WAG College recruiting

[gymgal]

Lemon, Thanks for all the info. I thought there were schools (Rutgers?) that shows partials but then everything I was reading said they must be full rides.

So, a school that doesn't have enough scholarships, they can offer other aid like board, money for books, in-state tuition? Obviously they can offer academic scholarship if she has the grade too, right?

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

For the question regarding Pell Grants, Pell is a government funded program and is "need-based", not "merit-based". The school can't choose who gets Pell, the student either qualifies, or they don't. (and, yes, it is possible for a student with a full ride to get a Pell Grant) Pell Grants often cover the cost of community college tuition, but will not come close to covering tuition, fees, books, room and board at a Div 1 school. Most kids whose parents have been paying $5000 per year for gym tuition, leos, meet fees, travel costs, etc. will not qualify for Pell. The income requirements are fairly low.

 

[Deleted member 16936]

For the question regarding Pell Grants, Pell is a government funded program and is "need-based", not "merit-based". The school can't choose who gets Pell, the student either qualifies, or they don't. (and, yes, it is possible for a student with a full ride to get a Pell Grant) Pell Grants often cover the cost of community college tuition, but will not come close to covering tuition, fees, books, room and board at a Div 1 school. Most kids whose parents have been paying $5000 per year for gym tuition, leos, meet fees, travel costs, etc. will not qualify for Pell. The income requirements are fairly low.

That is very helpful information. Do I understand correctly that if a D1 is not fully funded they can give less than a full scholarship to each gymnast as long as they give each girl the same amount.......and then grants and over things can be given to those gymasts so that 100% of the cost is covered? Also, is a true a school can opt to give someone in state tuition even if they live out of state? If so when and why would this be done?

 

[gymgal]

Most kids whose parents have been paying $5000 per year for gym tuition, leos, meet fees, travel costs, etc. will not qualify for Pell. The income requirements are fairly low.

Be careful about assuming a family would not qualify based on their ability to pay for gymnastics. You would be surprised how many families skimp on lots of "luxuries" in order to provide gymnastics for their daughter. Many have extended family helping them as well. go to this calculator Link Removed and play around with the numbers - salary, number in household. Even I was surprised by how much our family would qualify for. But we will have 2 in college at the same time (actually 3 at one point). I am sure that makes a difference.

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

yes, @gymgal , it is unwise to assume a family won't qualify based on participation in gymnastics, which is why I said "most". And having multiple family members in school at the same time definitely increases the likelihood you can get something in grants. Thanks for the link, that is a helpful resource for parents. I worked in higher ed admissions for 8 years, and gave presentations for families on various topics, including paying for college. Unfortunately there were always more people who were disappointed by their Pell Grant decision than there were those pleasantly surprised.

 

[npd369]

I just want to thank everyone for all of this information. My daughter and I are in the beginning stages of college recruitment and every ounce of information is greatly appreciated. It can be so overwhelming.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

This might be a dumb question but how do you know which schools are D1, D2 and so on.

not a dumb question. just type in any search engine "D1 schools that have womens gymnastics". same for 2, 3.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

A D1 NCAA gymnastics team cannot give a partial scholarship to a female gymnast without violating federal law. Any gymnast receiving a partial scholarship would have a federal claim for money damages for discrimination. There are zero exceptions to this law.

A partial scholarship would be taking a $20,000 scholarship (costs of attendance) and giving $10,000 to one child and $10,000 to another child, as is found commonly in MAG. A partial scholarship is NOT, however, 1) giving in-state cost of attendance to an out-of-state gymnast (this works at certain schools), 2) giving an athletic scholarship in only particular years instead of all 4 years, 3) giving a 5th year athletic scholarship, 5) giving all of the perks and benefits of being on a gymnastics team to a gymnast whose tuition is not paid (including food as of 8/1/14) and 6) certain arrangements for international athletes (highly limited).

very good LemonLime. that just about covers it.

