Best Academic School or Best Lacrosse School

[Anonymous]

As this applies to boys or girls lacrosse I just wanted to know where people align themselves.

Should your kids:

A) Use lacrosse to help them get into the best academic school possible, maybe even a DIII school with high academics?
B) Focus on getting a D1 commitment and scholarship (or more likely a partial scholarship) at the best possible lacrosse program?

Meaning if your son or daughter could use lacrosse to help them get into MIT, since they have lacrosse and are clearly one of the top academic schools in the country I'll use them. But they also got a D1 offer from Maryland to play lacrosse. Would you sacrifice the opportunity to go to an MIT (or other top tier academic school) for a D1 powerhouse whose academics are still good but not in the same league as an MIT?

Just curious where people are thinking.

I'm a parent that leans towards A above which is why when I see all the craziness about club lacrosse and college commitments I wonder if the same people are posting in math forums and saying "well I heard Mr. Anderson's Calculus class tends to score higher on the SAT than Mrs. Johnson's...."

How about you?

[Anonymous]

A. It’s a no-brainer.

[Anonymous]

I would agree A but looking at the way many parents speak about the different clubs and their college commitments they seem to be more excited about great lacrosse programs kids got into rather than the great opportunity to go to a school they might not otherwise get into without lacrosse (or other sport) assistance.

[Anonymous]

I’m fully in the A camp, but probably because I don’t think I see the potential or desire in my kid to push for top tier D1.

Of course, the holy grail for many would be to do both (eg, Yale, Penn, Duke, etc).

[Anonymous]

A. We looked at the Linkedin pages of some of the recent grads of some of the best-lax-but-less-selective overall schools. They don't seem to be fairing any better than the other grads of said schools. Yes, there will be CEO's from both Maryland and MIT, but overall a MIT degree will probably serve your child better in life, if they are up to it. My DD is thinking about teaching and coaching lax and is not really into academics, so she's looking at B, but your child can find a lax community and the benefits that go along with that at any school so definitely choose the best academic fit. My older DS was a highly-ranked athlete in high school (different sport) and also high GPA/SAT, and chose not to pursue his sport in college, but has found tons other other athletic/academic/social activities to fill that void. Once you get on that college commit train, I think it is easy to get tunnel vision, I know we were right there for a while, but after son chose A we're so glad he did, even though he occasionally wishes he was part of a varsity team and everything that goes along with that, overall it's been the right choice for him.

[Anonymous]

Choose A if you have a brain. Anyone who thinks lacrosse is going to earn any meaningful amount of athletic scholarship is an idiot. IT DOESN"T HAPPEN. Unlike football and basketball, who give full tuition scholarships, D1 lacrosse teams spread maybe 10 or 12 scholarships at best btw 40-45 players. What lacrosse can do for your child is increase their odds of getting admitted to a great school that will help them get a better job/career, etc. For that reason, it makes more sense to pick the top ranked D3 schools (Amherst, Tufts, etc) than a fair to middling D1 school for $1500 - $3000 "scholarship."

[Anonymous]

What a silly argument. Not one student is considering lacrosse at MIT v. Lacrosse at Towson. The difference is in the margins and varies for every individual. I think the bigger issue would cost of education rather than lacrosse. Reviewing linked In profiles of recent grads? Wow, I hope our paths never cross. That is creepy to admit albeit on an anonymous post. In reality, there is some benefit to playing lacrosse on a partial scholarship at UVA v. Tufts, Dartmouth, Brown. Using a sport to get an edge at Richmond may be a better choice than not playing at Wake Forrest. It really depends on the student and all things should be considered. If your son loves the sport, I think it should be a factor. The top lacrosse teams also happen to be the top academic schools for the most part. The last two final fours were Duke, UVA, and Yale. What should be considered is if the student can handle a top academic school while also committing to a sport. That should be the question. College is part of the path not the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Choose A if you have a brain. Anyone who thinks lacrosse is going to earn any meaningful amount of athletic scholarship is an idiot. IT DOESN"T HAPPEN. Unlike football and basketball, who give full tuition scholarships, D1 lacrosse teams spread maybe 10 or 12 scholarships at best btw 40-45 players. What lacrosse can do for your child is increase their odds of getting admitted to a great school that will help them get a better job/career, etc. For that reason, it makes more sense to pick the top ranked D3 schools (Amherst, Tufts, etc) than a fair to middling D1 school for $1500 - $3000 "scholarship."

It makes sense to go to a $81k/year (Amherst) or $76k/year (Tufts) school if you're getting a crappy $1500 scholarship?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a silly argument. Not one student is considering lacrosse at MIT v. Lacrosse at Towson. The difference is in the margins and varies for every individual. I think the bigger issue would cost of education rather than lacrosse. Reviewing linked In profiles of recent grads? Wow, I hope our paths never cross. That is creepy to admit albeit on an anonymous post. In reality, there is some benefit to playing lacrosse on a partial scholarship at UVA v. Tufts, Dartmouth, Brown. Using a sport to get an edge at Richmond may be a better choice than not playing at Wake Forrest. It really depends on the student and all things should be considered. If your son loves the sport, I think it should be a factor. The top lacrosse teams also happen to be the top academic schools for the most part. The last two final fours were Duke, UVA, and Yale. What should be considered is if the student can handle a top academic school while also committing to a sport. That should be the question. College is part of the path not the end.

