Junior Son all over the place...help!

College Search & Selection
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<p>I am looking for suggestions for my junior S. He has been doing 360's this year in terms of what he wants and where he wants to apply next fall. I think he is sort of freaking out about having to make these decisions. Any guidance that can be given would be appreciated.</p>

<p>Last fall he was sure he wanted to continue playing football in college, D3 level. He only wanted to look at southern schools, so he and H visited Rhodes and Trinity, met with coaches and toured. He loved them both! We were planning a sweep of Virginia and NC schools over spring break, but a month before, he said he didn't want to go out of state and he might consider giving up football and only play club la crosse or intermurals. That left us with only Texas schools to consider, so we also went to look at SMU and TCU, and are planning a trip to UT. Now he says he might want to apply to Notre Dame (our family have always been Irish fans and we have gone up there to some games) and that he is open to oos schools of that caliber. Like I said, he is all over the place!!</p>

<p>Here are his stats:</p>

<p>junior at competitive public suburban HS.</p>

<p>1/465 (keeping our fingers crossed for 9 more weeks that he doesn't get a B)
6 APs by graduation, 12 honors and rest electives and athletics
ACT 30 composite 31 sci., 30 math, 29 Eng, 28 reading 7 essay (boo), but he is prepping and will take it again in June, he is hoping to get it up to a 32 or above with improved writing
SAT 1940, (not taking it again because he liked the ACT better)</p>

<p>honor roll every grading period
NHS
student council 11 and 12</p>

<p>football varsity starter/lettered soph, junior, senior- all district hon mention-jr yr
just elected captain for next year
varsity la crosse soph, junior, sr - state semi finalists soph yr (jr season not looking so good!)
7 on 7 fresh, soph, jr, sr - state playoffs fr. soph. (don't know about jr or sr yet)
baseball - was on soph team freshman yr. quit to play la crosse
he also played on 2 Texas summer tournament la crosse teams.</p>

<p>Little League (4th and 5th graders) asst football coach 10, 11, 12
Little League 7 on 7 coach (6th graders)</p>

<p>Camp Counselor at a 4 week sleepover camp after freshman year, but couldn't do it any more because of sports.</p>

<p>As you can see his extra curriculars are sports heavy, but he honestly doesn't have time to do anything else. He goes from one sport season to the next and plays 7 on 7 and la crosse all summer long! I hope the fact that he has studied so hard and has kept his grades high while playing multiple sports will counter the fact that he doesn't do summer academic enrichment or start orphanages in 3rd world countries! jk ;) He has helped coach these little league teams and I know the parents (or the kids) could and would write some awesome letters of rec. if that would help.</p>

<p>What do ya'll think his chances are realistically at Notre Dame? (slim to none?) </p>

<p>At this point we know he will get in UT so don't need help there.</p>

<p>What do you think his scholarship chances are at Trinity and Rhodes? or SMU, TCU?</p>

<p>Please make any suggestions of other schools to look at!!! I would really appreciate it!!!</p>

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<p>he will get in TCU, SMU. I am from texas too.</p>

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<p>Far be it for me to overestimate your son, but unless you need some serious merit money I would completely forget about Trinity, SMU, Rhodes, and especially TCU except as safeties, but you already have UT as a safety (and I'm going there so it's a much better school :)). If your son is ranked 1/465, with a competitive schedule, good ACT scores, and sports involvement, you should be looking at top tier reach schools like the Ivies and schools of that caliber. Otherwise, I don't think your son will be challenged enough and you should want him to go to the very best school he likes and feels comfortable at. If he doesn't want to leave state, have him look at Rice since it is the best private school by far in Texas. Oh and glad to see another fellow Texan!</p>

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<p>what is the name of the high school?</p>

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<p>Another Texan weighing in. I think he would gave a good chance at Notre Dame. Don't worry about him being all over the place right now. It is not unusual for things not to really come together until fall of senior year (or later)! The more visits you make, the more idea he will have of what he likes and doesn't like about the various schools. You might check out Davidson- it is strong academically. I second the vote for Rice. My D is there, if you want any information. Forget about SMU/TCU.</p>

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<p>those sat scores and his rank really do not match</p>

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<p>His high school is Stratford. That may totally blow our cover because he is the only football player that is tied for val. Thanks for ya'll's suggestions. He has expressed some interest in Rice, but that would mean being in Houston (with us). He does have a friend there who is a freshman and loves it. Davidson is one of the schools we were planning on visiting over spring break before he nixed the oos thing. Maybe he will be up for visiting it this summer. Another one I was thinking of is W & L. Ivies are out because he doesn't want to go too far north (although his coach has suggested he look at them). Trinity and Rhodes were because of the football angle, and the scholarship money would be nice! But, I feel the same way as ya'll. I hate the idea that he would give up going to a better school, such as - UT Business - to go play football at a lesser school. We have told him that if by some chance he did get into Notre Dame, we would find a way to get him there. It would be a stretch, but it would be worth it.</p>

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<p>Jason, I know, but he is one of those kids that works his behind off in school but doesn't do that well on standardized tests. I think that he did much better on the ACT than the SAT. The test style suits him better, more what you know rather than cognitive thinking. It is funny because our older S was one of those wiz test takers, NMF and 1540 on the old SAT, but a slacker when it came to the everyday grind. But, trust me when I say that the high school that he attends is very competitive, with the honors kids regularly going to very good colleges.</p>

