Summer School and Early Graduation in the Power 5?

BaseballinCT posted:

A local kid (2017) is headed to a high academic Power 5 school as a RHP. When I asked his Dad where his son is playing this summer, he said his son is not playing because all of the freshmen players have to go to summer school on campus and they will have workouts while there. He said the university wants the players to have enough credits to graduate in 3 years in case they get drafted after junior year as it helps maintain a high graduation rate.  

- Is this (summer school/graduation in 3 years) common practice for D-1 baseball generally, or perhaps the high academic schools?

- How about the Ivies?

- Is this for freshmen year only or does it apply to sophomores as well?  Seems as if it would hinder/prevent playing summer ball, no?

  Just curious.

This can apply to any program, depends upon the coaching staff and their philosophy and how they conduct their business.

Years ago they either redshirted players or they carried the minimum requirements, players would run out of their eligibility and be a long way to finishing their degree, and since money isn't always plentiful, they would not graduate. There are penalties if programs don't graduate their athletes.

Most programs require 18 credits or more per semester. It's not easy to maintain that and play baseball, especially at the higher levels of college baseball and high academic schools.

I think for some players, pitchers especially, taking classes and getting in shape for fall is a good thing. It's better before freshman year to get a head start because more than likely you will be playingredients going into your sophomore season.

As far as finishing school in 3 years, that's pretty tough. Depends on the program, but once again keep in mind, it's not easy being a student athlete.

TPM posted:

BaseballinCT posted:

A local kid (2017) is headed to a high academic Power 5 school as a RHP. When I asked his Dad where his son is playing this summer, he said his son is not playing because all of the freshmen players have to go to summer school on campus and they will have workouts while there. He said the university wants the players to have enough credits to graduate in 3 years in case they get drafted after junior year as it helps maintain a high graduation rate.  

- Is this (summer school/graduation in 3 years) common practice for D-1 baseball generally, or perhaps the high academic schools?

- How about the Ivies?

- Is this for freshmen year only or does it apply to sophomores as well?  Seems as if it would hinder/prevent playing summer ball, no?

  Just curious.

playingredients

What's that supposed to be?

Iowamom23 posted:

TPM posted:

BaseballinCT posted:

A local kid (2017) is headed to a high academic Power 5 school as a RHP. When I asked his Dad where his son is playing this summer, he said his son is not playing because all of the freshmen players have to go to summer school on campus and they will have workouts while there. He said the university wants the players to have enough credits to graduate in 3 years in case they get drafted after junior year as it helps maintain a high graduation rate.  

- Is this (summer school/graduation in 3 years) common practice for D-1 baseball generally, or perhaps the high academic schools?

- How about the Ivies?

- Is this for freshmen year only or does it apply to sophomores as well?  Seems as if it would hinder/prevent playing summer ball, no?

  Just curious.

playingredients

What's that supposed to be?

 

 

I have no clue. LOL 

I think I went back to make an edit. 

No summer school at son's Ivy. All players graduated in 4 years (unreal since no AP credit is given) except the drafted juniors, who finished in two semesters (usually first and second milb seasons). 

Tough,  but because all do it, it's doable.

JustBaseball would know more about this. I once heard Stanford tried to put baseball players in the position of graduating in three years, or as close to as possible with the idea they would leave school with the draft.

Son is at a high academic public univ.  It is not unusual for incoming freshman pitchers to attend summer school to get a few classes, and credits, to get a head.  But....not to graduate in 3 years.

Some players come in with enough credits to be sophomores and they still plan to stay for 4 years.

My kid is going to a power 5 and is doing the summer bridge. They didn't insist but strongly suggested it. Made it clear that the freshman that take advantage of it have a much easier time adjusting.

They didn't need to push us to hard. The kid is ready to fly the coup and mom and dad thought it was the best way forward. The kid will have no problem with the work in the weight room (loves it) or baseball. But we are a little worried about the academic side of it. The kid is a pretty good student but this will be the heaviest workload he's had. I see it as a way to tackle a couple of the harder classes he may have as a freshman while getting to know the campus, coaches, other players, and community in a little more relaxed atmosphere.

SomeBaseballDad posted:

My kid is going to a power 5 and is doing the summer bridge. They didn't insist but strongly suggested it. Made it clear that the freshman that take advantage of it have a much easier time adjusting.

