Ranking Academics

bballmom2, Not everyone said to put the education first and baseball second. You can put baseball first and find a school that also can give your son a good education. We did!

bballmom2,

Juco's are setup to help students accomplish the first two years of college or an associate degree. They wouldn't be in business long if their credits didn't transfer.

When credits don't transfer it is because students have not properly planned. Sometimes remedial classes are taken to make up for deficiencies from high school. Those credits won't transfer or be allowed for credit against a four year degree.

When you take the basic classes such as English, History, Science, Matt, PE that are applicable towards a four year degree the credits transfer.

Most JUCO's have specific programs for transfer to four year universities nearby.

Get the handbook for the juco you have an interest. Read it. It will give you an idea of what to do.

High school and college counselors can be unreliabe, especially when there is indecision on the student's part.

Proper degree planning is necessary to miminize the amount of time spent in college.

Improper planning and indecision can add to the amount of time and cost for college.

The priority of education and baseball is a personal matter.

bbscout and myself seem to be in the minority here on this website in choosing baseball first and academics second. It does not mean that we believe that academics are unimportant.

The quality of an education is largely related to the effort that it is given.

FormerObserver,
thanks for your comments...if son had a choice it would be baseball first and then academics but as a parent I feel responsible for the child's education! our eldest son tried a JUCO for baseball and not the education part and he really got burned....baseball didn't work out and school was a waste of time which we knew at the time but his desire to play outweighed everything in his mind...now he's transfered to a D1 (not to play - gave up on baseball) and he is behind in his major...of course, your comment on indecision is right on as that was also the case in our eldest son's situation but so many kids today don't seem to have any idea on what they want to do when they grow up....now our youngest will be off next year and he is trying to get an idea of what to major in...in fact, the coaches he has talked to all want to know what he wants to study in school (which is good I think)...we just don't want to repeat the same scenerio with him that our eldest son experienced and it seems that alot of JUCOs just aren't up there academically....
thanks again!

bbmom2:

A better way to put it might be to find a school where the young man would be happy even if the baseball does not work out. That said, my view of a JC is a place to take care of the basics and, in that regard, any accredited school ought to be fine.

Bbmom,

I agree with bbscout. My son's major is still baseball.

Had my son not ended up where he is, he would have gone the JUCO route. Credits’ not transferring was a great concern of ours as well. We were assured that if he took the “right” classes, they would transfer. In fact we were told that they have their students take extra credits so they would have at least enough credits to be classified as a junior.

You are right about not knowing what to major in. I’m 50+ and still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up . My oldest had to go an extra term (even though technically he had enough credits to graduate) because he changed his major and needed a couple of classes for his new major. I believe that’s why a lot of kids end up going extra years, simply because they change their majors.

IMHO I don’t think we should expect our kids to know (at this early age) what they want to do the rest of their lives. If they do, all the better, but I think they are in the minority. I like what some colleges do in that the student doesn’t have to declare a major until after their soph year. That gives them two years to get their basic requirements out of the way and then concentrate on their major the last two years. That’s still not an end all, but having the extra two years helps.

There’s no set formula for success. Gotta do the homework and evaluate each situation.

Good luck.
Frank

PASSION - "There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart...pursue those."

Thanks bbscout, I was hoping someone would make that statement. Baseball versus academics can be interchanged in priority rankings if thought through during the recruiting process. It is all part of that "good fit" equation.

Schools do have academic reputations and in some careers it truly is important to have your degree from a prestigious college. It can make or break your opportunity to work at some firms.

There are also some schools whose reputations are medicocre, or simply unknown - a degree from one of these schools does not harm the average job applicant, but usually does not give them an advantage either.

For the most part however, many schools are interchangeable academically. Unless you need a particular specialized degree they all give relatively the same education, and have similar reputations.

The right fit includes knowing whether you will need a prestigious degree or not. It also includes knowing whether you need a school with less academic pressure.

Believe it or not there are many kids who are getting an education thanks to sports and would not even be in college if it weren't for the opportunity to play. There is nothing wrong with that - they are getting an eduation they otherwise might not.

There are times when putting academic issues first is important. More often than not it is simply a matter of picking a school for the baseball because the academic area is pretty much equal.

AParent:

I beg to differ. While I agree there are many fine schools, the "brand name" of certain sets of schools carry tremendous value that other schools cannot approach. Beenthere's son, a truly outstanding player, selected Princeton of the Ivy League over (among others) Mississippi State, one of the top baseball schools in the top baseball conference in the nation. I guarantee you that when it comes to getting a job Princeton will carry far, far greater value.

bbscout makes a good point in the selection of schools for his son in terms of putting baseball first, yet his son is at UCLA, one of the finest schools in the world and incredibly difficult in terms of gaining admission. A UCLA degree far outweighs a degree, say, from Cal State Fullerton or Long Beach State, both far superior at the present time in terms of baseball success. It's an indvidual choice, to be sure, but I must say that if my son had a chance to attend UCLA there is no way that I would steer him toward Cal State anywhere or even most other Pac 10 schools, with the possible exeption of Stanford and USC.

