2011 Boys Soccer Verbal Commitments

[Unregistered]

The schools my son turned down where 3 schools in the patriot league. As for the insult on his old club team he plays for a team in Conn. now but he would be so angry if he knew I was posting because he caught this blog last year when his name was mentioned. I must say I now agree with him. A lot of miss info is on this blog...it sounds like a lot of anxious parents. I was just trying to be nice and say some kids come from homes where education is number one!!!!

[Unregistered]

The schools my son turned down where 3 schools in the patriot league. As for the insult on his old club team he plays for a team in Conn. now but he would be so angry if he knew I was posting because he caught this blog last year when his name was mentioned. I must say I now agree with him. A lot of miss info is on this blog...it sounds like a lot of anxious parents. I was just trying to be nice and say some kids come from homes where education is number one!!!!

if education is number one then why turn down patriot leauge schools unless you can go IVY? Army and Navy are free regardless of athletics, Bucknell doesn't give athletic money. My guess is your kid had a spot on the team with no athletic $ but had good grades so could get into a top d3, so why sit on the bench at a great academic pat leauge school where instead u can play and get a great education at a top d3 school without the pressure and commitment of d1. makes sense to me.

[Unregistered]

me too, good luck to your son and thanks for sharing some of the details.

[Unregistered]

if education is number one then why turn down patriot leauge schools unless you can go IVY? Army and Navy are free regardless of athletics, Bucknell doesn't give athletic money. My guess is your kid had a spot on the team with no athletic $ but had good grades so could get into a top d3, so why sit on the bench at a great academic pat leauge school where instead u can play and get a great education at a top d3 school without the pressure and commitment of d1. makes sense to me.

Spot on. Congratulations to this player! There are many reasons (size of school, location, majors/minors, opportunity to play as a frosh, a lower level of soccer comittment....) why a player would turn down a D1 spot for a better fit at a D3 smaller school especially at a very good academic D3 school. Unless some sizeable $$$ athletic aid is being thrown at the family--and that rarely happens on the boys side, then it's up to financial need and looking at the best fit school overall, not just the level of D1 soccer.

[Unregistered]

Spot on. Congratulations to this player! There are many reasons (size of school, location, majors/minors, opportunity to play as a frosh, a lower level of soccer comittment....) why a player would turn down a D1 spot for a better fit at a D3 smaller school especially at a very good academic D3 school. Unless some sizeable $$$ athletic aid is being thrown at the family--and that rarely happens on the boys side, then it's up to financial need and looking at the best fit school overall, not just the level of D1 soccer.

Exactly! Many who haven't been there yet do not realize how elusive D1 soccer money is. Low NCAA limit of max. scholarships and few programs other than the major schools fully fund even that amount. Full rides are very elusive.

Another thing that people who do not have children playing college soccer do not realize is the level of commitment necessary. My son is at a D3 school. albeit one that takes soccer pretty seriously. Though not all kids put in the expected off-season work (and they tend to be the ones that will not see the playing time that those who are highly committed will) those who do will find that it isn't easy while attending school, particularly an academically rigorous one. Then realize that if you are a D1 player, especially those receiving money, there will be even higher expectations. Typically, coaches have higher expectations for a scholarship player. As one coach explained to us, he would be ok with a non-scholarship player missing a game to attend a funeral of a non-immediate (parent or sib) family member, whereas a scholarship player might be expected to attend practice/game regardless.

Then there is the "have / have not" issue at D1 scholarship schools. Often not a team of equals. After hearing from a former D1 player that at his school, resentment of the few scholarship kids by those who deemed themselves equally worthy sometimes culminated in malicious tackles at practice, my son decided on his own that the "glory" of playing for a patriot league or similar level D1 wasn't what it was cracked up to be relative to a solid D3 program.

While we are on the subject of the PAtriot League and the mention above that Bucknell doesn't offer money - see if you can resolve the following. There seems to be a feeling among many that the very best players gravitate to D1 schools where they can get a scholarship. How then is Bucknell not sitting in the basement of the Patriot League, behind the teams that do give scholarships? Quite the opposite if the last few years results are any indication.

