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QUESTION
My soccer-playing daughter is being recruited by two D 1 schools. They have both asked for financial info so they can give us an estimate of financial aid. Can we expect they will base their scholarship amount on what we need after financial aid?
ANSWER
How much (or how little) financial aid recruits need often plays a role in whom a college coach can or cannot recruit. When you get out of the mainstream sports where the scholarship dollars lie (football and basketball) the recruiting process becomes much more difficult for coaches and parents/recruits because there is usually less money for college coaches to use when recruiting. This causes coaches to not only recruit athletes that can play for their school but athletes that can PAY for their school so how much aid you need or are looking for can play a huge role in what schools recruit you. If two athletes of similar talent and academic ability are being recruited by the same school/coach and one athletes needs no aid and the other needs $20,000 in aid that may not exist, it's possible the coach will go with the player that can pay most of their own way.
Conversely, how much aid you qualify for from a given school can be used as an advantage by the coach, because you aid offer may be higher for their school than other colleges you may be looking at. While no scholarship money may be available from the coach, a generous financial aid package of say, $20,000 per year from that school may make that school more attractive to you than a school offering less money. If you need $15,000 but the school only has $11,000 to offer, its possible the coach offers an additional $4,000 per year to fill in the gap.
The bottom line is not every recruit can afford every school and the coach needs to know what you need, what you want, what you qualify for and how they can fill in the gaps to make your attendance at that college feasible. In New England where you have many private schools that are both expensive and difficult to gain entrance to, coaches are challenged in finding a recruit that can play, can pay, and can gain acceptance to their school, and that goes for many schools throughout the country.
Here is an email I received from a parent last year from a college coach which shows one of the ways coaches will use financial aid as a recruiting tool....
******* University is still very interested in *******! We have a lot of confidence in her athleticism ---- she can be an impact player in the ******* Softball Program! We are a Div I school that is small enough to keep a healthy balance between athletics/academics! Examples are that my softball graduation rate is 100%, our team GPA is 3.2, and my players have the opportunity to travel abroad!
With that being said, our admissions requirements are exceptionally high! I have met with the softball admissions liasion on behalf of *******. She has a realistic shot of being admitted through the ED I (Nov 15th) window --- providing that your family is NOT applying for financial aid.
Do you feel this is a sacrifice that you are willing to make ---- if she so desired to attend a school of our status? If so, I'll offer ******* an OFFICIAL VISIT so that she can visit *******, meet our players, view a practice, attend classes, talk w/professors, etc.
I wouldn't want to lead ******* on, have her visit & fall in love with *******, and then have finances be the reason she couldn't attend. Please let me know if I should take the recruiting process to the next step.
With respectful consideration.......
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