<p>I'm the parent of a wonderful son in his junior year who hasn't worked hard in high school and is now reaping the consequences. </p>
<p>He is a successful athlete, and a really good kid but doesn't have the same motivation in academics as he does in his sport. School isn't interesting for him. We have not been able to talk him into working harder and he has had events effect his academic performance one being a concussion his sophomore year and the other a really bad teacher for Chemistry who is well known for his poor teaching.</p>
<p>The pattern for DS is he'll do all that's required for a time and then he slips back into doing the bare minimum which clearly shows his immaturity and lack of enthusiasm for academics. I would say he will be just under 3.0 GPA at the end of junior year. He might be able to accomplish the 3.0 but we'll have to see.</p>
<p>He has always hoped to play college sports and while he is talented he is going to be quickly bypassed when coaches see his academic record. </p>
<p>Part of me feels that all I can do is try to help him prepare for interviews so that he can explain why his grades are what they are and how he has changed his work ethic and study habits. However, I don't see that he's really changed very much. He completes his work but IMHO he doesn't study long enough. </p>
<p>We have a few interviews with coaches approaching. Is it advisable that my son have an explanation of his academic work ethic? </p>
<p>Any advice about how to proceed and what we should do should his grades and SAT scores prevent him from getting into the schools that are interested in him?</p>
<p>Is Junior College with an athletic program an option and if so how do you find one?</p>
<p>I don't want to give him a sense that it's hopeless. He could get into a school and transfer should he firmly realize his academic goals but I don't understand the lacrosse NCAA rules in that regard but will be researching to find out.</p>
<p>Any parents out there who have been in my position? What can I do in this situation?</p>
<p>Depending on the sport and his skill level his grades might be fine! (i.e. if he is going to be a D1 recruit in football or basketball). Otherwise, I would be very concerned that he will not be able to handle college academics AND a sport. Junior college might not be a bad idea. I know some good students who want to get a little more physical growth and coaching who go to a JC for a year and then move up to D1 sports.</p>
<p>Yes, I have asked him that very question and that really upset him because 4 year college is the norm in our area. </p>
<p>But, I agree, I can’t name a subject that holds interest for him. He enjoyed woodworking, italian,ceramics, and physics which is why we feel he would do well in civil engineering. He claims he would like to teach and coach but the teaching part makes no sense to me because you need to be excited about a subject to be able to teach it. </p>
<p>I sometimes see glimpses of potential success. Right now he is enjoying Brit Lit and I’ve never heard him talk as enthusiastically about a class besides physics and phys ed. I think the teachers have made it very interesting which really helps him stay with it.</p>
<p>Several CAl State Universities play d1 sports, and accept 2.5 gpa’s. But, if lax is the game, then your options may be limited to the NE. You should look at some of the NY junior colleges to see if they play lax, or even the SUNY’s themselves. Marquette Univ is starting up a lax program, as is Boston University. A coach’s tip might get a 3.0 kid accepted.</p>
<p>Engineering can be a stressful gpa killer. Someone has to love math to go that route. </p>
<p>But seriously, excelling in shop and ceramics is not the way to establish a good study foundation for college academics.</p>
<p>He may need some extra time to grow up. How you get there is not that easy. Say he gets into a school your family would consider. You might think about deferring a year to give him time to get his mind together. It may be he needs that.</p>
<p>Howard Community College, in Maryland, has an excellent men’s lacrosse team. Your son might find much more success going that route, or attending any one of a number of two year community colleges with LAX teams, than attempting admission to a LAX powerhouse college or university.</p>
<p>I know that we have sent quite a few track athletes and baseball players to junior college over the last few years because they were just not there academically. One is training for the Olympics and the baseball players went to JCs that feed several major league farm teams.</p>
<p>If he’s a recruited athlete, a 3.0 would be fine for the vast majority of schools. If he is not recruited, he can contacts coaches at the division 2 and 3 levels and
If there is interest, the coaches might work the admissions office. 3.0 kids get into college all the time to play sports.</p>
