My kid turned down princeton because it would have been too long a drive for us. Pls let us know what D1 school offers you turned down, because of roster size. thanks
You're missing the point. Committing to a D1 school and never seeing the field isn't for everyone. If the education, playing time, money and comfort is there in. D2 school for an athlete it's a wonderful thing. Travel is a consideration for some folks who don't have the money to fly to games and stay in hotels. Many families have other school age children, maybe one income homes or have disabled spouse or special needs kids that can't travel. So yea, sometimes D2 schools are a better fit, No sarcasm here, enjoy watching your child play wherever they decide because life throws you curveballs every now and then and you never know how long you have left. Peace.
This post is spot on! The people who post sarcastic comments are so ignorant. I for one am a small
Business owner with 4 kids under 16. My sophomore just commited to an excellent academic d2 school within a 3 hr drive of my home. That's what worked for us. She had 2 offers from good d1 lax schools. But they were not as good once you factored in the travel time expenses and th possibility of. Not playing as much.
Its just my opinion, but i would sacrifice me being able to see my kid play live, for her to be at a better school. We've heard on the forum alot about kids having good d1 offers, curious to hear which schools. I do agree with going to a D2 school instead of a D1 school and not getting on the field. With that said its none of my business or anyone else what decisions people make.
Everyone should make whatever decisions are best for them of course. There is just so much misinformation floating around on here though that sometimes it seems like it's difficult to really know the tradeoffs you are making. Financially, academically etc. Not just for the short run, but for the long run. For instance, if it's a 10k a year difference, but a much better academic institution, seems like it might be worth it to take a student loan for the difference etc. Or the guy that says u need 100 GPA to get into an Ivy, which is wrong. And I know a kid going to G-town w a 2.9 GPA and one to BC w similar. So what are the grades a kid actually needs to get into certain schools. Whether it's D1, D2 or D3. It would be great if people were willing to honestly share the tradeoffs they have made. It would help the rest of us. What D1 schools were turned down for the D2 opportunity. Who's kid made the decision to play D3? Why? What's the equivalent talent level in D1 for Courtland or Middlebury? So what are some likely choices between divisions for that level of player etc.
"What are the grades that a kid actually needs to get into certain schools?"
- It all depends on where the coach has the player ranked on their recruiting list. The #1 recruit on the list will not have the same requirements as the # 8.
The Ivy's work off of an "academic index" there are minimum requirements for each individual. However, the average for the recruiting class is significantly higher than the minimum therefore if a priority recruit is close to the minimum the coach will take a less qualified player if they have better grades (in order to pull the class average up).
Other Highly Competitive Schools such as Duke, Georgetown, BC, ND etc... have what are known as "Slots". The coach has the ability to get a certain number of players into the school. In general, those students must have very good grades but the requirements are less than a regular student would need to get into the school. For a recruited athlete the coach would like to see 90+ avg and a minimum of 1200 on the SAT and 27 ACT. Anything less would be cause for concern. Again, the coach will have more flexibility with their top recruits.
From what I have been told, Northwestern does not have a cap on admission slots but they follow similar guideline as to who they choose to get into the school.
Remember, the coaches want the kids to be successful both on the field and in the classroom. Coaches will only take so many chances with players who do not demonstrate that they have the ability to succeed in the classroom.
As far as scholarship dollars go, don't listen to anyone. Each individual case is different. The Top recruits at fully funded schools are offered significant $$. The #1 recruit might get 75% or more, the #5 might get 25-30% and the #9 or #10 might be offered an admission slot and no athletic scholarship.
Each case is different.
If finances and cost are your biggest concern explore all options. If your daughter is a good student and a good lacrosse player you should be able to find a school that will be able to make it work financially.
If your daughter is a great student and a great lacrosse player she can write her own ticked to any school she wants. if your daughter is great student and an ok lacrosse player she can fide a school that will give her a lot of academic $$. If your daughter is a great lacrosse player and an average student she will be just fine as well, some really good schools will give plenty of athletic $$.
Ivy's do not offer athletic scholarships. (they have very generous need based aid).
Schools like Northwestens, Georgetown, Hopkins, ND, BC also offer generous need based aid packages. (they also offer athletic scholarships)
To the best of my knowledge you can not combine Athletic $$ and Need Based Aid. You can however combine Academic $$ and Athletic $$.
If your daughter is being recruited and offered a spot at North Carolina, Maryland, Penn State and Syracuse but not being offered a lot of $$ you can drop down a notch and be offered a lot more $$. It works the same way on the Academic side. If your daughter has the grades to be recruited and offered a spot and an Ivy you can drop down a bit academically and pick up significant academic $$.
DII and DIII have different rules than DI.
Some thoughts that might be helpful.
If a school expresses sincere interest and you and your daughter think the school is a good fit be sure to make the coach aware that your daughter would love to attend the school. Unless your daughter is a true stud there will be 10 other girls on the coaches list that are just as good as your daughter. Coaches want to take the kids who want to go to their school. All things being equal they will take the girl who returns the most love.
There is nothing wrong with setting high goals, dreaming big and shooting for the stars but once the recruiting process begins you and your daughter need to evaluate honestly.
To start, all of the big time programs go after most of the same kids. Maryland, North Carolina, Northwestern, Duke, Syracuse, Princeton, Penn, Florida, BC, ND, Penn State, Southern California, Stanford and any other perennial Top 10 - 20 team recruit the same 10 - 30 girls. After the majority of the top recruits commit the coaches move on and start on the next group. No one school gets all of the top girls. Some get more than others but nobody gets all of the top recruits.
The takeaway is (and this is where honestly evaluating comes in) The caliber of schools (lacrosse caliber) that are making offers will tell you where you stand. Maryland, North Carolina and Northwestern are not competing against UMass, UConn and Albany for their top recruits. If the top programs are not making offers your daughter is probably not a top recruit. Thats okay, there are great schools with great lacrosse programs that your daughter can have a great experience at without going to the Final Four.
All is not lost if you do not get offers in the first few rounds. When schools start to fill up their spots the dynamic and criteria can change. Schools do not get all of the recruits they want. For example: the top five recruits on Notre Dames list could choose to go to Duke, Northwestern, Princeton, Stanford and Virginia. When that occurs ND's #6 and #7 become #1 and #2 very quickly. Cornell's top recruits might choose to go to Hopkins, Princeton and Penn. Uconn's top recruits might choose to go to Stony Brook, UMass and Boston University. You get the idea.
Also, in the later rounds, GPA and Test Scores play a larger role as does money.
Harvard or Penn might have a spot for a kid who has exceptional grades and test scores. Duke or North Carolina might have a spot for a for a student athlete who has very good grades and does not need any financial help.
DI, II and III combine for 500 plus Women's Lacrosse Programs. Add to that all of the competitive Club Programs and there is a place for your daughter to play if they enjoy all that a team sport can offer a college student.
Maybe your daughter has very good grades and test scores, wants to go to a big Rah Rah school but is not a strong enough player to compete at Maryland, North Carolina or Penn State. Maybe she can get a lot of academic money at Ohio State or another big university and play club and have an incredible college experience and get great education. Again, you get the idea.
Don't get caught up in the mess that we call youth/HS/club lacrosse. Be smart, remember when one door closes another one opens. Find the best opportunity for your daughter and don't worry about what everyone else is doing.
Good luck to all and enjoy the ride.
From someone who has been down the road a few times with kids of different abilities and interests. From top recruit to middle of the pack. From great student to average student.
