Anonymous
08/12/2025 14:25
Subject: If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:my kid picked up the sport relatively late, after sophomore year - and has offers of support from multiple WASP schools - likely would have been D1 material if started earlier - but was able to enjoy childhood and school years as a multi sport athlete. Many of our friends have sold their souls in pursuit of ivy end game
What’s a WASP school?
the 4 best D3 schools for academics, many believe they rival the top ivies
Anonymous
08/12/2025 14:22
Subject: If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?
Anonymous wrote:The "greatness" of a team can change. The coach can change. The player could become injured and never play. Never choose a Div 3 school because of the team.
Re: time focused on HS sports vs HS academics, I would not allow more than a .5 overall unweighted difference in gpa because of sports participation. If you have an A student, slipping to a B+, ok. Ok by me. But not an A student slipping more. And not a B student becoming a C student because of sports. I'm usually ok if the student feels they need to adjust the level of rigor to their HS schedule.
Healthy sleep and convenience/inconvenience to the family as a whole - those are very important to us.
This may shock you, but some teens want input into their lives. Yes, you can try to control them - clearly you do - but if a kid has a passion that doesn’t exactly fit with your strict parameters, I’m not sure if the answer is to try to break them
These are not 8 year olds
Anonymous
08/12/2025 14:21
Subject: Re:If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: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.
D2 is the near wasteland of college sports with weak academics and relatively weak sports. There are a few CSU schools which are exceptions but in general it is weak on both vectors. NAIA is the true wasteland though.
Funny I don’t think this dc is unhappy. Was very happy to play and now going to grad school
That's great!, I'm glad things worked for her but if yo know that environment then you fully understand that it is not a fit for your typical high academic athlete, especially one who is good enough to play in the UAA or NESCAC.
Oh so everyone a typical high academic athlete? I didn’t know that.
The OP's question was for a high academic D3 athlete. Feel free to start another thread.
There are kids who are not super academic kids who nonetheless get recruited by academic d3….
I am sure that they do at many very good D3 schools but they do not get recruited to NESCAC, UAA, or other very selective schools like some in the Liberty League, Centennial League and NEWMAC conferences. Lets make sure that we are on the same page when we say "high academic".
I don’t know all the schools off the top of my head like you seem to but I will tell you that I just went and checked and my strong athlete but merely good/decent student is currently getting interest from 4 NESCAC schools who are aware of dcs grades and SAT etc
Grades, scores, schools? What will work for one doesn't work for all. Conn College, Trinity, and Bates are great schools but what is acceptable for them isn't nearly enough for Amherst, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Middlebury, or Tufts. WEs and Colby will fall between the extremes.
Same holds for the UAA as well Good enough for CWRU, Rochester and Brandeis doesn't cut it at Chicago, Emory, WashU, and CMU with NYU in the middle. All great schools but the standards are not uniform.
Ok. My dc with interest from Nescac or whatever it’s called has recruiting interest from across those groups. But anyway, that’s not the focus and I’m not here to quibble about which school is more academically elite. None of them have particularly great athletics. That’s the issue
get your point but there are many shades of gray here - for cross-country, the D1 sport has been heavily impacted by international recruits - most specifically by the African recruits who grow up at altitude and have a physiological advantage vs the 18-year old kid from Chevy Chase - many of the international recruits can’t really even speak English, are well into their 20s when starting school and some feel it’s ruining D1 running. D3 a much purer home grown approach -
Anonymous
08/12/2025 14:18
Subject: Re:If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: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.
D2 is the near wasteland of college sports with weak academics and relatively weak sports. There are a few CSU schools which are exceptions but in general it is weak on both vectors. NAIA is the true wasteland though.
Funny I don’t think this dc is unhappy. Was very happy to play and now going to grad school
That's great!, I'm glad things worked for her but if yo know that environment then you fully understand that it is not a fit for your typical high academic athlete, especially one who is good enough to play in the UAA or NESCAC.
Oh so everyone a typical high academic athlete? I didn’t know that.
The OP's question was for a high academic D3 athlete. Feel free to start another thread.
There are kids who are not super academic kids who nonetheless get recruited by academic d3….
I am sure that they do at many very good D3 schools but they do not get recruited to NESCAC, UAA, or other very selective schools like some in the Liberty League, Centennial League and NEWMAC conferences. Lets make sure that we are on the same page when we say "high academic".
I don’t know all the schools off the top of my head like you seem to but I will tell you that I just went and checked and my strong athlete but merely good/decent student is currently getting interest from 4 NESCAC schools who are aware of dcs grades and SAT etc
Grades, scores, schools? What will work for one doesn't work for all. Conn College, Trinity, and Bates are great schools but what is acceptable for them isn't nearly enough for Amherst, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Middlebury, or Tufts. WEs and Colby will fall between the extremes.
