If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I was in this struggle before with DS who had good grades but not perfect, let’s say top 25% of the class, and wanted to go to a big D1 school for running.

The challenge was finding a good match for:

Academics
Cost
Running skill
College fit (culture, social vibe, etc).

DS matched w top D3s for running and academics but not cost social college fit. Example, Colgate or Davidson are great schools but he would not have been happy.

He’s now at an SEC school in a program he loves and is running club track. He also got a merit scholarship so it is not $80k a year+. He is faster than the club team but is also doing other sports and activities and is making friends. He’s not going to be able to make the SEC team ever as those are mostly Olympians and other NCAA phenoms, but his school running career was going to end at some point anyway. He still runs 5-6 days a week.

He is happy, most of all.

That’s awesome. You must be proud. And club teams at those schools are no joke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I’ve seen on here, most parents seem to care much less about the sport and more about the boost to admissions (no flames if that’s not you, it’s just what I’ve seen).

But what about if your dc feels the opposite? The sport and the team is the primary focus, with the ‘rank’ of the school being much less important? Think academic d3 versus d1. My dc is not interested in academic d3s because their teams are not that great.

Thoughts? Btw if you/your dc think sports is pretty much mostly just an admission hook, please move on. Also I’m aware many kids quit their sport, etc. And I’m aware of the commitment to a d1 versus d3. Money etc.

My son is using sport (he is a top 25 recruit on this sport) to get into the best academic school he can. We have enough money saved to pay for 4 years of private full pay. No need for scholarships. So academics are key here. Some of the Top academic schools didnt even recruit him because he was being targeted by Big 10/SEC schools. So he went on a direct contact path with coaches from Ivies and others. We are hoping this opens up the door for some of the better schools. He has a 1500 SAT and 3.7 UW GPA.

You didn’t name the sport so assume you don’t want to say it - but it really does matter in terms of how to approach

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I’ve seen on here, most parents seem to care much less about the sport and more about the boost to admissions (no flames if that’s not you, it’s just what I’ve seen).

But what about if your dc feels the opposite? The sport and the team is the primary focus, with the ‘rank’ of the school being much less important? Think academic d3 versus d1. My dc is not interested in academic d3s because their teams are not that great.

Thoughts? Btw if you/your dc think sports is pretty much mostly just an admission hook, please move on. Also I’m aware many kids quit their sport, etc. And I’m aware of the commitment to a d1 versus d3. Money etc.

My son is using sport (he is a top 25 recruit on this sport) to get into the best academic school he can. We have enough money saved to pay for 4 years of private full pay. No need for scholarships. So academics are key here. Some of the Top academic schools didnt even recruit him because he was being targeted by Big 10/SEC schools. So he went on a direct contact path with coaches from Ivies and others. We are hoping this opens up the door for some of the better schools. He has a 1500 SAT and 3.7 UW GPA.

You didn’t name the sport so assume you don’t want to say it - but it really does matter in terms of how to approach

I dont want to say because people can figure it out. But it is an individual Olympic sport….

[Anonymous]

Easy answer: choose academics first. Sports is secondary and added bonus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Easy answer: choose academics first. Sports is secondary and added bonus

I don’t know about that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I’ve seen on here, most parents seem to care much less about the sport and more about the boost to admissions (no flames if that’s not you, it’s just what I’ve seen).

But what about if your dc feels the opposite? The sport and the team is the primary focus, with the ‘rank’ of the school being much less important? Think academic d3 versus d1. My dc is not interested in academic d3s because their teams are not that great.

Thoughts? Btw if you/your dc think sports is pretty much mostly just an admission hook, please move on. Also I’m aware many kids quit their sport, etc. And I’m aware of the commitment to a d1 versus d3. Money etc.

My son is using sport (he is a top 25 recruit on this sport) to get into the best academic school he can. We have enough money saved to pay for 4 years of private full pay. No need for scholarships. So academics are key here. Some of the Top academic schools didnt even recruit him because he was being targeted by Big 10/SEC schools. So he went on a direct contact path with coaches from Ivies and others. We are hoping this opens up the door for some of the better schools. He has a 1500 SAT and 3.7 UW GPA.

