NCAA D3 gymnastics or D1 Acro and tumbling

[3aces]

My daughter is a rising senior and will be competing L10 for the first time this year. She has been visiting D3 gymnastics schools and a D1 Acro & Tumbling school. Based on communications with coaches, we are hoping that she will get to choose one or the other. If she does get offers at both, it will be a very tough decision for her. The D1 school is better academically, cooler city, and has a better program in her desired field, in addition to the potential for scholarship money. However, the D3 has gymnastics, which is what she really wants to do. I would love to hear if any one has experience or insight you can share about this, especially the experience of a gymnast who switched to acro in college. Thanks so much!

 

[NutterButter]

There's no such thing as a D3 'offer'. When talking to D3 schools make sure your DD is hearing words like 'guaranteed spot' and/or whether the coach sees her making lineups. D3 coaches have their own list of A, B & C recruits just like the D1. D3 teams have tryouts within the first few weeks of school. Some kids will know already going into tryouts that they have a guaranteed spot based on one on one conversations with the coach, for other kids, the tryout is very important. Before committing on the D3 path, you want to make sure you know in advance how realistic it is that she will make the team at the school she is talking to.

ETA - one caveat to what I said above. Some D3 coaches will send out an invite letter even though it's not technically an 'offer' in the way that D1 sends offers. If you get one of those, you are good for tryouts. In my experience these were for multi-year L10s.

 

[Carly]

I have no experience with switching from gym to acro but I do have a soon-to-be college freshman who chose to quit gymnastics to go to a great academic college for her major instead of going somewhere else with club gymnastics. She was in Xcel so the opportunity for competing on a college team was not an option but acro might have been.
Honestly, I'm sad to see her done with gymnastics but at some point she had to stop whether it was now or 4 years from now. She was a gymnast for 10 years but it was not going to be a career. She was offered a spot on the cheer team after she already chose the school so that was not a factor in deciding. But she'll still be active and using some of her gym skills.
I am happy that she decided on the academic option without us having to convince her that it was the best option.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

The D1 school is better academically, cooler city, and has a better program in her desired field, in addition to the potential for scholarship money.

She needs to pick the school that is the best fit for her keeping gymnastics/acro out of it. What if she got injured during her first semester and her gymnastics or acro career was over, would she still be happy with her school choice? Based on what you said the D1 school seems like the obvious pick.

 

[NutterButter]

She needs to pick the school that is the best fit for her keeping gymnastics/acro out of it. What if she got injured during her first semester and her gymnastics or acro career was over, would she still be happy with her school choice? Based on what you said the D1 school seems like the obvious pick.

There are so many ways to get 'there' in life (wherever 'there' is, the OP's kid gets to decide that). The scenario you raised re: career ending injury should be part of the conversation as should a lot of other considerations. One thing the OP and her DD can do is look at job placement and/or grad school acceptance rates for her desired major at the D3 school. A lot of D3 schools compete very well with bigger R1 schools. My DD has been doing research with a professor at her D3 school (she will be published!). She has also been invited to TA for a couple of different classes. There are some D3 schools that I would not have let her attend too. Oh, she also experienced a career ending injury her sophomore year and has no regrets about picking her school for gymnastics.

 

[gymgal]

NutterButter makes good points about going into this process with eyes wide open. Know where your daughter stands with each coach - whether they think she will make the lineup in any/all events and what year that might happen. This is true of the acro teams as well.

I would caution about trying to steer her to a particular school because it "is better academically" It's important to remember that the best fit is one that checks all the boxes and if your daughter really feels the need to continue her gymnastics career into college and that is feasible, then it should be considered in the decision. The best academic schools on some grand list out there aren't always the best fit for all students. Students also thrive in smaller, more personalized colleges, like the D3s.

talking from personal experience, I am so glad that we were able to offer our dd the opportunity for her to finish her gymnastics career on her own terms. She had a lot of injuries in high school that held her back from reaching her full potential. As HS graduation got closer, it was clear she wasn't ready to hang up those grips. College gymnastics (d3) gave her that ability to achieve those goals. Covid wreaked havoc on 1.5 seasons but she had great jr/sr years and fulfilled her achievements no only in the gym but in her academics as well. Her college experience was much more well rounded than she would have gotten at a larger, "better" academic school and she is just as well situated for graduate school.

 

[RTT2]

Any updates? Has she picked one?

 

[3aces]

She was offered a spot at the D3 school and received an offer with academic and athletic scholarships at the D1 acro school. She is really struggling with the decision, but knows she is very lucky to have good options. Both are good choices. Time will tell.....

 

[Carly]

Congratulations to your daughter! It’s an exciting yet stressful time trying to make a college decision. Does she have until May 1st to make her decision or do they want it earlier because of committing to a team? We found accepted student days helpful and also major specific day visits great too when trying to make a decision.

