We do have some strong back ups colleges that my D would be happy to attend should D3 tennis or a T5 school not work out.
My D is a little more similar to your son’s situation with regard to Yale. We find it interesting that the D3 coaches agreed to hold a spot for your son if Yale had not planned out. That is great and seems to have helped balance out the potential downside of being totally left out in the cold.
Our potential D3 tennis school is located in a large city and had a relatively large student population. Both the location and school size is very appealing to our D. Even without tennis, this D3 school would be on our list of potential colleges (albeit lower on such list).
As another poster mentioned, my D is struggling to move forward with “bird in hand” (which we know is not guaranteed) versus the POSSIBILITY to attend a T5 college.
@jwchoutx, this is a fairly personal question for your child, but having a sounding board can help. If your kid wants to play tennis in college, I think you have your answer.
If you are worried that the outcome at a D3 school with sports might be lesser than, say, an IVY without sports, I would ask which outcome you are trying to gauge. If your your answer is “grad school,” don’t worry. Grad schools mostly will take the kids with the highest GPA and test scores. It is far more important how well you did in school than where you went. In fact, grad schools might view 4 years of varsity sports as a plus.
If you are thinking about the job market, again I doubt that there would be any sort of difference D1 vs. D3. Many employers actually like to hire athletes, assuming that they have learned leadership and teamwork skills.
The point that @Mwfan1921 and others make is valid. A large percentage of kids applying to IVY level schools with flawless academic records are turned away. In fact, a while ago, I read that a high number of valedictorians are denied admission to Harvard every year. This is the fallacy of the 25-75% range numbers that institutions provide. You can tell where your kid falls on the spectrum of admitted kids, but you can’t tell where he falls in the range of denied kids. That said, you are in the best place to judge his chances for unhooked admission at one to the T5 schools. Good luck.
The D3 and D1 schools we are considering are actually very similar in terms of location, student population, and curriculum that my D plans to take. Academic ranking (and associated academic reputation) is probably the difference on the colleges we are considering.
In that case, if playing tennis is a priority and the D3 is strong academically and checks the other boxes I wouldn’t get too hung up on FOMO at the Ivies. I know several kids who faced this decision, were passionate about their sport, and went the D3 route. They aren’t second-guessing. Also know kids who went the other direction and are happy with the decision. BKsquared has summed it up pretty well.
So, if your D strongly prefers the top 5 (s) and her chances are decent at the D3 you mentioned without the athletic spot, rolling the dice may be worth it. My S was very transparent with all the coaches, and he called each one up after he decided not to take their offers of support in early October so they had plenty of time to work down their lists. They all pretty much told him to update them after the SCEA decision date. I think if your D takes a very open approach with the D3 coach(s), she might get some valuable intel in return.
The OP asked about post-grad outcomes – in my graduating D3 athlete’s experience, as someone who was not interested in graduate or professional schools, his job search definitely benefitted from a “bump” as a college athlete. The skills a college athlete brings to the workplace – multi-tasking, team work, grit, discipline – make them very desirable hires.
Our D plans to attend grad school and is mildly concerned that a T5 D1 school might look better than a T25 D3 school with tennis. Again that may be just our D’s own fomo and inexperience.
Another strong draw to our D3 school is the location in a large urban city. The location affords students at this school many great opportunities for internships, jobs, connections, etc.
We may have our D visit with the D3 coach and softly ask about holding a spot. I could see the coach being agreeable given the current Covid-19 situation. However, my D is a middle of the pack athletic recruit (and not a star recruit), so I could see the coaching saying no to holding a spot too.
Midwest, if I may ask, how did your sons feel while in college and bring a varsity athlete? Was there a lot of pressure? Was there a certain level of pride and prestige?
My D likes the fact that she may be able to represent her college in the sports arena and believes that post- college positives are also an important consideration ( long after my D quits playing her sport competitively).
For me as a parent, the idea of being able to extend my D’s competitive sports into college and after high school is very appealing too
One thing to consider - it may be possible to play even if your child isn’t a recruited athlete. Be sure to ask the coaches whether there are tryouts or walk on positions that may be available. We know several kids that walked on to D1 teams after being admitted on their own (not tennis.)
IMO wanting to go to med school could change things. I think playing a sport plus trying to keep a 3.7 GPA at WashU, U Chicago, or JHU will be really hard. It’s hard at those schools without spending 30 hours per week on your sport.
I don’t know about NYU, grade competition, and tennis, but I do know a women’s team coach there (not tennis) who won’t let the gals be science majors (not that that precludes med school, but instructive nonetheless).
The other thing to consider is that T25 admission is not a sure thing either, especially at the schools you mentioned. Chicago, JHU, and Northwestern are as competitive as some of the Ivies. IMO, your child has a real gift with being a recruited athlete at a school of that caliber. She would be throwing away her hook and be looked at like any other applicant. The odds of a HYP admission are so low I don’t think it’s worth it. And then, she is also risking not being accepted at the T25 school in the RD round.
You’re right on the money mentioning how things are still fluid at this stage. Our child is graduating HS this year and for most of high school spoke of dreaming of playing D1 sports. At this time last year she was working hard on nurturing her recruiting relationship with a couple of ivies. Once the summer hit, she looked at a few more schools that were not on her list previously and eventually fell in love with Harvey Mudd. Long story short, she established contact, was invited for an “official-like” visit (travel not paid like it was for her D1 visits), and applied ED all within the span of a couple months in the fall. Things can and do still change quickly at this stage.
For her, the visits really helped her get a feel for where could be most comfortable, and her own self reflection led her to realize she wasn’t ready to dedicate a D1-level of commitment to her sport.
Eagledad, that is awesome on your daughter and HM. Congrats to your D.
Yes things being fluid for my D and more for your D is an understatement given the covid -19 situation. Hopefully your D will get to attend HM and play her sport as planned.
It seems obvious but the real thing is how much your D wants to play tennis. There are kids who aren’t whole without their sport. Most kids who play anything well enough to be recruited have spent so much time doing it that they can’t imagine a life without it, but that’s different than really wanting to do it.
For many, the structure of practice, the physical activity, the camaraderie, etc. are a huge plus. Being on a team makes freshman year pretty easy, and there is a genuine benefit to having older teammates help you learn the ropes. A coach tends to look out for you in a way that few others will in college.
For others, the obligations of practice and games just such time and energy away from a "normal " college experience. Less time to just hang out on your hall, meet someone for coffee, party on a Friday night (when you have a match on Saturday. )
As everyone has mentioned, getting into a competitive school with coach support is a gigantic leg up over being part of the general pool. Don’t underestimate the value of that. There are tons of kids with the stats and getting to the top of the pile is really tough. So if she does want to play, this is that free pass to the accept list. Don’tcounton that when tennisis merely another EC…
Wow…this is exactly my daughter’s situation except the sport is golf. From reading this thread, am I correct in the assumption that an athletic recruit must apply ED? I think she was planning on ED at an Ivy (lottery ticket) and maybe an EDII at the LAC. Is this doable?
Not all athletic recruits at selective schools apply ED but most probably do. This is what coaches usually prefer, and so the deal is often “I’ll support your application if you apply ED.” But that’s not always the case and it’ll vary by program, year, and specific recruit.
At Ivies there’s really no reason not to apply early once a decision has been made, and the likely letter process makes for a pretty smooth experience.