College Options

[MaryA]

Rather than further hijack a previous post, I thought I'd post my question here.

I think I have a pretty good handle (thanks to Bribri and this site) on College gym... Div. I has scholarships, but is very difficult to get into, Div II may offer partial scholarships, Div. III, no scholarships. NAIGC=club gymnastics.

My question is, with the Div. II and III, or the Ivy Leagues, where minimal if any atheletic scholarships are available, can being recruited for/accepted onto a team give you any "clout" when it comes to academic scholarships? These schools seem to be, in general, private schools with BIG pricetags. I realize that if you have lackluster grades and test scores, you're not going to qualify for an academic scholarship, and may not even get into the school, no matter how amazing your gymnastics are. But, if a coach wants you on the team and you have the grades and scores to be in the running for an academic scholarship, does the coach have any say in getting you bumped up to the top of the list?

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

That's a really great question and I'm hoping someone knowledgeable can answer that! My understanding was that the two were completely separate! My neighbor had wanted to go play Soccer at Princeton this past year. His soccer skills were impeccable, and they were interested in him. BUT his SAT scores weren't quite up to bat, although his high school classes were the most challenging he could take at our school (he took the highest math and science classes available and got A's). His GPA was 4.6.

But back to the original post... can the athletic directors "petition" for more financial aid of they really want a kid for one of their sports programs? I also recently had a parent tell me that a friend of theirs got a scholarship for volleyball at an Ivy League school. I know darned well they don't give ATHLETIC scholarships, but she was arguing me down, so I dropped it.

 

[momofagymmie]

We've just gone through this process. I can speak to the Div I Ivies and there is only one way to look at them really. Your atheltic ability (plus good test scores and grades) may get you a coaches hand in admittance and that is truly amazing. The amount of kids that apply vs those that get in is truly astounding. it's 3-5% admitted. Ivies do not offer any type of merit scholarship nor do they offer athletic scholarship. You can still apply for financial aid but the coach does not have much say in what you might get. If the coach likes you he can have you do a financial pre read so you will know before you apply how much aid you will get but that's all. The amount stated and actually given may also change because it's done year to year based on your taxes. Coaches can really want you but they can't lower your costs.

Div III can get you merit scholarships and the coaches can help you get those. Those come with your tests scores and grades.

 

[bribri514]

It really depends on the school! For example you cannot get an academic or athletic scholarship at an Ivy, only financial merit based scholarships. When you get recruited to one of them you get a "likely letter" saying you'll likely get into their school if you verbally unofficially commit to that school. Then the coach uses one of the certain number of spots to help win you admission, but it's still no guarantee. I had a friend who roomed down the hall from ASac at Brown their freshman year and she was on the track team (I know a lot of runners lol) She freaked out the whole time until she got her acceptance letter. ASac may have had a little more pull... but you never know!

From the Ivies to the DII and DIII school it's just like what everyone else has said. Some schools require a certain SAT/ACT score and/or GPA. Others are more approximate. In a lot of cases, they don't tell anyone this, but the higher your athletic ability the more "weight" that has. Certain sports that bring schools money (sadly) have more pull. If you're an awesome men's basketball player it'll be easier if you have decent enough academics then lets say a women's fencer... but the men's fencers are at a worse advtantage because there's no women's sport comprable to football so schools have to have enough female athletes to meet Title IX requirements. this usually means mens small sports teams are the last to do their official cuts for the season (including walk ons and non scholarship athletes) to make the numbers even.

Not all schools are as hush hush about letting athletes in the "back door" as the Ivies (not saying ALL athletes admitted there are like this!) and are usually a bit more transparent in their admissions policies. The reason there's so much to say about these college questions without ever having a specific answer is b/c outside NCAA regulations, things vary so much from school to school. Hope all these posts have helped answer your questions MaryA!

 

[bribri514]

That's a really great question and I'm hoping someone knowledgeable can answer that! My understanding was that the two were completely separate! My neighbor had wanted to go play Soccer at Princeton this past year. His soccer skills were impeccable, and they were interested in him. BUT his SAT scores weren't quite up to bat, although his high school classes were the most challenging he could take at our school (he took the highest math and science classes available and got A's). His GPA was 4.6.

But back to the original post... can the athletic directors "petition" for more financial aid of they really want a kid for one of their sports programs? I also recently had a parent tell me that a friend of theirs got a scholarship for volleyball at an Ivy League school. I know darned well they don't give ATHLETIC scholarships, but she was arguing me down, so I dropped it.

The parent is most likely saying that but means "my kid got into ___ Ivy for volleyball" but they're still paying or scraping up money to pay tuition! I've known a lot of Ivy league athletes in that position., In the last few years they've upped their overall financial aid distribution and if you're below a certain income level you're guaranteed money. If the person isn't there's a little behind the scenes action about what family assets count as income, etc. because a lot of Ivy admission is behind closed doors (thus the discrete coach pull which is soooo stupid IMO b/c they want to act like they don't give athletes value over academics but then they do w/e). I guarantee a really rich kid at an Ivy for sports getting financial aid would cause a huge uproar though. It's all based on financial aid and outside scholarships.