What is the point of being a college athlete?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get into a college you wouldn’t have gotten into otherwise, although in that case, you can quit the day you arrive on campus for freshmen year with no repercussions.

VERY very few families look at this way. I’d say probably <1% of families are savvy gunners using it to get into a super selective college. Majority just want to brag their kid “plays at the next level” and will go to crappy colleges they’d never otherwise consider to make it happen. Dumb as hell.

Where I live, 99% of the parents I know are indeed focusing on their kids’ sports as a way to get an admissions boost at highly selective, elite colleges or Universities. The same is true in every other wealthy, highly educated area in the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get into a college you wouldn’t have gotten into otherwise, although in that case, you can quit the day you arrive on campus for freshmen year with no repercussions.

VERY very few families look at this way. I’d say probably <1% of families are savvy gunners using it to get into a super selective college. Majority just want to brag their kid “plays at the next level” and will go to crappy colleges they’d never otherwise consider to make it happen. Dumb as hell.

Where I live, 99% of the parents I know are indeed focusing on their kids’ sports as a way to get an admissions boost at highly selective, elite colleges or Universities. The same is true in every other wealthy, highly educated area in the country.

A rare talent that allows a person to know EVERY OTHER wealthy, highly educated parent throughout the country!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get into a college you wouldn’t have gotten into otherwise, although in that case, you can quit the day you arrive on campus for freshmen year with no repercussions.

VERY very few families look at this way. I’d say probably <1% of families are savvy gunners using it to get into a super selective college. Majority just want to brag their kid “plays at the next level” and will go to crappy colleges they’d never otherwise consider to make it happen. Dumb as hell.

Where I live, 99% of the parents I know are indeed focusing on their kids’ sports as a way to get an admissions boost at highly selective, elite colleges or Universities. The same is true in every other wealthy, highly educated area in the country.

A rare talent that allows a person to know EVERY OTHER wealthy, highly educated parent throughout the country!!!

Alright, if you want to be pedantic, I’ll rephrase the final sentence to say that my UMC friends in other wealthy enclaves report the same thing, and I expect you’d find that elite college admissions are a significant motivating factor for the majority of sports parents with talented HS age kids other in wealthy, well-educated communities. Those of you who think that 99% of parents are happy to send their kids to play sports at “crappy colleges” for bragging rights are living in a different world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get into a college you wouldn’t have gotten into otherwise, although in that case, you can quit the day you arrive on campus for freshmen year with no repercussions.

VERY very few families look at this way. I’d say probably <1% of families are savvy gunners using it to get into a super selective college. Majority just want to brag their kid “plays at the next level” and will go to crappy colleges they’d never otherwise consider to make it happen. Dumb as hell.

Where I live, 99% of the parents I know are indeed focusing on their kids’ sports as a way to get an admissions boost at highly selective, elite colleges or Universities. The same is true in every other wealthy, highly educated area in the country.

Well this is only gonna work if the kid does some ridiculous niche sport . I hope they realize this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get into a college you wouldn’t have gotten into otherwise, although in that case, you can quit the day you arrive on campus for freshmen year with no repercussions.

VERY very few families look at this way. I’d say probably <1% of families are savvy gunners using it to get into a super selective college. Majority just want to brag their kid “plays at the next level” and will go to crappy colleges they’d never otherwise consider to make it happen. Dumb as hell.

Where I live, 99% of the parents I know are indeed focusing on their kids’ sports as a way to get an admissions boost at highly selective, elite colleges or Universities. The same is true in every other wealthy, highly educated area in the country.

Well this is only gonna work if the kid does some ridiculous niche sport . I hope they realize this

Soccer, in our case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get into a college you wouldn’t have gotten into otherwise, although in that case, you can quit the day you arrive on campus for freshmen year with no repercussions.

VERY very few families look at this way. I’d say probably <1% of families are savvy gunners using it to get into a super selective college. Majority just want to brag their kid “plays at the next level” and will go to crappy colleges they’d never otherwise consider to make it happen. Dumb as hell.

Where I live, 99% of the parents I know are indeed focusing on their kids’ sports as a way to get an admissions boost at highly selective, elite colleges or Universities. The same is true in every other wealthy, highly educated area in the country.

Well this is only gonna work if the kid does some ridiculous niche sport . I hope they realize this

Lacrosse, crew, field hockey

[Anonymous]

For some types of employers, having been a D1 athlete is a huge plus?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get into a college you wouldn’t have gotten into otherwise, although in that case, you can quit the day you arrive on campus for freshmen year with no repercussions.

VERY very few families look at this way. I’d say probably <1% of families are savvy gunners using it to get into a super selective college. Majority just want to brag their kid “plays at the next level” and will go to crappy colleges they’d never otherwise consider to make it happen. Dumb as hell.

