Hi oldest daughter is a sophomore 4.0 A+ student who is starting to get some low level interest from D1 basketball schools…I am sure this question has been raised on the forums before but could find the answer…I apologize if posted in wrong forum
Background lost my job , raided the kids college funds to survive (3kids) and the prospects of college seems to be overwhelming…I am working a job making a lot less money so we are a financial mess
My daughter was evaluated as a low D-1 prospect and based on the schools showing interest early on in the process aren’t great academic schools. Let’s say the time comes and my daughter receives a basketball scholarship from a school that isn’t great- is that worth it vs a bigger name great academic school that she might graduate with a boatload of debt for both her and us …even if she gets aid etc…My previous job it mattered where you went to school but don’t want to handcuff her when she graduates
My younger kids will not be getting athletic scholarships
Any advice ? Anyone been in my boat?
What, in your mind, isn’t a great school? There are a lot of schools out there (especially D 3’s) that could give her a lot of merit aid and allow her to play basketball. If she drops down a tier in schools, I think you would be surprised how much merit aid is out there.
Edit: The time commitment to athletics at a D1 is considerably greater than at a D3. Plus, if she goes D3 and keeps her grades up she wouldn’t lose her scholarship if she lost interest in basketball.
There is a big difference between D1 and D3 because for D1 basketball is a head count sport so it is a full scholarship, versus no scholarships for D3. Basketball could help her get into a D3 school, and many of them are quite generous with need based financial aid (don’t know if you’ll still qualify for a lot of aid if you have returned to work).
However, I don’t see it as a choice between basketball and a ‘good’ college. There are many really good schools that have D1 basketball. She can get a good education and play basketball. If her grades are good enough for a top school, are her basketball skills good enough for that school?
We tried to balance the academics and athletics. My daughter ended up at a D2 school with a little over 1/2 of the aid being merit (school and outside grants) and a little less being athletic aid. It turned out to be the perfect combo of athletics and academics for my D. She could have played at a lower D1 level with almost a full scholarship but at a very tiny school without her major (and they lose a lot!). She could have gone to a couple other D1 schools with lower athletic scholarship but more merit, but again not winning teams. She could have gone to top LACs in D3 with no athletic money but more merit and high prestige academics. She didn’t like LACs. At all.
Just keep looking around. You’ll find a good mix for your daughter.
If she goes D1 and can’t play for some reason (long-term injury), she would lose her scholarship. Make sure she attends a school that makes sense even if she can’t play.
You say she is a 4.0 student… have you considered the Ivy Leagues? Div 1, (but really lower than most Div 1 schools) great financial aid, and much more of a focus on academics than in many sports programs. I’ve known two young women who parlayed their basketball skills to Ivy campuses even though normally they would not have been starters at most D1 schools.
Run net price calculators on the college websites to see what they’d expect you to pay. She should study hard for her SATs and/or ACT — high test scores, a 4.0, and basketball talent could really pay off at schools that meet need.
@kenbitrio - Look at smaller schools with great academics that meet full need. LAC’s like Davidson, University of Richmond, etc. meet full need and have women’s basketball. They are both private but when my daughter was applying to colleges, I told her she could apply anywhere in State (VA) but if she applied OOS, she should look at privates (unless OOS public had automatic merit aid based on test scores, reciprocal IS tuition) to possibly even out the financial cost with in state. She ended up enrolling at University of Southern California and it’s costing me about the same as UVA or William & Mary (USC may even be costing a little less; travel costs makes it about even).
My daughter was very close to attending Richmond. Their endowment is something like 2.5 billion dollars for a school with about 3200 undergraduates. That’s a huge per capita endowment. For comparison, Michigan State’s endowment is about the same but there are 50,000 students.
A 4.0 student may find a good low cost college due to possible admission to colleges with good need based financial aid or colleges offering big merit scholarships to her. The athletic recruiting potential can add additional options, but need not be the only path to consider.
Use basketball to get your smart kid past the admissions office of a fancy school that meets full financial need with need based financial aid. The need based aid may well be more dollars than a hoops scholarship. The school will be top tier academically, and a lower tier athletically.
Ivy League, Patriot LEague, NESCAC league. Look at D3 in addition to low end (athletically) D1. While D3 has no athletic scholarships, it may have a lot of need based aid for a poor kid and a lot of merit based aid for a smart kid.