They didn't need to push us to hard. The kid is ready to fly the coup and mom and dad thought it was the best way forward. The kid will have no problem with the work in the weight room (loves it) or baseball. But we are a little worried about the academic side of it. The kid is a pretty good student but this will be the heaviest workload he's had. I see it as a way to tackle a couple of the harder classes he may have as a freshman while getting to know the campus, coaches, other players, and community in a little more relaxed atmosphere.

Good for him and good for you for supporting that choice. 

Best of luck to your player.

I am sure the motivation varies from school to school, but I'm pretty sure one of the reasons some schools do it is to pad the freshman GPA a little bit.  I know of one local kid who took "Hip-Hop Dancing"  in the summer before his freshman year.  That easy A could be the difference in keeping some kids eligible.  

my 2017 is going to summer school- reports early July.  2 summer classes and workouts.  He's playing a little for his summer team for home games, no travel.  Just trying to take a little time to have fun, go to prom, go fishing etc. before he enters the grind.  I think it's a good thing- gets them a little ahead on academics, they get a chance to learn their way around before the mad rush begins in the fall, and they start to bond a bit with future classmate/team mates.   

For this school, I don't think it has anything to do with graduating in 3 years, Head Coach told me that since they've started doing this, they've had many more freshmen that were ready to contribute come spring.  Just accelerates the process, and lightens the load a bit once they are in season.  

as far as sophomores go- does not apply.  they will be in summer ball.    If for some reason they are hurt, or a pitcher threw a lot of innings freshman year, they may hold him out of summer ball, workout at the school and take summer classes. 

Can a parent who went through the summer school program chime in on exactly which class(es) their son took?

I would think the class choice would depend largely on the kid's makeup.  If you have a hard worker who maybe cannot get into the math level he wants, maybe he can get the necessary prerequisite math class out of the way.  Contrast that with a kid who really needs to wade into college - maybe he takes a sociology class or some other elective that is not too intense.  For those that are essentially ready for college, then the choice may be limited only by the class offerings.  Always good to take a look at core curriculum requirements as a starting point if field of study is still being debated.  I would be interested in hearing about any different summer terms as some seem reasonable whereas others are done in such a short period that the amount of material covered could be problematic for some.

This is going to vary considerably from school to school, but you're generally not looking at a lot of upper level, or challenging courses, offered in the summer time.  There's just not a lot of demand for it.  Most of what you see is survey courses and community interest stuff.  Some schools will offer organic chemistry for the pre-med kids that want to knock it out during the summer, but that's about it, at least around here.  Keep in mind that most schools that bring kids in during the summer are just doing it for the second summer session, which lasts a month at most.  Schools that have any realistic chance of making the NCAA tournament are not going to schedule kids to come in until after Omaha. 

I know a lot of non athletic kids who are doing the summer route.  

If finances allow, it really isn't a bad idea.  The students can take a lighter course load and get their feet wet with the whole living away from home issue.  By the time fall rolls around, they should have life established and have a leg up on those freshman just starting.

Not to mention, getting a little ahead in credits allows for them to take a lighter load when facing difficult upper level classes down the road.

I would think these things would even be magnified for athletes who have to contend with conditioning/practice/game commitments on top of the issues facing regular students. 

Many of our players that go to Power 5 conferences go to summer school to start Frosh year. Almost every one of the programs require it nowadays. 

My son took a science, English and  a clemson101 class the summer before his freshman year. Getting ahead academically, working out and managing those boys on campus while integrating them into the program was the reason. And they paid for it. Not too shabby.

Shoveit4Ks posted:

My son took a science, English and  a clemson101 class the summer before his freshman year. Getting ahead academically, working out and managing those boys on campus while integrating them into the program was the reason. And they paid for it. Not too shabby.

yeah, the part about they pay for it was a nice surprise.  I guess I assumed it would be the same % of the scholarship.   must be under a different budget or something, or I wonder if the summer school counts towards scholarship limits?

I do have a question for those that have been through this or anyone who may know. How much baseball do the kids normally get in? I assume the coaches can only work with the kids so much, if at all. But surly they have some way to get in some work in the cage or on the mound if not on the field.

I know, the person to ask would be the HC, but they are busy with playoffs. We were doing this irregardless so we never thought to ask. But reading this thread and talking with the wife and kid it came up.