I’m looking for some input regarding which colleges I should be targeting for my college list as far as reaches, matches and safety schools. At this point I only have 1 safety locked in which is UF.
National Merit Finalist
Benacquisto Scholarship Florida colleges
AP Scholar with distinction
8 AP’s so far and finishing with 13
Bright futures FAS
Major: Computer Science
Not seeking anything past BS
10th grade: Class Vice President
11th grade: Class President
12th grade: President Student Council
Gold medal Florida Science Olympiad
TSA Nationals Qualifier 3 years Coding and Technology Bowl
STEM Alliance Scholar
Recruited Athlete Football
Ranked top 50 at position
FCA
TSA
300 Volunteer Hours
4 Year Varsity Football
4 Year Volleyball(2 JV 2 Varsity Team Captain)
3 Year Weightlifting(1 JV 2 Varsity)
Have a Florida Prepaid which will be free for Florida colleges and offset cost for OOS colleges.
NPC for most colleges is between 12-16K per year
Outside Scholarships $5,000 to this point
As a recruited athlete the school or schools to which I will be applying will be determined by offers but for this list of schools I’m strictly looking at applying based on academics and not offers for football.
Well you can’t really, I don’t think, break out the athletic from the academics in your case. If you’re a recruited athlete wanting to do computer science and you have an offer (meaning cleared admissions) from Stanford or Michigan or Cal or Texas or GA Tech, that’s where you go.
If you signed the football contract, it’s pretty much done. I would hardly call UF a safety school anyway. If you’re doing Computer Science, school prestige really doesn’t make any difference at all, because of high demand. The CS program at UF can be pretty selective, but I’m not sure how it is with athletes. It would be a shame to give up football, but I admire your sense of priorities. If you haven’t signed the contract and you’re a national merit finalist, you can get a scholarship almost anywhere. If that’s the case, try TCU, Alabama, or Baylor. The CS programs aren’t as selective, plus they have top football programs if you wanted to go in as a walk-on. Well, Baylor’s football is a work in progress
@theloniusmonk Another words take football out of the equation. Let’s say I blow out my knee and can’t play anymore. @coolguy40 I’m a rising senior so no LOI until December at the earliest. Typically I would agree but in this situation UF is a safety. I have always valued academics and an academic environment so I would absolutely “consider” a top college and walking on but finances are a consideration. At UF or FSU I would have a full ride but also get money back due to the Benacquisto paired with the Florida Pre-paid. For OOS the Florida Pre-paid would essentially cover my COA or have to pay slightly at worse.
Interesting. Sounds like you’re in a great position - congrats! How does this work - can you approach schools, or do they have to approach you? Would a top CS school like Rice, that isn’t exactly a football powerhouse, jump at the chance to sign you up?
Does being in the recruitment process mean you’re committed to playing D1? Sorry I don’t know that much about the process… just wondering whether a top CS school with D3 football, like Hopkins, RPI, or Case, would be a possibility. That would give you more time for a demanding major like CS; and any merit you received, even if they gave it to you because of football, would be injury-proof because it wouldn’t be linked to your continuing to play.
Sounds good. It’s hard to say which school, but consider cost first. The more prestigious the school, the more stingy they typically are with scholarship money. Ivy leagues and MIT tend to be the most generous with need based aid, but it varies from school to school. Naturally, they’re near impossible to get into. Elite non-ivy schools like Duke or Georgetown are much less generous with need based aid.
If you go out of state, be sure you can pair it with a scholarship, otherwise you’re going to drown in debt. GA Tech is a top CS program and I’ve seen full ride scholarships to people with similar stats to yours. Other top CS programs are Virginia, Carnegie Mellon, Michigan, Texas, and Texas A&M. Those schools are top CS programs I know of where you probably have the best chance for a scholarship.
If you choose to give up football, UF, FSU, and UCF are still solid CS programs. It’s not about the university, it’s actually about the location. Florida has a very strong tech economy, which actually gives you a big advantage. Most jobs are from smaller companies and it’s more cost effective to hire locally and regionally. These universities are the most heavily recruited by tech companies in FL.
You more than meet the AI qualifications for any Ivy school athletic recruit. HYP’s financial aid will be 100% grant after family and student contribution, and not contingent on football. Whether or not their CS departments hit your mark is a personal decision. Also consider the strength of the school’s other departments if you change your mind about CS. I think you are taking the right approach in looking at the best academic program first and then comparing net costs. Very few people end up making a living (or make a living for long) as a pro football player.
Give Rice a look. Rice has a division 1 football program with a new coach (former Stanford offensive coordinator) that hopefully is on the way up. The team motto this year is Intellectual Brutality. It has great STEM offerings and a well regarded computer science program. Recruited football players usually get a full ride.
“@theloniusmonk Another words take football out of the equation. Let’s say I blow out my knee and can’t play anymore.”
Ok so if you’re not looking for a div I athletic scholarship where you’re worried about it not getting renewed, and want to go the financial aid route while playing football, that’s a different discussion altogether. Then you may want to go the ivy or div 3 route as people have posted above.
@theloniusmonk Well there are other schools such as Texas Tech, Arizona etc…where you could get a full ride and still D1 but if you took my APP and kept everything except the recruited athlete, what schools would you be recommending?
Ok, given you have a solid safety in UF locked up for computer science, and can use that tuition to offset out of state expenses if you don’t attend UF, you have a lot of choices since many colleges will be affordable and have good comp sci programs, so lot depends on how far you want to go, the FA packages, c/s specialties you’re interested in, where you want to work after graduation (assuming you don’t go football route). If you want to stay southeast, then you can consider GA Tech, UT, Rice, UNC, UVA (most of these are reaches but check with your GC and naviance on how your high school does with them). For silicon valley, Stanford, UCB, USC, Michigan, again most are reaches so you really have to pick and choose and not have too top-heavy a list. Less selective schools where you could do really well would be RPI, Case Western, UCs outside of UCB and UCLA.
I second Rice as being well worth a look. The Stanford background of the new head coach says a lot about the direction that the program is taking, and the new staff looks very promising. Of course, given its small size, Rice will never be a Stanford in terms of athletic prowess, but it could become very competitive within its conference . . . and someone with your abilities might well earn major playing time as a freshman.
Football aside, Rice a fantastic school with a wonderful environment. It combines the most appealing features of an elite research university and a top liberal arts college.
