question-student athletes-colleges

<p>I think you must look at the best academic schools who play in the power basketball & football conferences (Big Ten, ACC, Big East, Pac 10, SEC) They are not going to turn down a kid who quailifies under NCAA rules. Here is link for required scores: <a href="http://www1.ncaa.org/membership/membership_svcs/eligibility-recruiting/faqs/ie_quick_ref.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www1.ncaa.org/membership/membership_svcs/eligibility-recruiting/faqs/ie_quick_ref.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>As you can see a kid only needs a 620 SAT if he had a 3.0 gpa in HS to get a scholarship...almost all of the schools in the power conferences would take a kid like this so you probably have kids 600 points below the average student on some campuses!</p>

<p>SBmom, how did you get an east coast lac to look at your west coast kid?
I am really surprised by the lack of geographic diversity of the athletes across the various schools? Maybe, it is easier for a non-team sport?</p>

<p>csdad, I guess I would like to know how low division 3 schools go? Most kids can't play division 1.</p>

<p>sbmom - thanks. all very good info. you have hit the nail on the head about trying to choose the right path to go down and yes, her situation is very complicated because of her strengths in each. perhaps will be even more complicated........as nmsf are announced next month. i share your concerns.....will a top selective be affordable? think on next visit to her top pick we'll meet w/financial aid .....think somewhere in one of your threads you or someone called it an athletic financial aid liason or something like that.
if she has a good bball h.s. season, interest may increase (coach calls have been increasing)......however, h.s. bball season runs nov. to march..........and if she wants to go selective route, should get apps in by nov. 1 for the scholarships. decisions. decisions.<br>
did hear from Grinnell during the last year. haven't visited there yet.
will visit threads on nm and merit based aid schools. think i noticed some. that's another bunch of questions. i'll be keeping you busy! i have truly received some great info. here from you and others. thanks!</p>

<p>women's college recruiting has become more and more like the men's. d1's are looking for a certain athletic profile, size, height, stats, jumping ability -- potential. club teams travel the country during the summer recruiting season. shoe tournaments draw the bigname d1 coaches. they identify players to watch long before they are seniors. know of a big program who picked up a player we know w/less skills and achievements but who met the profile (height). when you see that happening, it gives you a different perspective on the whole recruiting process.</p>

<p>condor- look at Davidson. There is a big scholar/athlete scholarship called the Bryan (1 male and 1 female incoming freshman). App is due Sept. 20. There are some other merit awards at Davidson, too.</p>

<p>thanks mowc,
don't really know anything about them. will check their website:)</p>

<p>Sent you e-mail</p>

<p>dstark,</p>

<p>the d III schools obviously won't go as low as D I because they're not making money off Football & basketball to support the other programs & give the school unmatched publicity. D III are much more variable. Varies from school to school, program to program. Timing is also important. If the program has faltered & a new coach is hired some of his stipulations in getting hired are that he (or she) gets a certain mumber of "exceptions" from admissions in a year. Best thing to do is be direct with the coach and say can my kid get in? That will give you some indication of ; !) how much "pull" the coach has 2) what they think of your kid (as a player)</p>

<p>csdad, at what point should the parents get involved? I thought the caoches want the parents to stay out of the process.</p>

<p>Edit last post to:
Condor30 - sent you e-mail info</p>

<p>The issue of how involved the parents should be is a tough one. A former parent at my son's school was very involved in her son's recruiting process- not in a bad way. She found that most of the coaches WANTED some contact with the parents- they are trying to sell the school to the parents, too. She got very close to a couple of the coaches and made some decisions for herself about which ones she trusted and liked. However, the coaches don't want the parents to take over the process. My S does not like us to be very involved, so I do some things behind the scenes. The DIII coach that is recruiting him most strongly seems to welcome correspondence from me as well as from my son. That coach has also been good with responding to emails from S's current coach. I think it is perfectly reasonable for a parent to call a coach regarding financial issues or to ask for a candid opinion on admission chances. A Patriot League coach told us that he doesn't let athletes apply ED unless he gets a very favorable "read" from his admissions representative.</p>

<p>as for the question of how much parents should be involved.....probably depends on how the coach reads your accuracy in assessing your son's talent. I tend to be turned off by parents who I perceive as overestimating their kids ability. Often this leads to the kid or parent ending up unhappy. I would say that in most cases the degree of interest a coach shows in your kid is a direct reflection of how they perceive his talent in relationship to their current players. Ask for honest evaluations from coaches..such as "where do you see my son in relationship to your other players", etc. You would definitely throw up red flags by saying something such as "I think my kid is as good as anybody you got". etc. Your high school coach should also help in giving you an honest appraisal of your kids chances of playing in college and where.</p>

<p>I would love to e-mail a coach and just ask what the minimum academic standards are for members of the team, if going to his summer camp is worthwhile, style of play of the team, the talent of the team, speed of the players, does he take walk-ons? (This is for soccer).</p>

<p>Should I just keep my mouth shut, or can I initiate contact and ask any or all of these questions?</p>

<p>I don't see anything wrong with that!</p>

<p>I like that answer.</p>

<p>dstark- I would do it. I think most of the coaches understand that it is a big family decision and as long as you aren't totally running the show for your kid, it is perfectly fine to ask questions.
One Ivy coach told us on an early visit that he is the adult that S will be spending the most time with if he attends that school, and he wanted us to get to know him and be comfortable with him. Recently, that same coach was honest enough to tell S that he would love to have him on the team, but that he was not on the first tier list and wouldn't get much of a tip for ED.</p>

<p>MomofWildChild, I wish every coach was as honest as the coach you mentioned. It would sure make the process easier.</p>

<p>MomofWildChild, your son is a track and field athlete, correct? Isn't that more cut and dry? You have the times or you don't?</p>

<p>Well, I think this coach learned the hard way. Last year was his first year at this school and one of his very top RD recruits didn't get admitted. The kid had strong academic credentials and the coach told everyone the kid was coming to the school. This is the school that has been mentioned before on these boards as one where until that letter is in your hand, you truly can't count on anything.</p>