<p>S2 has almost gotten all of his offers in from his list of 9 schools and he has decided to attend the one with the lowest academic standards (gpa, test scores), highest transfer out rate (40%), lowest retention rate (@80%), lowest 4 & 6 yr grad rate (37% and 49%), and have been the worst to deal with as far as admissions, financial aid, and our visit was disappointing as far as lack of organization.
He plays soccer and has an offer to start as a freshman and now it seems everything else that was important to him doesn't matter anymore.
We have invested thousands in his soccer passion and he has really good grades so he said he wanted the "total package" of academics and soccer.
The good aspects of the school is location (1 hr flight home), family close by, best weather, big city close by. They guarantee 4 year grad. And have a 5 year mba program and gave good merit and athletic money.<br>
I am trying to let go as i see the other acceptances come in from much better schools that we would much rather see him attend. We want him to be happy but not sure he has his head on straight at this point.</p>
<p>Wait until you know all of his choices. Then, talk to his GC to get more feedback. Then, have a serious discussion with your son showing him all the areas of concern as you have listed here. Try to consider why he’s leaning for this other school. (Is he nervous about going away? Nervous about college requirements getting in his way of playing soccer? etc.) Finally, let him know that you’re paying the bills, so your vote counts too. Have him convince you why this school is “the one”. Don’t get too emotional, just keep to the facts, and treat his decision as mature as possible. Finally, don’t send in a deposit until you’re all in agreement.</p>
<p>Good advice. I forgot to mention this school is D2 vs D3 which he’s excited about too. We are paying for his education and not for soccer of course. Want him to play and enjoy school but soccer isn’t #1 for us.</p>
<p>*highest transfer out rate (40%), *</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>What does that mean? Does it mean that 40% transfer out? I’ve never heard of such a high rate. maybe i’m misunderstanding.</p>
<p>Has your son listed all the “pros” and “cons” of this school? If not, he should. If the “pros” only have to do with soccer, then you’re right to be quite concerned.</p>
<p>Yes, 40% transfer by their Sr. year. Not all schools report their transfer rate in their data.
His pros are soccer (opportunity to start as Fr, really likes the team and coach, nice league as far a travel - no long bus rides,D2) , location, weather, close to city (thinks good for internships), 4 year grad guarantee (if he doesn’t change major). His cons are that the social life may not be as active. He doesn’t look at the data we do nor does he want to acknowledge it.</p>
<p>Have him start thinking about possible majors, requirements, and course distribution. That kind of topic will get him to start thinking of college as a place to go to school, not just play soccer. What worries me is that every one of his pros are non-school topics. I wonder if he’ll be in for a shock.</p>
<p>My nephew got into a school on a baseball scholarship. Here it was, early October, (not baseball season) and the coach made everyone get up by 5:30am and be out on the field practicing. Nutso, said my nephew. He transferred about one semester.</p>
<p>With such a high transfer rate, it sounds like there are a lot of unhappy kids. You might take a look at some of the review sites and see if there are a lot of negative reviews. The word from fellow students unhappy at that college might sway him more than mom and dad.</p>
<p>I agree that most of his “pros” are soccer-related. His only pro is that it’s near a city which might mean internships. Heck, can’t he get summer internships in San Diego and live at home in the summer? many internships are unpaid so having one in the college town can mean more cost to parents for room and board.</p>
<p>*His cons are that the social life may not be as active. He doesn’t look at the data we do nor does he want to acknowledge it. *</p>
<p>Sounds like he’s made his choice and doesn’t want to look too closely to discover anything negative. This reminds me of a saying…Go into marriage with eyes wide open…while in the marriage, keep your eyes half shut. Your son wants to go into college with his eyes half shut.</p>
<p>He may need to be reminded that if this school doesn’t work out, it will be nearly impossible for him to get any kind of merit scholarship as a transfer student. If I remember correctly, this son wanted to go OOS and you didn’t want to spend more than about $25k or so per year (I may be off a bit there). Well, if he ends up wanting to transfer, his only affordable choices may be an instate public.</p>
<p>**I would revisit the schools that you think are a better choice for him. ** there’s a lot of truth to the belief that kids often choose a school that they’ve most recently visited.</p>
<p>Yes, I learned that it is in CC terms and conditions that you can’t site other websites and one of my threads was deleted by them. I do have those sites and will give them to him. Some of the comments are negative (mostly on the student review site) but the other ones not so much or they have no comments because the school is so small.
As far as his pros are concerned the 4 year grad guarantee, 11:1 ratio, 5 year MBA program, and being close to the city for internships. Those are academic.
