D3 football recruiting process

[PattyJo]

My son has been on a few unofficial visits but is planning to go on an official visit at a d3 school in a few weeks. Over the summer he had sent his HS transcript and SAT scores to get a pre-read but he has not heard back about the result but he did apply early action to the college because he is considering it whether he plays a sport or not. The email says if he decides the school and program are a good match for him after he visits he could change his application to early decision. But he has not been officially offered a spot on the team at this school so I'm not sure that would be a good idea, plus we don't have any financial information yet. What do we need to know about this process and what questions should be asked? Thanks.

[Oline89]

My son has been on a few unofficial visits but is planning to go on an official visit at a d3 school in a few weeks. Over the summer he had sent his HS transcript and SAT scores to get a pre-read but he has not heard back about the result but he did apply early action to the college because he is considering it whether he plays a sport or not. The email says if he decides the school and program are a good match for him after he visits he could change his application to early decision. But he has not been officially offered a spot on the team at this school so I'm not sure that would be a good idea, plus we don't have any financial information yet. What do we need to know about this process and what questions should be asked? Thanks.

If there is a school he absolutely wants to attend, then early decision is definitely the way to go, especially for the highly competitive schools.  The odds of getting in are much higher.  However, many times, recruited football players don't find out where they stand on the coaches "depth chart" until later into the application process.  It seems that the majority of players on the "higher competitive" academic list apply at the ED 2 deadline, usually sometime in February.  By that point, the players know where they stand in the eyes of both the coaching staff and admissions of the different colleges.

[PattyJo]

Oh thanks. I didn't even think of ED2. I was just think of ED1 which would seem like not enough time to figure things out. It is one of his 5 top choices, even without football but we would definitely need to know the financial info first since the tuition is quite high. I looked at this school does have ED 2 so maybe that is what the coach was referring to. Thanks.

[Ron Boerger]

In D3, it would be rare for *any* incoming football recruit *not* to get a "spot on the team".   Depending on the school and its needs, that could mean anything from a starting role to third-string spot on a JV squad (that said, many schools don't have JV teams). 

[CollegeGolf18]

In D3, it would be rare for *any* incoming football recruit *not* to get a "spot on the team".   Depending on the school and its needs, that could mean anything from a starting role to third-string spot on a JV squad (that said, many schools don't have JV teams).

That's what I was going to say. I went to Wabash and everyone who attended the school could have played football if they wanted to.

Now, I don't mean literally, but you get the point.