<p>My son is being recruited for a football scholarship at a private Baptist university in Arkansas.
We live in Dallas,Tx.</p>
<p>Now, they are telling us it's a 1/2 scholarship for the first year and full the remainder years. *again..that's what they are telling us.</p>
<p>Now, I have zero experience with 'college grants' in general. I got some valuable information off of this site already, but I was referred to you as someone mentioned you would be able to assist me in possibly giving me your input on this 1/2 scholarship offer?</p>
<p>What should I ask them?
What should I look out for?</p>
<p>Any advice in general? I'm very concerned as someone brought up a good point...what if he is hurt???</p>
<p>Any feedback-no matter how simple would be great. </p>
<p>A desperate mom in Tx---
Son is graduation this May.--</p>
<p>is he interested in the school and can he see himself there if for whatever reason he can't play football, and what other FA options do you have</p>
<p>Yiu want to be sure you aren't JUST going where the money is if the school is not the right place. It very well may be, but be sure an look at majors, size, college life, academics, etc as well as the $$ offer</p>
<p>You also want to see what it takes to maintain the scholarship,is it just playing football or is it combined with academics and is the 2nd, 3rd 4th year guarantee if maintained</p>
<p>Sorry--didn't read the first post closely enough. My guess is that the half scholarship is all that he has left this year from his NCAA maximun and/or what the school allows him. In addition to the questions suggested by citygirlsmom, I would have your son's high school coach ask around about the college coach's reputation. I would also want to know how important it is to your son to play football at the level of this school. Finally, there is always the question of how important the scholarship is in the context of your family's finances.</p>
<p>Ask all your questions in an email - not over the phone. Print out the answers so you can review them, and so you have "proof" of what they said. EVERYTHING in writing. Ask in writing for renewal requirements for scholarship, GPA, probation and reinstatement of scholarship in case his gpa slips or he can't play. $ amount of scholarship or percentage of tuition? Will they meet your full 'Need" ifyou have need over and above scholarship amount and if so, how much. How many hours of training, what kind of support for scholar/athletes? Ask lots of questions!</p>
<p>1) Yes, he is graduating in a few months.
2) This school is the PERFECT school and we really, really want him to attend as it's a Christian private school. He is excited about it as well - and I do know that football is the driving force of attending. Otherwise, we would do local.
3) Great advice on the 'in writing'. POINT heard and will definitely do this.
4) thank you to Citigirls' mom in reference to academic/athletic. again, great point.</p>
<p>The school should have a handbook for athletes. It should include policies on renewing scholarships. Take a look at that. Is he being asked to sign a National letter of Intent. The NCAA website has a guide on recruiting also.</p>
<p>Make sure you mix academic and sport scholarships. My teacher told me that if you get injured only on a sport scholarship you lose it and have to pay full.</p>
<p>I'm not sure that if you're injured, you lose your athletic scholarship. I have always heard that if you're injured, your scholarship stays intact.
Also, I wasn't aware that you could divide football or basketball scholarships.
Does the school play Division I or II?</p>
<p>You should ask to speak with some of the team members. Ask how hard the travel is, missing classes, academic tutors, etc.Take a good look at son's potential first year classes and identify potential difficult classes and try to schedule them conveniently. The teammates will be able to provide info you didn't think about. You should ask if anyone has gotten injured during practices.You can generally gage what the coach is like from his general attitude and attitude about winning.Does he seem like someone son could work with? I've known kids who transferred schools and teams because of coach relationships. Ask what exactly does he expect from your son.What are YOUR attitudes about winning? Does coach seem very gunho or accepting? Is your son? Does coach look beyond the sport? Look at the roster and see where the other boys are from. Look at the school's record against other schools and where they play. Do they ever make finals? Do they have to take a plane to games? Are they Div1 , 2 or 3? Only 1 and 2 can offer athletic scholarships but Div.3 schools put priority on academics. My son is on a Div. 1 team and he received a huge amount of academic merit aid so coach said he could not provide an athletic scholarship for my son, said he was saving it for student who did not receive as much money as my son. My son is happy with Div 1 and his coach.</p>
<p>Sadly there is also a lot of bait and switch. Much interest then last minute hemming and hawing when other better players enter the realm. Make sure you get a letter of intent or a commitment son will be on the team.I was shocked to find unabashed lying. Also sometimes the athletic scholarships are not worth it.Just too much pressure on the kid and sometimes above and beyond the field.</p>
<p>On the other hand it can be very flattering to be courted by a coach and have a good relationship with a coach and team.They make friends with their teammates. My son has a great time on the team.</p>
<p>ncaa.org will have all the NCAA rules around recruiting, academics, and maintaining scholarships. The rules vary by sport and by Division so be careful. In addition, many conferences and schools have rules more restrictive to the schools (student-friendly) than the NCAAs.</p>
<p>For example, I believe that by NCAA rules athletic scholarships are renewalable on a year-by-year basis at the school's discretion ... in other words at the end of any year a school can drop the scholarship from any athlete they want to. That is the NCAA rule but I believe few schools follow such a policy ... they would get killed in recruiting ... I believe at most schools healthy kids giving a fair effort keep their scholarships even if they don't pan out athletically. Injuries are another topic ... again the rules allow schools to drop scholarships of kids who are injured but many schools, I believe Stanford is prime example, maintain scholarships of kids injured while playing for Stanford.</p>
<p>Some schools are better than others. Oklahoma has had it's problems, but it will remain a favorite with me. In 1990, a young, very poor, black kid was recruited for football from my brother-in-laws (coach) team. He was an amazing athlete. He enrolled but then failed his physical. He had a hidden heart defect and was never allowed to play. OU honored all 4 years of his scholarship and he graduated. They may have found a way to fund it outside of athletics, but they honored their commitment to him one way or another.</p>
<p>Ouachita Baptist is very good little school. I believe Cliff Harris, DB for the Cowboys, was from there.</p>
<p>Maybe this is just me, but by giving a 1/2 scholarship for the first year, they can cut their losses if they end up not wanting your son to play or he gets into trouble with grades.</p>
<p>I'd definately get a contract making everything clear.</p>
<p>Athletic scholarships are year to year; in other words, they can't officially offer a four-year athletic scholarship. To prove my point, simply ask the coach to give you a written guarantee of a four-year scholarship. He'll tell you that he can't do it, and that he can only guarantee the scholarship for one year at a time.</p>
<p>Here's the reasoning behind the year-to-year rule: If your son gets injured and can't play, they won't want to use their limited scholarship resources on him. If his performance is sub-par, they will bring in a new recruit and give the money to him.</p>