I think you are right about not wanting to find the negatives because he is really excited about the soccer opportunity. His club coach also thinks it’s a great opportunity and thinks he should go for it. I just need more reassurance from the school about some of the data that I don’t like.</p>
<p>Is he the sort of kid you could get to look at the detailed class descriptions in the course catalog? See what he’d be in for, between soccer practices and games? One of mine initially fell in love with a school that had gorgeous frat houses near a lake. When she saw the actual classes in her major, she cooled.</p>
<p>From what I hear from the athletes they have priority getting their schedules to fit with their 2-4pm practice during the season and since the school isn’t very rigorous academically they don’t have too much trouble balancing both. </p>
<p>Very interesting comments about transferring and merit aid. I was not aware of that.</p>
<p>SDiegoMom, it seems like visiting (or more visiting, as the case may be) might confirm good and bad aspects of this school and others. If there is any chance he could do a few overnights, or at least a few day trips, he might be more likely to see and feel the concerns you have, whereas he may just not be able to get that from lists & the like.</p>
<p>I would just note that if he is going to be a varsity athlete, that is, in fact, going to be a huge part of his college experience. Does he have a club coach or somebody like that who might also be able to help him evaluate his choices?</p>
<p>I always worry when a coach promises a kid a starting position 6 months before the season even begins. (especially a freshman). Make sure there is a JV team as a back up and that your son would be agreeable to playing JV.</p>
<p>My kids have played competively and one concern that jumps out is being a freshman starter. In your evaluation is he phenomenal as a player (I mean one of the top players in the state)? I guess my feeling is what is the caliber of the rest of the squad if a freshman can automatically be guaranteed a starting spot. Would he even be challenged as a player if he is one of the better ones on the team? I’m not saying that freshmen players are necessarily better than the others but you should probably check out the stats on the rest of the team. He could wind up being disappointed in the leadership and quality of the team. Sometimes (just as in academics) it is helpful to look at this from the point of does he want to be the top player in a small pond or be in a bigger pond that might challenge him?</p>
<p>His GC should provide a reality check on the wisdom of relying on athletic coach promises. They are neither binding or durable. Coach is paid to win games and your S’s starting role can disappear with slight injury, bad game, or the arrival of a hot freshman next year. Also, coaches relocate for any number of reasons.</p>
<p>How is the team? As an athlete, I love to win. If there’s that much of a promise to start as a freshman, it makes me wonder about the overall team. Would he rather know that he’ll be on a strong team that contends for the conference championship but where his role will evolve?</p>
<p>Also, with the coach promising that starting role – starting lineups really shouldn’t be in lace until the season is actually starting. I’d think either they are not being totally truthful or they are not a very good coach.</p>
<p>Perhaps it is a difficult question to truly answer, but I would pose the question to your son, “how would you rank your choices if your were attending without playing soccer” and “why” in order to see where his current choice school fits amongst his options.</p>
<p>Having been a Division 1 student-athlete, the unfortunate reality is that injuires (both on and off the field) and many other issues can disrupt or end a college sports career. Coaches and teamates can change. This year’s starters can be next year’s second string with each year’s recruiting class.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to be pessimisstic about his playing, and I do beleive that for many, the regimen and structure of playing college sports can be a very good thing for the student’s academics. Also, congratulations to your son on his acceptances to date. But the larger backdrop, and what will be most important in the long run, is the school, not the sports team.</p>
<p>Finally, I would suggest you try to find out whether athletes do better or worse thant the 40% dropout rate you quote. In some programs, academic standing is prized and looked after by coaches and staff. In others, well, not so much. If the overall school is at 40% (which seems to stand in dramatic contrast to a 4 year guarenteed graduation rate), I would be concerned that coaches would not have to set the bar very high for their teams to look better in comparision.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>What do you do when your S picks a school you don’t like? Well, if the agreement is that he gets to pick, and no consequences for picking one over the other were clearly established, then not a damn thing. You said he could pick. Let him pick and let the cards fall where they may.</p>
<p>eaglemom10 - we do have a vote too but sometimes I feel like I am being too controlling and like to see what other parents would do.
He does have plans to go for another day and a half to visit classes, etc. which will help.
He is a goalkeeper and very good. They are down to one GK due to injuries and one who transferred. S2 is better than the one they will have. I agree that he may start as a freshman but since they have just gone D2 this past year they will be attracting even better athletes every year and he may play his freshman year but could be out next year. This is why we tell him he has to be happy at the school regardless of the athletics. He would not pick this school if it weren’t for the athletics. His club coach said this was a good choice for him because as a GK weather is important since some of the games they don’t get much action and it can be miserable.</p>