybe but he was not sure exactly what admissions did about that.</p>
<p>Firstly , Thank You all for responding to my request . Greatly appreciated . As much as I’ve wanted to , I have not spoken directly to any of the coaches as I’ve been told this was strickly taboo . He is currently working on improving his acts and I’ll find out more at a camp later this summer . T.Y. all again , E</p>
<p>I think you (the parent) can speak to the coach anytime you want. Actually, your son can pick up the phone and call whenever he wants as well. The coach just can’t call your son until July 1 before his senior year.</p>
<p>In college recruiting, at least in baseball, my experience is that the parents are strictly in the background. Certainly the parent should never pick up the phone and call the coach.</p>
<p>Agree with scualum. Throughout our baseball recruiting experience the last two years, my son handled ALL phone calls to coaches. Mom and Dad were only involved in the background especially when it came to financial matters and a some emails. In my mind, recruited student athletes ask all the questions.</p>
<p>Scualum , thats exactly my point . I’ve been told that a parent should never approach a coach . There were so many questions that I’ve had,that remained unanswered . How do you know if a coach is really interested in your child or if the invite you receive to a camp is just a means to make money . There were many coaches from the elite schools that I wanted to “chance” my sons but would not because it was not looked well upon in their eyes . Please anyone , offer an opinion . E</p>
<p>
Oh don’t get me wrong, the recruiting process for most schools (this one school was the exception) is far from over and already I have some really great, D1 options. I guess we all can’t have the pick of the litter but certainly the situation I’m in right now is a great one (and with more options hopefully to come).</p>
<p>extractor:</p>
<p>Unfortunately, athletic recruiting is even more obscure than college admissions. There really doesn’t appear to be a way to test how interested a coach is prior to the verbal offer or official visit. Everything prior to that is interesting but not real. I know of kids who were offered by schools where they had never spoken to anyone from the program - and other kids who were getting weekly calls and tons of letters from a coach - and then nothing when it came time for the offer. </p>
<p>The only way to assess your son’s abilities is to see him play against top competition - or go to a Perfect Game showcase or a Headfirst Honor Roll Camp (assuming that your son is academically oriented). How he does against that level of competition and what PG/Headfirst has to say are the only true indicators in my mind. I am not aware of any other showcase that is worth the money.</p>
<p>Just to provide some context for my comments, my son was an 2008 grad who went through the whole process, playing on a nationally known travel ball team, going to the major national events, and attending multiple PG showcases. He did not attend Headfirst but I know of many satisfied players who did.</p>
<p>He is now playing college ball at the D3 level. Nearly all of his travel ball teammates were recruited into D1s (several have been drafted) but in his case a knee injury set him back. He is having a blast playing college baseball and will tell anyone who asks that the jump from HS baseball to College baseball is enormous - the biggest leap of his baseball career.</p>
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<p>extractor,</p>
<p>My son’s road is very similiar to scualum’s son as he outlined above ^^. My son participated on a National travel team for 4 years, 16U WWBA national championship, Perfect Game and Head First camp were the major events over the years. He also targeted a few college camps along the way. These events were designed to put him up against strong competition with coaches watching.</p>
<p>His travel coach was instrumental in acting as a “proxy” between college coaches and my son. For those college coaches that did not contact my son through his travel coach, my son contacted directly through emails, calls and visits. The school he will attend in two weeks was the result of exposure at Head First baseball camp, many follow up emails, many phone calls, travel coach recommendation, and a weekend college camp with their national prospects at the school. A verbal offer was made (and accepted) at the college camp. We had offers from other schools, but it pretty much happened the same way for them too. I hope this helps.</p>
<p>Is there much in the way of baseball recruiting in NESCAC. It seems focused on lacrosse, football and soccer</p>
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<p>d3fourme,</p>
<p>I mentioned Head First (HF) in my previous thread. We attended HF last year at this time outside Richmond, VA. They moved and added some locations this year. It was a great experience for us, and worth the $ price tag. Last year there were a combination of D1, D1 Ivy, D1 Patriot and many, many D3 schools. For our session there were a bunch of NESCSAC’s including; Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Middlebury, Tufts, Trinity and Welleyan. So that is most of the NESCACs. Your other option is to call/email the NESCSAC coaches and ask them were they will be. </p>
<p>My best guess is that NESCSAC schools and most of the D3 baseball schools use Head First for the majority of their off campus recrutiing. It just make so much sense for everyone. Your son is in front of hundreds of coaches. The coaches don’t have to travel the earth to find a half dozen recruits for the upcoming year. The Head First folks are top notch. Brendan Sullivan runs it, and he is a former Stanford/professional baseball player. He is very approachable and puts together a great showcase.</p>
<p>In general, if your son is academically inclined, and wants to play college baseball at the mid to lower D1 level or D3 level, then Head First is most likely perfect for him. Grades PLus Athletics is a similiar program to Head First but a little bit more focused on certain Ivy and D1 schools. I don’t have first hand experience with GPA, but I know many of the coaches involved.</p>
<p>[Headfirst</a> Honor Roll Camp Locations](<a href=“http://www.headfirsthonorroll.com/camps_locations/national_honor_roll_showcase_camps.asp]Headfirst”>Softball & Baseball Showcases | Headfirst Honor Roll Camps)</p>
<p>[Instructional</a> Baseball Camps | Academic Baseball Camps | Showcase | GPA Baseball](<a href=“http://www.gpabaseball.com/]Instructional”>http://www.gpabaseball.com/)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks. He is at Headfirst as we speak.</p>
<p>d3fourme,</p>
<p>Excellent! Please let me know how it works out for you.</p>
<p>Thank You everyone for your input . We’ve only been to 3 showcases , DeMarini Academic Top 96 and the camp at Y being the latest . This resulted in many correspondences . At this point , I think it best to concentrate on raising act scores as I think this is the limiting factor . We have time and have been preparing for the acts for Sept. and Oct. . I read many different minimum act requirements for ivy or nescac schools . Does anyone have any specific examples ? T.Y. E</p>