Sports and admissions

[Anonymous]

I have a great athlete at a very rigorous DC private. Hard working student with a great attitude and beloved by teachers, admins, coaches. But grades just miss the mark for schools like Amherst, Bowdoin, Georgetown and though coaches have been recruiting them hard, grades have been the obstacle all year. Trust me, sports is not the goldent ticket. And it is a hard, hard road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you know anything about D3 sports? Some D3 schools are as good as D1…

+1
What so many people fail to realize is that there are conferences in which colleges play and some D3 conferences are far more competitive than some D1. The conference level matters.

[Anonymous]

Your kid better love the sport, because at the top (athletically) d3 schools, usually NESCAC/Centennial, your practicing close to d1 hours with no sports scholarship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can’t change your race or major donor status, but sports team recruiting seems to be a major hook. Knowing what you know now, would you encourage your child to intensely pursue a sport. You don’t necessarily have to be a superstar for a lot of D3 teams, just a varsity athlete at a big school who plays outside of school at an advanced level. I have a younger kid and I’m definitely not Ivy or bust, I wonder if this is something I should encourage. Even flagship schools have <25% acceptance rates. Wonder what older parents who have gone thru the process think?

Do not do this. You are talking about years and years of practices and tournaments and thousand and thousands of dollars in fees and travel expenses. This is for kids that really like the sport, have some drive and talent and the family has the time and money.

Spend all that on something where the student has an interest and talent. It sports...fine. but maybe it is dance or music or science or something else.

Oh boy is this the truth. Years and years of dedication and sacrifice. My kid was just recruited to play his sport in college at a T20 school (D3). He had the academic stats to get admitted as well as the athletic ability. And it has been a long road.

He has had to miss so many social and milestone events over the years with family and friends because he was away at tournaments and don't even get me started on the cost. While other families went on vacations to different and interesting locations each summer, all our travel budget was spent on his sport travel. So many of our family "vacations" were to NC for tournaments. Not complaining. Just stating the facts. And before you resign your child, OP, to pursuing sports as a way to land a good college consider this very night as a perfect example: as I type this I am waiting for him to arrive home. It is pouring rain out and he has been at practice in this mess since 8 p.m. He has not eaten dinner yet and probably still has homework which he will stay up to get done while I go to bed. He will get 6 hours of sleep and get up to start another day that will again, tomorrow, end very late at night because of his sport practice. Hopefully tomorrow, though, the rain will have stopped. He does this and has been doing this for YEARS because he genuinely loves his sport. He'd have too because it is a grind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids I know playing a sport in division 3 are not at good academic schools. My DS could have played his sport div 3, was recruited by several schools, none of which he’d ever heard of. Being s bright kid, none of that interested him. He is playing his sport in club.

There are some great schools in D3 among others

NESCAC: Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, Tufts
UAA: Chicago, NYU, WashU
Centennial: Swarthmore, JHU

You definitely have to be a great student and a recruitable athlete to get in with a sports hook.

CMU, Middlebury, W&M, Pomona

Yes, absolutely. W&M is D1, but W&L ( a top 15 SLAC) is D3.

There are many more great high academic D3 options out there.

[Anonymous]

Thankful we didn’t push the sport! If your kid loves it, that’s great! But I know too many kids who got into D1 that loved their sport but quit playing by the end of sophomore year.

[Anonymous]

To answer OP’s question, no. Several reasons, including the fact that it’s pretty freaking difficult to overcome genetics. DD is probably not going to be 5’ tall. Unless we had started her in gymnastics or something when she was 3, there aren’t very many recruitable sports options for her.

I have two nephews that played on teams that won state and regional tournaments. Neither had target schools that recruited them. For them, their sports have been a way to find their people when they got to college.

Let your kid do things that they enjoy. If he turns out to be good enough to ease the college application process, consider it a bonus.

[Anonymous]

First of all no one is saying athletes are “taking” anyone spot. I haven’t seen this in the thread. Recruited athletes in all but marque sports, have to meet certain academic requirements. Second, athletic commitment is the only guarantee left to get into any college. It’s the one sure way to know before you submit your application - At least at D1s where you sign a NLI.

