Is playing a sport in college "worth it"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is Georgetown prep for DS who is into national level baseball. In 8th grade currently in public school, has been missing a couple weeks of school through the year for championships. Would you recommend Georgetown prep/ Good Counsel/ St John for DS to maintain good balance between academics and sports?

Prep if he could get in - it’s a very academic school. They’re not going to take your kid if he’s not strong in the academics.

Honestly I see kids who play sports at good private schools receiving athletic scholarships to top private schools that I don’t think that they could have gotten into otherwise. The average public school kid I see more going to state schools or schools you’ve never ever heard of.

Why the difference? I've heard this before but don't understand it. Is it because the teams are better at private schools because they recruit?

For lacrosse and crew, those are 2 sports the private schools focus on.

Agree

Swim, Crew, Lacrosse, Tennis, Field Hockey

[Anonymous]

Playing sports at an elite level simply makes you a better person. You learn true hard work, perseverance, how to deal with loss/rejection, how to work closely within a team, how to schedule your packed life and fulfill your obligations, etc. For women it does even more than that in terms of self esteem, body image, etc. It personally gave me purpose and drive in my life when otherwise I would've drank heavily in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/11/want-to-be-a-ceo-later-play-sports-now.html

Nice, thanks for sharing - very interesting but not entirely surprising about the women and how much it helps them in getting to the C level. I'm a woman from a family that's athletically gifted but we were not encouraged to play many team sports (there were too many of us and team sports weren't huge in our area) and sort of looked down on it. Both our kids are really into physical activities and I've completely changed my attitude about how significantly they help with overall development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I graduated college 15 years ago and I'm still best friends with my sports team friends!

That's probably because you all have done little things of meaning since then.

It's like when someone is super proud of his/ her high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I graduated college 15 years ago and I'm still best friends with my sports team friends!

That's probably because you all have done little things of meaning since then.

It's like when someone is super proud of his/ her high school.

That’s like comparing your answer to an intelligent one. Very different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is a recruited D3 athlete. Now that he is in college, I'm looking at his workload and the other extracurricular and social activities and I'm wondering whether playing a sport which he does love, but even at the D3 level can be a big commitment, is "worth it" in the end. I know that this is basically a moot question as my son loves the sport so much he won't give it up anytime soon. So I guess I'm looking to hear from parents to tell me all the wonderful things playing a college sport can do beyond the admissions bump. Anyone out there with relevant experience?

It sounds like he might be getting an athletic scholarship? That would go a long way in my decision-making, especially if my kid truly loves the sport. Just go into it with eyes open - your kid will not treated as a scholar, but rather as a commodity owned by the athletic department.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is a recruited D3 athlete. Now that he is in college, I'm looking at his workload and the other extracurricular and social activities and I'm wondering whether playing a sport which he does love, but even at the D3 level can be a big commitment, is "worth it" in the end. I know that this is basically a moot question as my son loves the sport so much he won't give it up anytime soon. So I guess I'm looking to hear from parents to tell me all the wonderful things playing a college sport can do beyond the admissions bump. Anyone out there with relevant experience?

It sounds like he might be getting an athletic scholarship? That would go a long way in my decision-making, especially if my kid truly loves the sport. Just go into it with eyes open - your kid will not treated as a scholar, but rather as a commodity owned by the athletic department.

There are no athletic scholarships in D3.

[Anonymous]

Former D1 athlete and D3 coach here.

A lot of people have already touched on the great ways being a college athlete enhanced my life: built in friends, forced structure to my schedule, physical fitness, etc.

I wanted to add that on EVERY SINGLE job interview I had after college and law school, they have asked about my experience as a collegiate athlete. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

[Anonymous]

^^also, to add, I paid nothing for college. What my parents had saved for college was enough to pay for all but one year of law school where I had qualified for in state tuition by that year. Every penny of my school loans has been paid off since I was 28.