Does early college hurt or help getting an Appointment?

I know a young lady who had a verbal to play softball at Stanford in her freshman year of high school - yeah, she's that good. The caveat? She needed to maintain an excellent GPA throughout her HS years. Unfortunately, she was unable to do that and the official offer never came through. On the other hand, she's been recruited by Northwestern.
 
Right. *i* don't know the NCAA rules. Did you happen to check out my screen name?

Of course YOU may speak to a coach, and those visits are unofficial in the extreme. And these "commitments" are, yes, not official in any way. So, let us please use the correct nomenclature here, because some serious trouble could result, and there are others here who are interested in all sorts of DivI programs (and II and even III) who would do better to know that your visits to such schools was indeed totally unofficial, and that your "verbal commitment" essentially is a "hi, I hear you play ball."

You may not be interested in playing ball at Notre Dame, but let's be clear: you did not "turn them down to play at USAFA." You have no nomination, you have no appointment, and you are not (yet) a blue-chipped athlete.

I don't mean to be a nancy-nooger but it is important for all on this site to know that there are NCAA rules to be followed and easy play with the vocabulary can be a stickler.

Baseball, have you filled out the NCAA recruit sheet? It used to be, back in the day, one couldn't even fill it out until one was a rising senior.
 
Verbal commitments are common in many sports. Soccer verbals begin as early as 10th grade. Actually heard of a local phenom being "recruited" in the 8 th grade. Of course contact was funneled through the coach and ODP program. But kid yourself not...college coaches have their hooks in kids earlier and earlier. The really good ones do it very carefully, as to stay within the wording of the rules, if not the spirit.

Recruit questionnaires are on a schools athletic dept website and those who are in the 9th grade or higher can fill out as "prospective" student athletes. Waiting until you are a rising senior is not advisable. Recruit classes are set much earlier, albeit unofficially.
 
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Please allow me to add my two cents' worth here as a parent of a high school sophomore (soon to be rising junior) who's looking into playing college sports. I've also served as a Board member for our local community's sport-specific youth athletic association, so I am a LITTLE BIT familiar with SOME of the rules. (In other words, I probably know just enough to be dangerous - to myself or others around me!)

Per the NCAA Eligibility Center's guidelines, prospective NCAA student-athletes should register with that entity (I think this is the "recruit sheet" referred to by @fencersmother) starting in the fall of their junior year of high school. Depending on the sport, that is also GENERALLY the time when NCAA coaches can start officially speaking with prospective student-athletes. Please be aware that there are a number of individuals and organizations who will be happy to assist with the clearinghouse registration process - for an additional fee. (There is a $65 fee through the NCAA's web site.) The NCAA's site is LOADED with information and guidelines, and the rules are truly mind-boggling. The short version: contact such as that described by @Baseballrecruit might be within NCAA guidelines.

I agree with @fencersmother that the use of some of these terms (such as "committed") might not be within the NCAA rules; certainly ANY verbal offer is only talk - it's not binding on either the student-athlete or the college/university. However, I can tell you that these terms are used all the time in any number of sports, and well before any official contact is permitted by the NCAA. The term "committed" is freely (and frequently) used by prospective student-athletes, parents, coaches, and others. @shellz is right on re: the age group, too - my prospective student-athlete attended a soccer camp several months ago that was run by one of a number of evaluating services. I now get regular emails with updates detailing the "commitments" being made by fellow members of her class (of 2017), even though these student-athletes aren't technically allowed to have formal contact with NCAA coaches until this coming September 1st! In fact, this service seems to brag that a significant portion (it looks to be half or more) of their "Top 150" have already committed.

I am by no means justifying the use of the term - merely trying to add perspective to the conversation. Anyone hoping to play an NCAA sport should be very careful to make sure that they (and their parents and coaches) understand the rules; violations could jeopardize their chances.
 
A student athlete may have unlimited contact w/ coaches IF it is a) on the college campus and b) via a telephone call YOU make. The coaches cannot initiate contact, prior to a specific date (timelines can be found on NCAA.com, for my kids sport it was July 1 after Jr. year. At that point we'd already done unofficial visits though, so the contact really wasn't a big surprise) or pay for anything on your visit, including meals, travel or tickets to events. As a senior, you are permitted 5 official trips where all of your expenses can be paid for. Some schools can afford to roll out the red carpet, others not so much. All of the coaches in our D's recruitment were very careful with these rules, but we did hear of a few who really pushed the envelope.

Coaches generally won't really have the time of day for you until you are in 10th grade anyway...too many variables to invest in a kid that early. They can get injured, lose interest, do poorly on SAT or school grades.

Service Academies are given a little more leeway in the recruiting timeline, as the NCAA recognizes that applicants have far more hoops to jump through. Allowing the coach to reach out earlier than civilian coaches gives them a fighting chance to recruit successfully.
 
Thank you shellz for your clarifications. My intent of this thread has digressed and should probably end. There are many other sites not academy related to NCAA recruitment.
 
Keep up the good work @Baseballrecruit. Keep those coaches in the loop and remember that YOU are your own best advocate. Coaches have many, many recruits to track. Make it easy for them by filling out the questionnaires, visiting campus, attending games. The squeaky wheel, and all that. :)

Good luck!
 
I just want to suggest you take a look at the LSU distance education math (or any other classes) They have three semesters of Calculus, and a Linear Algebra course, and sort of a Diff Eq/LA blended course. For the money you get a great course with solid textbooks. No admission hassles. The books are a little older so they can be had for a good price and you use the same book for all 3 Calculus courses. My younger daughter did all of her calculus courses using these courses. She had trouble with the LA course, as she said the book wasn't very good, but I see it's a different book now. She did a lot of the homework and exams during the school breaks as you can stretch the course out to fit it around your other classes. The homework is graded and the exams are complete, long, but fair. ( I tried a course to test it out first ) The prices have gone up, it used to be really inexpensive, too good to be true I thought. They were everything you would want in a course....

