Michelle Wie gets into Stanford

Parents Forum
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<p>Such hate aimed at a 17-year old who has done absolutely nothing to desire it. I suppose that it's part of the zero-sum game played here on CC. If someone else gets something, I, or my child, can't get it.</p>

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<p>benny1, you don't know what you are talking about. An actress who does not work for four years is dead to the business. There are always 1000 people waiting to take their place. Wie can play quite a few tournies in the summer and over breaks.</p>

83

<p>I am critical of but not angry with MW because I really want the best for her. Tiger Woods had wonderful parents and look at the results!!! He to was able to attend Stanford and was able to play intercollegiate golf because he did not turn pro. MW will never have that opportunity. And because he deferred turning pro he was able to learn how to win, put together a remarkable amateur carreer, improve his game and even qualify to play in the Masters 4 times.</p>

<p>MW will have none of that. Few people realize that she has not won a tournament since the age of 13! Not because she lacked the talent but because of the choices she was allowed to make. And for this I blame her parents.</p>

<p>Anyone who knows about golf realizes that she does NOT have the talent to compete successfully on the PGA Tour now and perhaps never will. Only time will answer that question. And anyone who witnessed her being taken from a golf tournament site on an EMT stretcher had to feel terribly for her because it wasn't the heat/humidity which caused her to get dangerously ill, but the combination of stress, level of play and the elements which caused her near collapse on the course.</p>

<p>I wish that MW could start over with a clean slate and be parented to make good choices that would make her happy and lead to her success in life. I wish she could be reinstated as an amateur(cancel the Nike contract and give back the money earned) and that the NCAA would reinstate her eligibility for her sake. I wish she could then play with the Stanford guys for 2, 3 or even better 4 years and then embark on a great LPGA career and see where that would take her 5 or 10 yrs down the road. Maybe then she could be able to better compete with the guys occasionally.</p>

<p>But her parents have either encouraged or allowed MW to throw all that away. And shame on them because they had a wonderful example set before them in Earl and Tilda Woods.</p>

84

<p>How many of these athletes actually finish? Tiger left before graduation. Sarah Hughes entered Yale, but has taken a leave absence and has not announced a return. Props to Paul Wylie who finished his Harvard degree (after some time off). I have mega doubts that Michele Wie will finish Stanford. She has big $$$ endorsements that are very difficult to fulfill timewise while being a full-time student.</p>

85

<p>Actresses seem to finish college (Brooke Shields, Jodie Foster). Rivers Cuomo took 10 years to finish at Harvard. Yo-yo Ma finished at Harvard. </p>

<p>However, it seems more difficult for sports celebrities to finish college. I suppose it is because their competitive season is year long and their competitive shelf life is so short.</p>

<p>Time will only tell if Michelle Wie finishes at Stanford (assuming she goes there).</p>

86

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<p>It was common for American tennis players of that era to go to college for one year and become the NCAA champion. Then off to the pros. I don't think there was ever any intention by John McEnroe to actually graduate from Stanford. Jimmy Connors did the same thing (UCLA).</p>

<p>Nowadays, the top tennis players (especially the women) go pro directly. It's the ones with less prospects for a dazzling career to go to college.</p>

<p>I wonder what it would take to regain your amateur status in order to play a college sport...Don't think Michelle Wie would do it, but who knows?</p>

87

<p>We could start a list of Famous People Who Get Into Top Schools. I'll throw in Jodie Foster at Yale.</p>

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<p>Natalie Portman also graduated from Harvard, Julia Stiles from Columbia, Kellie Martin (ER) from and took breaks from their acting careers to do so</p>

89

<p>Originaloog, why can't we give Michelle Wie the benefit of the doubt, or trust that she is doing what SHE wants? </p>

<p>Maybe, it is not THAT important to her to win amateur competitions where she has no challengers? What would competing in NCAA golf mean to her? Please tell me if you could state the NCAA current champion's name or his and her schools without googling it? </p>

<p>And, fwiw, what did the hordes of "people-in-the-know" say when Tiger Woods decided to quit Stanford and turn pro? </p>

<p>Some superstars DO know what is best for them!</p>

90

<p>Frank Shorter- Yale.
Please don't compare MW to the Olson twins. They are a waste of real estate (ever-declining amounts of real estate).</p>

91

<p>The great thing about college is that it will always be there. Should she decide to go for a while, stop and play golf if she wants to. If the golf thing really does not pan out (she'll still have the money from her endorsement deal so she will definitely be able to pay her own way) she will always be able to return to Stanford to complet her degree if it is her desire to do so. She's 17 years old so why would she be any different from any of our teenagers in having to make life long decisions right this moment.</p>

<p>I remember a couple of years ago when VInce Carter was playing for Toronto, he caught flack for wanting to go back and attend his college graduation at UNC</p>

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<p>I'm not sure Frank is a good example of a famous athlete who finished school. He is famous and he did graduate from Yale, but he finished up at Yale BEFORE he won his medals and became famous. In college he was a talented NCAA D1-level runner but not a big star and certainly not a household name.</p>

<p>What's more, he dropped out of medical school in order to go to pursue his Olympic glory. After Yale, he was enrolled at Univ. of New Mexico medical school and trying to keep his running going as well. His coach took him aside and told him he had the talent to win an Olympic medal, but not while taking a demanding full time course of study as well. He told Frank he had to make a choice. Frank thought about it and decide to go for the gold medal.</p>

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<p>Brooke Shields at Princeton.</p>

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<p>Fred Savage Stanford.</p>

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<p>But then Frank got a law degree. </p>

<p>I started in law school in '71 and graduated in '74. So I was training for the Olympics, running or averaging around 20 miles a day and going to law school full time.
Frank Shorter</p>

96

<p>Famous in their own right who got into top schools after they became famous</p>

<p>(Just laying the ground rules... no kids of celebs, no interest in where Mr famous went to college before we knew who he was)</p>

<p>ok.... lemme think........</p>

97

<p>
[quote]
Famous in their own right who got into top schools after they became famous

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</p>

<p>This is why I didn't mention Meryl Streep, who went to Vassar and Yale before hitting it big.</p>

98

<p>Natalie Portman - Harvard
Sarah Hughes - Yale</p>

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<p>Yes, Frank has said several times that the less time-consuming academic load and the more flexible schedule of the Univ. of Florida law school made it much more feasible to run and study at the same time than medical school did. But either way, he is not an example of someone who went to Yale after becoming a famous athlete.</p>

100

<p>There are two threads going on this subject so I'll repeat what I wrote on the other one:</p>

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<p>However, it seems more difficult for sports celebrities to finish college. I suppose it is because their competitive season is year long and their competitive shelf life is so short.

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<p>In fact, Stanford does a pretty good job of getting its athletes back on campus to finish their degrees after their professional lives are finshed.
Last spring both Chad Hutchinson (MLB, NFL) and Jeff Austin (MLB) came back to Stanford to finish their degrees. There were several juniors drafted in the June draft and they are back on campus this fall, finishing their degrees. That includes the one who was the #2 overall pick in the draft and got a 3.25million dollar signing bonus. The coaches actually try to get the draft-likely players to take extra units so that they are often able to finish their degrees in the fall quarter after junior year.</p>