Verbal Commitments

Most of the D2 schools are the Cal States. Good league but not placesmost of the kids dream of going to. So cal girls want the PAC-12 or WCC and the prestige that goes with it as it pertains to soccer. That's my guess.
 
My dd was open to going anywhere for the adventure. We opened up the recruitment to D3 and yes if you receive an academic scholarship of some sort it's probably better than the D2 choices we have in CA. UC SAn Diego is probably at the top of the list at D2 but as a UC is it is very difficult to juggle a science major with soccer. At D3's you are a student first and hence you have time to be an engineering major or pre-med and play soccer.

There are engineering and pre-med majors at D1 schools playing at the highest level. Look at the rosters of the top academic D1 schools and you will see plenty of them.
 
There are engineering and pre-med majors at D1 schools playing at the highest level. Look at the rosters of the top academic D1 schools and you will see plenty of them.

On my son's team at UC Davis, one of better players was an honors pre-med who didn't try out for the team his first year, so he had a year of eligibility left when he graduated. He played his "Senior" year while a first-year med student.
 
G, thanks for posting the link. Interesting article. The Ivy League is small which will make it easy to police themselves and enforce the rule. Not sure how it would work on a broader scale. Kids committing in middle school seems insane... I think it might be an issue with the parents more so than the schools...
Of all the kids playing soccer, there are only a handful who commit to schools early. Only the very elite. Of the so called third of athletes who later transfer, most of those were not early commit. They were student/athletes who either didn't like the academics, location, coach or program. There are plenty of students who change schools. Many attend schools they can get into their freshman year, then after one of two years transfer to the school they really want.
 
...........Many attend schools they can get into their freshman year, then after one of two years transfer to the school they really want.

Is this a true statement? I have never seen any data/statistics indicating this trend.

Unless you are talking about doing 1~2 years in the community college, then transferring, changing colleges are not all that common. Change of major occurs within any given institution, as well as dropping out. Both of those are significantly higher than actual institution transfers.

I realize we all read and hear about a player here and there transferring from U of X to U of Y, but putting in proper context, the number of transfers versus the student population is less than 1%.

In particular to engineering curricula, the attrition rate is well over 70% when incoming freshman is compared to graduating seniors, based on my experience when I used to be on few industry advisory council at various universities.
 
Is this a true statement? I have never seen any data/statistics indicating this trend.

Unless you are talking about doing 1~2 years in the community college, then transferring, changing colleges are not all that common. Change of major occurs within any given institution, as well as dropping out. Both of those are significantly higher than actual institution transfers.

I realize we all read and hear about a player here and there transferring from U of X to U of Y, but putting in proper context, the number of transfers versus the student population is less than 1%.

In particular to engineering curricula, the attrition rate is well over 70% when incoming freshman is compared to graduating seniors, based on my experience when I used to be on few industry advisory council at various universities.
Because of the difficulty of getting into college, particularly the UC system, and for non athletes, I know of four seniors who have gotten acceptances to schools they are not planning on staying at. California schools are very impacted, many schools have a large amount of out of state students. Out of state students pay a higher tuition than in state. Money makers for the universities. Not sure about other states.
 
Is this a true statement? I have never seen any data/statistics indicating this trend.

Unless you are talking about doing 1~2 years in the community college, then transferring, changing colleges are not all that common. Change of major occurs within any given institution, as well as dropping out. Both of those are significantly higher than actual institution transfers.

I realize we all read and hear about a player here and there transferring from U of X to U of Y, but putting in proper context, the number of transfers versus the student population is less than 1%.

In particular to engineering curricula, the attrition rate is well over 70% when incoming freshman is compared to graduating seniors, based on my experience when I used to be on few industry advisory council at various universities.
Lambchops is posting "Alternative Facts"
 
Because of the difficulty of getting into college, particularly the UC system, and for non athletes, I know of four seniors who have gotten acceptances to schools they are not planning on staying at. California schools are very impacted, many schools have a large amount of out of state students. Out of state students pay a higher tuition than in state. Money makers for the universities. Not sure about other states.
BS, my DD was being recruited by UC Davis and UCI and didn't commit to those Universities a couple years ago.
 
My dd recently verbally committed as a sophomore to a (So cal) CA D1 school. She was apprehensive because of her age and we even discussed if she would still want to play soccer then. It had everything she wanted and she will be local (which was super important to her) and can come home if she wants to. I told her she shouldn't stress about it! If she chooses later to change her mind, it's ok. She can go to college no matter what and even if that mean JC. I personally find it crazy how early all of this starts. It's a lot of pressure on kids who are still trying to be a teenager.
 
