Most Important Factors in Deciding College for Athletic Recruit?

Athletic Recruits
1

I made a list of factors for my son to rank. My son ranked coach first which is the one he has no control over:( except that there are some schools where the coaches are unlikely to leave, and others where there is a good chance a young coach would leave over the next 1-5 years.

Here is the list (not in order)-what are your opinions on how they should be ranked?

Academic fit-does player profile fit average student or will player be a special admit
Availability of major
Athletic level of team (power vs midmajor, etc)
Likelihood of playing as freshman (this is separate from above, could depend on who is graduating, etc)
Compatibility/Chemistry with team
Chemistry/Ease of communication with coach/ also coach reputation
Likelihood of coach transferring
Athletic Facilities
Other Facilities-e.g. apt style residential living vs dorm style setting, separate dining for athletes
Turnover/Transfer rate (son’s support has high transfer rate)
GPA of team/academic support
Geographical distance from home
Location of school-son prefers urban area
Community support or interest in sport
Affordability

One big question is considering the number of hours students commit to their sport, should they select a school where they are a special admit? There are two schools my son would never be admitted to without his sport. However, there are other students in that sport with a similar or even weaker background that are able to maintain a 3.0. The schools are selective but not not like Ivys-more like 35-40% acceptance. Son’s GPA is fine but did not have the best test scores or the most rigorous curriculum, but he could actually get academic scholarships at some schools. It seems like these 2 schools have a good academic support system in place.

I thought his major would be at the top of his list, but there is one school without it that is one of his favorites because of its reputation. He would be willing to go to grad school elsewhere for his major if he went to that school

My son’s sport is more of an individual sport-you either play or you don’t-no subbing in. He has to decide whether he want to go to a midmajor school where he could be one of the better players as an underclassmen or whether he wants to join the roster of a ranked or power team where he might not get to play. Some guys he knows are happy at schools where they dont play, and their game has gotten better from just practicing with their teammates. Some guys who were top players at midmajors wish they had waited to make a decision, but other guys at ranked schools transfer because they didnt get to play.

Until official visits, it is hard to know chemistry with team. For some schools, son has only had contact with head coach. At a few schools, he had enough time on UVs to get to know some of the guys.

It may seem like type of dorms would not be a major factor, but my son is one who likes his sleep so having his own bedroom would be a lot better than sharing a small dorm room.Also he has some food allergies, so having an apt kitchen or access to a dining plan with more options is a necessity.

Affordability is really probably only an issue with 1-2 schools. Some schools would be significantly cheaper than others. However, we are not looking for the cheapest school but we do have a ceiling number, and one of his favorites probably will not offer enough athletic aid to get below that.

Coaches have mentioned OVs but only one has sent a specific date. We are trying to weigh these factors as son expects to hear more about OVs in the next month. He is interested in more than 5 schools, and of course there is a max of 5 OVs. However, he may cheaply be able to do some UVs or he may know enough from past UVs to rank his schools. Of course, we do not know how many schools will offer OVs-at least 3 will. Some coaches wanted to make offers in the spring but were also OK when he said he didnt want to make a decision until early fall.

Any advice appreciated. Too many kids transfer in son’s sport so we hope to get enough info and weigh factors correctly so he makes the right choice first go round

2

Parent of D3 athlete here – I don’t think there is any “right” ranking of these factors, that would depend on the individual student. For my student, he was looking for the best balance of academics and sport, and we relied heavily on the advice that, if an athlete had a career-ending injury on the first day of pre-season, would they be upset to be at that school for 4 years? So, for my kid, the higher-ranking factors were things like, availability of academic programs, culture of the student body (in terms of diversity, tolerance, role of greek life on campus etc), geography/travel from our home and availability of merit money (since he was only looking D3 and we need merit to swing the $65k a year). Then he looked at the strength of the team and conference, the coach’s personality, and the team culture/personality. Dorms were really not on the list, as freshman at most of his schools get doubles in traditional dorms and upper class students have more flexibility and choices, including apartment style suites. Bottom line, for us, academics and “fit” of the school, without regard to sport, came first. Then, once that list was set, he weighed the sport factors.

Mistakes will be made, but the key seems to be identifying “your” priorities accurately, so that the mistakes are not grave, only incidental.

3

I agree generally with @Midwestmomofboys, but would add that your son’s priorities should be governed by whether he intends on making a career out of his sport. If so, then the athletic factors should predominate, things like overall strength and style of the program, and the coaching staffs’ track record on developing and supporting their atheletes either for a professional career or as a future coach. If on the other hand your son is just looking to compete in college but spend his life doing something else, then maybe the “softer” factors should predominate, things like academic support, geographic factors, vibe of team and general student body, “bling” factor of facilities, etc.

