<p>S is a high school junior, 4.6 GPA (weighted), class rank 74 out of 577, "lettered" in academics as a sophomore (top 25% of class), was inducted into the National Honor Society two weeks ago, plays two varsity sports (football and soccer), is interested in computer science for college (more along network administration/tech support lines, not necessarily computer engineering, programming, etc.)</p>
<p>We live in central Texas and would prefer that he stays in-state. We also have a fully-paid original version of the Texas Tomorrow Fund (will pay for four years' tuition and fees at any state school in Texas and will transfer that similar amount to a private school).</p>
<p>He also wants to continue one of his sports in college; of course, in Texas, there are lots of football teams but not as many men's soccer teams. I pretty much already know just about everything there is to know about men's soccer in Texas. He definitely has a shot at a D-II or D-III school in soccer, and maybe in football as well; in other words, he is not D-1 football ability for any of the "big" schools in Texas, except maybe Rice (but not sure he can get in there). The only D-I schools in Texas with men's soccer are SMU (I don't think he would like the preppy Dallas scene) and Houston Baptist. I know very little about HBU other than they are a little too focused on the religious aspect for us, but I could be wrong about that.</p>
<p>My question is with his grades and varsity sport experience, what would be some good colleges with good computer science programs as well as men's soccer and/or football? We got some info from Trinity U in San Antonio on their computer science program -- only 8 faculty members, although some good stats on their CS graduates. We also have some ties to St. Edward's Univ. in Austin.</p>
<p>:D Seriously, we do have schools in Texas too . . . isn’t there anybody on CC who can give me a little insight here? I have to look up half the schools people mention on here because I’ve never heard of them. Okay, now I’ve bumped this up. I do find lots of interesting info on CC and it has certainly been helpful. Thanks to all in advance for any help on this thread. :))</p>
<p>If he’s good enough to be recruited by Rice as a football player his stats are good enough for him to be admitted. If he’s not, then lots will depend on his SATs.</p>
<p>Has your son considered playing club sports as a way to continue his interests? There are lots of competitive club teams out there. D is a current Rice student and club team member. The club-sports scene is very active and the teams travel regularly to tournaments in TX, OK etc. Club sports must be big at UT and TAMU (and all the other bigger schools). Club teams are usually filled with enthusiastic players and offer a high level of competition.</p>
<p>"This week’s Passed Over Spotlight will look at College Club Soccer. Many people think of college sports as the one’s that are sponsored and paid for by the school. However, many schools are unable to field teams in all of the major sports. For instance, soccer is sometimes passed over in order to cut costs. Or in other cases, there are not enough women’s sports teams, so a men’s team is cut in order to field a women’s team.</p>
<p>The National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association is very similar to the NCAA, NAIA, and NSCAA. NIRSA is the governing body for collegiate club sports. For soccer, the NIRSA currently has two major tournaments. In california, the Aztec Cup is held every year and many collegiate club teams make the trip to San Diego, CA. The National Cup is held every in a different location. This year the National Cup will be held in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.</p>
<p>College Club soccer is often looked over because of NCAA teams that are in the spotlight in the soccer world. However, most of the players on club soccer teams could have played NCAA soccer. Teams that are in the Elite 8 have players that can be Division 1 starters. For whatever reason, maybe money or education, players choose to attend a college that do not have NCAA, NAIA, or NSCAA teams. Whatever this reason maybe, College Club Soccer deserves to be looked at a little bit more. Finally, without college club soccer, the likes of Shalrie Joseph and Justin Braun might not be known or heard of."</p>
<p>a few comments … and I am from the northeast so it will have that tilt …</p>
<p>Up here the school seasons for both football and soccer are the fall and I know the NCAA DI, DII, and DIII teams around here play both sports in the fall also … I do not know how anyone could play both sports for their school (maybe a soccer player could also kick for the football team). Maybe it is different in the south. </p>
<p>DIII is somewhat of a northern set-up … I believe down south a lot of non-scholarship colleges play NAIA (basically equivalent to NCAA DIII). Here are some links that might be of interest
[The</a> Official Web Site of the NCAA - NCAA.org - NCAA.org<a href=“to%20find%20lists%20of%20schools%20and%20also%20the%20rules%20about%20recruiting”>/url</a>
<p>His current coaches should be able to give some indication of what level he might be able to play in college. I’d also suggest making tapes to send to coaches (not just highlights but also some continuous action shots). Most colleges have links to contact coaches on their team pages … they can respond to students at any time (while there are a lot of limitations to when they can proactively contact students). </p>
<p>(Just as a FYI my son gave me some initial rough parameters for his college search which includes D3 hoops … and there are only about 90 schools on the master list … that’s even before considering majors / size of school / if it is urban or rurual etc … the point being he/we will be able to investigate/contact all the schools on his list because the list will just nt be that long).</p>
<p>MSmom&dad, I know a tiny bit about the club sports in college, and if he finds a college that he truly loves but a varsity sport is not involved, then we’ll definitely look at that. I have a coworker (in Austin) whose nephew was a superb high school/club soccer player; he ended up going to UT and thought he would check out the UT club soccer team. There were something like 150 people there trying out for 2-3 spots! So, it’s definitely competitive for those teams too.</p>
<p>MSmom&dad, I would also be interested in Shrinkrap’s question concerning how to research club-level sports, if you have any more info on that.</p>
<p>Shrinkrap, thanks for that soccerdays link – I’ll bookmark that one.</p>
<p>3togo, I’ve got all the NCAA info and he’s got his clearinghouse number already, but I was not familiar with the D3 soccer and football links you posted; I’ll check those out. We also have both highlight and full-game video for both sports. Yes, soccer and football are both fall sports in Texas too and he would not play both in college . . . it’s just a matter of deciding at some point which sport to focus on. Frankly, at this point, I don’t know which one he would choose if he had to choose one today. He loves football and it’s more “high profile” especially in Texas, but I think soccer is probably his true love.</p>