Juco vs 4 year

I would bet there are not a lot of junior college students with 28 college credits going in as a freshmen.A lot of JC players are spending three years at JCs. Your son could still spend two years at a JC or JUCO if he takes 12 units per semester thats 48 in 2 years which gives him 78 units. Kind of a lot if units considering you usually only need 60 to begin taking upper division classes.
Sound like he is a 4 year college student.My son is at a JC and he will have between 52-60 when he is done with two years at a JC. He only needs 48 as a qualifier.
I dont know how coaches would feel about him only being there for one year, I guess if hes a good player one year is better than nothing. I guess I am wondering why you would want him at a JUCO. Just curious.

Playing time would be the biggest reason for attending JUCO as well as resources. A 25% to a full ride at a JUCO saves a lot of money compared to 25% scolly at a 4 year. Personally I feel an education is a education, especially when he isn't sure what he wants to be when he grows up. I guess he could take the JUCO route and stick to the 12 credit mininum. Is that what most BB player do? Is it too tough to take 15 credits while playing college BB. I played JUCO ball back in the early 80's and took 15 hours without any problems. Today I'm sure it is different.

Very good question BBfun. Fan has a point, but if playing time is important then JC would be the way to go if he is a good BB player. Has he been recruited by larger programs?

I believe playing time is important. As for being recruited, he has received 5 or 6 letters from D1 schools and continues to receive emails from those schools. There have been 3 hand written letters from the above mentioned schools. 3 of the 6 schools he would consider as they are all within 2-3 hours from home. Nobody knows what will happen as he hasn't even played his Junior year yet. I think the three most important things he is looking at is close to home, playing time and enjoying himself. I just wasn't sure about the college hours and if JUCO would be worth it for 1 year. Because this is our first experience with this we want to make sure we are looking at it thr right way.

Might be a healthy discussion examining
the implications associated between JUCO's vs
D1.


Here's my brief and quick look examination:


Characteristics and why choose JUCO's?....typically
- Closer to (or live at) home
- Playing time
- Less restrictive entrance criteria
- Economical
- General Credits
- Fall Baseball & Spring Baseball
- Draft eligeable
- Girlfriend

Characteristics and why choose D1's?....typically
- Academic Fit
- Entrance criteria
- Summer Baseball placement
- Recruited
- Status
- Housing

We looked at JCs when my son was going through the process and he decided that he didn't want to switch colleges once he started at one. There is always some question about transferring credits and haveing to uproot yourself. Not only do you leave your friends and relations you form but you may go from a great situation to a bad one. 4 years at one college has some benefits and it is over in a flash.

Maybe the money for a 4 year will be there. Currently he has a 3.52 GPA in his core courses and is ranked in the top 10% of his class. I hope and think that could be worth some academic money if he maintains his grades. If so, that would take care of the resource part of the equation. As I mentioned prior, some of the 4 year schools are close by so that helps as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Bear:
Might be a healthy discussion examining
the implications associated between JUCO's vs
D1.


Here's my brief and quick look examination:


Characteristics and why choose JUCO's?....typically
- Closer to (or live at) home
- Playing time
- Less restrictive entrance criteria
- Economical
- General Credits
- Fall Baseball & Spring Baseball
- Draft eligeable
- Girlfriend

Characteristics and why choose D1's?....typically
- Academic Fit
- Entrance criteria
- Summer Baseball placement
- Recruited
- Status
- Housing

A factor for choosing a 4-year school over a JC for my son is that he has worked hard to get the grades and test scores necessary for entrance into a good 4-year school. By going to a JUCO, he feels like he would be wasting a lot of the effort he put into high school.

He also would like to finish school in a timely manner, and you do tend to lose some credits due to transfer issues. Some majors cannot be finished at a 4-year school in the final two years due to pre-requisites that aren't offered every semester and weren't offered at the JUCO.

BLP that was a factor that came up. I was negotiating with a top JC and trying to get a larger BB scholarship. He was pretty set in the amount and seemed to think that he was making a great offer to play at a college of such a high stature in D1 JC. The other thing was my son wanted to play against top teams like FSU, USC and others.

quote:

Originally posted by Blprkfrnks:
A factor for choosing a 4-year school over a JC for my son is that he has worked hard to get the grades and test scores necessary for entrance into a good 4-year school. By going to a JUCO, he feels like he would be wasting a lot of the effort he put into high school.

