Questions for D3/Nescaq schools and recruiting

bruinatty
Thu, 01 Aug 2013 00:11:16 +0000

Golf4fun, you need to determine if the schools that your son is interested in give merit aid. My DD will play golf next year at a NESCAC school that does not offer merit aid but does meet 100% of need. That was good enough for us. The EFC calculation was very accurate, although I would not trust it if you are self employed with significant business assets. Many top academic D3 schools (and the Ivies) do not offer merit aid.

I would also suggest that you try to meet with the coach and admissions person for your area at about the same time. My DD was recruited by lower level D1 schools that offered both merit aid and athletic aid, but both admissions and coach were present at that time. I am not sure that either one would have had the authority to make an offer with the other person’s money. Also, recognize that your son will need better grades and test scores than the average applicant to that school to get merit aid. D3 schools of course cannot offer athletic aid.

The top D3 schools that recruited DD wanted her to apply ED. I would try to nail down any merit aid before the ED deadline. You can ask for FA pre-read as well. The coaches have more influence ED and may move on if you don’t apply ED. This is especially true in golf where they are probably recruiting only one or two players and when they have those players in hand they will stop recruiting. It becomes an act of faith at some point. I would cast a wide net and keep some back-up schools in the loop. DD second choice said they would support her in RD but some other schools dropped out when they were not the ED choice.