<p>Have been following this series over the past few days. Another set of articles along the lines of the NYT series.</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that the young man could have likely gotten a full ride but at a school with lower standards. My athletic recruit son essentially had a choice of getting into a school that was a bit of a reach for him with his academic profile with no money, and a full ride for school where he would have been a superstar athletically and academically. I believe he had either a full ride or full tuition (I don't remember exactly anymore since we did not pursue the possibilities) at his safety school. He was accepted immediately and was deluged with phone calls and opportunities. He did not get into a number of his reach schools and did not get a dime in offers from those school where he would be a match. </p>
<p>My good friend whose son plays D-1 football and is big fellow doesn't get a dime at his school. He did get acceptance notification earlier than nonathletes. Another friend of mine has a kid at D-1 crew and again, he got in, was given some preference in notification, was well within regular students' stats academically, and did not get a dime in scholarship money. On the other hand, we know a fellow who just got a full ride at NJIT. He looked at the ivies (and he had the numbers academically), they were interested, but no assurances or likely letters, and the bigger unis that had athletic money would not come out with it. He would get in (and academically he would have as well), but money...well, that was a whole different story. However Utica College and Buffalo State also were willing to immediately accept him and give him a full ride. It is a balancing act.</p>
<p>Did you follow the links to the second and third day articles?</p>
<p>I've read the second day article, not the third day one. Just checked, and I can't yet link it.<br>
I've lived this, however. No news there. My son's good friend got a small award when she placed in consols at the Olympic trials for her sport. Her award was getting into a school where she would not have been seriously considered without the sport, not the money. </p>
<p>But she could have had a full ride at any number of less known school. We know a family with kids on full rides at Utica College, Iona College and a number of other schools. It can be done. But you have to make a decision as to what your priority is. A teammate of my son got a full ride to a public uni in Kansas (can't remember which one). She wanted Penn State. They took her, but did not offer her money. She had to make the decision.</p>
<p>Actually with baseball, it is extremely unusual to get a "full ride" - in fact, in talking with other parents who have D1 students, the best I have ever heard is 80% - and that was for a player who ended up going professional out of high school, signing for nearly $1M. </p>
<p>The reason that 100% would be very seldom given is that there are only 11.7 scholarships for the whole team by NCAA rule (and some schools are not fully funded meaning they have fewer than 11.7). So going to a smaller school won't help - the most they will have is 11.7.</p>
<p>The minimum scholarship, starting this year is 25%. Up to 27 players can be getting money (and most schools will spread their money to the full 27.) Simple math says 43% is the "average" baseball scholarship. Typically pitchers get a little more - outfielders a little less.</p>
<p>I think what surprised me about the article was that they were "surprised to learn that the college only had 11.7 scholarships" - it is reasonably widely known to be the case in baseball families and should not have been news.</p>
<p>^^^Exactly! I am just so surprised that people don't research this! My Ds play soccer and we knew going in that full rides are extremely rare unless you are a ranked National team player. However, we knew full tuition wasn't uncommon. We were thrilled to be able to combine full tuition with merit aid to get close to full COA at DI school for D2 and 3/4 merit at DIII LAC for D1. I always tell people to get the grades for merit $$ and the athletic is icing on the cake. Will be interesting to see how
D2 handles the pressure next year. I'll let you know!!!</p>
<p>I should have pointed out in the note above that baseball scholarships are supplemented with Merit and FA money and that can get a player closer to full COA. </p>
<p>NM - I agree - get the grades then the process gets a lot easier - and the chance of getting closer to the full COA is a lot higher.</p>
<p>I think it's very sad that people believe this stuff and live their lives around the myth. My sons played baseball, soccer, football and wrestled. Mostly for the fun of it. But every sport, and every year I met parents who spent thousands of dollars on travel teams, camps and special training so their son could "get a full ride." Then when college time came around they were upset to discover that their athlete was not offered a full ride by any school, much less the ones they dreamed of attending. By that time, the parents couldn't afford even the school their son did get a partial scholarship to. They would have been much better off saving that money for college.</p>