Moreover, a degree from nearly any Big 10 school in most cases will be of far greater value that a degree from a Missouri Valley school or a MAC school. William and Mary provides far, far greater value than Coastal Carolina or UNC Wilmington or LSU etc.... Rice outstrips by far every school in its conference and most other conferences and the differences are so great that if the young man has the intellectual capability to gain admission and to complete the work, the lifelong value provided is very difficult to ignore, even when it means passing on a greater baseball opportunity. Substitute Duke or Vanderbilt (which have produced Major Leagues) for Rice and the choices become harder.


There are always exceptions and a great student at one school usually would be a great student at just about any other school, but indivudual schools matter and they matter a lot. If you don't believe me, take a look around Wall Street or Washington D.C. and you will find a dispropotionate representation in the halls of power of a surprisingly few number of schools. And it's not so different among the upper echelon of corporate America.

definitly the minority F-O
when comparing colleges we found that there were large differences in

prestige/perception, admisssions selectivity, location & the quality of baseball

and we saw little real difference in the actual quality of undergrad academics (course content)



lefties? - - - they just aint right!

We found that most D1's here in TX have a list of courses they will accept from specific TX JUCOs on their web sites. We used this list along with several D1 degree plans found on their web sites to help plan his JUCO course selections. We're still not sure how this will all work out, but baseball is very important to him so he made his college selection primarily for baseball development opportunities.

After one semester we've found that both the classes and baseball program seem a little more relaxed than our older son's D1 experience, but our younger guy still seems very happy with his choice...and he's earned a 4.00 to keep Mom happy.

Interesting how everyone's post adds to the process.....

Everyone can't go to Princeton.................

Everyone can't play baseball...................

Except for BeenthereIL, of course......

bballmom2

I really think that picking the right school is about the right FIT for YOUR son. The baseball and the academics both play a part. One may be more inportant to your family, but the bottom line is your son has to be happy with the school and the baseball program where he will be successful at both and not struggle (too much) in either area. There are a lot of choices out there and probably more than one with the right combination for your son.

jemaz

You missed the entire point of my post. In the first paragraph I mention the top tier schools. Those schools who do have a huge impact on careers.

In the second I mention the schools who are not so good, of which there are a few also.

Then there are all those schools in the middle.

Once you select which of these three groups you need - your fit can be the baseball program within any one of those schools within that group.

Certainly Harvard's and Yale's are extremely important for some in their chosen paths, but not everyone. That is the most imptant part of the fit thing, knowing which group of schools to pick from. Once that is established the schools are more interchangeable than you think.

I have the utmost respect for any athlete that has the ability multitask academics and athletics. As far as the education, there are many ivy grads that drive cabs and others that have the Dr. in front of their names that would never lay a hand on me or my family. Its not only the school that makes the person, its how that experience is applied. The Ivys are great, but so is any secondary education. We know that education opens doors, but that door will hit you square in the a$$ unless it is used to your advantage, regardless of the school.

rz1

You are 100 % correct that a student can neglect to get a good education at any school - if they so choose. The old you can lead a horse to water thing.

However, for the student who diligently studies the impact of some schools in their resume over others can spell the difference between getting accepted at a prestigious law firm with an extra zero at the end of their paycheck. (there are some chosen carers where the schools reputation DOES make a difference - for the the sole reason - there is a difference)

On the flip side, if they are planning to drive a cab (don't knock it - cab drivers have a vital role in our economy) then the top tier school is not a necessity.

Fit has more as much to do with long rang goals as it does personal likes and disliikes.

My son chose his school because of baseball, atmosphere, weather, league, education, comfort, dorms, dining hall, travel and school spirit. The coach has put 37 players into the big leagues. The school was his first choice for all of the above, and after a year and a half, he likes it even more than he did when he arrived. He has good grades, but where he feels at home is on the field, and that is what he wanted in the first place. When he is 40, he does not want to be a cab driver or a lawyer.....he wants to coach in the Pac 10.

bbscout:

Your son seems well on his way to his goals, and, no doubt, that Pac 10 education will make a lot of difference in his ability to coach in the Pac 10, perhaps even at UCLA. Obviously, he chose well and was fortunate to be in the position to have that choice to make. I'm sure he worked very hard for the opportunity in addition to his clear talent. He has my respect, as do his teammates and the other players across the league.

Back to bbmom2's original question, which I think is very good.

US News ranks colleges on several criteria and below is a link to thier opinion of college ranks


College Rankings

Play every game as if it were your last

another good site for college information is http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/rankings/rankings.asp
The Best 351 College Rankings from the Princeton Review.

We paid $13 for the premium US News online college subscription, and it was very wortwhile. You can find a lot of information about schools, search lots of different ways. Nothing to do with baseball, but much to do with the other half of the equation.

-jda

Here is a good website that will give you info on specific colleges and admissions, applications and college life. College Confidential ... http://www.collegeconfidential.com/

Here's another good site to compare academics.
http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/sidebyside.jsp