As for how tough it is once you get there - you do realize that once a kid is accepted and at school he or she can quit and stat at school just without the extra burden of playing a varsity sport. Tons of Ivy athletes -usually white kids in privileged sports like crew and lacrosse -quit after freshman year. Honestly in most college sports, fewer than 50% of recruited athletes stick with the team for 4 years. It’s not as great a kids expect once you get there, more like a job even at some D3s.

All this said, it is a GREAT way to ensure acceptance at a top academic school with low acceptance rates but it’s a long and ardorous road. I don’t recommend it unless your kid has talent and loves the sport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First of all no one is saying athletes are “taking” anyone spot. I haven’t seen this in the thread. Recruited athletes in all but marque sports, have to meet certain academic requirements. Second, athletic commitment is the only guarantee left to get into any college. It’s the one sure way to know before you submit your application - At least at D1s where you sign a NLI.

As for how tough it is once you get there - you do realize that once a kid is accepted and at school he or she can quit and stat at school just without the extra burden of playing a varsity sport. Tons of Ivy athletes -usually white kids in privileged sports like crew and lacrosse -quit after freshman year. Honestly in most college sports, fewer than 50% of recruited athletes stick with the team for 4 years. It’s not as great a kids expect once you get there, more like a job even at some D3s.

All this said, it is a GREAT way to ensure acceptance at a top academic school with low acceptance rates but it’s a long and ardorous road. I don’t recommend it unless your kid has talent and loves the sport.

It’s affirmative action for rich white kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First of all no one is saying athletes are “taking” anyone spot. I haven’t seen this in the thread. Recruited athletes in all but marque sports, have to meet certain academic requirements. Second, athletic commitment is the only guarantee left to get into any college. It’s the one sure way to know before you submit your application - At least at D1s where you sign a NLI.

As for how tough it is once you get there - you do realize that once a kid is accepted and at school he or she can quit and stat at school just without the extra burden of playing a varsity sport. Tons of Ivy athletes -usually white kids in privileged sports like crew and lacrosse -quit after freshman year. Honestly in most college sports, fewer than 50% of recruited athletes stick with the team for 4 years. It’s not as great a kids expect once you get there, more like a job even at some D3s.

All this said, it is a GREAT way to ensure acceptance at a top academic school with low acceptance rates but it’s a long and ardorous road. I don’t recommend it unless your kid has talent and loves the sport.

It’s affirmative action for rich white kids

.

[Anonymous]

My DS is currently a college freshman "recruited" athlete at a D3. He had good grades in high school (A-), but not fantastic grades. He went to a private high school and took a couple of AP classes and a couple of honors classes but several "general ed" classes. He was aggressively pursued by multiple D3 coaches and was being looked at by a handful of D1 coaches. The reason why I mention D1 is because DS is a strong athlete that was wanted by multiple coaches. We had been told that grades are still important and we learned it first hand. Yes, if you are a top football player who is being pursued by the college football powerhouses, you probably just have to graduate from high school. But high academic D3 schools require you to have the grades to get into their school. And depending on the sport and school, some D1 schools also have stringent grade requirements for their athletes.

Two coaches from high academic schools reached out to DS. During the conversation, they asked him what his GPA/SAT scores were and when DS answered, the call quickly ended. He never heard from those coaches again, so they knew, just based on him telling them his GPA/SAT that they would never get him admitted.

He was verbally offered a spot at a very high academic school (top 10 national SLAC.) My DH and I talked to the coach and our first question to him was "Have you seen his grades?" The coach wanted our son and was convinced he would be able to get him into the school. DS sent in a transcript for a pre-read - as we suspected, he got a "no" from admissions so the coach obviously didn't have that much pull.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is currently a college freshman "recruited" athlete at a D3. He had good grades in high school (A-), but not fantastic grades. He went to a private high school and took a couple of AP classes and a couple of honors classes but several "general ed" classes. He was aggressively pursued by multiple D3 coaches and was being looked at by a handful of D1 coaches. The reason why I mention D1 is because DS is a strong athlete that was wanted by multiple coaches. We had been told that grades are still important and we learned it first hand. Yes, if you are a top football player who is being pursued by the college football powerhouses, you probably just have to graduate from high school. But high academic D3 schools require you to have the grades to get into their school. And depending on the sport and school, some D1 schools also have stringent grade requirements for their athletes.

