SoCal OG posted:2019&21 Dad posted:JCG posted:RJM is dead on. Look at it this way, would you rather see your kid go to one of the top 10 schools on that list, or would you rather seem him go to a school like Caltech, which I know without looking is near the bottom?
But you can try to have both, to a certain extent. We have a user who, before his kid's baseball career came to an end, tried to aggregate baseball quality and academic quality on one list. It's pretty good.
I can tell you my son's preference is in line with this suggestion and he (and I) is anxiously awaiting Caltech's EA admission decision--hopefully this Saturday. He may not win many games playing at Caltech, but I think his career prospects in Physics would work out just fine going there! He's supported by both the departing coach, Matthew Mark and newly hired Kevin Whitehead. He has excellent academic credentials competitive with anyone to apply there, but he's hoping that baseball can be the differentiator from the thousands of other similarly qualified candidates. Ultimately, my advice to anyone in HS would be to focus more on academics because the potential opportunities there (now and future) far outweigh the athletic ones. But keep developing athletically because that might help be a "hook" in a competitive admissions situation.
My son will also (fingers crossed) will be playing in the SCIAC. He had options for some lower end east coast D1's and was in the running at an Ivy but ultimately chose to 1) stay somewhere warm & 2) attend a high academic school. Although, if the Ivy was offered he would have absolutely braved the cold and gone there.
I have a neighbor who used to coach girls basketball at Caltech. She told us she had to completely change her perspective and re-define what success meant. As an example, she had a girl who for the life of her could not figure out how to play a 2-3 zone, HOWEVER, this same girl actually discovered a BRAND NEW PLANET! So yeah, thats winning.
I hear you about the cold. We're in Pennsylvania and with each passing freeze SoCal looks better to him! We visited last summer and I gotta say, it has it's draw. He's also still holding out hope for MIT and would only go north and brave worse cold, for a school like that or, like your son, an Ivy.
When I look back on his youth playing days at how much I worried, I wish I had just enjoyed it more. I did enjoy it, gradually learned along the way, and wouldn't trade the whole experience with him and the family for anything. I just wish I didn't stress over every little thing as much. I did get better at letting go however as time wore on and this site was a good part of that learning process, so I thank all who contribute to the collective wisdom. At least we did always put academics first and that will serve him well the rest of his life, as will all of the intangibles learned on the athletic side.
Best of luck to all on your individual journeys.