Sports and admissions

[Anonymous]

No. Because kid 1 played tennis and it cost more than $1,000 a month and that was nothing fancy. It’s insane.

I’m glad I’m about done with college admissions. It’s insane and I hope young parents stop playing the game.

[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.

PP, so good of you to post this as too many are simply in denial on how college admissions work in re sports recruitment. I know three kids this cycle (two applying to same school) who were led to believe they would be admitted then were rejected in ED with no warning from the coach. At least one of the kids would not have applied to the school. These kids will be fine as they are full pay, attend a rigorous school, etc - they will get in somewhere, but coaches here definitely did them wrong.

OP, think of this as "if you have to ask the question, then you already know the answer."

[Anonymous]

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

Who, what, where, and how?

D3 college sports are competitive, but overall the top athletic talent in each sport is recruited and gravitates toward D1 programs.

In 99% of sports fields, the D1 national champion would absolutely crush the D3 champion. Let's be real!

[Anonymous]

Actually, you can't make your kid have the talent of recruited athlete either - either they will be or they won't. As a parent of college and high school kids, I cannot possibly imagine forcing any of my kids to put in the dedication and time it would take to become a recruited athlete.

Both of my boys are athletes but of the rec type and no amount of pushing would have gotten them to be more talented or more interest in pursuing their sports more.

I do have one child with a unique college hook in the arts - no way I could have made that kid do it either - DC had the drive to do it on their own.

You have the let your kids be who they want to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Who, what, where, and how?

D3 college sports are competitive, but overall the top athletic talent in each sport is recruited and gravitates toward D1 programs.

In 99% of sports fields, the D1 national champion would absolutely crush the D3 champion. Let's be real!

No one is talking about the top end of D1. The bottom of the D1 (there are 75 D1 mens's lacrosse teams) is not better than the best of D3.

[Anonymous]

This has to be a kid- driven thing. Do not under any circumstances look at your eight year old and decide that now is the time to start pushing them to excel in a certain sports so that it can help them with college admissions. Because that sport will dominate your family’s schedule and budget if they become serious enough about it that colleges are interested in them. That might be a wonderful worthwhile thing but only if it’s some thing that they love. I strongly encourage you to read Michael Lewis‘s excellent book “Playing to Win“ About the youth sports industry. He participated in it as a parent but also approached it with a journalistic eye and it’s really fascinating. Definitely the “parent college anxiety” piece is a major factor in the obscene amounts of money being spent in this market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has to be a kid- driven thing. Do not under any circumstances look at your eight year old and decide that now is the time to start pushing them to excel in a certain sports so that it can help them with college admissions. Because that sport will dominate your family’s schedule and budget if they become serious enough about it that colleges are interested in them. That might be a wonderful worthwhile thing but only if it’s some thing that they love. I strongly encourage you to read Michael Lewis‘s excellent book “Playing to Win“ About the youth sports industry. He participated in it as a parent but also approached it with a journalistic eye and it’s really fascinating. Definitely the “parent college anxiety” piece is a major factor in the obscene amounts of money being spent in this market.

The time part is true, but depending on the sport, the money part is not. You can play high level club sports for a couple of thousand a year if you don't need a private trainer and you don't go to out of town showcases until your kid is old enough to be recruited. For some sports like football, there is virtually no expense.

[Anonymous]

No, this is something I'd only pursue if my kid showed talent in a certain sport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Who, what, where, and how?

D3 college sports are competitive, but overall the top athletic talent in each sport is recruited and gravitates toward D1 programs.

In 99% of sports fields, the D1 national champion would absolutely crush the D3 champion. Let's be real!

No one is talking about the top end of D1. The bottom of the D1 (there are 75 D1 mens's lacrosse teams) is not better than the best of D3.

Different take. Involved in coaching high school kids for many years. I have seen countless number of students who would have been better off going the D3 route and getting playing time versus matriculating at D1 schools where they don't play, aren't receiving any scholarship aid, and eventually must deal with under-pressure coaches who will run them off the team in 1-2 years if their talents doesn't improve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

NP. End preferential admissions for athletes, especially in sports that nobody watches & that require tons of money to grow up competing in?

Brown tried to get rid of a bunch of these sports during the BLM protests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

NP. End preferential admissions for athletes, especially in sports that nobody watches & that require tons of money to grow up competing in?

Brown tried to get rid of a bunch of these sports during the BLM protests.

Schools have learned that donors care. Most could probably get away with it, but then you'd have a mens basketball and football team with 100 athletes and womens basketball/soccer/lax/whatever to balance numbers and no other male sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Who, what, where, and how?

D3 college sports are competitive, but overall the top athletic talent in each sport is recruited and gravitates toward D1 programs.

In 99% of sports fields, the D1 national champion would absolutely crush the D3 champion. Let's be real!

No one is talking about the top end of D1. The bottom of the D1 (there are 75 D1 mens's lacrosse teams) is not better than the best of D3.

+1 this is accurate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Who, what, where, and how?

D3 college sports are competitive, but overall the top athletic talent in each sport is recruited and gravitates toward D1 programs.

In 99% of sports fields, the D1 national champion would absolutely crush the D3 champion. Let's be real!

All that may be true, but it doesn't translate into the D3 athlete spending less time practicing and training. Yes, the D1 women's national soccer champions - the 'noles - may crush the D3 women's Christopher Newport team, but that Newport coach is still expecting the players to practice, train, and/or participate in a team bonding event every day, week on week.

Also, there are plenty of outstanding players who simply do not have the size for a D1 team. They may want to play D1 but have to be realistic about where they will play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Who, what, where, and how?

D3 college sports are competitive, but overall the top athletic talent in each sport is recruited and gravitates toward D1 programs.

In 99% of sports fields, the D1 national champion would absolutely crush the D3 champion. Let's be real!

That was not the comparison. The PP said SOME D3 teams are as good as SOME D1 teams. That is absolutely true in every sport.

[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.

Read: we don’t want your non athlete competing in our sports, spend $$$$ and hours of practice and competition and performances in dance, music, or science fair.

But unfortunately, the winner of the school science fair is meaningless to admissions, only a national prize is worth anything. But captain of a sports team at a 3000 person high school. That’s something.