Two coaches from high academic schools reached out to DS. During the conversation, they asked him what his GPA/SAT scores were and when DS answered, the call quickly ended. He never heard from those coaches again, so they knew, just based on him telling them his GPA/SAT that they would never get him admitted.

He was verbally offered a spot at a very high academic school (top 10 national SLAC.) My DH and I talked to the coach and our first question to him was "Have you seen his grades?" The coach wanted our son and was convinced he would be able to get him into the school. DS sent in a transcript for a pre-read - as we suspected, he got a "no" from admissions so the coach obviously didn't have that much pull.

The lesson is that if you really want sports to pull your kid into a school, basketball and football are the way to go. On the downside, they will be competing with kids who loves the sport, are genetically blessed, or who see it as a way out. I'm sure your kid can grind and learn, but can they grind as hard as a kid who knows it's their only shot out of generational poverty?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First of all no one is saying athletes are “taking” anyone spot. I haven’t seen this in the thread. Recruited athletes in all but marque sports, have to meet certain academic requirements. Second, athletic commitment is the only guarantee left to get into any college. It’s the one sure way to know before you submit your application - At least at D1s where you sign a NLI.

As for how tough it is once you get there - you do realize that once a kid is accepted and at school he or she can quit and stat at school just without the extra burden of playing a varsity sport. Tons of Ivy athletes -usually white kids in privileged sports like crew and lacrosse -quit after freshman year. Honestly in most college sports, fewer than 50% of recruited athletes stick with the team for 4 years. It’s not as great a kids expect once you get there, more like a job even at some D3s.

All this said, it is a GREAT way to ensure acceptance at a top academic school with low acceptance rates but it’s a long and ardorous road. I don’t recommend it unless your kid has talent and loves the sport.

It’s affirmative action for rich white kids

.

The truth hurts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First of all no one is saying athletes are “taking” anyone spot. I haven’t seen this in the thread. Recruited athletes in all but marque sports, have to meet certain academic requirements. Second, athletic commitment is the only guarantee left to get into any college. It’s the one sure way to know before you submit your application - At least at D1s where you sign a NLI.

As for how tough it is once you get there - you do realize that once a kid is accepted and at school he or she can quit and stat at school just without the extra burden of playing a varsity sport. Tons of Ivy athletes -usually white kids in privileged sports like crew and lacrosse -quit after freshman year. Honestly in most college sports, fewer than 50% of recruited athletes stick with the team for 4 years. It’s not as great a kids expect once you get there, more like a job even at some D3s.

All this said, it is a GREAT way to ensure acceptance at a top academic school with low acceptance rates but it’s a long and ardorous road. I don’t recommend it unless your kid has talent and loves the sport.

It’s affirmative action for rich white kids.

Yes for many sports. I wonder if this will start to change. But until then, this is the system that exists. There is nothing wrong with lacrosse or ice hockey or sailing etc. but they are definitely dominated by well off white kids that start of learn them as children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First of all no one is saying athletes are “taking” anyone spot. I haven’t seen this in the thread. Recruited athletes in all but marque sports, have to meet certain academic requirements. Second, athletic commitment is the only guarantee left to get into any college. It’s the one sure way to know before you submit your application - At least at D1s where you sign a NLI.

As for how tough it is once you get there - you do realize that once a kid is accepted and at school he or she can quit and stat at school just without the extra burden of playing a varsity sport. Tons of Ivy athletes -usually white kids in privileged sports like crew and lacrosse -quit after freshman year. Honestly in most college sports, fewer than 50% of recruited athletes stick with the team for 4 years. It’s not as great a kids expect once you get there, more like a job even at some D3s.

All this said, it is a GREAT way to ensure acceptance at a top academic school with low acceptance rates but it’s a long and ardorous road. I don’t recommend it unless your kid has talent and loves the sport.

It’s affirmative action for rich white kids.

Yes for many sports. I wonder if this will start to change. But until then, this is the system that exists. There is nothing wrong with lacrosse or ice hockey or sailing etc. but they are definitely dominated by well off white kids that start of learn them as children.

How would it change?