<p>My high school junior son's long term goal is to work in the sports or entertainment industry hopefully as an agent but possibly for a sports team, talent agency or related business. He is a varsity soccer player but is not likely good enough to get a college scholarship and has an extensive acting resume with everything from Shakespeare to Grease but does not want to pursue the uncertainties of the actors lifestyle (which he has seen first hand down through the years in his fellow adult actor's situations). His goal is to go to a good law school which has an emphasis on contract law especially as to how it relates to the sports and entertainment industry. The question is are undergraduate majors in sports and entertainment at most universities a good place to start or are they actually geared toward people who want to get a low level job right out of college and not very rigorous. Secondly it seems that connections in the sports and entertainment world are everything so it would make some sense that going to a large state school with great sports programs like Florida, Oklahoma, or Texas is a place where working in some way with the athletic department as an undergrad could open up access to players and coaches that could come in very handy later on. Does anyone have any experience or comments on what schools he should look at? He is a top 10% in his class student, a private pilot, with all the AP he could take, ACT 31, SAT 2000 with very strong extracurriculars including 7 years of band with leadership positions in addition to his acting and athletic experience.</p>
<p>Your son should go yo college to get an education, not to prepare for a very competitive niche business field. If he wants to go to law school, you should major in a field that will prepare him well for that. All law students study contract law. A few law schools might offer an elective course or two on sports/entertainment law, but the overall training is not geared to such a narrow focus.</p>
<p>Undergrad majors in sports and entertainment are not a good preparation for law school, and, imo, are not very rigorous degrees. I think there are too many kids out there who have too few interests other than sports and they deceive themselves if they think a degree in that area will somehow give them an edge to break into a highly competitive, niche field. I also think its unrealistic to think that going to a school with a major sports program will give one access or connections in that area. </p>
<p>With his great ECs, class rank, ACT score, etc., your son should qualify for good merit aid and possibly a scholarship at a number of schools. Pick a school on the basis of best fit balanced against where he gets the best FA package. Obviously, for your son, one aspect of best fit might be a school with major sports programs.</p>
<p>He should focus on what gives him the most options down the road, not get locked into a narrow area. A law degree or a joint law/MBA degree program will give him those options.</p>
<p>zapfino, thanks for taking the time to reply. Your opinion supports what I was thinking. The problem with this son is that he needs something to be excited about and interested in to focus his energy and not just coast. Immature I know but it is what it is. One older sister with similar talent and personality dropped out of college after a year and half and joined the military. She needed that to grow up and now has finished her college degree while working full time and raising 2 children. She now knows how much further ahead she would have been if she finished college initially. I am hoping our son avoids the same route but I am not sure he knows yet what it takes to succeed when on his own.</p>