Same holds for the UAA as well Good enough for CWRU, Rochester and Brandeis doesn't cut it at Chicago, Emory, WashU, and CMU with NYU in the middle. All great schools but the standards are not uniform.
Dude, chill
Anonymous
08/12/2025 14:16
Subject: If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?
Anonymous wrote:my kid picked up the sport relatively late, after sophomore year - and has offers of support from multiple WASP schools - likely would have been D1 material if started earlier - but was able to enjoy childhood and school years as a multi sport athlete. Many of our friends have sold their souls in pursuit of ivy end game
What’s a WASP school?
Yeah, I see that a lot on here. That’s why i think it’s important to clarify if you/dc is not one of those parents chasing a sport for a hook.
My dc also picked up the sport late and although there are complaints here and there about that, dc had a fairly relaxed childhood and in fact had a passion hobby in a completely unrelated area that almost became serious at one point.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 14:13
Subject: Re:If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: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.
D2 is the near wasteland of college sports with weak academics and relatively weak sports. There are a few CSU schools which are exceptions but in general it is weak on both vectors. NAIA is the true wasteland though.
Funny I don’t think this dc is unhappy. Was very happy to play and now going to grad school
That's great!, I'm glad things worked for her but if yo know that environment then you fully understand that it is not a fit for your typical high academic athlete, especially one who is good enough to play in the UAA or NESCAC.
Oh so everyone a typical high academic athlete? I didn’t know that.
The OP's question was for a high academic D3 athlete. Feel free to start another thread.
There are kids who are not super academic kids who nonetheless get recruited by academic d3….
I am sure that they do at many very good D3 schools but they do not get recruited to NESCAC, UAA, or other very selective schools like some in the Liberty League, Centennial League and NEWMAC conferences. Lets make sure that we are on the same page when we say "high academic".
I don’t know all the schools off the top of my head like you seem to but I will tell you that I just went and checked and my strong athlete but merely good/decent student is currently getting interest from 4 NESCAC schools who are aware of dcs grades and SAT etc
Grades, scores, schools? What will work for one doesn't work for all. Conn College, Trinity, and Bates are great schools but what is acceptable for them isn't nearly enough for Amherst, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Middlebury, or Tufts. WEs and Colby will fall between the extremes.
Same holds for the UAA as well Good enough for CWRU, Rochester and Brandeis doesn't cut it at Chicago, Emory, WashU, and CMU with NYU in the middle. All great schools but the standards are not uniform.
Ok. My dc with interest from Nescac or whatever it’s called has recruiting interest from across those groups. But anyway, that’s not the focus and I’m not here to quibble about which school is more academically elite. None of them have particularly great athletics. That’s the issue
Anonymous
08/12/2025 14:11
Subject: If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?
my kid picked up the sport relatively late, after sophomore year - and has offers of support from multiple WASP schools - likely would have been D1 material if started earlier - but was able to enjoy childhood and school years as a multi sport athlete. Many of our friends have sold their souls in pursuit of ivy end game
Anonymous
08/12/2025 14:10
Subject: Re:If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: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.
D2 is the near wasteland of college sports with weak academics and relatively weak sports. There are a few CSU schools which are exceptions but in general it is weak on both vectors. NAIA is the true wasteland though.
Funny I don’t think this dc is unhappy. Was very happy to play and now going to grad school
That's great!, I'm glad things worked for her but if yo know that environment then you fully understand that it is not a fit for your typical high academic athlete, especially one who is good enough to play in the UAA or NESCAC.
Oh so everyone a typical high academic athlete? I didn’t know that.
The OP's question was for a high academic D3 athlete. Feel free to start another thread.
There are kids who are not super academic kids who nonetheless get recruited by academic d3….
I am sure that they do at many very good D3 schools but they do not get recruited to NESCAC, UAA, or other very selective schools like some in the Liberty League, Centennial League and NEWMAC conferences. Lets make sure that we are on the same page when we say "high academic".
I don’t know all the schools off the top of my head like you seem to but I will tell you that I just went and checked and my strong athlete but merely good/decent student is currently getting interest from 4 NESCAC schools who are aware of dcs grades and SAT etc
u
UW/W GPA and test scores? What's "merely good/decent" to you?
Dc would likely be at the lower end of their admission ranges but for the sport
They’re a good student, not top. They’re a top athlete, but not elite. KWIM?
How do you know the admission ranges for their sport at the schools they got offers from? If you're taking about the CDS data for the general population, it's very common for athletic recruits to be in the lowest quartile of stats.
Not in the NESCAC, UAA, Patriot League, Ivy League etc. There will always be some in the lower band after all that is what recruited slots are for at the NESCAC. The vast majority of athletes will be in the 25-75 range because of the needs to meet the AI in the Ivy and Patriot Leagues or limited numbers of lower banded slots in the NESCAC (2 per sport plus 14 for football).