He also would like to finish school in a timely manner, and you do tend to lose some credits due to transfer issues. Some majors cannot be finished at a 4-year school in the final two years due to pre-requisites that aren't offered every semester and weren't offered at the JUCO.

We felt the same way and we closed our eyes to many good opportunities at JCs. My son went to a four year school and then transferred to a JC after two years, it was the best thing he ever did from a number of different angles, not just baseball.

Its really important to get into a good situation where the coach/school takes an interest in your success. i.e. Its much harder to get attention and help when you are in a class of 800 freshman students (4 year school) then in a class of 20-30 students (JC).

The credit issue can be a problem if you don't pay attention to the transfer guides, however getting most prerequiste classes should not be a problem if you are at a decent sized JC.

.

quote:

Originally posted by BBfun: Would a JUCO recruit you knowing that you would only spend 1 year there?

At least in CA...

Players drop back into JC after a year at a 4 year, spend a year and go....some freshmen play a year and go....some get drafted and go...

The single characteristic is talent. If you can help the ballclub JC coaches are normally very open to a single year and very used to such situations.

44
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Play time is mentioned as one of the factors of a JC. I know several kids at D1 that will not see the field the first two years,now if they are at a great school and are happy thats great.
My son as college parents son had the GPA and SATs to go to a 4 year. He wanted to work towards being a player at one of those 4 year schools. Most of the pre reqs as an exampke english 1a and 1b whats the difference in JC or 4 year?? Math? history ? arts and humanities, if you follow the transfer guidelines and are at a good JC there is no prpblem.
As to the original posters question: can your son take 15 and be OK? my son had 14 units this semester and did fine. he ended up with a 3.5. Just if your son already has 28 units , how much more lower division do you need?
Your son is just a junior, a lot will happen and you will know more in the next year as to what type of interest hes getting. Just know that many freshmen at 4 years dont play. If thats not an issue for your son then go and get your educationat 4 year.
Every family has their own experineces and my son is just going to be starting his JC spring ball in another month. The fall was great. I will let you know more of what I think of JC and baseball after I see how my sons experience goes.

bbfun you stated "Nobody knows what will happen as he hasn't even played his Junior year yet". How has he accumulated so many college credits? I would suggest a student with this much academic ability look at a prominent academic college where he could also play baseball. I would think that he might not be challenged academically at a JC. Just my opinion!

Lost "Time" can never be replaced.

quote:

Originally posted by Clint Taylor:
bbfun you stated "Nobody knows what will happen as he hasn't even played his Junior year yet". How has he accumulated so many college credits? I would suggest a student with this much academic ability look at a prominent academic college where he could also play baseball. I would think that he might not be challenged academically at a JC. Just my opinion!

Lost "Time" can never be replaced.

He will graduate with 28, he will only have 9 after his junior year. The rest will come during his senior year. He is a good student that doesn't test well. I'm hoping for a good score on the ACT in the spring.

Great accomplishment! Sounds like he is well ahead of the game academically.
Best of luck to him on the ACT and baseball.

I think it depends on the kid. My older son was heavily recruited out of HS as a pitcher to University of AZ. He wanted the opportunity to see if he could play against the big boys. He did great and played his freshman year, however he wanted to be a starter. He transferred to San Diego State and turned out to be a great move.

My younger son is a junior this year and has received many letters from D1 and JUCO's. Because we feel he needs a smaller class environment we are leaning towards JUCO route. We have told him it is up to him to get the grades to go D1.

My older son was a very good student and had the opportunity to go to Cal or anywhere he wanted. He had a difficult time in college due to the heavy travel and work out schedules. It is a grind and very demanding schedule especially for an incoming freshmen.

Just a tip from personal experience. If your son can play, and is close enough to his AA that he will have it after his first year of JUCO, be crytsal clear with the coach that its a one year deal. If your son does well and coaches are calling, you dont want him trying to keep you (re-recruit you) an extra year even though it would be a waste academically.

Good advice. Thanks

28 credits in high school towards college would be a waste going to a JUCO. Take those college credits and the 3.52 GPA and get into a good academic college.