My daughter plays lacrosse- she is a 3.6 GPA 30ACT. She has been offered a full scholarship (academic and athletic) to Delaware State U- it is a very new, low level D1 program. I have my reservations about the quality of academics there. On the one hand she would certainly be a leader on and off the field, but on the other I want her education to be valuable to her future. I have considered letting her use her 529 if she goes there to take an MBA to supplement the education. Also, my husband (not her father) continues to be concerned about her being accepted in a HBCU setting – she is white. I am not sure I agree with him-- still thinking on that.
She is also being considered by East Stroudsburg-- this was her top choice-- this school on the other hand is a very competitive D2. Coach has one open scholarship spot that is my daughters IF the outstanding offer decides against it. Coach does want her to however come on as a preferred walk on. If it doesn’t guarantee her a spot on the roster, she will probably not go there. My daughter didn’t know to ask a host of questions about that-- but she will. Academically and socially it is probably a better fit, but she may have to fight to play in games. She is probably just as talented an athlete as most of the other recruits-- admittedly we have been behind the timeline (ie she didn’t play tournament last summer so many girls were way ahead of her)
There is also a D3 very interested in her-- smaller, not a big athletics school etc. The merit is good so there is always that. The downfall for HER is she doesn’t really want to go ‘back’ to where she grew up (is it Eastern CT State U)- and would like to have the experience of a different locale and a bigger feels of a school.
Of course money wise DSU is the best choice, and her favorite is the worst gah-- but still affordable. I kind of feel like she never would have chosen either ECSU or DSU if not for lacrosse-- but we are still discussing all that.
Yes- there is enough time… but barely! Coach says she will know in a week. Good point but I missed the ability to edit I think. I think the school is fine for the right student, I am just not sure it is the right fit for her-- but I really am not SURE- a lot of things to consider
Not Crazy IMO, unless money has to be a consideration. My child turned down several scholarship opportunities tha t weren’t considered a good fit (academic or otherwise) to pursue Ivy which felt like the best overall fit.
But ask again when I have to write the first tuition check and I may have a different answer…
LOL @Flinnt12 – this is what my husband keeps saying- about good fit and being happy there. She and I have a lot to talk about I guess. And we have a list of questions if she ends up offered a ‘recruited walk on’. Her father (my ex) was a regular D1 tryout walk on for football. He never played and always practiced so he is kind of filling her head with gloom and doom.
I am not sure comparing a recruited walk on in D2 women’s lacrosse to D1 Football as a tryout in 1983 is a good comparison. We have 5 kinds, so the money is not in any way unlimited-- but we are not destitute and can send her to her favorite if she prefers (and we agree)-- she has some 529 money, her father has to help with 15% and she qualifies for good academic merit too so it all helps.
Basically I think she wants to be guaranteed part of the roster-- another school basically offered her a tryout. That she said no to and I don’t blame her.
@toomanyteens and I have discussed this on other threads. Our daughters have similar stats and I think, based on what she’s posted, similar playing abilities. My daughter would not have been happy at DSU for a lot of reasons, but mostly playing ability of her future teammates. Losing all the time takes a toll on the players, especially players who are used to winning. She would play almost 100% of the time as she’s much more skilled than the other players. Social and academic fit are not there (at least not there easily) and the athletic fit is definitely not there. Financial fit is excellent. If it is her only option, she can make it work but it will be work.
For East Stroudsburg, you didn’t say if it was the school that was her #1 choice or the team. If the school is what she wants, then that should be her choice if you can afford it. D2 in PA is a tough conference and while ES is strong in the D2 world, in that PA conference it is in the middle. I don’t think there would be an issue with her making the roster (last year there were only 23 players, 9 of those seniors), but will she play? On my daughter’s team there were 19 on the roster last year, and 12 played about 90 percent of the time. We only had 3 middies, they played all game, every game.
Another thing that is a nasty truth is that the girls know how much the others get in scholarship money and there is a hierarchy and resentment. It’s just how it is. We have one girl who is good, but the coach gave her more from the start and hasn’t been able to give the others that much and some of the others are better than this girl. It may not be that way at ES, but some walk ons don’t get the same respect (until they show it on the field).
On the plus side, most of her games will be in PA (although it is a big state) because there are 10 teams in the conference. Some of the teams have bigger budgets for travel, but I don’t think ES does as the farthest it traveled was to NY and NJ. This can be good or bad, playing the same 9 teams year after year. Almost high school like, and some of the players may be high school rivals!
@twoinanddone it is her top choice for both … She liked the coach too. She played there all day and spent time with some of the current players.