Anonymous
08/12/2025 14:06
Subject: Re:If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?
Anonymous wrote:We listed all the schools he was willing to go to academically... Ivy, Patriot League, NESCAC and a few others.
We listed the schools by athletic ranking.
He was not a top 10 kid, he was more like a 10-30 kid.
We targeted the schools that intersected.
Three showed interest and 1 finally worked out, by the skin of one's teeth.
Congrats!!!! That’s a happy story to hear
Anonymous
08/12/2025 14:03
Subject: Re:If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: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.
D2 is the near wasteland of college sports with weak academics and relatively weak sports. There are a few CSU schools which are exceptions but in general it is weak on both vectors. NAIA is the true wasteland though.
Funny I don’t think this dc is unhappy. Was very happy to play and now going to grad school
That's great!, I'm glad things worked for her but if yo know that environment then you fully understand that it is not a fit for your typical high academic athlete, especially one who is good enough to play in the UAA or NESCAC.
Oh so everyone a typical high academic athlete? I didn’t know that.
The OP's question was for a high academic D3 athlete. Feel free to start another thread.
There are kids who are not super academic kids who nonetheless get recruited by academic d3….
I am sure that they do at many very good D3 schools but they do not get recruited to NESCAC, UAA, or other very selective schools like some in the Liberty League, Centennial League and NEWMAC conferences. Lets make sure that we are on the same page when we say "high academic".
I don’t know all the schools off the top of my head like you seem to but I will tell you that I just went and checked and my strong athlete but merely good/decent student is currently getting interest from 4 NESCAC schools who are aware of dcs grades and SAT etc
Grades, scores, schools? What will work for one doesn't work for all. Conn College, Trinity, and Bates are great schools but what is acceptable for them isn't nearly enough for Amherst, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Middlebury, or Tufts. WEs and Colby will fall between the extremes.
Same holds for the UAA as well Good enough for CWRU, Rochester and Brandeis doesn't cut it at Chicago, Emory, WashU, and CMU with NYU in the middle. All great schools but the standards are not uniform.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 14:02
Subject: If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: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)[/quote]
What sports? Curious why you’re posting on a college board if your dc are all in college already….
Pretty simple, more than one child and not all in college.
3 dc at d1 colleges and you have more to go? Wow. That’s a big family. Are you religious?
Anonymous
08/12/2025 14:02
Subject: Re:If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?
We listed all the schools he was willing to go to academically... Ivy, Patriot League, NESCAC and a few others.
We listed the schools by athletic ranking.
He was not a top 10 kid, he was more like a 10-30 kid.
We targeted the schools that intersected.
Three showed interest and 1 finally worked out, by the skin of one's teeth.
We listed the schools by athletic ranking.
He was not a top 10 kid, he was more like a 10-30 kid.
We targeted the schools that intersected.
Three showed interest and 1 finally worked out, by the skin of one's teeth.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 13:58
Subject: If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?
Anonymous wrote:The "greatness" of a team can change. The coach can change. The player could become injured and never play. Never choose a Div 3 school because of the team.
Re: time focused on HS sports vs HS academics, I would not allow more than a .5 overall unweighted difference in gpa because of sports participation. If you have an A student, slipping to a B+, ok. Ok by me. But not an A student slipping more. And not a B student becoming a C student because of sports. I'm usually ok if the student feels they need to adjust the level of rigor to their HS schedule.
Healthy sleep and convenience/inconvenience to the family as a whole - those are very important to us.
Changing schools is not as big of a deal as non athlete parents make it out to be.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 13:57
Subject: If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: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)[/quote]
What sports? Curious why you’re posting on a college board if your dc are all in college already….
Pretty simple, more than one child and not all in college.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 13:55
Subject: If your dc is an athlete (potential recruit) - how are you/dc navigating the sport versus academics?
The "greatness" of a team can change. The coach can change. The player could become injured and never play. Never choose a Div 3 school because of the team.
Re: time focused on HS sports vs HS academics, I would not allow more than a .5 overall unweighted difference in gpa because of sports participation. If you have an A student, slipping to a B+, ok. Ok by me. But not an A student slipping more. And not a B student becoming a C student because of sports. I'm usually ok if the student feels they need to adjust the level of rigor to their HS schedule.
Healthy sleep and convenience/inconvenience to the family as a whole - those are very important to us.
Re: time focused on HS sports vs HS academics, I would not allow more than a .5 overall unweighted difference in gpa because of sports participation. If you have an A student, slipping to a B+, ok. Ok by me. But not an A student slipping more. And not a B student becoming a C student because of sports. I'm usually ok if the student feels they need to adjust the level of rigor to their HS schedule.
Healthy sleep and convenience/inconvenience to the family as a whole - those are very important to us.