[Unregistered]

if education is number one then why turn down patriot leauge schools unless you can go IVY? Army and Navy are free regardless of athletics, Bucknell doesn't give athletic money. My guess is your kid had a spot on the team with no athletic $ but had good grades so could get into a top d3, so why sit on the bench at a great academic pat leauge school where instead u can play and get a great education at a top d3 school without the pressure and commitment of d1. makes sense to me.

Because there are schools academically superior to Patriot League schools that are not in the Ivy League.

[Unregistered]

Because there are schools academically superior to Patriot League schools that are not in the Ivy League.

what are you talking about? look at the college rankings for national liberal arts schools, army and navy in the top 15, colgate, holy cross, bucknell in the top 30, lafayette 38, lehigh is 37 on natl universities, all are highly selective admissions. they are ranked right up there with nescas and other d3's. if one school is ranked 8th and the other 13th, it doesn't mean the 8th ranked school is "superior" by any means, rather they are both excellent schools.

[Unregistered]

what are you talking about? look at the college rankings for national liberal arts schools, army and navy in the top 15, colgate, holy cross, bucknell in the top 30, lafayette 38, lehigh is 37 on natl universities, all are highly selective admissions. they are ranked right up there with nescas and other d3's. if one school is ranked 8th and the other 13th, it doesn't mean the 8th ranked school is "superior" by any means, rather they are both excellent schools.

Some people choose a school because of its ranking and prestige. These are the same people that buy clothes, cars, wine, art, and towns to live in using the same sort of shallow criteria.

Others just pick a college because it's the right fit for them.

[Unregistered]

Some people choose a school because of its ranking and prestige. These are the same people that buy clothes, cars, wine, art, and towns to live in using the same sort of shallow criteria.

Others just pick a college because it's the right fit for them.

Just like they pick soccer clubs. Which is good - ducks of a feather should flock together.

[Unregistered]

Just like they pick soccer clubs. Which is good - ducks of a feather should flock together.

Quack quack.

[Unregistered]

what are you talking about? look at the college rankings for national liberal arts schools, army and navy in the top 15, colgate, holy cross, bucknell in the top 30, lafayette 38, lehigh is 37 on natl universities, all are highly selective admissions. they are ranked right up there with nescas and other d3's. if one school is ranked 8th and the other 13th, it doesn't mean the 8th ranked school is "superior" by any means, rather they are both excellent schools.

The question I answered was why would someone turn down a patriot league school EXCEPT for the instance where one could go to an Ivy. I did not say there were not excellent schools in the Patriot League. I merely pointed out that on occasion someone might choose to eschew schools like Holy Cross and Lafayette for schools like Stanford, Berkeley, UVA and some other high-end D1's CA LAC consortium (Pomono, Harvey Mudd, Claremont), Swat/Haverford, Williams/Amherst and other top end NESCAC's. I could mention others but will not.

I sought to be informational about a post that narrowly stated that the only thing to draw one away from a Patriot League school was an Ivy. Though I am a proponent of fit being everything (in other words non-dogmatic about "bests") as an academician myself I responded to the ill-informed post that placed only the Ivy's are superior academic choices to the Patriot League. Though Holy Cross, for example, is a fine school that any student shoudl be proud to attend, it is not on par wit some other non-Ivy's. If I got into Stanford and Holy Cross way back when, I would have likely chosen HC as a better fit for me, but would be under no delusions that the ONLY academically superior schools were in the Ivy League.

Does that make you feel better now? Perhaps you should address the original poster of the false equivalency rather than distorting my point. Now that I have taken the time to expand upon it, pleas get off my back about it.

