"Have a sophomore who is an excellent student - who does not play ECNL but very interested in playing D3 soccer. How hard is this path? Any advice from those who have done it?"

My son, a public school GK, who never played in a major soccer league, could not get into Dartmouth, his first choice, but did get into a NESCAC school and on its soccer team, albeit as a perennial backup-GK. His scholastic edge was his 800 SAT in math, but, as a journeyman AAU basketball player, too, I am sure he was accepted as an athletic pick.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few things we focused on his 10th/11th grade year.

1. Affordability - Many of the D3s that had attractive soccer programs are in the NESCAC. But they are really expensive and if you live in the DMV, you most likely make too much to get Needs based aid. Very few of the top schools offer merit based aid.

2. Education - D3 and liberal arts seem to go hand in hand for the majority of the schools with a few exceptions like MIT, Tufts, and Case. Is that the right education for your kid.

3. Options - There are so many good schools in VA and MD. Will he/she be better off going to a top school without soccer. VA Tech, W&M, UVA, UMD, etc are all top 100 schools academically.

One thing you didn't mention is size. D3 schools are small, like smaller than most kids high schools. This is a big reason why many kids just opt to play club soccer. Club soccer can be very competitive and less restrictive on your time.

Wash U won last year (~8K students)
They beat CNU (~4.5K)

Those are the exceptions, most have around 2k kids.

All of the UAA is bigger schools, larger than a lot of low tier D1. Hopkins is 13k? Emory is similar.

Most of the NESCAC schools are ~3,000 or less, but basically you are getting more of an old-school, almost England style undergraduate education. Teachers teach classes, not TAs, focus is on education not research. Student body is academic on the non-athletic side, but the athlete side is what you would expect, especially in soccer and lacrosse. In both of those sports, you get a ton of crossover talent/skill. Kids know they aren't going pro, so they are picking a school for the teaching and the social connections that can be made there. NESCAC in particular (and some other schools like Babson, Swarthmore, Pomona) are known for funneling kids to law school or to Wall Street.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few things we focused on his 10th/11th grade year.

1. Affordability - Many of the D3s that had attractive soccer programs are in the NESCAC. But they are really expensive and if you live in the DMV, you most likely make too much to get Needs based aid. Very few of the top schools offer merit based aid.

2. Education - D3 and liberal arts seem to go hand in hand for the majority of the schools with a few exceptions like MIT, Tufts, and Case. Is that the right education for your kid.

3. Options - There are so many good schools in VA and MD. Will he/she be better off going to a top school without soccer. VA Tech, W&M, UVA, UMD, etc are all top 100 schools academically.

One thing you didn't mention is size. D3 schools are small, like smaller than most kids high schools. This is a big reason why many kids just opt to play club soccer. Club soccer can be very competitive and less restrictive on your time.

Wash U won last year (~8K students)
They beat CNU (~4.5K)

Those are the exceptions, most have around 2k kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few things we focused on his 10th/11th grade year.

1. Affordability - Many of the D3s that had attractive soccer programs are in the NESCAC. But they are really expensive and if you live in the DMV, you most likely make too much to get Needs based aid. Very few of the top schools offer merit based aid.

2. Education - D3 and liberal arts seem to go hand in hand for the majority of the schools with a few exceptions like MIT, Tufts, and Case. Is that the right education for your kid.

3. Options - There are so many good schools in VA and MD. Will he/she be better off going to a top school without soccer. VA Tech, W&M, UVA, UMD, etc are all top 100 schools academically.

One thing you didn't mention is size. D3 schools are small, like smaller than most kids high schools. This is a big reason why many kids just opt to play club soccer. Club soccer can be very competitive and less restrictive on your time.

Wash U won last year (~8K students)
They beat CNU (~4.5K)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - or sorry - kid in question is a girl...

Girl’s recruitment is earlier than boys, so if your target is elite D3, you need to figure out how to get seen before the start of her Sr. year. Top D3 is done by then, with most kids having done a “pre-read” in spring semester of Jr. year or even earlier.

There are always spots for good players, but most will be filled by then.

If your daughter is not looking for the hyper elite D3, and it’s more about fit, then put together what her priorities are for schools. Also, if she’s willing to go to a women’s college, there are some decent options academically, and they are usually taking players later.

If not hyper elite, then do your fit list, reach out to the coaches and ask about ID clinics (most D3s do them, they are moneymakers for the schools, but if your kid can have a breakout performance, she will get seen), put together your highlight reel and send it as well. D3 coaches usually have only one or two assistants, so email them as well.

good luck!

This is right. If you are looking at UAA or NESCAC it makes sense to get on the coach's radar at the same time as D-1s. For our DD there were a couple of coaches that emailed with her for a long time (fall Sophomore year) with the deal done and pre-read done in the Spring of Junior year. Some need to wait for pre-read until all junior grades are in -- some do not.

Anonymous wrote:A few things we focused on his 10th/11th grade year.

1. Affordability - Many of the D3s that had attractive soccer programs are in the NESCAC. But they are really expensive and if you live in the DMV, you most likely make too much to get Needs based aid. Very few of the top schools offer merit based aid.

