I have a son (graduated, BA Economics, middle of class) and a daughter (senior, chemical engineer with a finance minor, a bit above middle). HS was private, religious (we just dealt with that), extremely strong academics, and very small (60 kids in graduating class, all headed to a college). Both kids scored above the general average for kids who ultimately matriculated to their college (note: Princeton [and several other schools] could have stocked its incoming classes with ONLY perfect score and perfect GPA kids - but they don't. So, once a kid hits close to the average for the school (33ish), these schools look for other attributes (renown tuba player, ISEF winner, great personal story of perseverance, etc.). Both kids took roughly 8 AP tests (note: at many of these schools, the AP tests - regardless of scores - don't actually get college credit or the school actually discourages credit although the kids are placed in more advanced classes (which may be very problematic because college classes are a whole lot different from the same class taught by a HS teacher).
1) How often do your students meet and converse with their professors outside of class, (i.e., office hours)? I've read of this happening commonly once a week
Professors all had office hours. Son never went. Daughter lived in professors offices. I don't think this is an athlete/non distinction; it was a personality issue. Some professors are actually "fellows" assigned to teams. For those professors (themselves fans), son conversed and interacted on a regular basis.
2) I've read people in here say that baseball got their kid into a college that they otherwise would not have gotten into. Why would a person want to go and be both a student and an athlete at a school into which they were not qualified to enter as a student alone?
(Some kids use high academics to get onto a baseball team that they might not have otherwise. Soon they find themselves over matched and encouraged to transfer. Seems that the same would be true if one used baseball to get into an academic school to which they didn't really belong.)
First, at these schools, while standards may be a bit looser than the non-hooked student, the difference is much much less than other schools. Kids simply aren't admitted without taking the most rigorous courses the HS offered, with matching grades and scores. Any scores/GPA differential (which is minor compared to regular students) is attributed to the time the athlete used in developing his game.
Second, virtually every student I've met at their school navigated through the "imposter syndrome." Most students feel they do not belong intellectually; at these schools, almost EVERY student brings a deep interest or passion to the table; in other words, some areas have been plumbed to great depth which can intimidate others not so well versed.
In freshmen week (about mid term time), I remember the dean addressing an auditorium full of over-bearing helicopter parents (I was one). The dean had received multiple phone calls from parents concerned (more like freaked out) about mid-term grades in physics (usually a area of study athletes shy away from). The dean advised the parents that college and high school tests were different and that the kids would adjust from regurgitating information (lead to straight A's in HS) to analyzing problems. The average grade for that physics mid-term was less than 20% (and no kid in that class had ever earned a grade remotely close to that before).
And, the kids did make the transistion. It was tough, really tough, but they did.
Another point are the jobs that await virtually every student. At Princeton, there are dozens of job openings per graduate; while getting those jobs are stressful, when employers flock to your campus, they are there for a reason and are looking for kids who are graduating from that school.
In son's four years, not a single baseball player failed to get grades. All graduated or were on track to graduate in four years (those that were drafted).
3) Do your students feel stifled from truly learning due to the pressure to make grades? That is they get less chance to slow down and really enjoy and learn a subject.
Interesting question. Each went from a system in which they understood what was required to get an A (HS) to a system which was designed to make the student self-teach. (In some ways, I think these schools are a con game; Princeton's "secret sauce" is its alleged "focus" on its undergrads. I would venture to guess that well over half of my kids professors taught in their second language - and that would be charitable for many. Apart from an occasional elective here and there, for the first two years classes were well over 100 with no interaction during class with the prof. Due to the language issues, both kids were forced to develop much better study and learning habits (the school has resources devoted to helping develop these tools) as did their peers. Study groups really provided the framework for study and learning - a forerunner for the real world.
I would say for kids used to high grades, it is a shock that an A really means mastery of a subject. The entire environment is fast paced; kids study hard and party harder. Most are incredibly ambitious and in 30 years, will be well known I their respective fields.
4. The students at these schools were chosen because they were involved and passionate about SOMETHING in HS. That passion is not faux and when these kids hit a college like Princeton they are already driven to explore new things to great depths. They are loud and boisterous and not afraid to share their world view.
But the world view is not homogenous - it represents all sides of the political spectrum and is equally loud and boisterous from every angle. For my kids, it opened up new vistas, new friendships with people who don't have the same skin color, religion, political background, or socio-economic background. (Heck, one of his teammates was the son of a presidential candidate - and not a liberal one.)
I want my college educated kids to be able to think critically of other positions, and unless they have proponents of those ideas offering them up for consideration, and hashing out the differences, sketching out areas of agreement as well as disagreement, how will they learn to respect other world views and critique those views (as well as their own)? The world is a harsh place and it's better to be exposed early (IMO).
To conclude this novel, a kid has nothing to fear about these schools; he is surrounded by motivated kids, unbelievable opportunities in the classroom, on the field, in jobs. Graduating these schools doesn't guarantee anything other than a significant head start in the marathon of life - but every advantage that baseball can bring is welcomed and if that means admission, so be it!