@moooop I think that the best way to handle that is to have a conversation with a confidant that you trust. “Hey Joe, what are your classes like? Do you have lots of debate or is pretty much a one sided lecture? Are students generally engaged? Is it everybody or usually the same person?” I know I’m a GenXer and today’s generation doesn’t like to have conversations as much, you could probably even do it over text.
I believe that coaches can be great influence, but depending on the level of competition maybe warrants the level of influence. My son is competing in track and field, and he probably went with the less impressive coach because what he was looking for was track to augment his education, education was much more important. However, if he was thinking the D1 highly competitive level I’m sure the influence of the coach would have been far greater.
Every situation is different. Each kid will have his own list of what’s important. Could be (s)he wants his parents to be happy. They want him/her to attend an Ivy League. If that is the case, I don’t want to tell him/her that their priorities are wrong. It’s truly a personal decision.