Where I live, 99% of the parents I know are indeed focusing on their kids’ sports as a way to get an admissions boost at highly selective, elite colleges or Universities. The same is true in every other wealthy, highly educated area in the country.

They are delusional. People seize on a few URMs and rich kid student-athletes in their orbit who play at grandpa’s alma mater when the odds for your random middle to upper middle class kid are basically one in a million. Reality sets in senior year when the kid’s options are play at some non-selective podunk d3 or just go to the same state school most of their high school heads to.

[Anonymous]

Having not been a college athlete myself, I would say:
--Admissions boost to somewhere they wouldn't otherwise go
--Fun/enjoy the game/part of their identity/difficult to see that ending after HS
--Scholarship money at schools who give it
--Wasn't planning on a particularly difficult major anyway, so can put time into the sport
--Like the competition/travel
--Some are legit thinking they may be able to "go pro," and some are right

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get into a college you wouldn’t have gotten into otherwise, although in that case, you can quit the day you arrive on campus for freshmen year with no repercussions.

VERY very few families look at this way. I’d say probably <1% of families are savvy gunners using it to get into a super selective college. Majority just want to brag their kid “plays at the next level” and will go to crappy colleges they’d never otherwise consider to make it happen. Dumb as hell.

Where I live, 99% of the parents I know are indeed focusing on their kids’ sports as a way to get an admissions boost at highly selective, elite colleges or Universities. The same is true in every other wealthy, highly educated area in the country.

Well this is only gonna work if the kid does some ridiculous niche sport . I hope they realize this

Lacrosse, crew, field hockey

These sports are becoming really popular across the country, so it's competitive. Also, a lot of field hockey players at elite schools seem to be from overseas, which was surprising to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For some types of employers, having been a D1 athlete is a huge plus?

Yes, moreso with "bro culture," I would say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get into a college you wouldn’t have gotten into otherwise, although in that case, you can quit the day you arrive on campus for freshmen year with no repercussions.

VERY very few families look at this way. I’d say probably <1% of families are savvy gunners using it to get into a super selective college. Majority just want to brag their kid “plays at the next level” and will go to crappy colleges they’d never otherwise consider to make it happen. Dumb as hell.

Where I live, 99% of the parents I know are indeed focusing on their kids’ sports as a way to get an admissions boost at highly selective, elite colleges or Universities. The same is true in every other wealthy, highly educated area in the country.

Well this is only gonna work if the kid does some ridiculous niche sport . I hope they realize this

This is not really true. The Ivies and other elite schools aren't exactly sports powerhouses in all sports. This is dependent on the sport. Someone good enough to play D1 at a large program is not necessarily going to be interested in playing at the type of school that DCUM is obsessed with, and someone with the ability to play at an Ivy would not necessarily make the cut at a D1 program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having not been a college athlete myself, I would say:
--Admissions boost to somewhere they wouldn't otherwise go
--Fun/enjoy the game/part of their identity/difficult to see that ending after HS
--Scholarship money at schools who give it
--Wasn't planning on a particularly difficult major anyway, so can put time into the sport
--Like the competition/travel
--Some are legit thinking they may be able to "go pro," and some are right

As a parent, all this plus the team acts as a fraternity. His social life is centered around athletics, healthy eating and competition instead of drinking & getting high. I know the players drink, but it's not the same frequency or excess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having not been a college athlete myself, I would say:
--Admissions boost to somewhere they wouldn't otherwise go
--Fun/enjoy the game/part of their identity/difficult to see that ending after HS
--Scholarship money at schools who give it
--Wasn't planning on a particularly difficult major anyway, so can put time into the sport
--Like the competition/travel
--Some are legit thinking they may be able to "go pro," and some are right

Admissions boost applies to maybe <1% of student-athletes who go play at some place more selective than they would have otherwise gotten into.

Athletic scholarships also apply to maybe <1% of student-athletes who go D1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having not been a college athlete myself, I would say:
--Admissions boost to somewhere they wouldn't otherwise go
--Fun/enjoy the game/part of their identity/difficult to see that ending after HS
--Scholarship money at schools who give it
--Wasn't planning on a particularly difficult major anyway, so can put time into the sport
--Like the competition/travel
--Some are legit thinking they may be able to "go pro," and some are right

Admissions boost applies to maybe <1% of student-athletes who go play at some place more selective than they would have otherwise gotten into.

Athletic scholarships also apply to maybe <1% of student-athletes who go D1.

Do you have stats on this? Doubt it. Do you think a lot of athletes at elite universities would have gotten in without the "hook" that athletics provided? Check out some scattergrams.

D1 aren't the only schools that give athletic scholarships. NAIA, e.g.