Not OP... I do think it is rare to be smart and athletic. My son is smart and athletic and he gets the "dumb jock" comments all the time, the assumption is that he is stupid or does not take school seriously. I do think that if you have a 4 year Varsity starter with the same stats as somebody that did not play sports, the colleges know that is a huge commitment and to be able to handle both is a star in the positives column. |
This is something DS has brought up in Our home only. I guess I should not have brought it up at all. He does just as well in these classes but is very quiet and shy so I guess they think he is below them. They don't speak to him at all. He is in one regular class and it is his favorite because he is treated as an equal. |
It's not that rare. I have 3 smart atheletic kids who played varsity for all 4 years in HS (the 2 who have graduated went on to play varsity in college at a D1 school). They have plenty of former teammates who are bright and motivated students at great schools. I don't think any of them has ever suffered from the "dumb jock" stereotype. That said, yes, colleges will look at his ability to balance athletics and sports as a positive -- just as they'll regard as positive a student's commitment to writing for the newspaper for 4 years while doing well academically. |
OP - don't worry. In college, no one will care (in a good way) and no one will bother him about that. |
I don't think it's that rare and the OPs kid needs to get the chip off his shoulder. My DC played 3 varsity sports in high school, and nearly all of his friends were stars of the soccer, basketball, baseball, track, and yes even the football team. They were all in AP classes and are now at Ivy League or other top colleges (most not playing sports, because that's not what they wanted to do long term). Now I do think that athletes at the top D1 programs are selected for their athletic talents and not their academic strength, but that's a tiny fraction of high school athletes. OP you need to encourage your DS to start speaking up in class a bit more and have some confidence. That will help him in college and beyond. It will also help him get a good teacher recommendation for colleges. Engineering is super competitive and with his profile he will need a good recommendation. |
You think it is common to play 3 varsity sports and to go to an Ivy League school? |
Not PP, but most of the Ivy Leaguers I know did play at least 2 varsity sports, if not 3. I don't think they lettered all 4 years of HS in all sports though. And also had tons of other activities of course - music, organizations, etc. |
The "parents" posting on this thread on behalf of their "children" sound suspiciously immature and naive. |
The question is do you think that is common? Is it common in your child's HS that many children have 3 Varsity sports and go to an Ivy League school? What percentage of kids from your child's HS are Varsity Players that are going on to very competitive Engineering programs? |
Among my DD's friends - yes, it seemed common. But out of those only a handful (incl. my DD) went into engineering. Most were liberal arts, pre-med, etc. And most didn't play a varsity-level sport in college - just club/intramural. Compared to the general population, you're right - "Ivy League athletes" are not common, but out of those going to competitive schools almost all were also strong athletes. Seems part of the typical profile. |
It's not uncommon. |
NASA , NIST , NSA , FDA , NIH , international foreign language inst, American physics institute , national archives, NOAA , DOA ... All have installations on UMD campus.
The new emphasis on entrepreneurial , biomedical and comp sci web cyber security is vaulting Umd into the stratosphere . |
I said mine played 3 sports, not everyone. 3 is probably not common but certainly 1-2 are very common. Most of the kids at my Ivy played at least 1 varsity sport in high school, most more than 1, and were probably team captains. But the point is that there are plenty of kids who are smart and athletic. OPs son should not feel like an outcast because he is a smart football player, nor should he think that it will help him stand out from the crowd in college applications. |
![]() |
This might interest a smart athlete.
http://colefieldhouse.umd.edu |