2016 Boys Soccer Verbal Commitments

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OP here. I have doing this for seven years. Spring of senior year is too late. For D1's by then nearly all slots are gone and coaches are grabbing a depth player or two with no $$ left. D3's look for top players in late Junior year and have their rosters mostly figured out by mid senior year. Their main problem is sorting out who they lose to D1, but they are jockeying for their players much earlier than then. For most kids the second half of junior year is the key time. By the end of junior year you should have a list of schools where there is mutual interest. If your kid is a top D1, coaches by then will start waving $$ at you and forcing you to decide. Meanwhile the D3's will be waiting, and if they don't see enough interest on your part, they will mentally write you off and look elsewhere.

me again - no I know the timing from a mutual interest standpoint (and we're in the thick of it), but my question was regarding ED. It's all well and good to be promised something by a coach or the school. But we know the final say is admissions, and in our case also the total financial piece. Financial aid isn't final until the spring of senior year. Applying ED is a risk if you're on the fence financially. I'd rather he apply EA to say his top 2 but the other poster said once you tell a coach you're not applying ED you're toast. My kid is D1 material (maybe not Top 25 programs but respectable) but he really isn't sure he wants D1. Besides we all know there isn't that much athletic money on the men's side. Merit and financial aid is a better route either D1 or D3. I fully understand a coach's need to finalize things as quickly as possible but not everyone can afford to go where ever they want.

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me again - no I know the timing from a mutual interest standpoint (and we're in the thick of it), but my question was regarding ED. It's all well and good to be promised something by a coach or the school. But we know the final say is admissions, and in our case also the total financial piece. Financial aid isn't final until the spring of senior year. Applying ED is a risk if you're on the fence financially. I'd rather he apply EA to say his top 2 but the other poster said once you tell a coach you're not applying ED you're toast. My kid is D1 material (maybe not Top 25 programs but respectable) but he really isn't sure he wants D1. Besides we all know there isn't that much athletic money on the men's side. Merit and financial aid is a better route either D1 or D3. I fully understand a coach's need to finalize things as quickly as possible but not everyone can afford to go where ever they want.

In my experience when a D3 coach really wants you they will noodle around with admissions to see what you might get. Not a guarantee, but an indication. That's how it plays out. Not sure how the coaches will see ED vs EA, but I see why you would prefer EA. If you explain your situation, which is quite common, I suspect they will work with you.

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In my experience when a D3 coach really wants you they will noodle around with admissions to see what you might get. Not a guarantee, but an indication. That's how it plays out. Not sure how the coaches will see ED vs EA, but I see why you would prefer EA. If you explain your situation, which is quite common, I suspect they will work with you.

ok thank you . appreciate the feedback.

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OP here. There have been posts on this thread about D3 verbal commits being withdrawn. What I decided to do was look at my 2015 D3 thread to see what happened. There were 70 players that were listed as having gotten verbal commitments. Of those 70, as we near the end of their first season, only 4 are not rostered (6%). This is perhaps a bit more than the D1's, which have 1 or 2 each year (and a very noisy 1 or 2 at that!), but not a large % IMO. As for playing time, that is a very different story, especially for D1's. I have occasionally looked at that for D3's, and have done that now for the 2015's. In addition to the 4 NR's, there were 14 2015 D3's that did not play. I will post the complete analysis on my 2015 thread.

[Unregistered]

OP here. There have been posts on this thread about D3 verbal commits being withdrawn. What I decided to do was look at my 2015 D3 thread to see what happened. There were 70 players that were listed as having gotten verbal commitments. Of those 70, as we near the end of their first season, only 4 are not rostered (6%). This is perhaps a bit more than the D1's, which have 1 or 2 each year (and a very noisy 1 or 2 at that!), but not a large % IMO. As for playing time, that is a very different story, especially for D1's. I have occasionally looked at that for D3's, and have done that now for the 2015's. In addition to the 4 NR's, there were 14 2015 D3's that did not play. I will post the complete analysis on my 2015 thread.

Not the poster but thank you. That analysis is excellent.

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For a family that has an income of around $200,000 you also have to factor the financial aid vs merit aid factor. NESCAC schools no merit aid. Probably get around $15K max in aid if you have another kid in college. Slightly less academically challenging with a 1950 - 2000 SAT get around $25,000 in Merit. Our kid had three D3 "offers" from coaches and he chose none as ED. He wanted to see what was the best financial package for himself. Soon as he informed coaches he would apply early action vs ED coach communication ended. Fine with us as we also feel that college should be chosen for many other reason that playing soccer. If he chooses one of the three that "offered" I'm sure that the coach would be happy to hear back from him. Unless the player really wants to be a the school and the family knows they can afford it our thinking is avoid ED.

Which schools offer the most merit aid? Are there any reliable web sites to find that information? Thanks in advance.

[Unregistered]

OP here. There have been posts on this thread about D3 verbal commits being withdrawn. What I decided to do was look at my 2015 D3 thread to see what happened. There were 70 players that were listed as having gotten verbal commitments. Of those 70, as we near the end of their first season, only 4 are not rostered (6%). This is perhaps a bit more than the D1's, which have 1 or 2 each year (and a very noisy 1 or 2 at that!), but not a large % IMO. As for playing time, that is a very different story, especially for D1's. I have occasionally looked at that for D3's, and have done that now for the 2015's. In addition to the 4 NR's, there were 14 2015 D3's that did not play. I will post the complete analysis on my 2015 thread.