The OP may have no assets but an income that doesn’t allow for full need based aid, especially with one in college. A D1 basketball scholarship will be a full scholarship at any school that gives scholarships (not Ivy, not D3, not some schools that give no athletic scholarships).
Not all 4.0 students are ‘Harvard material.’ Not all basketball players are Harvard material. We really have no idea what kind of schools are recruiting this student.
We know that the kid is rated as a low level D-1 prospect as a hoopster. The OP is looking for a strong academic school that won’t cost much. That level of hoops with good academics can be used in several different ways:
Hoops schollie at a D-1 school that is bad at womens hoops but good in the classroom. Example Colgate -- RPI 290 out of 349 DI womens teams. Patriot League used to be non-scholarship but now is limited scholarship. Or maybe Santa Clara RPI 289 or BC RPI 211. But not ND RPI #2, UCLA #10, Stanford #13, Duke #19.
Financial aid at a D-1 non-scholarship school that meets full need and is bad at womens hoops. Example Cornell RPI of 267 in D1 this year. Or Columbia #216. Fat Ivy League need aid. But probably not Princeton RPI #27 or Penn RPI #61.
Financial aid at a D-3 non-scholarship school that meets full need. A place where a low D1 prospect would be a highly sought after recruit. Examples: Amherst who plays at a very high D3 level. Fat NESCAC aid. Or Chicago. Or many others potentially.
All true @twoinanddone… but Ivies MAY BE an option for the D1-caliber basketball player with very good grades and SATs.
As for someone not being “Harvard material” – there are other schools in the League… and they provide extraordinary support to their athletes. Princeton, for example, requires all athletes to begin college with summer school to get them used to the academic level – and to lessen their freshman course load. Tutoring is available from day one should it be needed. Those athletes also practice/train less and travel a lot less, and with far greater sensitivity to exams than even most D3 schools.
Bottom line: if your athlete child, a reasonable contender for D1 schools, has the brains and discipline to have a 4.0 and good SATs, he/she is likely to be able to hack the work at an Ivy… and said Ivy will do everything possible to make sure she/he graduates.
If the kid is low level D1 prospect, then the kid is probably not Princeton material as an athlete. Since Princeton womens hoops is a featured P sport that plays at a very high level. But the same kid could be a highly attractive recruit at Cornell or Columbia.
You have to get three planets to line up – hoops level, academic level, net price of attendance. Tricky, but do-able at different places in different ways.
What does your D want to study? It makes no sense to be getting riled up about Princeton or Harvard if her dream is to major in nursing- neither school has a nursing major.
My D was in this exact position except that her sport is not a headcount one so scholarships at lower D1 teams weren’t full rides. She had a very high gpa, not a top ACT but good enough, was very good in her sport but not D1 top 20 good, nor D3 top 10 good. Had a parent (me) whose job had ended so finances very important and we didn’t have the option of turning down money for prestige.
Lower D1 schools, academically and athletically - lots of money, but she didn’t like the schools or teams
Higher D3 schools academically, athletically probably lower than d’s level - FA money not great year 1, probably full yr 2-4, but daughter didn’t like LACs. Most didn’t have engineering and they were trying to sell her on 3+2 programs.
Ended up at a d2, which was her 3 legged stool of academics, athletics, finances (meri/athletic/need). She also didn’t liked the amount of playing time she’d get at a D1. She’s been a starter since day 1 at current school.
And it has all worked out. Four years of school, four years of her sport, graduating in May with a degree in engineering, and very little debt. Team went from unranked to #5, played in the NCAA tournament last year. And she has a job!
Some kids are okay with just being on the team as long as they are at Yale or Stanford. Some kids just want to play but don’t care if the team wins. Some don’t really care about the academics. My daughter is not one of those. She wanted to play, she wanted to win, she wanted a good, challenging academic school but didn’t care that much about the name of the school or ranking on USNWR. As I said, it worked out.
THX for the responses… We woudl love to find a balance in the patriot league level and we are going out or way to show interest in those type schools but lukewarm interest at best …The NEC conf is recruiting her at this point but hoping fro something better academically. I would rather see her at a Middlebury type school but based on their financial calculator I used its beyond tough…