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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Does he want to work professionally in the sport in the front office?

It’s better to play baseball at Amherst if you want to be a gm in mlb vs maybe having a shot at playing for a northern d1 team.

Having a great non-player job in pro sports is filled with elite academic d3 marginal players vs state school d1 players

Interesting. How do you know that?

Because I used to work for an Al East and NL Central team and my sibling works as an agm in pro sports and went to a t10 academic d3

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-10-11/red-sox-fuel-moneyball-dream-as-amherst-grooms-front-office

If your goal is to maximize your chances to be a GM in baseball, playing at Amherst/williams/top nescac (if you can’t play for Stanford, vandy, Harvard, Yale) is better than maybe scraping into player d1 at a northern big 10 school

It’ll straight up open more doors

There’s a baseball player parent on here. Maybe this will be helpful for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Does he want to work professionally in the sport in the front office?

It’s better to play baseball at Amherst if you want to be a gm in mlb vs maybe having a shot at playing for a northern d1 team.

Having a great non-player job in pro sports is filled with elite academic d3 marginal players vs state school d1 players

Interesting. How do you know that?

Because I used to work for an Al East and NL Central team and my sibling works as an agm in pro sports and went to a t10 academic d3

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-10-11/red-sox-fuel-moneyball-dream-as-amherst-grooms-front-office

If your goal is to maximize your chances to be a GM in baseball, playing at Amherst/williams/top nescac (if you can’t play for Stanford, vandy, Harvard, Yale) is better than maybe scraping into player d1 at a northern big 10 school

It’ll straight up open more doors

Ivy grads dominate GM ranks. Also, 11 out of 32 have zero baseball-playing experience.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_general_managers

[Anonymous]

Just to throw this out there, but in dcs experience there are lots of d2 out there and they express a lot of interest and offer $. I know a dc who ended up at a d2 and is playing his heart it and loving it. These schools are not known as top academic schools obviously but I assume there are some decent ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Does he want to work professionally in the sport in the front office?

It’s better to play baseball at Amherst if you want to be a gm in mlb vs maybe having a shot at playing for a northern d1 team.

Having a great non-player job in pro sports is filled with elite academic d3 marginal players vs state school d1 players

Interesting. How do you know that?

Because I used to work for an Al East and NL Central team and my sibling works as an agm in pro sports and went to a t10 academic d3

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-10-11/red-sox-fuel-moneyball-dream-as-amherst-grooms-front-office

If your goal is to maximize your chances to be a GM in baseball, playing at Amherst/williams/top nescac (if you can’t play for Stanford, vandy, Harvard, Yale) is better than maybe scraping into player d1 at a northern big 10 school

It’ll straight up open more doors

This is really a crazily narrow thing...there are only 32 GMs in baseball. Haverford I believe also has a strong showing in baseball management, though not sure about GMs.

Dp. Agreed and this poster seems strangely hostile to anyone who is not drooling over his ‘insider’ info about baseball GM

[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.

A team abroad reached out to dc about playing. Now that was interesting to consider…

[Anonymous]

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 is less likely to happen now that roster limits are in place. The ncaa settlement has really changed up recruiting, so much advice is stale. Without the sport I can’t provide good advice (parent of 3 D1 athletes in different sports)

[Anonymous]

sorry I know there are baseball comments and not trying to hijack but for x-country and track-but most distance spots at ivy+ are wrapped up by now but always kids who matured late and explode onto the scene senior fall - if you go to the new balance or nike nationals in november there are always top academic coaches on the prowl for uncommitted kids - happens every year and less orderly than you would expect! There are some very experienced and savvy coaches at ivy georgetown duke stanford etc etc who will gladly find space for a late developing blue chip runner. More difficult now with roster limits - SEC schools are only carrying 7 runners on men’s x country!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid like this.

He's an incredibly hard worker. Anything he does, he does to win, and it's reflected both in his sport and in his academics.

He's my youngest so between things like ID camps, and being dragged along on his siblings college tours, he's seen a lot of schools, and he's clear that he wants the big school experience. He wants the intensity that comes with D1 athletics.

People often suggest that we apply a broken leg test. But if he broke his leg, he'd want to be hobbling into the stands at Ohio State. He's pretty sure he'd choose playing club at UMD over playing varsity at WashU. So, we are looking at some D3's to help sort that out.

But mostly, we're looking at big schools. I'll make sure that he sees some of the high academic schools with big sports cultures. He liked Notre Dame, for example. I also think we'll investigate honors colleges at state schools. But in the end, it will be a choice.

The way I see it, he's a kid who knows how to work hard and find a path to what he wants. I think he's going to land on his feet wherever he goes.

This is very helpful, and I appreciate your input. I have to remind myself, but ultimately I agree. A kid who is this hard working will be fine. I need to land the chopper if he decides he’s not interested in a top academic d3 and chooses a large/state school instead. And yes, he’s a typical over confident athlete and he tends to think he will be able to walk on a d1 team (not every d1, but the ones he thinks he’s close in range for).

Norte Dame seems like a great fit for this sort of kid. Unfortunately for us they seem to not have a need for my dcs position, so it’s not happening for him.

I worry about that broken leg test.. if my dc broke his leg, I don’t know what he’d do….

My advice to you if you happen to want it is to try to get your dc in front of these coaches if he’s interested in schools. Dcs stats are not as high as they could be, but he found that when he met and worked with coaches at camps, they were interested in him. I think coaches see the spark and no your dc will do his best to contribute.

PP with the similar kid.

Are you saying that you don’t know what school he would pick if he wasn’t going to play at all? Because I think that’s an important question to explore, even though it’s not the only factor.