A general comment, but I am not a huge fan of trying to prejudge how much early pt a recruit will get, or really what the recruit’s relationship will be with the coach once enrolled. One, “derecruiting” is a time honored practice, and the relationship the recruit has with a prospective coach is nothing like the relationship he will have as a player. Not to say that he won’t have a positive relationship, but it will be very different than what it is now and likely very different than relationships with previous coaches. Two, the minute your guy signs, that same coach is going to hit the road and try and recruit someone to replace him, and while there may appear to be a clear path to the field, court or mat now, next year some huge stud could sign at your son’s position and he is stuck. Just the way it is.

4

kdbug,

I like your list – not because I necessarily agree with it, but because I think it is a great starting off place for a conversation with your son. For us, there were two issues: A good academic school and fit. Like other things, you know it when you see it. As far as majors, I was pretty loose about that. A good liberal arts education was more important than an undergraduate degree in physical therapy. Kids change their minds all the time about what they want to do. However, that’s just me. I am sure many folks have widely divergent views about what is important in a college.

5

For us the financial support is a huge deal. My other kids were non-athletes and applied to colleges the usual way. Upon acceptances RD, we were able to compare the need or need/merit-based awards and scholarship offers, and made a decision based largely on that (all other things being roughly equal).

How does one proceed for a D3 school? When does one start discussing financial offers? Thanks.

6

Based on my interpretation, it looks like your son is not at a level to become a professional in his chosen sport. If that is true you might have him talk to a recent college graduate who played that sport. Most likely the college graduate will tell him the sport is not important to him moving forward. His sport won’t help with prospective employers and no one will really care about his statistics in the sport.

You should decide whether your son’s priorities should be based on a four year horizon or beyond those four years.

7

@generations In terms of when you talk finances, I would think it depends on whether family is eligible for financial aid or not, and that can be generally determined for each school by running the NPC. For a family eligible for financial aid, most of the D3 schools we talked to offered a financial pre-read, as well as admissions pre-read. For us, in D3 process, the first cut was merit/non-merit award schools, because we had run the NPCs and knew we would not qualify for financial aid but also knew we needed merit to close the gap between what we could pay and the cost of full pay. So, we had to eliminate schools that don’t award merit aid – NESCACs, Franklin & Marshall and some others came off the list over the summer before senior year.

At most schools, during the summer/fall recruiting and campus visits, the coach predicted a minimum merit award our kid would likely get, and Admissions rep did the same, typically as part of the interview. Waiting to see what the merit award would be from where he did apply ED was nerve-wracking but it all worked out fine.

8

@Midwestmomofboys–Thanks for this explanation. What schools do offer merit then?

Also, NESCACs do offer need-based merit awards for non-athletic students (I know this because my own D was a recipient). In my experience with my other children, the amount awarded is not a cut and dry process. Need is wrapped up in how much they want you, which may or may not be outright called ‘merit’–regardless, you may well be awarded a larger award if they really want you. You can also negotiate between colleges and they can ‘match’ another offer.

What I wanted to understand is how this process works for D3’s, NESCACs or Ivies in athletic recruits, as the process starts far earlier.

9

Well broadly, to get merit, you need to move down the list – schools which we are familiar with include St Lawrence, Dickinson, Denison, Wooster, as well as Rhodes and Centre in the South. Kenyon, Oberlin and Grinnell give merit more selectively. Kalamazoo, Earlham, Knox, Lawrence, Beloit all give merit. Easiest way to check is Common Data Set, there is a line for non-need based merit award.

NESCACs and Ivies only give need-based awards, as is true of F&M and, though rather opaque, apparently Bard. Swat, Haverford, and I believe Carleton are need-based awards only. I’m not sure about Mac and St Olaf. Once a family qualifies for financial aid, then there might be some wiggle room for discussion when there are competing awards. Our difficulty was, we are full pay, without the means to actually pay in full, so we focused on schools giving merit awards, essentially on an “automatic” basis, not the schools where there might be just a few major, competitive awards.

Depending on the sport, and gender, the timing varies (girls soccer and lacrosse is, I gather, basically finished recruiting for D1 by end of 10th grade). I’d suggest searching this board for your specific sport, as there is tremendous collective knowledge and experience here, across the D1-D3 levels, in a range of sports.

10

1 Would you still go to the school if there is no sport.

I know few D1 athletes who quite their sports after a year. One in particular picked the school because he was able to play, but unfortunately he stopped playing after freshman year because he wanted (needed) to focus on academic. The school turned out not to be the best fit.

11

If you get half way down the list and still have several schools ticking all the boxes, you are a very lucky student athlete.

