Which college should I choose?

quote:

It has been my experience that the specific college that someone attends is really only important in a few specialty areas.(engineering, for example)

Certainly, there is the Ivy League, the Stanfords, etc. that definitely carry some weight, but for the majority of folks, it is not as important as you might think?

Great post.
Been saying this for years on here !

Couldn't agree more gitnby. When I'm looking at new hires into my organization I really don't care whether they went to Prestgious U or Podunk State. I look for compatibility or for lack of a better word 'teammates'. Who better to fill that role than someone who has been that 'teammate' in college, learned to work within a team and for the benefit of the team by playing college athletics.

Bottom line is playing college baseball (or any other sport) puts you in a select group and is something that seperates you from the most of the competition right out of the gate.

Personally, I played college basketball and know it has opened some doors for me. May not be fair but it's just human nature.

Originally posted by txrock

quote:

Personally, I played college basketball and know it has opened some doors for me. May not be fair but it's just human nature.

I think it is ABSOLUTELY fair. I am a member of SAAC (Student Athlete Advisory Committee) at my school as a representative for the baseball team. At our meeting the other night the Athletic Director showed us figures that showed that student-athletes on our campus have a higher cumulative GPA than students that aren't members of sports teams. Some people might find this shocking because of the extra hours and less time available to study and do academic things. But to me, this does make sense. Athletics creates a much more magnified sense of time management and scheduling, and forces students to do the work at hand.

Athletics creates leadership skills, discipline and competitiveness, like gitnby said. But a sport like baseball, or basketball like txrock, is a team sport. In team sports, a team is successful when players do as much as they can to help the team but at the same time put trust in their teammates to get the job done as well. All of these things occur in the "real world" every single day, and learning how to successful accomplish things like this in college make it that much easier once you get a job.

If I were a recruiter/employer, I would certainly look into an athletic background when reading a resume or interviewing a prospective employee. I don't think that is a biased comment coming from a college athlete, I just think that it would be common sense to realize that being a "student-athlete" is like successfully dealing with two jobs at once. So gitnby, great post.

I agree that it is a resume builder to graduate from college and have played a sport. That is, if you are looking to build a resume in the first place. Maybe you are looking to build a baseball career resume/background.

I agree, for many athletes, they might want to try and keep the degree and baseball going by tinkering with the college choice, i.e., think long-term, not short term, however, there are simply a whole host of reasons why people chose a school, and chose to play athletics. And, some of those other reasons (money, location, friends, coach, team, etc.), are legitimate.

Probably some of the most significant points made on this site in years.

quote:

Posted September 11, 2009 12:02 PM Hide Post
I agree that it is a resume builder to graduate from college and have played a sport. That is, if you are looking to build a resume in the first place. Maybe you are looking to build a baseball career resume/background.

I agree, for many athletes, they might want to try and keep the degree and baseball going by tinkering with the college choice, i.e., think long-term, not short term, however

Not sure what your point is.

I agree with most of what is being said in this thread, however, I'd like to add a few things.

Choosing to play baseball will limit the majors one can choose at most D1 colleges. If you aspire to be an engineer, or scientist, it is a rare case to accomplish this while playing baseball. So the question for many student-athletes, is: Will playing baseball with a less-challenging (time-wise) major lead to more life opportunities and will I be happy in my field of work for the rest of my life.

In the schools we have researched, there are certain chosen majors that the baseball players are pushed toward. We have already seen some of this in the recruiting process. If the rest of the college is taking tough majors and the athletes are taking PE and American Studies majors, of coarse the athletes will have a better GPA.

Our list of colleges of interest seems to have separated into two lists. List one has baseball opportunities and list two offers the ideal academic opportunities. The decision may come down to baseball vs. academics for us.

Many schools, including the D1 school my Son is at, offer an "undecided" or "exploratory" option that can go into the first semester of their Sophomore year.

By then, the kid should have an idea on a couple of things:

-can I handle more advanced classes while continuing my dedication to my sport?

-what Major appeals to me?

-how important is my baseball career? Maybe I should give up baseball and change my major or transfer to a school where that major is a specialty?

-do I have a chance to play beyond college?

What if a kid chooses a school primarily based on his major, and then decides to change majors? Now, you have 2 problems?

Actually, a good JUCO offers another viable solution to the dilemma.

Obviously, there is no absolute right answer for every kid!
These are just observations based on my experience in business, as a Parent who has been through the process, and of being a student-athlete(football) many, many years ago!

Gitnby mentioned that certain majors require choosing a college that caters to that major. The choice between academics and athletics is a personal one. There are lots of guys who take engineering that play BB and other sports. The time demands are tougher.
One friend was taking chemical engineering. In his 4th year he had an unsolvable conflict with a Friday class. His coach offered to fly him to away games if needed. He chose to stop playing BB.

Gitnby makes a very good point and one that most kids need to understand. My son has just started his senior year and has questioned what will he do once he graduates? How will he compete with those whose grades are better?

I keep telling him that he will have a story to tell. He will graduate with 2 degrees (accounting and communications), a four year player on his team, awards galore, including being named an All-American and three years of summer ball in three of the better collegiate summer leagues.

The reality is he has a story to tell. For most employers he will be able to differentiate himself; show leadership, adaptability, team work, the ability to stand on his own all within the context of being a good citizen and a successful college student. I think that this is a compelling story and the point that Gitnby makes is important for both students and their parents.

quote:

Originally posted by Blprkfrnks:
I agree with most of what is being said in this thread, however, I'd like to add a few things.

Choosing to play baseball will limit the majors one can choose at most D1 colleges. If you aspire to be an engineer, or scientist, it is a rare case to accomplish this while playing baseball. So the question for many student-athletes, is: Will playing baseball with a less-challenging (time-wise) major lead to more life opportunities and will I be happy in my field of work for the rest of my life.

In the schools we have researched, there are certain chosen majors that the baseball players are pushed toward. We have already seen some of this in the recruiting process. If the rest of the college is taking tough majors and the athletes are taking PE and American Studies majors, of coarse the athletes will have a better GPA.

Our list of colleges of interest seems to have separated into two lists. List one has baseball opportunities and list two offers the ideal academic opportunities. The decision may come down to baseball vs. academics for us.

I agree with the above. Son was told that engineering would be a constant struggle while playing baseball. He was told if that was his academic priority he might want to consider another school.

In our state, attending one of the larger state schools opens lots of doors for you. There is nothing better than an Gator alumni seeing on your resume that you also are a Gator alumni, playing a sport at one of those schools is also an advantage.

This comes down to a personal decision, and should always take the approach as to what is right for you, not what was right for someone else.