Excellent, helpful advice here (and the others too).
Interesting your point about the reporting of proportional share of merit $. Of course this makes sense so programs don’t say “We don’t give athletic scholarships but wink wink, here’s our Provost/Dean/Presidents scholarship and don’t worry that your stats are not as high as our other recipients.”
We recently met with one of the big recruiting companies. There are 2 big ones and they both charge a lot for their services. The advisor told us that absolutely D3 colleges will increase their “package” when other competing schools are recruiting the same athlete. That when you are accepted to school 1 with a grant of X dollars another school will sometimes match or beat that amount. She was a former D2 coach so I assumed it was not a phony sales pitch tactic.
Like I shared earlier, this idea of playing in college is new. She had it, dropped it during COVID and now is interested again. And she knows she is behind the game and that is OK. Thanks to all who took time to post. I had assumed as much about the Claremont area schools.
PS. To the point about feedback from local coaches and her club coach… Her club coach is not a go getter at all when it comes to recruiting. She is a former D3 coach and runs this club for her business. Unfortunately, it is the best option in our area with the best players and competition. The local D3 coaches who have approached our daughter told her they expect her to play at a higher level but to certainly let them know if she planned to stay local and wanted to play.