Out of the 200 schools, what % were D1, D2, and D3? Since you are playing D3, would you have gotten the same academic/need scholarships anyway without tennis? There are a lot of lurkers on these boards, so for their benefit, would you recommmend NCSA primarily to 2 star, maybe 3 stars who are academically strong as far as rigorous courseload, GPA and test scores? For the D1 and D2 in your list of 200, was most of the aid they offered still merit and need vs athletic? I cant see the benefit for 4 star-blue chips. Does NCSA give just Email and office phone numbers or does it give cell numbers of coaches too? Usually the cell phone numbers are not on the college website, but coaches include them in Emails to recruits. I know a lot of my son's contact with coaches has been via text. My son is a 4 star but even his 3 star friends get a response to Emails sent to midtier D1 schools. In our section, there are 3 stars with offers from midtier D1 that they pursued on their own. That is why I wonder if NCSA is best for 2 stars.
My impression, and correct me if I am wrong, is that colleges that use NCSA to help them find recruits are obviously colleges that are not already being bombarded with Emails from US and foreign recruits. Since international recruits send out tons of Emails to D1 and D2s, I assume NCSA clients are mainly D3 and D1/D2 schools that are not fully funded for tennis and who are using academic $ to fill those unfunded spots. Therefore if a player does not have sterling GPA, test scores, etc, he/she is probably better off not using NCSA.
Ihatetennis, since you are very familar with how this forum works since you have a lot of posts, could you move these posts to another thread on NCSA or recruiting services? I am a relative newbie to the forum so I dont know it that can be done or not. There may be a lot of lurkers wondering about NCSA and they won't think to look for it under a UTR thread. College is expensive and the college recruiting process can be time consuming and confusing. Too many players transfer from making ill-informed initial decisions. They overestimate their value and abilities and end up sitting on the bench. Thanks for sharing from your own personal experience as it may help other recruits find aid or a good fit school via NCSA. We had gotten some marketing phone calls from NCSA but never scheduled a time to hear their pitch on services as our son was getting responses on his own.
4 stars don't get full rides, unless youre a girl
I would recommend it for anyone who isnt a 5 star or blue chip
I also got responses of my own before ncsa, but ncsa honestly helps a lot
Basically it matches you with shcools based on your ability, not all ranking based, so when coaches see that ncsa thinks a 3 star can hang in d1 they look at him and his videos if the ncsa coaches think he has what it takes. It also combines usta tnr and utr in a simple layout for the coaches, includes gpa courses transcripts and sat/act scores
Coaches like recruiting people they know they can admit, even schools who are top d3 use ncsa to get a 360 view of the player. Helps them understand the player and the potential as well.
out of my 200 schools, i was probably about 60-35-5 split d3 d2 d1
As far as the clientele, ncsa has kids in d1s that are more mid tier in rankings. A ton of d2 d3 and naia schools though, but every coach has a profile from what i can see.
The kids with bad gpas and test scores probably don't belong at harvard and would not enjoy it, ncsa finds schools and gives you a % of how well matched you are based on their acceptance scores and grads as well as ability.
I chose d3 because I could get a better education at 72k total over 4 years. Most schools that my friends are going to will cost them 130-150k for the 4 years.
I got absolutely no merit aid either, my grades are okay not great and my sat was good not great. I got in and based on my families income and need they awarded more than 50% in grants to me. While at ut austin or texas a&m i would be paying twice as much a year.
Ncsa is for people who want to enjoy their college life and be able to play at the school that fits them perfectly, it paved the way for me to go to a school that i will be happy and compete at a high d3 level. I also got a handful of d1 d2 and naia offers, but i would pick academics over division any day, plus d3 is strong inside the top 10 schools.
NCSA is for everyone who wants to be a working proffesional and not a tennis player. If youre going pro then you will end up at a top d1. It also lets you get a chance to evaluate your chances at a playing spot well, they will tell you where your level is compared to the team. Some d1 i looked at i would have been benched 1-3 years depending on recruiting classes and some d3 i looked at i would have been top 2 off the bat. neither place is where i would become my best and be happiest, now i am going to a school that i will play a little at the bottom first year or two and then have a chance to be a leader on the team.
I will post these in the ncsa thread, but i think that ncsa is a great tool and i would highly recommend it to anyone looking to play tennis in college but not tennis for a living.