Athletics vs Academics? How to choose a school?

Athletic Recruits
8

<p>You didn’t really tell us where School 2 is academically. Are you looking at the difference between an Oberlin/Trinity College/Bates-level school and a 3rd- or 4th-tier university, or is School 2 more the caliber of, let’s say, Michigan State?</p>

<p>Would you choose School 2 if you were not an athlete? If you really like the school and would prefer going there over School 1, then by all means you should go there.</p>

<p>If the answer is no, you wouldn’t go to School 2 if you were not an athlete, you probably shouldn’t go there. </p>

<p>You may find that after you get there, you will not be an athlete. The coach may lead you to believe you are an athletic god, but after you get there, you may find yourself ignored by the coach and that you aren’t that great compared to their other athletes (high school sports really are far, far, far worse than Division 1, and far worse than Division 3). You may get hurt right away. You may find that schoolwork is too demanding to give you the time to play and practice.</p>

<p>The $2,000 a year difference is chump change. That much can easily be earned during college, and $8,000 in debt can easily be paid off after college if you get any decent job. Financially, they’re essentially equal. That is such a small amount that the difference in reputation between a great school and a mediocre school (let alone the difference in the caliber of the education and the alumni network) could permit you to pay that much off in your first year out of school. No guarantees, of course.</p>

<p>I’ll risk the anger of this board again by saying this, but athletic scholarships can actually be a negative. At a lot of division 1 schools, and particularly in revenue sports, that’s when school goes out the window and you become a professional athlete. See my post on this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/1492133-football-iu-harvard.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/1492133-football-iu-harvard.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Here are my suggestions:</p>

<p>1) Consider this: If you had a career-ending injury on Day 1, would you still choose the same school?</p>

<p>2) Consider going to the best academic school where you are good enough to play.</p>

<p>3) Pick the school beyond athletics that you feel is the best fit for you.</p>