Maybe other sports don’t have as much coach turnover as my daughter’s but there is quite a bit every year, including a coach with 24 years at Dartmouth leaving this year. Surprise to everyone (including her).

12

100% agree with OhioDad51. It is best to determine what he most wants to pursue when he graduates. College sports are fleeting, sometimes 4 years at best. Injuries happen. Transfers happen. Coaches change. There is extreme competition for playing time at all levels. No guarantees whatsoever

I like your list, but truthfully I would not worry much about the coaching situation because you have no control over it and coaches come and go…it is a reality. The single biggest factor in my son’s selection was the sport & school provided enough time for him to pursue a very competitive major. If his studies are most important to him, then I’d look very closely at what the sports program promises and can deliver.

13

I would select the combination of coach and University. Who wants to be somewhere you don’t like the campus or the people. My cousin went to a school for football and even played his freshman year and xfered at semester. The new school offered prefer walk on, however, due to having to sit out a year he worked out with the track team. Yep he didn’t play football and has qualified for western regionals last 2 years.

Don’t forget you get an injury and like that it will be like you never existed

14

To put things in perspective. My son played football for a DII college. IIRC, there were something like 35 freshmen, not all on scholarship but all at “camp” the summer before freshman year. Only three graduated five years later.

15

I’ve been through this with my own kids, and seen it up close with dozens more.

High school athletics are a funny thing. They can be a golden ticket, for sure. An incredible tool for college admissions, really in many ways an unfair and perplexing one. Colleges, esp. The very top ones, are primarily about education, not throwing a ball around. Yet, if you are a decent player with high academic stats you can walk into the side doors to the top schools.

That being said, in my experience high school sports. As a whole, greatly hurt kid. And their college admissions results. In 2 ways:

  1. The obvious one. The kid lacks the talent to be a viable recruit. This is usually apparent fairly early on. But the kid (and parents) persist in making the sport the #1 priority, sacrificing academics on the false hope that the sport will get them into a good school. Huge mistake, very common.
  2. The less obvious one. The tool of sports should be used to help you end up at a great school - I.e. a reach school for you. Instead, in my experience at least 50% of the time (prob 75% in my area) the sport leads to the exact opposite result. It ends up causing the kid to go to a "reverse reach" school. A low tier, low sports skill school that the kid never would have gone to, but did because it was their only option to still play their sport. These tend to be low desirability schools - usually far away, in states or locations people generally don't want to go, 75-100% acceptance rate, low grad rate, high cost/low value etc places.

In other words, the sport ultimately caused them to land at a much worse school than they otherwise would have. A bad result, because in 1 to 4 years they’ll never play the sport again in their life, yet for that they sacrificed the ability to go to much better schools. Usually driven at least in part on a completely ridiculous fantasy that it’s justified because the kid has the talent to become a professional player.

16

I disagree. First, the purpose of sports participation should not be to further the child, or more likely the parent’s, ulterior goals. I think there is far too much of that, whether it is the dad of the baseball player who is forcing the kid to play on this or that AAU team because he thinks the kid will land in the NBA or the mom of the field hockey player who forces the kid to participate in this or that pricy travel league because she thinks it is a golden ticket into the NESCAC. it is a horrible phenomenon, and I am convinced does far more harm than good.

Second, while my general advice to my son and his friends, as well as the kids I coached is that “everyone ends up 29 and retired” (meaning to prepare to spend most of your life as something other than an athelete), there are times when prioritizing sports participation makes sense. Specifically, for a kid who wants to coach finding a place where he or she can participate in their sport in college, which is often a prerequisite to getting a job as a coach.

17

Well said in your post @8bagels. Couldn’t agree anymore especially when you mentioned kids would go to a school with low academics and competition level just to play the sport. My daughter’s teammate is a classic, going to small school all the way to the East with 80% acceptance rate and terribly low grad rate. It was quite a surprise.

18

@kchendds - Yeah, that’s the exact scenario I’m talking about, Surprisingly common. And it’s really even worse than that. It’s a very short sighted decision. The kids (and again, the parents) who are mediocre, non-recruited athletes but are so desperate to post on Instagram etc. that they’re going to play a sport somewhere, really end up making a horrible long term decision.

As insane as it sounds, people will literally base a 4 year, $120,000+ decision on a few social media posts. They will pass up much better, higher academic and higher value schools so they can post that they are playing a sport in college. Bizarre.

What they don’t realize (at the time, they usually do shortly after school starts) is no one cares.

19

But anyways, to answer the question posed in the original post, IMO other than those very, very few that have a legit shot at being a professional in their sport (probably .01% of HS athletes), the most important factor, by far, should be the academics and fit of the school. That should be 98% (at least, to me it should be 100%) of the consideration.

20

Bravo to your post^ @8bagels