<p>Trying to get some info on the 'value' of NCAA team vs club.</p>
<p>Son is in a niche sport and needs to choose between following two schools. They are academically and financially comparable. Would get an excellent, challenging education at both. He <em>very</em> much wants to continue to compete in college.</p>
<p>School A: Culturally a better fit (Son is a science nerd type). Only has mediocre club at school. Professional club available in town, but not great, and would have to travel to it for practice and travel nationally for competitions outside of school. Expect it'll cost up to 10K extra/year for us.</p>
<p>School B: Has Div III team with a coach that recruited him and who would be perfect for him. School is more stuffy and overall less of a social fit for him, but we expect there should be a nerdy niche in his major and he could find his crowd although a much smaller pool to choose from.</p>
<p>He's not big on being social and would be happy with a small group of friends.</p>
<p>So our question is: would being part of a NCAA team add enough social structure to make up for the overall less of a fit at school B? How much benefit do students get from being on a Varsity team vs. club? We, the parents, don't know anything about being on sports teams so we're happy to get even basic information. </p>
<p>He has/is visiting both schools and thinks he'll be OK at both but clearly fits in better at school A in our eyes.</p>
<p>I would give School B a chance. He is guaranteed being able to play his sport (without the extra expense and travel of School A’s option), and I do believe that the camaraderie offered by a team makes the “fitting in” part of school much easier. You have a ready-made group of people who are all passionate about the same thing you are - and you have the possibility of an immediate connection with every single team player! Since your son is happy being with a small group of friends, he should be all set, with the friends he makes on the team, and then the other friends he will make through classes, dorm life, etc.<br>
Just my thoughts, for what they are worth!</p>
<p>Another advantage of the DIII team over the situation he’d be in at School A is that to a large extent, the varsity schedules take into account the school’s academic calendar/schedules (though sometimes labs can extend into practice times and that has to get worked out). If he had to travel/practice with this professional team at School A if he went there, he could have more conflicts with his academics, which I assume is his top priority, especially if national travel is involved. I agree with the comments of the others.</p>
<p>Which school does he want to go to, and which school offers a better chance for career prospects? If both answers are “equal” then go with school B because they recruited him to play there.</p>
<p>I should think the recruiting school would have some support mechanisms in place to help the varsity athletes manage their heavy school and sports schedules…also sports medicine/trainer available and its funded from the school–</p>
<p>Royal makes an excellent point; balancing one’s college schedule when you’re an athlete is tough enough without adding on potential aggravations such as travel time and conflicts with the academic schedule. I also think teams spend a lot of time with each other, and so he’d be OK socially at B. And even if he’d be leaving his science nerd comfort zone more with school B, that could be a growing experience for him and therefore an added benefit.</p>
<p>Thanks for the inputs. What you all are saying is what I was feeling, but just wanted to get some feedback. I personally would like to save the extra 10K and thought school B would be much easier athletically for him, but didn’t want to make any suggestions without some background from parents who have been there. </p>
<p>He’s pretty myopic about his surroundings so he didn’t seem to notice any significant difference in the atmosphere of the two schools, and future-wise, they are equivalent. Sounds like he’s leaning to school B, based on the athletic angle, so we won’t discourage him from that.</p>
<p>I’m late to the party and agree with the diii votes. Especially after your second post. A smaller school with steam he cancontribute to sounds perfect. Congratulations!</p>
<p>I’m even later than rr but just want to second all the other supporters of school “B”. Sounds like the academic and career prep opportunities are similar in your eyes. I think the D3 environment will definitely be more supportive of the academics and also provide a social safety net. My D plays a fall sport and pretty much everyone tells us getting on campus early and building relationships within the team help with the transition to college. Don’t know the season of you S’s sport so the getting to campus early may not be relevant but the team aspect would remain.</p>
<p>Went to a great conference today about high school to college transitions. We talked a lot about finding the college with the right “fit” . If your son really wants to continue his sport in college and school B is recruiting him , this sounds to me like a good fit , especially since D3 programs know they are students first as well as athletes and work to make that all “fit” as well. Good luck to your son!</p>
<p>Hmm, I hadn’t really thought in terms of athletic ‘fit’ but it makes perfect sense to think of it that way alongside academics and social aspects. School B gets 2.5 points (academics 1, athletics 1, and social 0.5) and school A gets 2.0 points (academics 1, athletics 0, social 1). So obvious. </p>
<p>Sounds like he’s headed to B and happy about it, so it’s good. Of course, its only one of his schools that offered him no money. But, we’ll consider the money we save on outside clubs as a ‘scholarship.’</p>
<p>riverrunner: the schools are actually same size, just a smaller number of his kind of people socially, but he’ll have his athletic kind of people to make up for that, I trust.</p>
<p>I am happy for you that a decision is being made - hard to be in limbo - and the Div. III school has so many things already in place for your son. Congratulations to him (and you!) for ending this journey so positively :)</p>
<p>My son’s sport was club only in HS, no HS team. When looking for colleges he only considered schools with NCAA teams. D1 or D3 were both considered, but no club only schools. He ended up at a D1 school and is very happy. He is broadly integrated into the college scene: dorm friends, class friends, EC friends, etc. His athletic teammates aren’t his primary focus, but he sees them daily and they are certainly a big part of his new world. I’m afraid he would have quit his sport if he had to go to an off campus club to continue to participate.</p>
<p>So another vote for the D3 school.</p>
<p>Good luck to him.</p>
<p>Edit: Just reread the whole thread. I completely agree with Mayhew in post #2, who is saying the same thing I am, but better.</p>
<p>^^^ Why thank you, Sherpa - aren’t you nice! Quite honestly, I just read and was completely mentally agreeing with your post on the “Any experienced athletes that want to give advice” thread - Great minds think alike :)</p>
and thought school B would be much easier athletically for him, but didn’t want to make any suggestions without some background from parents who have been there. </p>