Or are you saying that you don’t know how your kid would emotionally handle not being able to play for a period, or a career ending injury. That’s always hard for intense kids.

And thank you for the advice on getting in front of coaches. We have been trying and I am glad to hear it’s paid off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Does he want to work professionally in the sport in the front office?

It’s better to play baseball at Amherst if you want to be a gm in mlb vs maybe having a shot at playing for a northern d1 team.

Having a great non-player job in pro sports is filled with elite academic d3 marginal players vs state school d1 players

Interesting. How do you know that?

Because I used to work for an Al East and NL Central team and my sibling works as an agm in pro sports and went to a t10 academic d3

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-10-11/red-sox-fuel-moneyball-dream-as-amherst-grooms-front-office

If your goal is to maximize your chances to be a GM in baseball, playing at Amherst/williams/top nescac (if you can’t play for Stanford, vandy, Harvard, Yale) is better than maybe scraping into player d1 at a northern big 10 school

It’ll straight up open more doors

Ivy grads dominate GM ranks. Also, 11 out of 32 have zero baseball-playing experience.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_general_managers

I’m considering the hundreds of gm's/agm's/vp's etc i've met - op wasnt comparing academic d3 (im assuming nescac) vs ivy

she was comparing academic d3 vs d1 thats not an elite program (in baseball, thats big state schools in the north)

[Anonymous]

Unless your kid is going to play in the NBA, NFL, MLB, etc. academics>>>>>>>>>>>>>sports

[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.

Just my two cents, but I think you're going about it the wrong way. I don't think that a sport or team should be the primary focus. So many things can happen and your kid can stop playing in college for various reasons that academics should always trump the sport or team as the primary focus. My DD played at a very high level (NCAA all years) but always kept in mind that she was not turning professional and that she needed strong academics for grad school, employment, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:sorry I know there are baseball comments and not trying to hijack but for x-country and track-but most distance spots at ivy+ are wrapped up by now but always kids who matured late and explode onto the scene senior fall - if you go to the new balance or nike nationals in november there are always top academic coaches on the prowl for uncommitted kids - happens every year and less orderly than you would expect! There are some very experienced and savvy coaches at ivy georgetown duke stanford etc etc who will gladly find space for a late developing blue chip runner. More difficult now with roster limits - SEC schools are only carrying 7 runners on men’s x country!!

Actually it was mostly one male poster who hijacked for baseball. And another parent who seemed nice and normal about her dc and baseball

I’ve seen this too. Yes, a lot is wrapped up by fall but I’ve also seen some very interesting late moves.

[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.

Just my two cents, but I think you're going about it the wrong way. I don't think that a sport or team should be the primary focus. So many things can happen and your kid can stop playing in college for various reasons that academics should always trump the sport or team as the primary focus. My DD played at a very high level (NCAA all years) but always kept in mind that she was not turning professional and that she needed strong academics for grad school, employment, etc.

I’m not going about it the wrong way. My dc arguably is. Or isn’t. Pretty sure this was in the original post btw. Yes, parents on a board like dcum are typically aware their dc aren’t going pro in their sport. But a kid who is 18 has some say in their lives

[Anonymous]

Many Ivy recruits have high GPAs in normal, college prep courses. The academic index doesn't take rigor into account, but they do take test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid like this.

He's an incredibly hard worker. Anything he does, he does to win, and it's reflected both in his sport and in his academics.

He's my youngest so between things like ID camps, and being dragged along on his siblings college tours, he's seen a lot of schools, and he's clear that he wants the big school experience. He wants the intensity that comes with D1 athletics.

People often suggest that we apply a broken leg test. But if he broke his leg, he'd want to be hobbling into the stands at Ohio State. He's pretty sure he'd choose playing club at UMD over playing varsity at WashU. So, we are looking at some D3's to help sort that out.

But mostly, we're looking at big schools. I'll make sure that he sees some of the high academic schools with big sports cultures. He liked Notre Dame, for example. I also think we'll investigate honors colleges at state schools. But in the end, it will be a choice.

The way I see it, he's a kid who knows how to work hard and find a path to what he wants. I think he's going to land on his feet wherever he goes.

This is very helpful, and I appreciate your input. I have to remind myself, but ultimately I agree. A kid who is this hard working will be fine. I need to land the chopper if he decides he’s not interested in a top academic d3 and chooses a large/state school instead. And yes, he’s a typical over confident athlete and he tends to think he will be able to walk on a d1 team (not every d1, but the ones he thinks he’s close in range for).

Norte Dame seems like a great fit for this sort of kid. Unfortunately for us they seem to not have a need for my dcs position, so it’s not happening for him.

I worry about that broken leg test.. if my dc broke his leg, I don’t know what he’d do….

My advice to you if you happen to want it is to try to get your dc in front of these coaches if he’s interested in schools. Dcs stats are not as high as they could be, but he found that when he met and worked with coaches at camps, they were interested in him. I think coaches see the spark and no your dc will do his best to contribute.

PP with the similar kid.

Are you saying that you don’t know what school he would pick if he wasn’t going to play at all? Because I think that’s an important question to explore, even though it’s not the only factor.

Or are you saying that you don’t know how your kid would emotionally handle not being able to play for a period, or a career ending injury. That’s always hard for intense kids.

And thank you for the advice on getting in front of coaches. We have been trying and I am glad to hear it’s paid off.

Pp. I don’t know how my dc would handle a sport ending injury. It would be catastrophic.

Yes, definitely get in front of coaches as much as possible, even if it’s signing up for some paid training camp. I was reluctant at first, but one of dc’s best recruiting offers came from a school that he hadn’t heard from last year, but he ended up at a training session with this coach, and they hit it off.