You’ll be fine. Don’t need the safeties but you might want to look at Miss State…big time baseball. And Missouri Science and Tech.
As I’ve said a couple of times, we’re not committed to playing baseball and it would be the first thing to go when weighing options. I haven’t commented about summer ball, but everybody on the high school team is required to play summer/fall baseball. The high school team is very good, and there is a lot of development in the last few years of high school for most pitchers, so we have no idea whether kid will be a standout or a bench warmer over the next few years.
He seems pretty interested in engineering. Spouse and I both have STEM PhDs, and spouse has been putting together a class that is a survey of computer engineering, using some of spouse’s college textbooks. So far, kid has thought that the projects are interesting. When exposed to material from my field, on the other hand, he thinks it’s interesting but can’t imagine doing it full time.
I have a relative who works in college athletics who says that there’s a school for almost any kid who plays high school sports and wants to continue, but finding a good fit for a decent athlete who wants solid academics in STEM is more challenging. This post was mostly about seeing if there were any schools that jumped out at anybody so that we could consider them if, after the spring season, kid is still considering college athletics. There are a lot of decisions - school size, ball, location, cost - and we’re just working on putting together a list right now. We know a couple of kids who are solid students, and it turned out well for them - baseball coaches like students who can earn an academic scholarship. But, they weren’t engineers, so they could earn their business degrees at the small schools without issue.
I understand that baseball is the first thing to go. But trying to think of schools that might be more doable managing both baseball and engineering (in terms of the expectation of coaches and how demanding the schedules of other teammates might be), then these might be other possibilities
- Arkansas Tech: D2, ABET-accredited for computer engineering
- Louisiana Tech: D1, ABET-accredited but not for computer engineering. Your son would qualify for excellent merit aid here.
- Harvey Mudd: D3, this is all the way in California, but it’s southern Cal, so warm. It’s part of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps team for varsity play, and I suspect they’d be very understanding of academic imperatives while being surrounded by a very high-caliber of students.
I think that Missouri Science & Tech (D2) is also a really great suggestion that’s already been mentioned.
Thanks - you’ve been helpful! I think that the advice above - make 2 lists, one without ball and one with, and then see how things progress, is a good plan. You’ve given us a lot of possibilities to consider on the ‘with ball’ list, and they give us a starting point to hunt for more should he go that route. We’ll just have to see how it goes in the spring.
1 Like
Harvey Mudd jumped to mind if California is an option. Excellent for computer engineering. D3 baseball. Not urban. OP’s son is an academic match (still hard to get into so no guarantee), and it’s expensive but if money isn’t an issue, this is a very good option I think.
2 Likes
W and L engineering is not ABET accredited so I would not consider personally.
1 Like
Tennessee just beat Alabama! Has your son totally ruled it out? Urban but I’m guessing there are plenty of opportunities to get out and explore. Instate. Has engineering, inciuding Computer Engineering. Since Clemson, Virginia Tech, Auburn, etc. are on the list, sounds like he prefers a bigger school?
1 Like
Having spent time on both campuses for Science Olympiad, he likes TN Tech better although he’ll likely apply to both. We know people who have gone to both.
We’ve worked at a couple of UT games as a baseball fundraiser, but we saw this one on TV before settling in to watch Clemson.
It’s not a geographical match, but he sounds like he might like the academic/peer/athletic/flexibility fit of University of Rochester.
1 Like
It has been mentioned a few time already but as a Missouri S&T grad I think it is exactly what you are looking for. Great engineering programs including CompE and the baseball team is ok. Certainly not urban. Rolla is “the middle of everywhere” which is another way of saying the middle of nowhere. Close enough to STL for a weekend trip though.
3 Likes
Adding thoughts to my comments above regarding having two lists of schools, one where your S would play baseball and one where he wouldn’t.
I work with many student athletes and the number of hours and commitment required to play a sport are high, sometimes shockingly so, even at highly selective schools. When the student is majoring in a challenging area like computer engineering, it’s more pronounced.
Baseball players have among the most intense time commitments, many teams (at all levels) require 35 or so hours per week in fall ball and during the spring season. During spring season, many players are still in season during finals.
When talking to coaches, potential recruits in any sport should ask questions regarding time commitment, majors that might not be simpatico with the sport, and how the coach views things like missing practice or weight room training for class or studying. Some coaches are more restrictive on majors, or more amenable to prioritizing academics…the idea is to find these things out before committing.
Student athletes have to love their sport to want to spend their time this way, it really is a big decision to play in college or not.
5 Likes
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.