How else would you suggest finding data regarding whether or not lacrosse at a less competitive D1 school would give you a career boost? If you think that's creepy, then you obviously don't realize how Google/Apple/FB make money. Does your car have a crank start?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a silly argument. Not one student is considering lacrosse at MIT v. Lacrosse at Towson. The difference is in the margins and varies for every individual. I think the bigger issue would cost of education rather than lacrosse. Reviewing linked In profiles of recent grads? Wow, I hope our paths never cross. That is creepy to admit albeit on an anonymous post. In reality, there is some benefit to playing lacrosse on a partial scholarship at UVA v. Tufts, Dartmouth, Brown. Using a sport to get an edge at Richmond may be a better choice than not playing at Wake Forrest. It really depends on the student and all things should be considered. If your son loves the sport, I think it should be a factor. The top lacrosse teams also happen to be the top academic schools for the most part. The last two final fours were Duke, UVA, and Yale. What should be considered is if the student can handle a top academic school while also committing to a sport. That should be the question. College is part of the path not the end.

What a silly argument. Wake Forest lacrosse is club.

[Anonymous]

The fact that it is a club is exactly the point. The two schools are similar in academics and cost. A good lacrosse player may be looking at both schools due to the type of school but would choose Richmond based on lacrosse program. That would be a logical reason to choose B over A in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Sorry Richmond is not comparable to WF in academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry Richmond is not comparable to WF in academics.

I guess you have not yet figured out how to work the google machine?

http://prepmatters.com/blog/wake-forest-and-u-of-richmond

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a silly argument. Not one student is considering lacrosse at MIT v. Lacrosse at Towson. The difference is in the margins and varies for every individual. I think the bigger issue would cost of education rather than lacrosse. Reviewing linked In profiles of recent grads? Wow, I hope our paths never cross. That is creepy to admit albeit on an anonymous post. In reality, there is some benefit to playing lacrosse on a partial scholarship at UVA v. Tufts, Dartmouth, Brown. Using a sport to get an edge at Richmond may be a better choice than not playing at Wake Forrest. It really depends on the student and all things should be considered. If your son loves the sport, I think it should be a factor. The top lacrosse teams also happen to be the top academic schools for the most part. The last two final fours were Duke, UVA, and Yale. What should be considered is if the student can handle a top academic school while also committing to a sport. That should be the question. College is part of the path not the end.

How else would you suggest finding data regarding whether or not lacrosse at a less competitive D1 school would give you a career boost? If you think that's creepy, then you obviously don't realize how Google/Apple/FB make money. Does your car have a crank start?

They make money selling ads, no?? They are at risk of losing money due to creepy stalkers that misuse it to track down people that rejected them in HS (own a mirror?) Based on your logic, why don't you get on snap chat and Insta and go after players on local club teams and find out where they are looking to go to college? That would not be too creepy would it? I suggest you send your child to school as far from home as possible because it will be they best thing for them. Trust me on that one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a silly argument. Not one student is considering lacrosse at MIT v. Lacrosse at Towson. The difference is in the margins and varies for every individual. I think the bigger issue would cost of education rather than lacrosse. Reviewing linked In profiles of recent grads? Wow, I hope our paths never cross. That is creepy to admit albeit on an anonymous post. In reality, there is some benefit to playing lacrosse on a partial scholarship at UVA v. Tufts, Dartmouth, Brown. Using a sport to get an edge at Richmond may be a better choice than not playing at Wake Forrest. It really depends on the student and all things should be considered. If your son loves the sport, I think it should be a factor. The top lacrosse teams also happen to be the top academic schools for the most part. The last two final fours were Duke, UVA, and Yale. What should be considered is if the student can handle a top academic school while also committing to a sport. That should be the question. College is part of the path not the end.

How else would you suggest finding data regarding whether or not lacrosse at a less competitive D1 school would give you a career boost? If you think that's creepy, then you obviously don't realize how Google/Apple/FB make money. Does your car have a crank start?

They make money selling ads, no?? They are at risk of losing money due to creepy stalkers that misuse it to track down people that rejected them in HS (own a mirror?) Based on your logic, why don't you get on snap chat and Insta and go after players on local club teams and find out where they are looking to go to college? That would not be too creepy would it? I suggest you send your child to school as far from home as possible because it will be they best thing for them. Trust me on that one.

That's a good try, but think more deeply: why do those companies want to buy ads on those platforms? I suggest that you keep your children as close to home as possible, so that they can come over and help you when you forget how to use the remote.

Trust me on that one.