DD will swim at a D1 college next year. I got her into sports as a kid bc I needed something to channel her exuberant energy. Throughout high school I have been v. thankful for her passion bc its kept her focused and away from partying and drinking that are rampant at her school. It forced her to learn excellent skills managing her academic workload that I think will hold her in good stead throughout her career (there were defin. some bumps along the way). In contrast, kids she was friends with in 8th and 9th grade are cruising to blah schools. Sure she's had to miss some fun things but, for her, its worth it.

We live far from her school and swim club so its meant many hours in the car each week (with me driving earlier in high school) and with her driving this last year+. As she's talked to college coaches we realize her schedule will actually free up in college bc the campus pools will be a short walk from the dorms and she is already doing 2x a day swim sessions and will drop her spring and fall sports.

Nice to read various perspectives since we are entering recruiting with our junior this year. Until I had my own, I and my birth family were firmly in the college is only for academics and college sports are pointless camp. DH was less so. However, I've changed my view as I've seen how sports can change lives and are often necessary for certain kids to succeed. Here are my thoughts:

DK has ADHD as do plenty of college athletes, perhaps even a majority these days. Research and our own life experience shows sports are great for kids with ADHD. The enforced study halls, access to tutors and rigorous schedule leading to time management skills is exactly what they need to succeed. So sports at the college level can be great if the right combo can be found. The harder part can be convincing an ADHD kid or any 17 year old to go D3 when D1s are calling.

We definitely worry about injuries but our athlete is more frequently injured in daily activities - eg slid off the steps and severely sprained an ankle recently - ironically that hasn't yet happened with the sport.

D1 does seem like a full-time job for certain sports (esp football and basketball) and they own you regardless of the sport. While lab science majors and engineering are discouraged as is study abroad, it seems a lot of teams do try and take an intl trip every 2 years.

I agree the best combo is to try and get merit aid and avoid sports $ if possible so the athlete can drop the sport if desired/required. Thus we tell our athlete to pick the school that they'd like to be at whether or not they're playing their sport.

Well, one could ask if any hobby is "worth it" -

Certainly D3 sports counts as a hobby, since it won't earn a living and fills one leisure time.

But I took ballet in college (I sucked). Waste of time? Nah.

I also did a whole lot of art and managed the campus art gallery. I knew my vocation wouldn't be in that direction, but I don't think I was wasting my time.

D3 athletics is the same. The only trouble comes in when the kids are sacrificing academics to do it. Otherwise, if it is fun, it is fun.

Anonymous wrote:This thread needs to stop because no one is questioning that there are some extraordinary individuals who can do it all. However, for most their GPAs suffer and their are tons of kids who play college sports but never graduate from college.

Also, many people leave college with lifelong injuries like torn cartilage and ligaments that reemerge twenty years later as early onset arthritis and a variety of ailments.

For my money college sports from a risk/reward perspective sports are a losing proposition. Others have a different view of the matter.

Students and parents are aware of the conflicting opinions on the matter. They know their own strengths, weaknesses, and aspirations.

Good luck!

I’ll just guess that weirdo is unhealthy and doesn’t exercise.

This thread needs to stop because no one is questioning that there are some extraordinary individuals who can do it all. However, for most their GPAs suffer and their are tons of kids who play college sports but never graduate from college.

Also, many people leave college with lifelong injuries like torn cartilage and ligaments that reemerge twenty years later as early onset arthritis and a variety of ailments.

For my money college sports from a risk/reward perspective sports are a losing proposition. Others have a different view of the matter.

Students and parents are aware of the conflicting opinions on the matter. They know their own strengths, weaknesses, and aspirations.

Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh no ... I someone on DCUM said I'm a Weirdo!

He also thinks the world is flat and elephants are just big peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Let's hope he's the GOAT of ring toss because his SATs are never going to get him into college.

Sarcasm is the first word you should look up.

Agree with the many posters who’ve written that the sport shouldn’t dictate the school. But what one person thinks “obscure” is to someone else the perfect choice and not necessarily the cart before the horse. We weren’t familiar with Kenyon before the recruiting process (I know, shame on us) but my daughter fell in love the minute she got to campus. Her interest in sports and the strange path of recruiting led her there but she still chose it for the right reasons.

I used the term "obscure" earlier. In response to the above comment, I would never call Kenyon "obscure". Grad schools and employers know about Kenyon. I was referring to the many dozens Div III schools that don't have a national profile, and in many cases, are struggling to stay afloat. Virginia, where we live, has many such schools. Kenyon is definitely not in that category.

Kenyon poster here. Understood. We’ve definitely seen the sports-first kid who was looking at playing for ivies then ended up at a very different place several academic notches below that. Wasn’t the obscurity that struck us so much as the fact that the kid just wanted a place to play irrespective of academic rigor. (Which I suppose means an Ivy would’ve been a poor choice.) But hey, it’s his life and if sports are that important to him he should trust his heart. Better that than sit around wondering what might have been and become that sideline dad we’ve all seen.

Anonymous wrote:I am sure if all those athletes at Johns Hopkins could see this thread, they might need to change their majors from chemical and microbiology engineering/public health(horror) to..... PE education?

Yeah, my daughter has a few close friends playing D1 soccer at a different highly ranked school, and they are all pre-med, either neuroscience or chemistry majors. It's not easy--they get up for practice/training at 5:00 most days in season--but they are managing to do very well on and off the field and love their school. I don't doubt that many people choose schools or majors unwisely because they are too focused on their sports, but that is not the case for any of the D1 or DIII athletes I know. You can't assume you know what college athletics are for all kids based on the experiences of just a few kids from your local community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh no ... I someone on DCUM said I'm a Weirdo!

