If anything, baseball can help you to get into a school that you may not have otherwise...let's be honest, college admissions are hardly objective anymore (if they ever were) and if hitting or throwing a fastball can get you an edge when applying to a strong academic institution, more power to you. It's a tool that should be used the same as AP or honors classes. I'm not saying it's going to get you into Princeton with a 2.0 gpa, but it may with a 3.25, and you can't put a price tag on that.
quote:I read a lot of discussions here where it seems many parents are willing to accept a "lessor" school even a Juco so long as son has a chance to make the baseball team. I don't understand this entirely. To me it makes sense to go to the best school you can get into and afford and if that means not playing baseball then so be it.
Where do you stand on this?
There have been a number of excellent points already made in this thread. For what it's worth, I'll throw out one additional tidbit.
My son is considering transferring to another college for next year. This is a 4-year, nationally-known university that has an excellent academic reputation, and it happens to be in the same city as a jr. college. When we met with the admissions director of the university, we were surprised when she said my son could take classes at the jr. college while he was enrolled at the 4-year school. She commented, "Take your basic classes at the jr. college. It will be cheaper, the class sizes will be smaller with more personal attention, and your professors will speak English as a first language."
I was bored today and was looking through some older threads when I came across this one, which got my full attention. Lots of great points. Our family's experience, I think, runs the gamut.
Son No. 1 had sold but not spectacular grades and SAT scores. He went to Virginia Tech to play baseball, a place that would not have looked at him twice without the baseball. He had a nice, but not great college baseball career. Certainly nowhere near what I had expected. However, he had a spectacular college experience and graduated with a better than 3.0 average and a very useful major. He also returned with a wife (a volleyball player who is beautiful and 6-foot-1) and now has a two-year old son who shows signs of being the next great baseball player.
Son No. 2 was a good high school player, but not nearly as good as son No. 2. He was a starter on teams that won three consecutive state championships and was nationally ranked. He had college opportunities to play baseball. He also was a National Merit Scholar and had a nearly 100 percent scholarship to the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University. He chose to forego the baseball for the chance at Barrett. The baseball did not match the academic chances. He just graduated with honors and is preparing for law school.
Daughter 1, also a National Merit Scholar, is at USC on a dual track of pre-med/accounting. She decided on school and substantial academic money instead of s****r.
Son 3 is the best baseball player and has a chance at a Pac 10 school. He is a student similar to son No. 1. I hope his college experience, in the end, is equally rich.
All of them understand that at some point it is their brains that pay the bills. Nonetheless, baseball (and s****r) have been of major importance and influence for each of them.
What it comes down to is this (I think): Every child and every family is different, and different decisions serve different people better or worse. We can only hope to make the best of the opportunities that are encountered along the way.
Son No. 1 had sold but not spectacular grades and SAT scores. He went to Virginia Tech to play baseball, a place that would not have looked at him twice without the baseball. He had a nice, but not great college baseball career. Certainly nowhere near what I had expected. However, he had a spectacular college experience and graduated with a better than 3.0 average and a very useful major. He also returned with a wife (a volleyball player who is beautiful and 6-foot-1) and now has a two-year old son who shows signs of being the next great baseball player.
Son No. 2 was a good high school player, but not nearly as good as son No. 2. He was a starter on teams that won three consecutive state championships and was nationally ranked. He had college opportunities to play baseball. He also was a National Merit Scholar and had a nearly 100 percent scholarship to the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University. He chose to forego the baseball for the chance at Barrett. The baseball did not match the academic chances. He just graduated with honors and is preparing for law school.
Daughter 1, also a National Merit Scholar, is at USC on a dual track of pre-med/accounting. She decided on school and substantial academic money instead of s****r.
Son 3 is the best baseball player and has a chance at a Pac 10 school. He is a student similar to son No. 1. I hope his college experience, in the end, is equally rich.
All of them understand that at some point it is their brains that pay the bills. Nonetheless, baseball (and s****r) have been of major importance and influence for each of them.
What it comes down to is this (I think): Every child and every family is different, and different decisions serve different people better or worse. We can only hope to make the best of the opportunities that are encountered along the way.
All,
We have gone through the recruiting process for the first time, and it has been "a long, strange trip" to quote Jerry Garcia. IMO, it is all about options (how your son has performed in the classroom, and on the field) and how successful you are with the recruiting (marketing) process. Everyone is going to have a vastly different experience based upon many factors that are outside your control. With good grades and good performance can you hope to maximize what is under your control, even then there are no guarantees.