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<p>If he changes his mind about football, he could probably play D2 if he wanted. This would give you more school choices.</p>

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<p>If he is interested in business, UT Business is hard to beat (once again, a plug on my behalf), but I'm guessing he wouldn't be able to play for UT. Still, it should be a viable option (plus it's only 7K/year). So we are looking at a business major for other schools too, correct? It sounds like there aren't really any options in-state for your son besides UT because Rice apparently is too close to home and there aren't any other universities up to the caliber of these 2 schools here (sad I know). Some good business programs that aren't in the northeast:</p>

<p>UNC-Chapel Hill
UVA
WashU (no football team?)
Emory
Notre Dame
Wake Forest
Berkeley
College of William and Mary
GWU</p>

<p>I don't know about the division of sports at these schools, but they are all ranked in the top business undergrad programs by USNWR - many LAC have good business departments as well.</p>

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<p>He has a good shot at Notre Dame. A 1940 is not bad at all. Thats a decent score and his rank will help a lot. He should apply there for sure and see what happens. The WORST thing that could happen is he wouldnt get in but if he doesn't apply, he definetly won't be going there so its a win win situation.</p>

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<p>Thanks kcirsch. I am a big fan of UT business and if I have my druthers that is where he will end up. He started out saying he really wanted to play football, but the more I have talked about how good UT is and that he would be crazy to go to a school that cost more, has a lesser reputation, is REALLY small, etc. just to play football, and that he could then decide that he doesn't want to play anymore or (God forbid) get injured, he has started listening. He absolutely couldn't play for UT (or any other big D1 school)!! Those guys are human freaks!! I'm glad they are our "freaks" though - Hook Em!! We have talked to him about D2's like William and Mary and Richmond, those were going to be part of our Virginia, NC tour that got nixxed. Wash U does have football, in fact, one of our offensive line guys (with much lower stats than my S) got in and has been offered "academic merit" money (so much for no scholarships, huh). Our coach mentioned that school to our son as well. We have followed up on all of their mailings to stay on the radar. Emory doesn't have football at all, and even if my s decides not to play, I think he will want to be somewhere that has a team to root for anyway. I will check out the other schools you mention.</p>

<p>Are you going to UT next year?</p>

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<p>kaitlyn, thanks for your response, I totally agree! And, IF he gets in, and IF it is in his heart of hearts the place he feels he needs to be, then we will make it happen somehow!</p>

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<p>Yes I will be attending McCombs in the fall :) PM me if you have any questions about UT or McCombs because TRUST ME, I know a lot haha</p>

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<p>Well, you probably know this in your heart of hearts--but it bears saying. You've got the kind of son who will probably do just fine whereever he ends up. However bumpy the "where do I want to apply? Where do I enroll" ride gets over the next 12 months, ultimately he'll probably have a wonderful experience. :) What a great thing. You must be really proud.</p>

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<p>William and Mary and Richmond are both DI schools. DII would not provide the academics your son would like. DIII is where Williams, Haverford, Tufts, NYU, Chicago, Emory, Colorado College et al reside. DI includes the Patriot League schools, which have excellent academics, but for the most part don't award athletic scholarships (American U an exception). DIII has no scholarships and the advantage being recruited will have varies from school to school.</p>

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<p>hoedown, thank you, yes we are proud, but kind of shocked too! With all that he has going on, we never thought it would work out that he could make it with no B's, especially as we have seen kids fall by the wayside semester after semester. We have been waiting for the ax to fall on him too. (Fingers still crossed tightly!!) He is a great kid, and he works so hard for everything. I am so glad that it has left him with many choices, but it is overwhelming and intimidating! </p>

<p>The next 12 months are going to be a "bumpy ride," but full of adventure and wonderful experiences!</p>

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<p>MomofWildChild, You are absolutely right about those two. They are D1, but D1 2A, more realistic for him. I have looked into some of the DII schools and don't see any that seem an academic match. Unfortunately, as we Texans know, there really isn't much choice here in Texas for DIII schools. The only ones that I know of that are pretty academic with pretty good reputations are Trinity and Austin College. The other DIII schools you mentioned are all too far north, which he is opposed to. What is Davidson? Is it DIII or DI? I wish he would look farther afield, but right now, he is being pretty stubborn about it. </p>

<p>On a side note, another option would be to walk on at a D1 school that is academic. His friend at Rice walked on last fall. It has been grueling with the new coach and staff. They are trying to come in and make an immediate impact in the (losing) record that Rice has had lately. So far, he is sticking it out and hoping to make the traveling team, but the life of a walk on is a rough road. I honestly don't want my s to do it. It will be hard for him to give it up though.</p>

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<p>he should be able to get into an ivy league level school.</p>

<p>please dont limit him to texas schools because he could get into a lot of better schools.</p>

<p>if he wants to stay in the south, apply to washington university in stl, vanderbilt, duke, william and mary, emory and other great schools.</p>

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<p>Business Schools:</p>

<p>University of Pennsylvania: Wharton
New York University: Stern
Carnegie Mellon University: Tepper
University of Michigan: Ross
Massachussetts Institute of Technology: Sloan</p>