Athletic Scholarships

[Anonymous]

I see a fair number of students committing to play sports at third-tier universities where it's unlikely they'll get a lot of attention while playing.

I know it must be nice to get a scholarship, but do some parents urge their kids to turn the offers down and just attend a better-known school where a degree is more likely to have value in the marketplace?

Not trying to be snarky, but the decision-making processes seem weird. Yeah, it's a free ride, but what's the benefit an undergraduate degree in a gut major from Nowheresville U?

[Anonymous]

What do you consider nowheresville?

[Anonymous]

Are these kids who could get in to a significantly better school?

It's worth reading the article in Philadelphia magazine a few months ago about the girl who committed suicide at Penn. It implied she would have been much happier playing soccer at Lehigh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are these kids who could get in to a significantly better school?

It's worth reading the article in Philadelphia magazine a few months ago about the girl who committed suicide at Penn. It implied she would have been much happier playing soccer at Lehigh.

Yes. I don't want to name the specific schools, but they aren't well-known for their academics or anything else. A far cry from Lehigh, which is a great school.

[Anonymous]

My boyfriend (we are mid-20s now) was offered a football scholarship to play at a no-name, tiny school in South Carolina. He declined to attend a big state university and didn't play sports.

[Anonymous]

Don't you know people that went to nowheresvile u and are very successful? I certainly do.

[Anonymous]

hockey. play that well and get full-ride scholarships to extremely competitive schools (ivy, beanpot, privates, etc.).

[Anonymous]

You need to decide which is more important: education with debt or free education. It's an individual decision. You can't presume to understand someone's financial situation.

[Anonymous]

Choice of college barely matters, except for the first job or if you're planning grad school in medicine, law, etc. I'm a nowhersville grad. Guess what? I had no college loans and earn 250k now.

[Anonymous]

Undergrad doesn't really matter. I chose an easy public school over an ivy. I had the time of my life and it was an absolutely perfect fit for me. Giving up my sport at 18 would be too hard. It was a huge part of my identity and it made me a happier, stronger, self confident person. I'm very happy with my choice.

[Anonymous]

Something else to consider is whether you will go onto grad school. If you go onto a prestigious graduate or professional school (law/med/mba), it really doesn't matter where you went to undergrad. Coming out loan free will be a huge bonus since you're likely to have huge loans from grad school.