Jemaz outlined his families experiences. Our exeriences are similiar and very different. My son has excellent grades in a magnet-like school, 2100 on SATs, throws in the high 80s/low 90s. Still, we stuggle to find that right balance of academics and athletics. The process almost seems backwards, but that is a conversation for another day. He is a quiet kid, and we have been somewhat selective about marketing his baseball skills. As you would expect, the result has been that he has been passed over for lesser pitchers, and lesser students. We tell him to be patient, and that strategy is finally paying off. He has a half dozen very interested academic D1 schools. We controlled the process up to this point. Now it is up to the coaches & programs to realize the talent and potential in front of them......that is where it is getting scary as we negotiate terms. The process seems to get out of your control at this point even theough the final decision is yours. In the back of our minds, it is always about academics first and then athletics second. If he can use baseball to get into a school that was out of reach, then so be it. Again, it is about options.
We have gone through the recruiting process for the first time, and it has been "a long, strange trip" to quote Jerry Garcia. IMO, it is all about options (how your son has performed in the classroom, and on the field) and how successful you are with the recruiting (marketing) process. Everyone is going to have a vastly different experience based upon many factors that are outside your control. With good grades and good performance can you hope to maximize what is under your control, even then there are no guarantees.
Jemaz outlined his families experiences. Our exeriences are similiar and very different. My son has excellent grades in a magnet-like school, 2100 on SATs, throws in the high 80s/low 90s. Still, we stuggle to find that right balance of academics and athletics. The process almost seems backwards, but that is a conversation for another day. He is a quiet kid, and we have been somewhat selective about marketing his baseball skills. As you would expect, the result has been that he has been passed over for lesser pitchers, and lesser students. We tell him to be patient, and that strategy is finally paying off. He has a half dozen very interested academic D1 schools. We controlled the process up to this point. Now it is up to the coaches & programs to realize the talent and potential in front of them......that is where it is getting scary as we negotiate terms. The process seems to get out of your control at this point even theough the final decision is yours. In the back of our minds, it is always about academics first and then athletics second. If he can use baseball to get into a school that was out of reach, then so be it. Again, it is about options.
c-ball you started one of the best discussions on this site in years. And the best of it is no arguing. 044, fanofgame such good reflections of your experiences.
For our son, it was quite simple, only one school offered (out of state JC) and it had a good track record. With our son it was never about education, he just wanted to continue to play ball. He choose this school and we'll support him. We hope he does well in class, the baseball is secondary.
For our son, it was quite simple, only one school offered (out of state JC) and it had a good track record. With our son it was never about education, he just wanted to continue to play ball. He choose this school and we'll support him. We hope he does well in class, the baseball is secondary.
jemaz,
you are a lucky parent. Count your blessings.
you are a lucky parent. Count your blessings.
We started out with the idea of academics first, however we rediscovered after two years a good/valuable school experience was not directly related to the schools academic reputation. The student needs to enjoy "being there" and my son could not enjoy "being there" unless he was playing.
The implication that a jc is a "lesser school" is just wrong. Will your kid learn more in a chem class with 20 (jc) students or 700(UC)? Transfering to a jc was the best move my son made.
The implication that a jc is a "lesser school" is just wrong. Will your kid learn more in a chem class with 20 (jc) students or 700(UC)? Transfering to a jc was the best move my son made.
quote:I read a lot of discussions here where it seems many parents are willing to accept a "lessor" school even a Juco so long as son has a chance to make the baseball team. I don't understand this entirely. To me it makes sense to go to the best school you can get into and afford and if that means not playing baseball then so be it.
Where do you stand on this?
Lessor school ?
Is it possible that you can go to a JC or some lowly ranked college and still get a great job? I mean you didn't go to Harvard or some highly ranked college and still can survive in life. That astounds me ? Happy and not a Harvard grad.
Now seems like a great time to pass the collection plate.
quote:I read a lot of discussions here where it seems many parents are willing to accept a "lessor" school even a Juco so long as son has a chance to make the baseball team. I don't understand this entirely. To me it makes sense to go to the best school you can get into and afford and if that means not playing baseball then so be it.
Where do you stand on this?
JMO, but a lot of this is no brainer stuff and depends on the individual player and his goals.
In our case, the object was to go to school and let baseball help pay for part of that, and to find a program that would help benefit his being able to play beyond college. Now that may not be the scenerio for everyone. It all comes down to the individual. I would never want my player to just go to school for the baseball experience only, there are so many factors that make up the right fit. I don't think that one really realizes that until they are in that situation. JUCO serves many purposes, for many people, economics, grades, development for 4 year or pro opportunity and should not be looked upon as a lessor choice. There are so many JUCO programs that even offer better baseball programs than some smaller D1 programs.
As far as 4 year or graduate degrees, there is no question that some degrees are more valuable than others, and this also depends on the individual. A good example would be, certain degrees will get you higher pay regardless, it's kind of like negotiationg your draft bonus, those with more talent have more to offer. There may be some that disagree, but I stand firm on that premise.