You didn’t name the sport so assume you don’t want to say it - but it really does matter in terms of how to approach

I dont want to say because people can figure it out. But it is an individual Olympic sport….

That’s ridiculous. Nobody can figure it out if you say it’s track and field or swimming.

We don’t even know where you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter was recruited by several lower level D1 teams and a bunch of D3 programs. Initially she was focused on the D1 programs. But the more she talked with them, the more it became clear that while they would be happy to have her, she wasn’t going to get significant scholarship money. While she was going to be a star of most of the D3 programs she talked to. Also we had a lot of talks about what happens in four years because her sport doesn’t go pro.

She is going to a D3 school where she applied regular decision but with a coach “recommendation”.

That’s great. Did she get merit scholarship at d3?

Yes. She got huge merit aid. She is a very good student, so it may be just because of academics. About half the D3 schools she applied to gave her significant merit aid, but about half didn’t. Price was a factor in our decision process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I’ve seen on here, most parents seem to care much less about the sport and more about the boost to admissions (no flames if that’s not you, it’s just what I’ve seen).

But what about if your dc feels the opposite? The sport and the team is the primary focus, with the ‘rank’ of the school being much less important? Think academic d3 versus d1. My dc is not interested in academic d3s because their teams are not that great.

Thoughts? Btw if you/your dc think sports is pretty much mostly just an admission hook, please move on. Also I’m aware many kids quit their sport, etc. And I’m aware of the commitment to a d1 versus d3. Money etc.

My son is using sport (he is a top 25 recruit on this sport) to get into the best academic school he can. We have enough money saved to pay for 4 years of private full pay. No need for scholarships. So academics are key here. Some of the Top academic schools didnt even recruit him because he was being targeted by Big 10/SEC schools. So he went on a direct contact path with coaches from Ivies and others. We are hoping this opens up the door for some of the better schools. He has a 1500 SAT and 3.7 UW GPA.

You didn’t name the sport so assume you don’t want to say it - but it really does matter in terms of how to approach

I dont want to say because people can figure it out. But it is an individual Olympic sport….

That’s ridiculous. Nobody can figure it out if you say it’s track and field or swimming.

We don’t even know where you are.

We dont care about you. The coaches know….

[Anonymous]

100% academics. I've seen friends’ kids quit their D1 sport after 1 year. If your kid isn't good enough to make a living as a pro, then college is time to shift the focus toward the next chapter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what I’ve seen on here, most parents seem to care much less about the sport and more about the boost to admissions (no flames if that’s not you, it’s just what I’ve seen).

But what about if your dc feels the opposite? The sport and the team is the primary focus, with the ‘rank’ of the school being much less important? Think academic d3 versus d1. My dc is not interested in academic d3s because their teams are not that great.

Thoughts? Btw if you/your dc think sports is pretty much mostly just an admission hook, please move on. Also I’m aware many kids quit their sport, etc. And I’m aware of the commitment to a d1 versus d3. Money etc.

I think one has to honor one's child's goals and interests. There is some evidence that a person with a particular academic profile will do just as well in life if they go to a lower-ranked school than if they choose a higher-ranked one. The person's innate abilities determine success more than the reputation of their college, so your DC wouldn't necessarily be handicapped by going to a "lesser" university. My friend's kid was in a similar position. She was being recruited to T20 D3s and was a strong student, but she chose to play D1 at a public university and is having the time of her life. She loves her sport and her team members and is developing excellent leadership and social skills that will stand her in good stead for the rest of her life. It takes drive, self-discipline, and commitment to play a D1 sport, and that is something future employers, and even future graduate programs if your DC decides to go that route, will find appealing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re in the thick of the academic D3 recruiting process for baseball. We’ve made it clear to DS that academics come first, and he has been on board with that. He’s not really a D1 prospect, so ivies and patriot league schools are on the back burner for consideration only if the baseball thing does not work out.

Aha, lucky you! How does your dc feel about it?

That seems to be the typical path I see on here. Athletics to academic d3. Unfortunately or fortunately (bc dc has found his passion, which I can’t dismiss), my dc isn’t particularly interesting in the d3 schools that like him because their teams are just ok. His semi ‘dream’ schools are two state schools where he could likely get in academically but his recruiting chances aren’t great (keeping him on the back burner for now). He would likely have to try to walk on.

