Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a student from VA playing a sport at Wesleyan. Probably had the grades to get into UVA or W&M. I didn't speak with the parents but it seems likely that the choice to pay the extra $40k/yr was driven by the sport.

What's your point? Wesleyan is arguably a better school academically than UVA and certainly better than W&M. So what exactly did the kid sacrifice by going there......a couple of bucks? Who cares.....it met their criteria.

Anonymous wrote:I know a student from VA playing a sport at Wesleyan. Probably had the grades to get into UVA or W&M. I didn't speak with the parents but it seems likely that the choice to pay the extra $40k/yr was driven by the sport.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know several mediocre athletes going on to play at no-name D3s to know it is a scam just to get kids and families in the door. Julie gets to keep playing soccer, Julie's gullible parents get to brag she's a student-athlete. But Julie is left with a degree from a college nobody has ever heard of, which has no career fair and dismal OCI. 50% chance Julie quits soccer after a year or two.

There are zero athletic scholarships at D3. It is illegal. Stop spreading false information.

Many D3 teams don't cut players. It's a joke.

There are zero athletic scholarships at D3. I don't believe anyone on this thread has argued that there are, so no one is spreading false information.

However, there is plenty of financial aid and academic-based merit aid at D3 colleges, and athletes are not prohibited from receiving it. Most D3 athletes are not "full pay" students, they are receiving some financial assistance. It just isn't an 'athletic" scholarship.

Your Julie example makes little sense. If Julie is good enough to play at the no-name D3 school, she is good enough to play at many "better academic name" D3 schools. The most likely reason she is at the no-name D3 is that she doesn't have the grades/test scores to be admitted to "better name" schools. She's almost certainly not making a choice between No Name College and Williams College. And if she isn't good enough to play D1 and doesn't have the grades for Williams, she's also not making a choice between No Name College and UVA (with or without soccer). No matter what she chooses, your Julie isn't likely to be getting a degree from Widely Known and Respected University. Rather, she is probably choosing between soccer at No Name College or no soccer at Podunk U. So you've created a false dichotomy.

I really don't get all the bitterness in this thread. Who cares if a family decided to go full pay at a small school so their kid could play a sport they love and get an education? I know a lot of kids who were great athletes that elected to go D3 vs. d1 so they would have more balance in their college life. It seems to me like a win/win - families get a school they like and balance in their students life, college gets much the students they need. Not a scam, just a nice fit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost nobody at the no name D3's as you call them is paying full cost. They may not give sports scholarships, but they give plenty of "merit" money.

Okay, so instead of $30K-65K you're talking $20K-55K ... so your child can pretend to be an accomplished athlete?

Anonymous wrote:Almost nobody at the no name D3's as you call them is paying full cost. They may not give sports scholarships, but they give plenty of "merit" money.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know several mediocre athletes going on to play at no-name D3s to know it is a scam just to get kids and families in the door. Julie gets to keep playing soccer, Julie's gullible parents get to brag she's a student-athlete. But Julie is left with a degree from a college nobody has ever heard of, which has no career fair and dismal OCI. 50% chance Julie quits soccer after a year or two.

There are zero athletic scholarships at D3. It is illegal. Stop spreading false information.

Many D3 teams don't cut players. It's a joke.

There are zero athletic scholarships at D3. I don't believe anyone on this thread has argued that there are, so no one is spreading false information.

However, there is plenty of financial aid and academic-based merit aid at D3 colleges, and athletes are not prohibited from receiving it. Most D3 athletes are not "full pay" students, they are receiving some financial assistance. It just isn't an 'athletic" scholarship.

Your Julie example makes little sense. If Julie is good enough to play at the no-name D3 school, she is good enough to play at many "better academic name" D3 schools. The most likely reason she is at the no-name D3 is that she doesn't have the grades/test scores to be admitted to "better name" schools. She's almost certainly not making a choice between No Name College and Williams College. And if she isn't good enough to play D1 and doesn't have the grades for Williams, she's also not making a choice between No Name College and UVA (with or without soccer). No matter what she chooses, your Julie isn't likely to be getting a degree from Widely Known and Respected University. Rather, she is probably choosing between soccer at No Name College or no soccer at Podunk U. So you've created a false dichotomy.

I really don't get all the bitterness in this thread. Who cares if a family decided to go full pay at a small school so their kid could play a sport they love and get an education? I know a lot of kids who were great athletes that elected to go D3 vs. d1 so they would have more balance in their college life. It seems to me like a win/win - families get a school they like and balance in their students life, college gets much the students they need. Not a scam, just a nice fit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know several mediocre athletes going on to play at no-name D3s to know it is a scam just to get kids and families in the door. Julie gets to keep playing soccer, Julie's gullible parents get to brag she's a student-athlete. But Julie is left with a degree from a college nobody has ever heard of, which has no career fair and dismal OCI. 50% chance Julie quits soccer after a year or two.

There are zero athletic scholarships at D3. It is illegal. Stop spreading false information.

Many D3 teams don't cut players. It's a joke.

There are zero athletic scholarships at D3. I don't believe anyone on this thread has argued that there are, so no one is spreading false information.

However, there is plenty of financial aid and academic-based merit aid at D3 colleges, and athletes are not prohibited from receiving it. Most D3 athletes are not "full pay" students, they are receiving some financial assistance. It just isn't an 'athletic" scholarship.

Your Julie example makes little sense. If Julie is good enough to play at the no-name D3 school, she is good enough to play at many "better academic name" D3 schools. The most likely reason she is at the no-name D3 is that she doesn't have the grades/test scores to be admitted to "better name" schools. She's almost certainly not making a choice between No Name College and Williams College. And if she isn't good enough to play D1 and doesn't have the grades for Williams, she's also not making a choice between No Name College and UVA (with or without soccer). No matter what she chooses, your Julie isn't likely to be getting a degree from Widely Known and Respected University. Rather, she is probably choosing between soccer at No Name College or no soccer at Podunk U. So you've created a false dichotomy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC was recruited at several top D3 schools. The first question the coaches asked was "do you need money". They were relieved when he said he didn't.

Ultimately DC decided he didn't want a SLAC, even a brand name one, and chose to go another school and not do sports.

One of the benefits of athletic recruiting at SLACs is attracting male students. Many of these schools would be even more imbalanced without sports.

Do you need money is a sales pitch. The MSRP the college asks for is fake, it's -10k or -15k for everyone. So the coach's pitch to cost sensitive families is a "because I want you on my team, I can get you xx,xxx in scholarships and grants."

It's all a hustle just to get you to matriculate.

Anonymous wrote:I know several mediocre athletes going on to play at no-name D3s to know it is a scam just to get kids and families in the door. Julie gets to keep playing soccer, Julie's gullible parents get to brag she's a student-athlete. But Julie is left with a degree from a college nobody has ever heard of, which has no career fair and dismal OCI. 50% chance Julie quits soccer after a year or two.

There are zero athletic scholarships at D3. It is illegal. Stop spreading false information.

Many D3 teams don't cut players. It's a joke.

Anonymous wrote:My DC was recruited at several top D3 schools. The first question the coaches asked was "do you need money". They were relieved when he said he didn't.

Ultimately DC decided he didn't want a SLAC, even a brand name one, and chose to go another school and not do sports.

One of the benefits of athletic recruiting at SLACs is attracting male students. Many of these schools would be even more imbalanced without sports.