This is all silly.

The only college athletes who skirt the issues academically are some football and basketball players at the Power 5 conferences. It does a kid no good to backdoor their way into a high academic school and instantly be way behind literally everyone else at the school.

And, realistically, once you dip below the top 20 schools (public and private combined) in any given major then you are reaching the great happy medium. Is a kid graduating with a 3.3 gpa with a business management degree from the Univ of Georgia any better or worse off than a kid with the same gpa and degree from Central Kentucky State, or an econ major with that gpa from a small liberal arts school? Nope.

The question is what else did you do while at college to learn, grow and improve yourself? Did you work, did you volunteer, and/or did you play a sport? All those things make a difference. They get you interviews and they get you jobs. What you do after that, after you got the job, and/or got into grad school, etc. . will push you further along.

I can say -- what playing a college sport will get you -- is an interview if you have the required degree/stats that make the cut for an interview by an organization. Literally everyone making the "interview or not" decisions is interested in talking to student athletes to see what you are like. What the athlete does in the interview itself is a different thing of course. But, in interviewing college grads what are employers looking to see at that interview? In short -- they are looking for someone with the potential for growth and leadership within their business.

How do you get and demonstrate that potential? Did you form or lead clubs or organizations, or lead a student research team? Did you become a shift manager at a local business? All good stuff. Similarly, a captain or leader of a college team pretty much already has "potential leader" stampled right on their resume. That's why they are going to get interviewed if they meet the other cut offs.

And, again, outside of the big 2 sports in the Power 5 conferences you have to do well in school to stay on the team. The starting right guard struggling in math at big State U. will have lots of help to keep him eligible. The guy who swims the butterfly, or plays lacrosse, or the girl on the basketball team all better keep the gpa up and stay on NCAA graduation track or else they are done. My daughter's soccer team gpa at college was consistently over a 3.5, and they were far from unique. The guys were only a bit lower typically and once or twice were higher. The reality is that the coaches who coach the non-revenue sports simply do not have time or resources to expend on poor students.

must be another parent upset that athletes can use their skills to get into schools that might be a reach or they are upset the athletes are more disciplined and get great grades and get in because of their academic achievements or the school admissions folks say wow this kid played travel sports and got a 4.0 plus high test scores vs this kid who got good grades? who would you take?

My kid is good at school - it comes easy to her and she just does well. Last year, she’s took all AP classes including BC calc and physics C and did great. She is also a strong writer and loves the classics and history. None of the other kids that are as strong as she is academically are on travel teams. There are kids that do well academically and any parent should be proud. But I just haven’t seen this all around excelling in everything. Kids do tend to have a superpower. For what it’s worth, my kid does play a sport and enjoys it. But she is far from “elite”.

I am sure there are kids that are at the top of their game in all aspects of life, but those kids are extremely rare.

But back to the question at hand. Some sports parents care about academics. Some don’t. Some follow their kids passion. Some impose their own hang ups. Some are looking for scholarships. Some just want to focus their kids on something. So in essence, sports parents are like all other parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a few parents on DCUM who are deeply resentful that many athletes have enormous drive and discipline. It comes out in weird ways.

Nobody is resentful of you living through your mediocre athlete child. We recognize you’re delusional and even if your kid plays in college, 99% chance it’s a crappy college and they quit after freshman year. THAT’S almost alwaya how this ends.

I don't have a mediocre athlete child. I only read these threads because I find people like OP and you to have entertainment value. I mean it's pretty easy to see your seething resentment. It's not like you hide it.

Agree re the entertainment value. There is a lot of “seething resentment” on the College Forum directed towards athletes recruited to Ivies and other top schools as well. So athletes get sneered at if they attend mediocre colleges and incite rage if they attend elite ones. I wonder if there is a level of college these judgy anti-athlete posters find acceptable?

This brag makes no sense. How many roster spots are even avail at Ivies and "top schools" vis a vis all the kids in your kid's year who play the sport? Most certainly taller odds to get in with a roster spot than to get in with academics as a non athlete. And many roster spots are quietly reserved for big donor kids and grandkids (not in the fake scandal way, the kids actually play the sport).

DP. Uh, that's not a brag. Do you understand what the word 'brag' means?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a few parents on DCUM who are deeply resentful that many athletes have enormous drive and discipline. It comes out in weird ways.

Nobody is resentful of you living through your mediocre athlete child. We recognize you’re delusional and even if your kid plays in college, 99% chance it’s a crappy college and they quit after freshman year. THAT’S almost alwaya how this ends.

I don't have a mediocre athlete child. I only read these threads because I find people like OP and you to have entertainment value. I mean it's pretty easy to see your seething resentment. It's not like you hide it.

Agree re the entertainment value. There is a lot of “seething resentment” on the College Forum directed towards athletes recruited to Ivies and other top schools as well. So athletes get sneered at if they attend mediocre colleges and incite rage if they attend elite ones. I wonder if there is a level of college these judgy anti-athlete posters find acceptable?

This brag makes no sense. How many roster spots are even avail at Ivies and "top schools" vis a vis all the kids in your kid's year who play the sport? Most certainly taller odds to get in with a roster spot than to get in with academics as a non athlete. And many roster spots are quietly reserved for big donor kids and grandkids (not in the fake scandal way, the kids actually play the sport).

This whole thread is stupid. Some athletes are great students, some aren’t. I have on excellent student and one mediocre one. Their sports don’t dictate the kind of student they are (one has learning challenges to overcome). If you are so sure the choices you made are better for your kid, no need to worry what others are doing. I will say, the bragging about the “next level” seems to stop by Sophomore year in HS. By then, kids and pay have a more realistic view of what their trajectory is. A lot of 7th graders think they can play in college, many fewer HS sophomores.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a few parents on DCUM who are deeply resentful that many athletes have enormous drive and discipline. It comes out in weird ways.

Nobody is resentful of you living through your mediocre athlete child. We recognize you’re delusional and even if your kid plays in college, 99% chance it’s a crappy college and they quit after freshman year. THAT’S almost alwaya how this ends.

I don't have a mediocre athlete child. I only read these threads because I find people like OP and you to have entertainment value. I mean it's pretty easy to see your seething resentment. It's not like you hide it.

Agree re the entertainment value. There is a lot of “seething resentment” on the College Forum directed towards athletes recruited to Ivies and other top schools as well. So athletes get sneered at if they attend mediocre colleges and incite rage if they attend elite ones. I wonder if there is a level of college these judgy anti-athlete posters find acceptable?