<p>My son wants to play D1 lacrosse, and has that possibility (I have discouraged him for reasons that you well-know). Despite my reluctance, I would like him to have that option if it becomes available. </p>
<p>As you know some D1 recruits “commit” during their sophomore year. He is finishing up his freshman year. Any thoughts on when he should take the SAT and/or PSAT? My understanding is that a person in his situation would take the SAT on an accelerated schedule. This does not seem to be a way to maximize your chances of getting a high score. </p>
<p>I would also appreciate any lacrosse related advice. He and I agree that he should go to the best academic school he can get into, although I’m the only one that wants him to play DIII. </p>
<p>Islfan- There is really no need to accelerate test taking for any D1 recruited athlete. A D1 athlete who verbally commit early generally only has to pass the NCAA clearinghouse standards. These are relatively low and can be achieved during the athletes senior year. For some D1 schools (Ivy League and Stanford for example) the athlete must pass an academic pre-read by admission which occurs during the summer before their senior year. Early verbal commitments for these schools are based mostly on athletic performance and good grades. PSAT scores taken during the sophomore year can be helpful.</p>
<p>I agree that there is no need to speed up any kind of test taking. Our kids typically take the PSAT sophomore year as a practice anyway, so that’s not exactly accelerating. Best advice it to keep the grades high. As for academic over athletic - or a little combination of the two. The Ivies are always good teams and I would think match your academic wish list! And playing in the NESCAC’s for a DIII is about as high up as you can get without being DI, while probably able to beat a fair number of them!</p>
<p>What I have noticed over the years is this DI holy grail attitude, where kids want to play DI for bragging rights, but would have been better off (and gotten more minutes) had they played DIII. I think it will be really important for your S to ask what kind of depth exists at his position and where he might fit into that depth. Hard to do when you’re so young and have no real idea of how you will evolve as a player and an athlete. But I’ve seen quite a few kids ride the bench for two-three years and then have underclassmen come and have them frozen out yet again. One kid I know was awesome in high school and didn’t even make the travel roster! Let’s just say that DI is a TON of work… year round practice, training, travel. I would ask your Son to consider if it’s DI or does he want to play? Not saying that he wouldn’t be THE recruit who starts as a freshman, but these are very real considerations when choosing a school. I also know that one of the kids who is a stud at an Ivy only got there by taking a PG year. I just couldn’t rationalize paying what was essentially a reduced first year of college to a boarding school for the sake of Lacrosse. But others do it ALL THE TIME.</p>
And playing in the NESCAC’s for a DIII is about as high up as you can get without being DI, while probably able to beat a fair number of them!</p>