 

[refugee]

Note that the Pac-12, in October, announced (among other things) that all athletic scholarship grants going forward, will be 4-yr guaranteed scholarships. Other conferences may or may not have similar rules in the future...the NCAA has given the five "super conferences" (ACC, Big-10, Big-12, Pac-12, SEC) more leeway in setting their own rules

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Note that the Pac-12, in October, announced (among other things) that all athletic scholarship grants going forward, will be 4-yr guaranteed scholarships. Other conferences may or may not have similar rules in the future...the NCAA has given the five "super conferences" (ACC, Big-10, Big-12, Pac-12, SEC) more leeway in setting their own rules

guaranteed unless they become pregnant, flunk out, etc; it's all in their contracts.

 

[refugee]

guaranteed unless they become pregnant, flunk out, etc; it's all in their contracts.

Haha...that's been true before, too, but contracts before could be for only one year. Not any more, at least in the PAC-12

 

[Deleted member D3987]

i know what you meant. just want everyone to know that there are no guarantees.

 

[gymgal]

guaranteed unless they become pregnant, flunk out, etc; it's all in their contracts.

would that include career ending injuries as well? would it depend on whether the injury happened as a result of training/competing?

 

[shelovestoflip]

That is a great question. My daughter is going to be a Sophmore and a Level 10. She has always hoped to get on a D1 or D2 team. In our research we discovered that on most teams there are way more girls than scholarships, so it just seems like it isn't possible to get a scholarship if there are only 12 scholarships and the school may not actually be able to give out all 12 and there are 20 kids on a team....and in a year say 3 Seniors graduate wouldn't the kids already on the team without a scholarship who have proven themselves get those 3 scholarships leaving none for incoming freshman??? On the hand if the kids are competing without a scholarship what would motivate the shool to give them one when they can keep adding on to their team and having the majority compete for free? This practice really, really seems unfair.....also we heard that lots of kids that teams have as walk-ons don't get to compete......seems unfair that a coach would invite a kid to walk-on and then never let them compete. Seems like the Coach to encourage them to go somewhere where they will actually be able to compete.

This is an interesting thread which I'm late to reading....so just replying as I read along....re: walk ons not competing...my daughter would be thrilled to be a walk on at a D1 school if it meant she could practice with the team and have 'a team' even if she didn't compete. Of course, she'd love to compete, too! My daughter is a sophomore Level 9 and is totally realistic in that the likelyhood of a scholarship is slim....but if a walk on were possible, she'd take it in a heartbeat! I think she is worried about life after HS without a gym family!

 

[bookworm]

guaranteed unless they become pregnant,[/B] flunk out, etc; it's all in their contracts.

Actually they don't lose their scholarship if they get pregnant...i remember that I thought that was the case and was chatting about it with my daughter's college coach because we had heard of a gymnast we knew who was pregnant and thought "well there goes her scholarship" and the coach said because they don't take away a scholarship of a male parent to be, females are allowed to redshirt the year of the pregnancy and return to the team to complete their degrees, with scholarship...I remember this happening out at Utah St in 2009 and there was a big story how the gymnast competed after having her baby....not that I'm advocating this but this is what was told to us...

 

[bookworm]

would that include career ending injuries as well? would it depend on whether the injury happened as a result of training/competing?

"Career ending injuries" and sometimes injuries nagging enough that the gymnast can't do what they want her to will generally get a "medical retirement" and they keep their scholarship money and they are still counted for team GPAs but not against the total head count of 12 scholarships allowed...so you could have 3 girls "retired" on medicals and still have 12 girls on athletic scholarships on the team.

 

[COz]

For the non-US people reading along, what's a "walk on" and what's "red shirting"?
Someone who doesn't have a "free ride"= scholarship?
A year absence from college?

 

[billise]

A "walk on" is an athlete that was not actively recruited by a team/was not offered a scholarship but is still allowed to participate with the team. Our old gym had a girl walk-on at at a D1 school, she competed for a couple of years as a walk on and impressed the coaches enough that she was eventually offered a scholarship for her final year

 

[billise]

A redshirt is an athlete who is recruited but doesn't compete their first year in order to further develop their skills. The coach seed a great deal of potential in them but they want to spend a year polishing their skills up or there may not be enough room for them on the team at that time. Redshirting extends an athletes eligibility as NCAA rules say they can only compete for 4 years. By redshirting they can train for 1 year and are still eligible to compete the next 4 years

 

[COz]

Thanks