2. Education - D3 and liberal arts seem to go hand in hand for the majority of the schools with a few exceptions like MIT, Tufts, and Case. Is that the right education for your kid.

3. Options - There are so many good schools in VA and MD. Will he/she be better off going to a top school without soccer. VA Tech, W&M, UVA, UMD, etc are all top 100 schools academically.

One thing you didn't mention is size. D3 schools are small, like smaller than most kids high schools. This is a big reason why many kids just opt to play club soccer. Club soccer can be very competitive and less restrictive on your time.

A few things we focused on his 10th/11th grade year.

1. Affordability - Many of the D3s that had attractive soccer programs are in the NESCAC. But they are really expensive and if you live in the DMV, you most likely make too much to get Needs based aid. Very few of the top schools offer merit based aid.

2. Education - D3 and liberal arts seem to go hand in hand for the majority of the schools with a few exceptions like MIT, Tufts, and Case. Is that the right education for your kid.

3. Options - There are so many good schools in VA and MD. Will he/she be better off going to a top school without soccer. VA Tech, W&M, UVA, UMD, etc are all top 100 schools academically.

My son has gotten a lot of D3 coaches contacting him after seeing him play in tournaments. He's ECNL, but they have some tournament teams you can get on that aren't associated with one particular club. We have played against some before and there are a few talented players on the teams. Usually they don't play great as a unit, because they don't practice together, but in showcases I don't know if it really matters as much. See if you can find one of those possibly.

Anonymous wrote:Boy or Girl?

In general, there's a huge recruiting difference between the top 50 or so D3 schools and everyone else. The very bottom of D3 is considerably worse than DMV high school play, but the top schools and conferences are recruiting the same ECNL/GA kids as mid to lower level D1.

Especially in the DMV, you have kids that are decent on the field, can afford to pay for tuition, but want a truly academically challenging school. For those kids, schools in the UAA and NESCAC conferences, plus a handful of others (think MIT and Hopkins) are their target. Remember, we are talking ECNL starters here, but not ones good enough to play at a Power 4 school.

If your kid is aiming for that level of academic elite school, you can try and go to ID sessions, but understand that they will be up against well-drilled players and even internationals.

Good luck!

Even low D1 isn't that great. Kid at an Ivy. But--if your kid is very smart--just focus on academics. For a boy--it is sooooooo time consuming to navigate the push to find a soccer 'coach support' and a lot will talk that way but it doesn't pan out. Some of the male D3s don't even really recruit. They hold a lot of camps but just wait to see who gets in (at least one of the very high academic D3s actually says that at the camps--no control over admissions or coach support). They all stress kid's academic profile. Another thing to think about is that the 5-years of eligibility kids get (they have 5 years ---to use the 4-year eligibility now from the day they enroll at a school)--a lot are playing older. You will see many grad year players. Kid can always head academically for a top education and still play down the road---as long as they are training and playing at a high level (the DMV has many ways to do this on breaks and summer--and some kids do Club and semi-pro teams in college).

Anonymous wrote:OP here - or sorry - kid in question is a girl...

Girl’s recruitment is earlier than boys, so if your target is elite D3, you need to figure out how to get seen before the start of her Sr. year. Top D3 is done by then, with most kids having done a “pre-read” in spring semester of Jr. year or even earlier.

There are always spots for good players, but most will be filled by then.

If your daughter is not looking for the hyper elite D3, and it’s more about fit, then put together what her priorities are for schools. Also, if she’s willing to go to a women’s college, there are some decent options academically, and they are usually taking players later.

If not hyper elite, then do your fit list, reach out to the coaches and ask about ID clinics (most D3s do them, they are moneymakers for the schools, but if your kid can have a breakout performance, she will get seen), put together your highlight reel and send it as well. D3 coaches usually have only one or two assistants, so email them as well.

good luck!

OP here - or sorry - kid in question is a girl...

Boy or Girl?

In general, there's a huge recruiting difference between the top 50 or so D3 schools and everyone else. The very bottom of D3 is considerably worse than DMV high school play, but the top schools and conferences are recruiting the same ECNL/GA kids as mid to lower level D1.

Especially in the DMV, you have kids that are decent on the field, can afford to pay for tuition, but want a truly academically challenging school. For those kids, schools in the UAA and NESCAC conferences, plus a handful of others (think MIT and Hopkins) are their target. Remember, we are talking ECNL starters here, but not ones good enough to play at a Power 4 school.

If your kid is aiming for that level of academic elite school, you can try and go to ID sessions, but understand that they will be up against well-drilled players and even internationals.

Good luck!

you need to put in the work to get seen. D3 coaches can reach out now. Finding a good fit will be difficult at any level.

It’s very hard if he is not playing ECNL or MLS Next. D3 has become very attractive now with transfer portal situation.

Maybe low D3 possible but for the best opportunity get him at a club /team that has a lot of college exposure. It’s tryout season so now is the time

Have a Sophomore who is an excellent student - who does not play ECNL but very interested in playing D3 soccer. How hard is this path? Any advice from those who have done it?