I could use some perspective from others

In advance I apologize for the long post. My son who is a current junior has 2 passions…coding and football. First the football side of the story. He is currently a recruited athlete with a few FBS schools, 12 or so FCS and a lot of D3 schools that are interested. He’s nationally ranked at his position but coaches always want to see kids in person and not just on film. Typically these camps are held in the summer from June-August for evaluations. He would ideally like to play at the highest level possible with a college that is top tier academically as well as in computer science.
Now for the academic side of things. He will be a NMF with a 4.0uw and 4.52 w gpa. Class rank is 2 of 604 in a large public HS in Fl. He is junior class president and captain of team. Going forward he has many good options outside of football in case anything happens but since he is looking for top CS programs it would certainly help for outside awards. He has qualified for TSA Nationals and won a gold medal in Florida Science Olympiad but they aren’t standout awards per say.
Here is where I could use some help in making decisions going forward. He has been invited to apply for the RSI summer program at MIT and the TASP summer program at Cornell. IF he were to be accepted to either program then a big decision sets in. As mentioned above the football camps(which are most vital this summer) will conflict with the summer camps(which run 6 weeks). Either of these would be a huge “standout” on a college application. There is no cost for either but there is an extensive application process. He is genuinely torn as to what to do and I have no good answer for him as to which is the best decision going forward. If he doesn’t go to the football camps then he is missing out on an opportunity to get offered and if he doesn’t go to one of the academic camps he is missing out on a big standout award to place on his college app. Any thoughts or questions are appreciated.

@Ohiodad51 is who you need to hear from

As someone who is risk averse, I would likely go through the application process for the highly selective STEM programs, and then see if there is a decision to make between an offer from them and football camp. A lot can change over the winter/spring in a kid’s priorities, especially junior year (and they can change again!). If the timing allows you to pursue both tracks as long as possible, that’s what I’d consider.

I’d go with the football side. Let’s say you’re looking at an Ivy. The football coach can help you with admission, and if you’re good enough, with a likely letter via ED. Can either of the summer programs do that? Also, there’s no guarantee he gets into the summer programs as they are highly competitive in themselves.

Use the football hook to go ivy including Cornell. John’s Hopkins has a good D3 team, CS and management science.

An ACT of 32 will take him to nearly all schools except MIT.

@dadof4kids Yes @Ohiodad51 is always helpful.

@Midwestmomofboys We are trying to take the approach of IF he is to make that decision. We are very aware of how competitive the programs are and there is no guarantee but if the decision would be football than spending all that time and energy for the application process seems wasteful.

@vhsdad No but the summer programs can be a big boost for admissions. While he is looking at a few Ivy schools not all fill the bill for CS. Wherever he ends up he will be playing whether it’s scholarship, LL or preferred walk on. Thus the added boost to his app might change which CS school he gets accepted to.

@Burgermeister Sorry should have posted that in the original post. He scored a 33 on the ACT in 8th grade but will be taking it again this year to try and raise it.

D1 caliber and ACT 33 is good for any NESCAC lacrosse team. Don’t know much about football but you are blessed!!!

@moscott, I think you know that I am very much an academics first guy. That said, in your situation I would probably lean towards advising my son to do the specialist camps rather than RSI or the Cornell program. It is a tough decision no doubt, but I think the reality is that it will be a lot easier to get admitted to one of “those” schools without attending a research program, then it will be to get a scholly/likely letter support without attending the specialist camps.

At some point, I think it becomes all about the numbers, and given your son has the athletic chops to put him in the relevant ball park, wowing Al Bagnoli at Columbia’s camp (for example) is worth a lot more admissions wise than working on a cool research project at RSI. Plus, excepting probably Cal Tech, going to a couple Ivy camps will get him in front of D3 coaches from places like MIT, CMU, JHU that have excellent CS programs and at least some level of “juice” with admissions that is probably above what he will get from attending the STEM programs.

One thing I might look at is whether it would be possible to do the RSI program and pop out for a day here or there to hit some camps. I understand that RSI (and assumedly the Cornell program) is intensive, but they don’t work 7 days a week, right? That might make it harder for you to schlep back and forth to Boston a couple times, and it probably cuts out the “big” D1 high academics like ND and Stanford, but it might be a way to split the baby.