[Unregistered]

The question I answered was why would someone turn down a patriot league school EXCEPT for the instance where one could go to an Ivy. I did not say there were not excellent schools in the Patriot League. I merely pointed out that on occasion someone might choose to eschew schools like Holy Cross and Lafayette for schools like Stanford, Berkeley, UVA and some other high-end D1's CA LAC consortium (Pomono, Harvey Mudd, Claremont), Swat/Haverford, Williams/Amherst and other top end NESCAC's. I could mention others but will not.

I sought to be informational about a post that narrowly stated that the only thing to draw one away from a Patriot League school was an Ivy. Though I am a proponent of fit being everything (in other words non-dogmatic about "bests") as an academician myself I responded to the ill-informed post that placed only the Ivy's are superior academic choices to the Patriot League. Though Holy Cross, for example, is a fine school that any student shoudl be proud to attend, it is not on par wit some other non-Ivy's. If I got into Stanford and Holy Cross way back when, I would have likely chosen HC as a better fit for me, but would be under no delusions that the ONLY academically superior schools were in the Ivy League.

Does that make you feel better now? Perhaps you should address the original poster of the false equivalency rather than distorting my point. Now that I have taken the time to expand upon it, pleas get off my back about it.

Different poster.

Wow! You sound like you are living in very rarified air, as well as annoyed and a bit pedantic. You're annoyed because someone was stupid enough to question your very pithily written post?

I actually think you distorted the other poster's intent who was responding specifically to the suggestion of Patriot League schools vs. a "top D3". When he (or she) referenced Ivys I'm sure he (or she) would have included Stanford which most know is on a par with the top Ivies and probably in its own category with Harvard and Yale. The poster wouldn't have been considering UVA, Berkeley (or Stanford for that matter) because given the frame the poster was responding to the soccer is too competitive at those fine schools to be a comparable. Get it? It was an in-context comparison about why someone would choose outside the Patriot League. And I assume the poster's point was that the academic reputations of some of the Patriot League schools certainly is good enough to prefer one of them in comparison to the D3s you mentioned IF the soccer piece was important enough to the family/kid. We also don't know, since the poster being responded to didn't specify, whether we the "top D3" comparable was Amherst or Williams, or MIT (which would fit with Harvard Stanford, Yale)....OR Colby, Bates, Trinity, Union. Your post distorted what the poster was getting at. Whether he was "right" is another question, but his comment made sense. Do us all a favor and turn down the dial on your intellectual exasperation meter, and defiance ("I could mention others but will not").

Everyone has reasons for their own choice. I'll give my own personal thinking, all other factors being equal. If I was a big-time soccer player who had worked hard all these years to play at the "highest levels," and IF I was going to be a real projected starter/impact player at Bucknell within my first 2 years, I would choose Bucknell over any of the NESCACs and the "Claremont consortium." If I was going to be a marginal player at Bucknell, then I would make the opposite decision unless there was a specific academic or social interest that still made Bucknell preferable for me.

[Unregistered]

How nice does your china have to be in order for there to be no difference in how the food served on it tastes? Or what about having china that is too nice to eat on at all? Or going through life constantly worried about whether there might be a small chip in your china?

Is gold-plated toilet paper really nicer than Quilted Northern?

Pick one of the above prompts and relate to the college choice decision.

[Unregistered]

Different poster.

Wow! You sound like you are living in very rarified air, as well as annoyed and a bit pedantic. You're annoyed because someone was stupid enough to question your very pithily written post?

I actually think you distorted the other poster's intent who was responding specifically to the suggestion of Patriot League schools vs. a "top D3". When he (or she) referenced Ivys I'm sure he (or she) would have included Stanford which most know is on a par with the top Ivies and probably in its own category with Harvard and Yale. The poster wouldn't have been considering UVA, Berkeley (or Stanford for that matter) because given the frame the poster was responding to the soccer is too competitive at those fine schools to be a comparable. Get it? It was an in-context comparison about why someone would choose outside the Patriot League. And I assume the poster's point was that the academic reputations of some of the Patriot League schools certainly is good enough to prefer one of them in comparison to the D3s you mentioned IF the soccer piece was important enough to the family/kid. We also don't know, since the poster being responded to didn't specify, whether we the "top D3" comparable was Amherst or Williams, or MIT (which would fit with Harvard Stanford, Yale)....OR Colby, Bates, Trinity, Union. Your post distorted what the poster was getting at. Whether he was "right" is another question, but his comment made sense. Do us all a favor and turn down the dial on your intellectual exasperation meter, and defiance ("I could mention others but will not").

