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IMHO, you might be better off looking at Division 3 schools. Technically, they are not allowed to give out athletic scholarships. However, I have heard several stories of “preferential packaging” given to students that a school really wants. This way, if the sport doesn’t work out (for whatever reasons) the financial and/or merit awards would remain.[\QUOTE]</p>
<p>I will agree with this having been the recipient of this ‘extra aid’ myself, as was DH. We have also been told in an ‘oh by the way’ manner this for our DD. Academically she would qualify for top merit aid at the DIII schools she has considered so it isn’t out of the realm of possibility they find “more” money for her. I also know of several DIII football players that have been drafted into the NFL and played for teams so don’t rule them out completely. The top DIII programs do have pro scouts that follow their teams pretty closely. It’s more rare but it does happen.</p>
<p>I think it depends on the sport and how serious/able he is to go pro. I have a friend who was a top junior in the world in a sport where most people don’t go to college at all. For her, although she wanted the college experience and to have a degree she could use in the future if she wanted to, it was crucial to go to a school that could provide the very best facilities, coaching, etc, so she could stay on track to go pro and not fall behind her contemporaries who didn’t go to college. </p>
<p>She chose a school that was not the very best one she could have gone to academically (although it was still a good school), but which provided the best support for her sport. She was very sure that she had both the talent and ambition to go pro, so that was what mattered to her. She loved the experience and now has both a degree and a pro career, so it seems to have worked out very well. In a different sport, or with someone who was less sure about going pro, it may not have been the best option. </p>
<p>He needs to weigh up how much he is willing to sacrifice on the academic side to get the athletic experience he wants and vice versa. Personally, I think that if he is at all unsure about wanting/being able to go pro it is best to ere on the side of choosing a school that he can afford, that he likes, and that will give him the best opportunities outside his sport. Going pro is very, very difficult, it involves a lot of sacrifices and a great deal of dedication.</p>
<p>Commitment can be huge. D is at a D3 school. No athletic scholarship, although she does have merit aid. Playing the sport is completely voluntary for her - she loves it. But she has long practice hours - 3 hours each day, with weight lifting as well. One day off in a week. Practice early mornings on both Saturdays and Sundays. The team does have several scholar athletes - kids who have maintained a GPA of 3.3 or higher - so it can be done. It will be interesting to see how D manages this first full season…</p>
<p>“But she has long practice hours - 3 hours each day, with weight lifting as well. One day off in a week. Practice early mornings on both Saturdays and Sundays”
-Exactly correct, it depends on sport. In my D’s sport, she was practicing more than that during summer sessions when she was 10 years old. At college, it was about 5 -6 hours in Varsity (I heard, do not know exactly) and I believe the practices might be 2/day some days of the week and there is weight lifting on your own in addition and out of town/state meets. D. mentioned that she has seen people sitting with the ice packs during lectures (which is very normal in her sport).
D. was very committed from the time she was 5 years old thru graduating from HS. She broke 15 team records and they are still hers, 14 years later. But her major and other requirements were way more important at college. She was using her sport for workouts during UG, but as a Medical student, does not have time even for that any more.</p>
<p>My friend’s son ultimately decided that he wanted to look for a better “fit” academically, and hope for the best with the sport. It’s a risk, but one he felt comfortable taking, especially since he’s only a junior. Thanks to all who replied. After reading all of your descriptions of college athletics, I can’t believe as many kids attempt (and succeed!) at playing sports + keeping up academically!</p>
<p>^I can only add that if you look closer, not many who “attempt (and succeed!) at playing sports + keeping up academically!” are engineering majors or on pre-med track (and possibly others like pharmacy…etc.). Without putting any majors down when it comes to very great challenges and requirement of keeping very high GPA and keep involved in many noon-academic EC’s, sport usually falls out of activity list. Frankly, you will not find many of these even Greek. D’s sorority had only 2 pre-meds, my D. and her frined. But there are exceptions and there are also kids who could survivie on caffeine for 4 years by their own choice and those who have no choices.</p>
<p>^^ It really depends on the sport and the program though too. I know several students that were successful in school and sports that had demanding majors. In a top 25 DI program, probably not, but there are a lot of other sports teams out there where academics come first. Team sports are a little harder to work around but again, doable if you find the right fit. When we have talked to college coaches and current team members from various schools DD has looked at, several of them are in demanding majors (sciences with labs mostly since that is what DD is looking at) and they have all been very satisfied with the flexibility of the practice schedules, etc. When we did a search just on DI programs for DD, there were 275 colleges around the country to choose from. MOST of those schools do not have aggressive programs and provide a nice balance between school and athletics.</p>
<p>OP - that sounds like very much the right decision. I agree with all the other posters here, having gone through something similar in our house. Pick the college for the college, not the sport. Agree that if he is good enough, he can become pro from nearly anywhere, especially an Ivy.</p>
<p>One other factor that you mentioned in your original post is the make-up of the team and the seriousness with which his teammates might approach their academics (vs their partying, perhaps…). If it’s a real team sport, that could become a real problem down the line for any athlete and team dynamics.</p>
<p>Sshool definitely has to be a good match, sport or no sport, there is life beyond sport with academic and other goals. Misery does not produce good results. Look for th place where you see yourself going for 4 (most important) years or your life.</p>
<p>Without knowing the sport it is difficult to comment. However, if the student wants to go into the pro’s, they need a school which attracts scouts and where the coach has contacts. Yes, student needs to have a back up etc etc, but pro sports is not a half time commitment. Unless it is rowing or lacrosse or something like that, ivy’s are not fertile recruiting grounds. Not saying it will not happen, just saying the odds are even higher than a sports oriented school (where the odds are low to begin with).</p>
<p>Chiming in - I think it depends on the sport.
I wouldn’t think twice if it was baseball. I know too many who made it financially.</p>
<p>My small town has had many, many pro baseball players. For those who made it to the majors, used to be guaranteed $100,000 if you played 1 game major.<br>
Add to that the number of opportunities in the various minor leagues & abroad.<br>
Then consider the networking ability.
Two guys I know had nice minor league careers, networked enough and each has their own training facility to coach kids. They took the money made in baseball, invested it in the training facilities, worked with little league coaches, bring in their “network” contacts for summer camps so there is a big name draw and have carved out a comfortable, albeit not high, standard of living doing what they love.
Another guy I know played in Japan, learned enough of the language & culture to be comfortable and now at age 40 works in banking/finance out of Japan. He wasn’t the sharpest student, but he took enough econ & business to be appealing.</p>
<p>I’d have a harder time if the sport were lacrosse. Few opportunities as compared to baseball to be paid enough to save and invest for the day the career ended. Our local pro lacrosse team consists of many guys who “moonlight” as lacrosse players and slog off to work daily with the rest of us.</p>
<p>I will say, I also know 6 separate U of Penn grads in their 40s who are unemployed or under-employed. This has been clouding my vision of the “name” school</p>
Do you know minor league players never get more than $20K per year?
And yes, if you’ve played in the majors for several games, you get a bump in pay, but not that much. I doubt their “savings” are from their minor league salaries.
Baseball has changed so much in recent years particularly when scouting has been concentrating in Latin American countries where a lot of young men do nothing (no schooling to eat up time) but play baseball all day.</p>