There will be no “popping out” from TASP or RSI to attend camps. You have to fully committed for those programs. Has he looked at the RSI online application? It is a lot of work. Despite great stats and being invited to apply to these programs, the programs are a reach for anyone. If your son were to be selected to either of these, then he should go and forget about football for the summer. Either of these programs will open doors at the elite colleges.

@Ohiodad51 Thanks as always for your incite. This is such a tough decision. @Sam-I-Am is correct in that there is NO popping out(funeral or other emergency exception) from either RSI or TASP. I contacted them with the specific question and explained the scenario but to no avail. You are locked in for 6 weeks with virtually everything pre planned including weekends. As you know having gone thru the process this is by far the most important year to showcase live for the coaches…on the other hand Sam is also correct in either program opening doors that might otherwise still be a 7% chance. Really torn as to what to advise him.
@Sam-I-Am Yes indeed he has looked at the RSI application and it is quite extensive as you know. TASP is much better. That said it is exactly why IF he isn’t going to go if accepted I wouldn’t have him go thru the process only to say no. People say well just apply but a lot more goes into it only to possibly say no in the end.

If your son wants to go to MIT, then the RSI program is unrivaled. The MIT coaches can’t do much in the way of swaying admissions. But, if he has RSI on his resume, this will make the admissions people at MIT salivate.

If MIT is not of interest to your son, then I agree with going to the football camps. More opportunities for coach interactions at the camps face to face.

BTW ACT score of 33 in 8th grade is pretty impressive. Your son will likely be close to the perfect 240 AI.

Also wanted to point out that one of the best schools in the country for Computer Science is Stanford. Does your son have a realistic chance at getting the attention of the Stanford coach?

I don’t agree that even those summer programs are a big boost for admissions. The type of students they accept do very well in admissions, but that isn’t because of the program – they are great to start with. Football seems like a more sure hook for him, barring injury. If he is sure he wants to play in college, I’d go with the football camp.

@sgopal2 He would love MIT academically but it is lower than the level he would “like” to play at. I think he would be fine at FCS schools for both but of course the standard for top CS/football would be Stanford and to a lesser extent Duke, Rice, Northwestern etc…For the Ivy schools he will have a high AI but unfortunately the PSAT doesn’t have any weight for that lol. Yes, he has a chance football wise at Stanford and others but in order to do so he would definitely need to attend the camps this year. Thus the conundrum.

I’m a Duke alum. The football program is up and coming, and the CS department is not that well known. Wallace Wade stadium just finished a year long renovation and its simply beautiful now. Its important to note that the CS department at Duke is within Trinity, not the engineering school (Pratt). So the CS grads don’t have the same level of techieness as the grads from a place like MIT, Caltech or Stanford.

If MIT is not that high of interest for him, then I agree to skip out on RSI/Cornell and focus on the football camps. The AI for your son will be very high. Depending on how good of an athlete he is, this will likely get the attention of Ivy coaches.

@intparent I understand exactly what you mean. I think sometimes people do over estimate it’s value. That said I’m not so sure it isn’t a tie breaker vs a similar applicant. No way of knowing for sure I guess.

@sgopal2 We went to Duke camp 3 years ago and planned on this year as well. They indoor field was finished but they hadn’t started construction on the field yet. (The seats were being redone I believe). He met coach Cutcliffe and liked him very much. Bottom line is he’s looking for the highest level of football to go with great academics. That said academics would take precedence if a high D1 football with lower academics/CS was up against a FCS football program with a high academic/CS program. Say as an example Temple vs PENN would no doubt be PENN.

But there are lots of great schools with top football - Wisconsin, Michigan, ND, Stanford, Cal,Washington all have great computer science.

@twoinanddone Absolutely. It would come down to fit and would not be able to visit all for football camps this summer. If he’s fortunate enough to have such good options then he has a tough decision. Would he go for the higher level football/lower ranked CS or slightly lower level football/higher ranked CS. Say Purdue vs Princeton? I don’t know what his decision would be honestly.

Aren’t there several football camps either hosted or sponsored by many teams? I know there was an issue a few years ago so that Harbaugh couldn’t go to Tampa to scout or to Texas, but i thought they’d worked things out with the NCAA so that more kids can be seen by coaches from several regions.

I know the schools can now pay for the parents to go on the overnights too, so have him pick some nice ones!