You are analyzing the final list. There were interim changes along the way......

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[QUOTE=Unregistered;1687504]Which schools offer the most merit aid? Are there any reliable web sites to find that information? Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE

In general, amount of merit aid varies based on how far above the mean the candidate's numbers are.

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[QUOTE=Unregistered;1687781]

Which schools offer the most merit aid? Are there any reliable web sites to find that information? Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE

In general, amount of merit aid varies based on how far above the mean the candidate's numbers are.

Yes it's very difficult to generalize. Some of the best schools in the country give outstanding merit money but you have to be better than the best of the best to receive it. If you have something the school wants (higher than average grades for the school or laundry list of other things) they'll be generous. Average grades or nothing outstanding they might give some token dollars but not much. State schools really don't give much at all - privates do partly because they know they have to get closer to state school tuitions to be viable for many families. So they call it merit money but really it's just knocking down the sticker price.

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Who is naïve? D3 schools are about academics over athletics. The admissions office doesn't care about what a coach wants, especially for lowly soccer. Offering $ for athletics cost significant $ and those schools have decided to direct their resources elsewhere. Having an athletic program attracts good students and garners some alumni donations, but if will never generate significant revenue like the big D1 programs can with big sports (football and bball).

That said, if an athlete has strong academics for the school he/she can receive an even better sum of merit money, which is guaranteed for four years as long as a minimum GPA is maintained. That is true of any level school and is the kind of $ you want.

Now I know you are naive....or stupid. You really think that a D3 coach has no ability to get kids into school? You are 100% wrong. Depending on the school, the coach has a certain amount of influence. More so, if the player applies ED then the process actually becomes easier. This process is seen all over the country including the NESCAC schools. That said, the process begins with the coach sending the HS transcripts to admissions....some have a specific liaison. They make an assessment and tell the coach how much help the kid either needs from the coach or what the kid has left to do to get into the school.

For most of the NESCAC schools....perhaps UAA also, you are not going to get C students in, however, B students are within range.

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Now I know you are naive....or stupid. You really think that a D3 coach has no ability to get kids into school? You are 100% wrong. Depending on the school, the coach has a certain amount of influence. More so, if the player applies ED then the process actually becomes easier. This process is seen all over the country including the NESCAC schools. That said, the process begins with the coach sending the HS transcripts to admissions....some have a specific liaison. They make an assessment and tell the coach how much help the kid either needs from the coach or what the kid has left to do to get into the school.

For most of the NESCAC schools....perhaps UAA also, you are not going to get C students in, however, B students are within range.

Its hard to generalize because it will vary school to school, coach to coach, and player to player. Much depends on how near or far a player is to their acceptable band. At some schools that band is very tight and how far below they are willing to go may be very minimal. And at some schools a coach simply holds no sway while at others they do. Coaches don't want to push the boundaries too far because pull in too many kids that struggle or drop out admissions will stop doing him favors.

[Unregistered]

Now I know you are naive....or stupid. You really think that a D3 coach has no ability to get kids into school? You are 100% wrong. Depending on the school, the coach has a certain amount of influence. More so, if the player applies ED then the process actually becomes easier. This process is seen all over the country including the NESCAC schools. That said, the process begins with the coach sending the HS transcripts to admissions....some have a specific liaison. They make an assessment and tell the coach how much help the kid either needs from the coach or what the kid has left to do to get into the school.

For most of the NESCAC schools....perhaps UAA also, you are not going to get C students in, however, B students are within range.

Its hard to generalize because it will vary school to school, coach to coach, and player to player. Much depends on how near or far a player is to their acceptable band. At some schools that band is very tight and the school won't go much below their minimal standards. And at some schools a coach simply holds no sway while at others they do. Coaches don't want to push the boundaries too far because pull in too many kids that struggle or drop out admissions will stop doing him favors.

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Sorry about by the double post

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D1

Adam French-NEFC-St Johns Shrews-BC*
Jamie Rosiello-Pioneers-Pittsfield-BU
Jerry Ozor - Milton Academy - BU
Jacob Harris-Rivers-Colgate
Zach Kalk-Vaughn Soccer Club-Berkshire-Dartmouth
Adam Bramson-Milton Academy-Lafayette
Bryant Nardizzi-Revs-Framingham-NC State
Nicholas Ainscough-Bolts-Canton- Northeastern
Aaron James-Revs-UVA
Miguel Yuste-Manhattan PSG-NMH-Yale


D3

Luke Lockwood-Blackrock FC-Berkshire-Bowdoin
Dylan Hennessy-Manhattan PSG-NMH-Brandeis
Kyle Russo-FC Stars-Westford-Clark

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D1

Adam French-NEFC-St Johns Shrews-BC
Jamie Rosiello-Pioneers-Pittsfield-BU
Jerry Ozor - Milton Academy - BU
Jacob Harris-Rivers-Colgate
Zach Kalk-Vaughn Soccer Club-Berkshire-Dartmouth
Adam Bramson-Milton Academy-Lafayette
Bryant Nardizzi-Revs-Framingham-NC State
Nicholas Ainscough-Bolts-Canton- Northeastern
Donnie Igo-FC Blazers-Needham-PC*
Aaron James-Revs-UVA
Miguel Yuste-Manhattan PSG-NMH-Yale


D3

Luke Lockwood-Blackrock FC-Berkshire-Bowdoin
Dylan Hennessy-Manhattan PSG-NMH-Brandeis
Kyle Russo-FC Stars-Westford-Clark