He also thinks the world is flat and elephants are just big peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Let's hope he's the GOAT of ring toss because his SATs are never going to get him into college.

Sarcasm is the first word you should look up.

Agree with the many posters who’ve written that the sport shouldn’t dictate the school. But what one person thinks “obscure” is to someone else the perfect choice and not necessarily the cart before the horse. We weren’t familiar with Kenyon before the recruiting process (I know, shame on us) but my daughter fell in love the minute she got to campus. Her interest in sports and the strange path of recruiting led her there but she still chose it for the right reasons.

I used the term "obscure" earlier. In response to the above comment, I would never call Kenyon "obscure". Grad schools and employers know about Kenyon. I was referring to the many dozens Div III schools that don't have a national profile, and in many cases, are struggling to stay afloat. Virginia, where we live, has many such schools. Kenyon is definitely not in that category.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So much ignorance on this thread. My DC is a recruited athlete at a top NESCAC and is having an excellent time playing sports with an awesome group of young adults. DC has a 3.8, is pursuing a double major, plans on writing a thesis, has a very active social life. And obviously there is no aid of any kind. It really isn’t that hard at the D3 level.

It really is difficult to graduate from college. As mentioned earlier 50% of students who enter college fail to graduate with a Bachelors Degree or higher.

If college was easy everyone would graduate not just 50%. Some kids can do it all and that's great for them, but many cannot balance maintaining a decent GPA and participating in college athletics. Nothing could be more awful than going to college, playing sports and leaving without graduating - leaving without a Bachelors Degree.

The NCAA so terribly exploits these kids. The kids can't even sell their own names for jerseys or their images. All the time the NCAA and the colleges market tons of merchandise related to the players.

I agree about the NCAA exploiting kids but that’s at the D1 level. At D3 athletics is always secondary to academics, at least at selective colleges. And nobody should send their DC to a college that doesn’t have at least an 80% graduation rate.

Anonymous wrote:So much ignorance on this thread. My DC is a recruited athlete at a top NESCAC and is having an excellent time playing sports with an awesome group of young adults. DC has a 3.8, is pursuing a double major, plans on writing a thesis, has a very active social life. And obviously there is no aid of any kind. It really isn’t that hard at the D3 level.

I think it’s confusion more than ignorance. The difference between D1 football and D3 anything is vast. The OPs kid, like yours, is at a D3 school where academics come first. Kids at D3 schools are not being “exploited by the NCAA”!

Anonymous wrote:I am sure if all those athletes at Johns Hopkins could see this thread, they might need to change their majors from chemical and microbiology engineering/public health(horror) to..... PE education?

I went to the JHU v W&L women’s soccer game on Friday. All the ladies staggered around concussed. At halftime they all either withdrew or changed to an easier major because of the unbearable burden of college sports. Oh wait, they looked like they were having a great time. Huh.

Anonymous wrote:So much ignorance on this thread. My DC is a recruited athlete at a top NESCAC and is having an excellent time playing sports with an awesome group of young adults. DC has a 3.8, is pursuing a double major, plans on writing a thesis, has a very active social life. And obviously there is no aid of any kind. It really isn’t that hard at the D3 level.

It really is difficult to graduate from college. As mentioned earlier 50% of students who enter college fail to graduate with a Bachelors Degree or higher.

If college was easy everyone would graduate not just 50%. Some kids can do it all and that's great for them, but many cannot balance maintaining a decent GPA and participating in college athletics. Nothing could be more awful than going to college, playing sports and leaving without graduating - leaving without a Bachelors Degree.

The NCAA so terribly exploits these kids. The kids can't even sell their own names for jerseys or their images. All the time the NCAA and the colleges market tons of merchandise related to the players.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:D1 full ride scholarships are SUPER rare. Most swim, field hockey, lax, etc. are only on tuition or more than likely PARTIAL tuition scholarships. Tuition at a state school is only like $12k-16k a year. So 10+ years of travel sports and squandering all your weekends and after-school carpooling for 50 grand? Dumb.

What's dumber than that? Letting your kid go to some sh*thole private school in the middle of nowhere so they can keep their silly dream alive. A dream they have a 90% chance of quitting once they ride the bench and discover partying & casual hookups.

Judge much? My DD quit sports by high school (for academics) but I enjoyed taking her to her travel games and practices for a few years.
It was fun to watch them play, taught her hard work and some social skills and I enjoyed socializing with the other families

For some people, especially those who aren’t geniuses in school, sports might be a great career path for them. Maybe that obscure private school will be great for them.

Loved following my kids’ travel sports. It was never an investment in a potential future scholarship (which none of mine ever received). It was what they wanted to do and a way to give them the best chance of making their high school teams, which mattered to them. It was expensive but it enriched their lives. Ooh, makes you angry doesn’t it? Quick, write something that helps you release some of that anger.

I am sure if all those athletes at Johns Hopkins could see this thread, they might need to change their majors from chemical and microbiology engineering/public health(horror) to..... PE education?

Anonymous wrote:So much ignorance on this thread. My DC is a recruited athlete at a top NESCAC and is having an excellent time playing sports with an awesome group of young adults. DC has a 3.8, is pursuing a double major, plans on writing a thesis, has a very active social life. And obviously there is no aid of any kind. It really isn’t that hard at the D3 level.

Of course. And congrats. Such fantastic schools in the NESCAC. Some people would call them obscure, but those who know better realize what great institutions they are. I actually think it’s the one weirdo who’s making the bizarre comments (the strange rants tend to come in pairs around the same time), though the story about the guy doing his homework on the sidelines made me laugh.