<p>Starting in August 2015, high school student-athletes who hope to play sports in college will be held to a higher academic standard. While freshmen only need a 2.0 GPA to be eligible for competition now, the new rules require student-athletes to have a 2.3 GPA to have immediate access to competition.</p>
<p>If a student-athlete meets the current 2.0 GPA requirement but falls short of the 2.3 GPA required for competition, the NCAA approved a proposal that will allow him/her to still remain on his/her athletic scholarship. The NCAA is calling this an “academic redshirt” year.</p>
<p>FWIW, none of the listed classes apply to college civil engineering course work. (Engineering Physics is typically taught using Calculus.) D1 sports can be very time-consuming, and a challenge for even the most dedicated engineering student.</p>
<p>It is the end of his Junior year, so you should have an idea if he even has the ability to play a sport in college based on the question of is he being recruited.</p>
<p>You know, there is nothing wrong with being a contractor/builder/fine finish carpenter/cabinet maker. There are people who do perfectly well as potters, or running pottery/ceramics businesses. And it sounds as if either might involve a kind of hands-on creativity that might suit him better than civil engineering.</p>
<p>That is not to say that he shouldn’t go to a 4 yr college, if it appeals to him, and shouldn’t pursue engineering, if it floats his boat. It’s just a question of thinking a little out of the box.</p>
<p>Have you looked at a school like Alfred University in NY?</p>
<p>If he’s choosing to do the bare minimum and not motivated to do better, he is probably a late bloomer. My S was and I pushed him hard from junior year on even when some of the people here on cc said to let him find his own way. But that’s because I knew he could handle college - high test scores, great grades when he applied himself. He’s thriving in college now and loves it. But my friend’s s took the cc route because he just couldn’t get it together in his senior year. His mom made sure he was on the transfer track at the cc. He sure blossomed and will graduate from UCLA this weekend. He used his sport to be connected to school but not as a means to get into school. Your son still has options.</p>
<p>Personally I discourage him from engineering for two reasons: it’s going to limit your college search as not all colleges have engineering and secondly it’s a “gut” major…kids really have to knuckle down and work at this major and I would want clear signals that there was a dedication to engineering first and lacrosse second and not the other way around. I tell you this because I have a rising senior lacrosse player who wants to play lacrosse and study civil or architectural engineering and he’s going into the college hunt with a 3.8 unweighted GPA. I told my son to go at it from both ends…talk to the coaches, send the unofficial transcripts when asked and at the same time keep pursing his “list” irrespective of what kind of reception he gets from the coaches as they may be singing a different tune mid-winter than they were this spring regarding who they “can” and “can’t” attract. As far as the 3.0 which I’m assuming/hoping is unweighted --it shouldn’t be a problem with NCAA it’s going to be more a factor in who can recruit your son or your son selecting colleges where he will apply.</p>
<p>I would also discourage engineering based on his h.s performance. Engineering is not for the faint of heart or the lackadasical student.<br>
Maybe the two of you should get on some college websites and check out the majors offered. There are lots of majors out there that most h.s. kids have never even heard of much less considered majoring in them. For instance one of my S’s majored in Natural Resources with a concentration in Policy and Administration.</p>
<p>Look through the majors but don’t just look at the list…click on them to see what it’s about and what courses are required. You find this by searching on the website for “four year plan” in whatever major you’re looking for. By doing this he/you may find something that he’d never even considered or scratch one off that had been on his list of possibilities.</p>
<p>My other S was never a good math student so when thinking about majors, I would have him look at the “4 year plan” for that specific major. If it required math courses with a high degree of difficulty, he knew it was not for him. It really did help to narrow the scope of possibilites down for him and made it less overwhelming.</p>
<p>First let me say thank you for the awesome responses. I can’t say that I disagree with anything I’ve read so far.<br>
I do believe that Engineering is not right for him. Construction Management might be the right direction since we are in the construction business and it could accommodate his creative side. We are very limited with lax schools that have this major.</p>
<p>PackMom you hit the nail on the head. Right now my son is lackadaisical. Perfect word for him. </p>
<p>Thank you for the helpful comments. I can’t tell you how much it helps to be able to voice my concerns.</p>