Everyone has reasons for their own choice. I'll give my own personal thinking, all other factors being equal. If I was a big-time soccer player who had worked hard all these years to play at the "highest levels," and IF I was going to be a real projected starter/impact player at Bucknell within my first 2 years, I would choose Bucknell over any of the NESCACs and the "Claremont consortium." If I was going to be a marginal player at Bucknell, then I would make the opposite decision unless there was a specific academic or social interest that still made Bucknell preferable for me.

Before I respond to your post in detail, I would like to ask, and please be honest - have you been through the process yourself? Did or do you, or any of your children, play college ball, whether D1 or D3? I ask because many on the forum who are on the front side of the process act like the resume does the talking, as in "real projected starter/impact player at....." If you have a child in the college game, I am surprised you do not realize that many who are assumed to be impact players turn out differently, and vice-versa.

The other point that I would like to make is that you, as is common in the forum, always deal with the issue as a binary option. Either impact at a D1 within first two years OR go to otherwise good D3 vis-a-vis soccer. You really think that is so clear to the majority of players on the way in? Reality is that there is a lot of territory between the two poles in your statement. . Sure, you can project who is going to more likely be an impact player based on resume, but a lot happens on the way to the forum. On my son's team, there was a projected high impact player who came in, spent a good part of the season injutred while learning to enjoy the party aspects of college a bit much that the active players. When he recovered from his injury, it was apparent he just didn't want to do the hard work needed to succeed academically while at the same time excelling on the field. The party life had taken hold. So he made the choice to succeed academcially and left the team. happens all the timewith many variations.

After reading your post I think you are projecting a bit about my annoyance, pithiness, and pedantry. You think I distorted the other poster's intent? Maybe I didn't read enough up-thread and may have, but I do mean "may." you on the other hand are obviously confident in your mind-reading abilityn and thereofre are comfortable answering for someone else.

[Unregistered]

Before I respond to your post in detail, I would like to ask, and please be honest - have you been through the process yourself? Did or do you, or any of your children, play college ball, whether D1 or D3? I ask because many on the forum who are on the front side of the process act like the resume does the talking, as in "real projected starter/impact player at....." If you have a child in the college game, I am surprised you do not realize that many who are assumed to be impact players turn out differently, and vice-versa.

The other point that I would like to make is that you, as is common in the forum, always deal with the issue as a binary option. Either impact at a D1 within first two years OR go to otherwise good D3 vis-a-vis soccer. You really think that is so clear to the majority of players on the way in? Reality is that there is a lot of territory between the two poles in your statement. . Sure, you can project who is going to more likely be an impact player based on resume, but a lot happens on the way to the forum. On my son's team, there was a projected high impact player who came in, spent a good part of the season injutred while learning to enjoy the party aspects of college a bit much that the active players. When he recovered from his injury, it was apparent he just didn't want to do the hard work needed to succeed academically while at the same time excelling on the field. The party life had taken hold. So he made the choice to succeed academcially and left the team. happens all the timewith many variations.

After reading your post I think you are projecting a bit about my annoyance, pithiness, and pedantry. You think I distorted the other poster's intent? Maybe I didn't read enough up-thread and may have, but I do mean "may." you on the other hand are obviously confident in your mind-reading abilityn and thereofre are comfortable answering for someone else.

intead of using your verbose, bombastic writing style, just use simple, direct sentences to get to your point. you're trying too hard to show off your superiority and simpletons like me are not intelligent enough to follow your "logic."