<p>At my kid's HS they had a night on athletics, college admissions and recruiting. One of the takeways I will never forget is the HS varsity basketball coach explaining the 7 DI basketball scholarships ... 7 scholarships in 9 years as a head coach ... 7 scholarships in 9 years at all levels of DI ... 7 scholarships in 9 years at all levels od DI in our athletic conference of 12 schools. Roughly one senior a year in the conference gets a basketball scholarship ... while the parent of the part-time starter on our team thinks their son has a chance for a scholarship. Athletics is a tough pyramid and most folks don't get how tough it is to move up to the next level. There are rough 30,000 high schools in the US and less than 300 DI basketball programs ... about 100 to 1 ratio (and 1 senior getting a scholarhip from 12 schools is pretty close to 1 per 100 varsity seniors)</p>
<p>I have run into many people who think about their spending on youth sports as 3bm103 suggests - expecting that a dollar spent on a coach or a travel event will "pay off" in the form of athletic dollars. Given the probabilities, they would have been better off going to Las Vegas and betting on black.</p>
<p>Personally I don't regret any of the money that I spent on my son's baseball - but I also never viewed it as an investment. The time that we had together, the memories that we jointly share - worth every penny.</p>
<p>There is a lot of big talk about full rides and athletic scholarships. When you end up actually going for one, it is a whole different story. I know a young man on a full baseball scholarship supposedly, but knowing the kid and the circumstances, I would be willing to bet that it is comprised of merit, sports, and financial aid, as he would be eligible for those. Plus he is in the URM category which opens ups some grants at that school as well. </p>
<p>Our son went to college on our family scholarship. We paid every bit of his way. In addition we paid for the years he spent in the sport. It was what he wanted to do, and it was not for the purpose of college anyways, so there was no bitterness or surprise in all of this. But there are families who believe the legends and are shocked and upset.</p>
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I know a young man on a full baseball scholarship supposedly
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<p>I don't think there is such thing as a "full ride baseball" scholarship. I know you mentioned that you figure there must be merit money, etc as well and I think that must be the case. Like was mentioned, baseball only gets 11.7 total scholarships and they have 35 man rosters..</p>
<p>I'm told that DI-A football requires full ride scholarships but DI-AA does not. DI-AA and below can split the scholarships up. I believe I-AA gets 63, DII gets 50-something that they can divide among the players. DI-A gets 80 I think that have to be full-rides... something like that.</p>
<p>my friend will be accepted to Princeton because of Crew. He will be paying close to nothing. They are giving him "financial aid." He just signed his letter of intent or contract. </p>
<p>he is a good student, but he would not get into princeton without Crew for sure.</p>
<p>I agree that it is unlikely that he got a full ride baseball scholarship. Swimming works the same way, and there are not that many who get the full ride. However, there are some. This young man was recruited by Clemson, Auburn and some other bigger schools; he is quite good, so it is possible he got a bigger chunk than usual. Also being URM and an excellent student with high test scores, he had several avenues where he could get money. He was ivy league material in terms of qualifications, so he was a catch for this school. They were very quick to sign if as soon as they could.</p>
<p>Sometimes coaches will put together a package for their recruits in conjunction with the admissions and financial aid office - they start with merit aid, top it up with financial aid and then add athletic on top of that. </p>
<p>The blended package for a student with the right credentials could make it to 100%. Where the confusion often lies is that the baseball money portion of it may only be 25%. Parents may refer to that kind of package as a "full ride" - and it is from their check books point of view.</p>
<p>"Sometimes coaches will put together a package for their recruits in conjunction with the admissions and financial aid office - they start with merit aid, top it up with financial aid and then add athletic on top of that. "</p>
<p>My daughter's first choice school just did this for her. She finally felt like all the years of juggling a difficult curriculum and intense sports schedules were worth it.</p>
<p>HRSFRM - Congrats to your daughter - I'm glad the multi-year balancing act is working out!!!</p>