Scholar Students Camp - What do you think?

[B-Dad]

There is a camp for student scholars where the kids will be coached over 3 days by coaches from several top schools. They are advertising they will have the head coaches from Notre Dame, Princeton, Cornell, Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, and Lehigh.

After contacting the organizer he indicated that all the coaches will work with every kid. They will have stations set up for small groups, rotate them, and spend a lot of time with each. In this respect the girls will get to know if they like their style, personality, and coaching ability. They will allow parents to be there for two hours opening Friday and the last two hours of Sunday.

It cost $500 for 19 hours of time over three days with the head coaches from these schools. It sounds like a good deal as you can't this much time in front of the coaches from these schools for anything even close to this amount.

I've got a brainiac kid that thinks she wants to get a degree in physics. These are some of the top schools in the nation for physics. Is it really even possible to get a degree in physics and play softball?

What are the odds these schools will be there? What do you think?

[hit4power]

Is this the camp in Joliet, IL in January? Assuming it is, then...

I'm always the sceptic on things like this - for example - why would these coaches travel to IL in the dead of winter to participate in this? (what's in it for them?)

If you think this is a good deal whether any of those coaches show up or not, then go for it. If the value for you is the chance for your DD to meet these coaches then I would have your DD call the individual coaches and see first hand if they are planning to attend. It's also a good way for her to introduce herself and get on their radar screens.

Also, FWIW, in a camp like this, I suspect these coaches will be looking at the Juniors way more than the 8th graders (b/c the Juniors have grades/SAT scores that show they can/can not hack it at these schools), so if my kid was in 8th -9th grade, I might attend for the experience, but I wouldn't expect a lot of coach attention.

[DDG]

Like h4p said, call or email the coaches you are really interested in and ask if they will be there. Most are very open and will tell you.

You asked if a student can play ball and get a degree in physics? At the right school this is possible. This is an important topic to discuss with any coach are guys are communicating with. My kid is at one of the schools on your list, working an chemical engineering degree. All of her teammates are on track to graduate in 4 years, including 4 engineering majors, a couple of math majors and a couple of other science majors. Its not easy. but doable if set up properly.

[B-Dad]

Thanks for the comments H4P and DDG. Good to know there are kids out there that can get the challenging degree they want and make it work with softball. I would rather find a way for her to get the degree she wants from the best school we can afford without softball than have her change her degree to make it work at a school that doesn't care about academics.. In any case, hopefully she can get academic cash to help.

DD is a freshman, can the coaches even write back to her (or me) confirm they are going?

I too am skeptical. I did hear that their costs are covered by the organizer, so the only thing the coaches spend is their time (which is valuable). I have looked at their their current rosters and only saw a few midwest girls on their teams. Hard to see those schools spending their time in the midwest when they carry one or two at a time (equates to half a girl over the four years).

[hit4power]

Check your PM....

If your DD is a frosh then the coaches can not reply to email, but your DD can call them and they can talk. From experience, it is often easier to reach the assistant coach than the head coach and usually the asst will know what the HC is doing or not.

I would rather find a way for her to get the degree she wants from the best school we can afford without softball than have her change her degree to make it work at a school that doesn't care about academics.. In any case, hopefully she can get academic cash to help.

IMO, that is the right approach. Academic money is better than athletic money. Regardless, the schools you've listed previously with the possible exception of Lehigh and ND, base their financial aid on family need. They really try to make it affordable for any kid who is good enough academically to get in.

[catcherdad]

Our dd is now on an Ivy league roster so here is our experience.

1. Grades, high school, AP course load, and SAT are key for these schools. They do not get excited until they have seen evidence of these sent by a player. Prepare your packets every summer. A couple of coaches wanted dd to scan her standardized test sheet and email it to them.
2. Elite schools are harder to target than others. Look at their current roster. Where do their kids come from. Some are becoming Cali and Texas focused. Some have relationships with established select programs.
3. Getting on the radar early is a good idea, and developing constant contact with updates, Ivy schools travel to tourneys, other elite colleges do not have the resources. But as you know the timing of a coach showing up to watch your dd and your dd getting to the plate or making a play is pure chance. One of these coaches did ask our select coach in a Huntington tourney to put our dd into hit 3 times in 2 innings and in two positions. The select coach managed to get part of this done, but not all of it.
4. Baseball has honors camps and games and coaches from the schools actually are on the field. Softball had one at Pennsbury and another couple in the NE in the fall. Some Ivy league schools have camps and we went to one of them. The head coach was very involved in observing talent.
5. This one may be worth it. Unfortunately, you will not know until it is over. Some kids shine at camps -- they stand out. Those kids can make an impact and be put on a watch list for years.
My daughter had interest from some D1 programs, but after that one ivy camp where she saw 3 graduates from the softball program talking about med school, wall street, and united way, she turned to me and said, I want to go to a school like this. The experience really motivated her to target these schools. She is very happy.