However for her the (funny) thing was that they neglected to mention that the math department at her university totally ignores all distance courses (except for their own distance ed of course) So she had to take (on the quarter system 3 math classes ) to meet the prerequisites for her Physics degree and apply to engineering etc. She was quite an unhappy girl at the time as she got A 's in those classes but they weren't accepted as math classes, only general ed credits. However when she enrolled in the U's classes (using the same book) it turned out the course wasn't as rigorous as the LSU course (didn't cover all the chapters) and there was a lot of cheating going on in the U's exams. For LSU you have to have your exams proctored sitting in a little room by yourself for 3 hours so it's very difficult to cheat. The other odd thing was that the U's courses are often sort of distance anyway, the homework is web assigned and graded and the lectures were online so it was essentially taught the same as a distance course once you looked closely. But it was considered a residence course when you enrolled(and paid) . It did slow her down but she had math classes in her schedule that were for her an easy A so she could concentrate on her other classes. She just got admitted to the CS and also EE departments (hard to get into) so that was her goal in addition to a physics degree. She said the LSU math really taught her how to study (she was in HS and Freshman in college when she did them) and looking back she got a really solid math background sort of going at her own pace and really studying hard for the exams. She is now signing up for the upper level math classes at the U she really loves them, but she had to also declare a math major in addition to the other two. (Just to take a few courses you have to be a major) Its not a bad way to go, you can never have enough math. You could start your classes now and get a lot done over the summer. (just take one at a time)
My older dd is the academy grad, she was also very comfortable with distance ed (they were Homeschooled) She just got her MS in Accounting (about 5 years after she graduated in '09) . while working, she is a Capt now.) She started an in residence masters at her base but when she was transferred the new base didn't have the same program. She ended up with an online program to finish. She said the ability to focus for online courses was really valuable and hard to do when you are working FT. Her husband started one but couldn't handle the online format. I am proud she could finish her Masters even while being deployed and working long hours pretty much every day ....
 
I am a junior in high school and I just turned 17. I am applying for the Academy class which starts fall of 2016. I am being recruited to be a pitcher for the baseball team. The problem is that I am done with high school now in spring of 2015. My school only offers Calculus AP. The other AP classes are a joke. I have finished 2 semesters of college English. I was counting on 100% dual enrollment at the local junior college, but it was a lottery which I lost because it was purely random and not based on my 4.7 GPA or being in the top 1% of my class. Unfortunately it is too late to get into the prep schools. My parents who are both engineers say that I have to graduate and go to the local big state University and start my engineering core classes. They will allow me to do AFROTC as an elective. My application for nominations and the Academy are based on my current records at the high school. The coach has indicated that with my good SAT scores I will have no problems. I have not taken any physicals yet.

My question is how will being a full-time college student in ROTC instead of a senior in high school affect my application? I am also concerned about my GPA dropping some because of the increased rigor of the big university's pre-engineering program. My older sister who took Calculus 1 at the junior college and Calculus 2 at the university said it is twice as hard. The colonel in charge of the ROTC program indicated that he knows of only 1 or 2 of his students out of many that went to the Academy after starting at the university.
It sounds like you are a senior this yr so I am not sure why you would need to go to a prep school if you havent graduated yet. But if you are graduating- You mentioned it is too late to get into a prep program. It may not be. If you were my son, I would start calling Marion Military Institute (Marion Alabama), or New Mexico Military Institute (New Mexico) both are reasonably priced and have prep programs for all 5 Service Academies. The moment you take FT classes in a college AFTER HS graduation- your NCAA clock starts ticking (there may be some different rules for the Service Academies). You want to talk to the coach of the SA who is interested in you. The Coach will KNOW how best to advise you (he doesnt want to lose a recruit- it is very difficult to recruit to the SAs). AFROTC is not going to hurt your application- the Col may only be aware of 1 or 2 students because the majority may not be there to gain admission into a SA. If it is more challenging high school classes you are looking for- maybe there is another high school in your area that has a gifted/talented program that you can attend. Or it sounds like you will have to take what AP classes are offerred at your current school and ace it. Good luck.
 
Right. *i* don't know the NCAA rules. Did you happen to check out my screen name?

Of course YOU may speak to a coach, and those visits are unofficial in the extreme. And these "commitments" are, yes, not official in any way. So, let us please use the correct nomenclature here, because some serious trouble could result, and there are others here who are interested in all sorts of DivI programs (and II and even III) who would do better to know that your visits to such schools was indeed totally unofficial, and that your "verbal commitment" essentially is a "hi, I hear you play ball."

You may not be interested in playing ball at Notre Dame, but let's be clear: you did not "turn them down to play at USAFA." You have no nomination, you have no appointment, and you are not (yet) a blue-chipped athlete.

I don't mean to be a nancy-nooger but it is important for all on this site to know that there are NCAA rules to be followed and easy play with the vocabulary can be a stickler.

Baseball, have you filled out the NCAA recruit sheet? It used to be, back in the day, one couldn't even fill it out until one was a rising senior.
The NCAA now encourages those who have the desire to play any D1 sport (or D2 and D3 for that matter) to start planning and working it as soon as they enter HS. Meaning with the rule changes esp 2016- one has to be on top of it from the get go. There is also a prequal that can be done- usually end of their junior yr. The BaseballRecruit has obviously done his homework. It is getting much stricter- 2015 is the last yr of where one does not have to show "progression" in the core courses.
 
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