how to decide where to send your kid?

[Anonymous]

DS is a highly D1 recruit and there are good amount interests from Ivies and very interests from UVA and VT. We have enough 529 for Ivies and both UVA and VT might give partial scholarship. DS has OK grade but not good enough to get into Ivies or UVA/VT on its own but plenty as a D1 recruit.

We visited two Ivies, UVA and VT this past year and DS also talked to several current and former athletes at these schools and they all gave DS these advises:

- choose the school that is right for you and NOT your parents,
- choose the school with the best academic support for athletes,
- choose the school that will push you out of your comfort zone,
- Most importantly, choose the school that has the best athletic boosters with powerful network connections. Those are the people that will help you get high paying jobs after graduation.

My son is leaning heavily toward UVA because it seems like there are lot of wealthy UVA athlete boosters from his research. Lot of successful UVA athletes in the DMV area. We like the idea that he will stay in-state and save money for grad school should he decides to do it.

Comments?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing

[Anonymous]

Cool story.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like solid advice. Good luck to him with his decision!

[Anonymous]

Grad schools are usually funded, unless you are talking med school, law school, mba etc.

[Anonymous]

It should be, "most importantly, choose the school that is right for you and NOT your parents."

The most important consideration is not athletic boosters.

[Anonymous]

How common are career-ending injuries in his sport?

[Anonymous]

Is this satire?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this satire?

+1 Probably done by a TJ kid procrastinating on his lab report.

[Anonymous]

Let your child decide, especially if his choice is heavily informed by athletes who have been at all the schools.

I might add, choose a school that is strong for what he wants to study. And did he feel like he could picture himself in the environment?

[Anonymous]

"Most importantly, choose the school that has the best athletic boosters with powerful network connections. Those are the people that will help you get high paying jobs after graduation.

My son is leaning heavily toward UVA because it seems like there are lot of wealthy UVA athlete boosters from his research."

This should actually be the LEAST important advice.

The first 3 suggestions WILL happen as soon as he makes his choice.

He will know/feel it was right for him. The academic support will start on day one. He will be challenged right away.

The one the colleges seem to be claiming is most important is a long time into the future. It is based on lots of ifs.

If he doesn't get injured. If they don't recruit a much better player at his position, next year. If he actually comes through on the field.

If those boosters have jobs in his field. If they even know the names of those who ride the pine.

Even if it seems that the boosters seem supportive, if you are picked for a job over more qualified candidates, it can take a long time to get promoted.

Sometimes, they are just waiting for a more qualified former athlete to trade you out of the "booster slot".

[Anonymous]

How much interaction would athletes even have with wealthy athletic boosters? I genuinely don't know.

I would use my athletic talents to get the best and highest status education possible, so probably an Ivy. In the future employers will just know he graduated from X, not that he wouldn't have gotten in without sports.

[Anonymous]

Snark aside on this board, I have a bit of experience so share bc DD was in a similar position last year.

She is an athlete who was choosing between an Ivy and an out of state R1 flagship university that is ranked top 15 in her sport and 30+ by USNews. The Ivy was ranked about 50 in the sport and top 10 US News. Academically she was in honors classes at an elite day school but not tippy top of her class so we could in no way have counted on being admitted to the Ivy w/o sports. Bc her HS is rigorous I think she would have been fine academically at the Ivy. Dont they say the hardest thing about Harvard is getting in.

She picked the flagship bc she cares a ton about the sport and loved the team/coaching environment but also was really swayed by the academic supports. There is an academic adviser dedicated to the team who helped her pick classes and get in to certain sections that would not conflict with her practice/game schedule. They required to be at team study hall a certain number of hours per week and the adviser is there to help organize their work (you have a midterm or a big paper in 2 weeks, how is it going, do you have a study plan or a topic picked, etc.) To be clear, the adviser doesnt do her work just checks in to make sure she isnt having trouble and to help her address it quickly if she is. Frankly I wish all freshmen could have support like this.

She feels very confident about where she stands academically at this school; her high school preparation means that writing a 10 page paper is not a panic moment, etc.. Nationally its very well respected college and am sure her degree will help her in her future life and the sport means she has an easy to explain why she chose it.

I have not heard of other kids getting booster support with jobs/internships but last year's seniors went on to good jobs or grad school. Maybe boosters is more of a thing for higher profiles sports or if you get lucky bc a specific booster played your specific sport. Its also probably more of a thing for the star of the team as opposed to a developing freshman.

Athletically, she loves having a community w/in a large university but being on a team of this caliber is hard work. She has practice 2x per day most days. She is holding her own and can already tell she is making big strides but she really "leveled up" moving from a senior player on her club team to freshman on this college team.

I would say the thing is make sure your kid is going to a place where they are comfortable; just like everyone find the right fit. DD expected to LOVE the Ivy but the recruiting visit was ho-hum and the team wasnt as clearly bonded and friendly than at the flagship.

Be prepared to take on a challenge either academically or athletically but be wary of both. For example a kid from her club team went to a school similar to Stanford the year before, ie top 10 academically and athletically. She realized she would not have time to challenge herself academically bc of her competition schedule. She wanted to major in a science discipline but would not have time to take classes with labs, etc. She ended up transferring to an Ivy and is competing and taking the major she wants. She is very talented and will likely be a top Ivy league player but it was a better fit for her.

[Anonymous]

Having listened to many a D1 college coach, all seem to say a student athlete, especially at the D1 level, should plan on only being able to do 2 of the three and remain functional/happyish: studies, sport, social life. Your DK needs to figure out what he thinks will be his 2 and go from there. If he's not a great student and has little likelihood of a professional career in his sport, then he should strongly consider the place with the best academic supports for students. I'm guessing most parents agree academics has to be one of the pillars.

Our kid talked to lots of athletes before deciding to step down to D3 and not even the top ranked - because he wants to at least have a chance at all three, rather than just 2.

[Anonymous]

At a D1 school, the student part of student-athlete is often secondary. If the student gets hurt, the scholarship gets pulled. If the student wants to take a challenging course load or major, the team's academic advisor will counsel against it. In some sports like football, graduation rates are abysmal, even at the better D1 colleges.

At an Ivy, academics always come first. Every athlete can choose to drop sports with no consequences for financial aid. The lowest eligible academic index athletes at an Ivy almost always score higher than the median SAT at a D1. The most common/easiest major for athletes is economics, not sports management, kinesiology, communications or marketing.