My dd recently verbally committed as a sophomore to a (So cal) CA D1 school. She was apprehensive because of her age and we even discussed if she would still want to play soccer then. It had everything she wanted and she will be local (which was super important to her) and can come home if she wants to. I told her she shouldn't stress about it! If she chooses later to change her mind, it's ok. She can go to college no matter what and even if that mean JC. I personally find it crazy how early all of this starts. It's a lot of pressure on kids who are still trying to be a teenager.

It sounds like your player has a good head on her shoulders. She clearly knows what she wants and it sounds like she picked the school situation first and the soccer situation 2nd. Bravo!! Great parenting. It is crazy how early it starts. In my opinion it's hard to tell who the best players are at 14 and 15. It becomes much more accurate by the time they are 17-18. Good luck to you and yours.
 
It sounds like your player has a good head on her shoulders. She clearly knows what she wants and it sounds like she picked the school situation first and the soccer situation 2nd. Bravo!! Great parenting. It is crazy how early it starts. In my opinion it's hard to tell who the best players are at 14 and 15. It becomes much more accurate by the time they are 17-18. Good luck to you and yours.
Thank you!
 
My dd recently verbally committed as a sophomore to a (So cal) CA D1 school. She was apprehensive because of her age and we even discussed if she would still want to play soccer then. It had everything she wanted and she will be local (which was super important to her) and can come home if she wants to. I told her she shouldn't stress about it! If she chooses later to change her mind, it's ok. She can go to college no matter what and even if that mean JC. I personally find it crazy how early all of this starts. It's a lot of pressure on kids who are still trying to be a teenager.
Once she commits to a college, can she still look around and explore other options? This might not apply to a lot of kids, but in my HS days, the week where college acceptance letters were sent was pretty memorable. There were tears of joy along with disappointment.
 
Once she commits to a college, can she still look around and explore other options? This might not apply to a lot of kids, but in my HS days, the week where college acceptance letters were sent was pretty memorable. There were tears of joy along with disappointment.
Actually, if a player verbally commits. The player does NOT continue to entertain other school offers. That is not honorable and tells me the player and family did NOT verbally commit to the right school. This is unfair to the university which is saving a roster spot and earmarking athletic money, if money is involved with the players committment. If the player and family wants to keep entertaining offers. I highly suggest decommitting before doing so.

I know of a player who committed to a university and was still entertaining other offers. The University the player was verbally committed to found out (yes, college coaches talk to each other) and took their verbal offer away.
 
Once she commits to a college, can she still look around and explore other options? This might not apply to a lot of kids, but in my HS days, the week where college acceptance letters were sent was pretty memorable. There were tears of joy along with disappointment.

You are allowed to explore other options. There is nothing binding about a verbal commitment (for either your DD or the university). As NoGoal points out, this may rub a coach the wrong way if they find out. And if your DD lands a better option through exploring, no reason not to tell the coach right away you are decommitting. But the reality is, almost every kid that decommits does so only after they have quietly explored other options. I don't think there is any "dishonor" in working a system. The university is not bound, so they shouldn't pretend your kid is bound.
 
You are allowed to explore other options. There is nothing binding about a verbal commitment (for either your DD or the university). As NoGoal points out, this may rub a coach the wrong way if they find out. And if your DD lands a better option through exploring, no reason not to tell the coach right away you are decommitting. But the reality is, almost every kid that decommits does so only after they have quietly explored other options. I don't think there is any "dishonor" in working a system. The university is not bound, so they shouldn't pretend your kid is bound.

I have NOT heard of one 2017 commit who's verbal agreement was not honored. I.E. ended up with less money than agreed. Unless of course the player didn't academically get into the school. Verbal offer and acceptance are a word of honor between both parties.

This is what a family is doing to a university, if a player verbally accepts an offer, then underhandedly decides to continue entertaining offers without decommitting first. You leave the verbally committed university in a bind. Lets say they only need 1 centerback for the class. The player who verbally committed as a HS sophomore was their #1 centerback on their recruiting board. They stopped recruiting the #2-5 centerbacks on their board. A year later as a HS Jr, the player decommits, because the family was still entertaining offers. Leaving the university SOL, because their #2-5 centerbacks have now committed elsewhere.

A player and family are NOT ready to verbally commit, if they still want to entertain offers. If any family wants to continue the recruitment process, decommit first...so, the univeristy can continue recruiting for the position in need.
 
FWIW, I heard of 2 SoCal top 20 class of 2017 recruits who verbally committed as HS freshmen. They decommitted "first" before restarting their recruiting process. They did not leave the university hanging.
 
Coaches reach out to committed players all the time. There is no honor among thieves.
And I know of one of those Universities and I wouldn't want my DD playing for that coach. It reveals the character and integrity of that coach and how he runs his program. 2 wrongs doesn't make a right!

I also have seen many college coaches who took a team brochure and crossed out all of the players who were already committed on the brochure. There are honorable college coaches out there.
 
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