Dc will not do this sport professionally but he wants to push himself to the limits in the time he has left, and I have to respect that.

If he’s not going to be recruited, you should encourage him to apply to more academic schools as well as his dream schools. In the end, it’s best that he ends up in a place where’s he’s happy—he may have a different mindset about that when the recruiting process is over and he’s starting to apply to schools.

In your experience, do the academic d3 encourage you to apply ED?

In my kid's case (D3 at an LAC), yes. She was told the coach could only earmark her during the ED process and that she would receive no special status during the RD cycle. She was recruited by several schools, and they did a "pre read," meaning they talked to her and looked at her stats and told her she'd get in ED. They also worked out the FA and merit package before she applied, so we knew in advance what each school would cost. She had a choice of half a dozen T20 LACs and applied to her favorite ED1. This made the college application process very easy and stress-free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Academic D3 schools are indeed the best athletically among D3 schools for many sports.

Unfortunately Baseball isn't one of those sports. There are a few high academic D3 baseball powers (Hopkins, CMS, Pomona-Pitzer, Denison) but it isn't like many other sports where there is significant overlap between D1 and D3 for high academic schools.

In many sports for example the bottom of the Ivy League overlaps with the top of the Patriot League and the bottom of the Patriot League overlaps with the top of the NESCAC creating a situation where a very goods player with excellent academics could end up with interesting choices. I am using the NESCAC as a proxy for NESCAC, UAA, and some schools from other conferences here. We all know the schools.

Baseball players can develop a great deal during their college years. Our friend's son was quite small and slight as a 17yo freshman on a D3 team. He was kind of "the baby" of the team. Not a starter. By his senior year, he had grown a few inches and packed on muscle, and he was winning MVP awards. He played in the minor leagues for a couple of years. Great kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:struggling a bit with DD as she is a runner with an offer of support from tippy top D3 but wants to see if ivy+ doors open after fall cross country. She has made tremendous improvement but won’t be evident and provide a recruitable lift until later in season, long past when these things are usually done. The D3 school will want to wrap things up by mid September with offers of support, so timing may not work for us - it really is like game theory to a large extent

I know a track kid (not CC) who didn’t get placed until mid spring. Track is very black and white as you know. It’s a gamble

Lots of kids apply to top academic D1s without coach support and then later are able to walk on to the teams when they get in, but don’t they have their offers of coach support nailed down by early fall?

This does not happen nearly as often as people on this site believe. It might happen in track and some sports with larger rosters but not for most sports.

+1 the roster limits (and in baseball the draft and minor league downsize) have changed the landscape considerably. OP, if he is a rising senior and doesn’t have a D1 offer, he needs to take the D3 offer on the table if he wants to continue playing in college. Even if a D1 offer eventually comes through, he is not a priority recruit and may never make the roster. He needs to be realistic and not wait so long that the D3 offers dry up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my kid picked up the sport relatively late, after sophomore year - and has offers of support from multiple WASP schools - likely would have been D1 material if started earlier - but was able to enjoy childhood and school years as a multi sport athlete. Many of our friends have sold their souls in pursuit of ivy end game

What’s a WASP school?

the 4 best D3 schools for academics, many believe they rival the top ivies

They aren’t the 4 best D3 schools for academics…JHU,
Chicago, MIT and CalTech rank above them when they are all ranked together.

True. We were told you do need top academic stats for MIT, JHU, CMU, etc. (ACT ~33-34+, good grades in top academic rigor HS classes) though, unlike Ivies where standards are somewhat "relaxed."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:struggling a bit with DD as she is a runner with an offer of support from tippy top D3 but wants to see if ivy+ doors open after fall cross country. She has made tremendous improvement but won’t be evident and provide a recruitable lift until later in season, long past when these things are usually done. The D3 school will want to wrap things up by mid September with offers of support, so timing may not work for us - it really is like game theory to a large extent

Haven’t most of the Ivy+ schools nailed down their offers by early fall as well?

Not always. If your DC is playing a fall sport and they were borderline, they may be watching to see what kind of season they have.