Maybe she will get lucky and get the last scholarship spot… And it’s not about the money. We can afford it and she is giving it serious consideration. The coach seemed to like her right away. Honestly I think she’d have the spot already but she and I were behind the recruiting timeline a bit. So I think she can match up athletically and prove herself. She may not play right away I agree and it’s something she’s swirling around and trying to decide which way to go!
She was one of the best players on her tourney team this summer and she also played with the JV team a lot last season in high school (they needed the defense help) and she did really dislike not playing with teammates that were at her level or better.
Not crazy, especially if you believe academics aren’t there. College should be about education first, even if sports or other interests matter, and a good fit matters a lot too. It sounds like esu is the best 'fit’of the three.
I’m surprised though, because with her GPA and test scores she can aim a lot ‘higher’, suite unquitr because it’s mostly a matter of better resources, better academics, better funding, … than ESU and there at lots of good lacrosse teams and good colleges in Pennsylvania, Maryland, etc.
But, to answer your direct question, no, not at all.
@MYOS1634 there are lots of good lacrosse teams at the higher academic level schools but she is not qualified athletically for those… Even as a walk on. She doesn’t want to play club… She enjoys the competition. Additionally the cost of those schools is much less within our reach. She is #4 of 5 kids. For her playing is part of being happy and successful in school. She had the option of choosing something else and not playing but lacrosse is important to her physically, mentally and socially.
OK that makes sense.
Does ESU have an honors college? I know IUP does (IUP and WCU may be better academically and wpuld cost the same as ESU but no idea about lacrosse).
Do update once she’s talked with the coach with the relevant questions :).
I will have to check. I think it does and I should definitely have her apply and I will update you all. She is so excited that the coach seems to want her on the team. IUP and WCU haven’t shown interest in her for lacrosse. IUP is like top 5 in D2 lacrosse. She did try! Shippensburg also called her… New coach is behind in recruiting. I couldn’t find any guaranteed merit there though and it’s kind of pricey without that.
Lots of D1 and D2 players are not on scholarship. Many teams are not fully funded for scholarships and have very small recruiting and travel budgets. Some give no scholarships to freshmen (the national champs this year in D2 has that policy), some give at least a token to every player. One teammate of my daughter’s picked a D2 school and the coach just divides the scholarship amount she has allotted to freshmen equally, so if she has 5 freshmen they get more than if she has 10. I think of that as ‘communist scholarships’ with everyone getting an equal share. My daughter’s coach uses a more ‘socialist scholarships’ method where she tries to give the recruits (not walk ons) what they need after merit scholarships or other grants but I don’t think is fair since some girls have earned higher merit and are better players. I prefer the ‘capitalist scholarship’ method where the best players get the most athletic money, and if they also have money from merit scholarships, they get to keep that too.
The financing is important because if you can’t afford it your child can’t attend no matter how wonderful the team is or how highly ranked the school is. If there is a range of colleges you can afford ($free to $??), then they should all be in play and your daughter can start narrowing it down to where she’ll be happiest, where she’ll be academically challenged. I’d keep the CT school in the mix too.
I think you are going to find a lot of movement in the D2 and D3 schools right now. The coaches have been to the summer tournaments (and the ones who haven’t can watch videos of every game). Coaches will start calling. My daughter got a lot of calls in September.
@twoinanddone Yes she is keeping the CT school in play too. September?? Wow I’m surprised. She likes Shippensburg too but the merit awards are nebulous. I guess the coach can probably help find out too. A lot of D3 schools have contacted her already since the end of summer tournaments, but nothing that quite strikes her fancy more than the schools she’s already chatting with.
Schools were still calling after the Disney tournament the second week in Nov, after she’d already signed an NLI. Most were D3, not lacrosse powerhouses, but excellent schools. My daughter is more impressed with a good lax team than a USNWR ranking, although she did have a certain type of academic environment in mind. A small LAC in Ohio or Indiana wasn’t it.
There are still schools with spots, and maybe a little money, in spring every year. All the schools starting new programs in 2017-18, except ASU, probably still have roster spots available. Keiser and Embry-Riddle have just named the coaches this week; Palm Beach Atlantic doesn’t even have a coach yet. There are a number of D3 coaching spots still open.
So the decision is in! She just verbally committed to Tiffin University. She is over the moon happy with that and will be visiting campus with the other girls committed for 2017 in the fall. She plans to major in Cyber-Defense and Information Assurance. Go Dragons!
Your daughter’s composite ACT will be top 0.25% of all incoming students. Middle 50% there is 18 - 23
Cyber-defense program you mentioned is not rigorous. Course descriptions are full of hot air.