 

[RTT2]

Congrats to your daughter! Hopefully it’ll become clear to her what the right path is for her. It’s great that she has choices!

 

[twinmomma]

Congratulations to your daughter! It’s an exciting yet stressful time trying to make a college decision. Does she have until May 1st to make her decision or do they want it earlier because of committing to a team? We found accepted student days helpful and also major specific day visits great too when trying to make a decision.

This is a question for both coaches. It is highly unlikely she will be able to wait until May 1st to commit. They need to continue recruiting if she does not decide to go there. She NEEDS to ask that question if she hasn't already. One coach told my daughter once an offer is out there she usually asks for two weeks for a decision. The delay in this year's FAFSA allowed for some flexibility on that, though my daughter made her decision already.

I do agree that the school needs to be a fit FIRST, then the gymnastics. She's not going to school for gymnastics, she's going to school and gymnastics is the vehicle to get her there. So she needs to like the school and the city and the philosophy of the school first.

 

[3aces]

She has 2 weeks for verbal commitment for the D1, and NLI signing on 11/8, I believe. She has been to admission events for both schools.

 

[moogacat]

My daughter didn't purse college gymnastics (she could have pursued DIII, but wasn't interested), but she did end up committing to a DI A&T school. She'll sign her NLI in November. She had multiple offers and it came down to which school she liked best as a school. If you'd like to connect, send me a message. I'm sure my daughter would be happy to connect with yours as well. Best of luck! The anxiety is a lot for a 17 year old. I can't imagine being in their positions making this kind of decision at the beginning of my senior year of high school,

 

[Patricia]

I have no experience with switching from gym to acro but I do have a soon-to-be college freshman who chose to quit gymnastics to go to a great academic college for her major instead of going somewhere else with club gymnastics. She was in Xcel so the opportunity for competing on a college team was not an option but acro might have been.
Honestly, I'm sad to see her done with gymnastics but at some point she had to stop whether it was now or 4 years from now. She was a gymnast for 10 years but it was not going to be a career. She was offered a spot on the cheer team after she already chose the school so that was not a factor in deciding. But she'll still be active and using some of her gym skills.
I am happy that she decided on the academic option without us having to convince her that it was the best option.

 

[Patricia]

I have no experience with switching from gym to acro but I do have a soon-to-be college freshman who chose to quit gymnastics to go to a great academic college for her major instead of going somewhere else with club gymnastics. She was in Xcel so the opportunity for competing on a college team was not an option but acro might have been.
Honestly, I'm sad to see her done with gymnastics but at some point she had to stop whether it was now or 4 years from now. She was a gymnast for 10 years but it was not going to be a career. She was offered a spot on the cheer team after she already chose the school so that was not a factor in deciding. But she'll still be active and using some of her gym skills.
I am happy that she decided on the academic option without us having to convince her that it was the best option.

 

[3aces]

My daughter didn't purse college gymnastics (she could have pursued DIII, but wasn't interested), but she did end up committing to a DI A&T school. She'll sign her NLI in November. She had multiple offers and it came down to which school she liked best as a school. If you'd like to connect, send me a message. I'm sure my daughter would be happy to connect with yours as well. Best of luck! The anxiety is a lot for a 17 year old. I can't imagine being in their positions making this kind of decision at the beginning of my senior year of high school,

I'd love to connect with you, but can't figure out how to send you a message. I can only send messages to staff? Can you send one to me?

 

[Tigtimes]

The anxiety is a lot for a 17 year old. I can't imagine being in their positions making this kind of decision at the beginning of my senior year of high school,

I dont think a 17 year old can make that decision alone. I have two kids in college one a freshman. There are realities with college these kids can’t figure out alone. What is the colleges graduation rate, what is the average median salary after graduation, what is their placement record in the major to full time position, what is the debt they will graduation with, what connections does the college have with recruiting companies in their chosen field.

Sports last only so long. What happens after sports is a whole other thing and at 17 that longer road is not something I think a kid can figure out alone. Cost of education even with scholarships is too great not to look at all the elements In my opinion

Congrats to your daughter on accomplishment !.

 

[JBS]

I'd love to connect with you, but can't figure out how to send you a message. I can only send messages to staff? Can you send one to me?

We start everyone as “restricted” until you have 5 posts. At that time the system will allow you to send PM’s. This is something that we setup due to spam.

 

[moogacat]

I dont think a 17 year old can make that decision alone. I have two kids in college one a freshman. There are realities with college these kids can’t figure out alone. What is the colleges graduation rate, what is the average median salary after graduation, what is their placement record in the major to full time position, what is the debt they will graduation with, what connections does the college have with recruiting companies in their chosen field.

Sports last only so long. What happens after sports is a whole other thing and at 17 that longer road is not something I think a kid can figure out alone. Cost of education even with scholarships is too great not to look at all the elements In my opinion

Congrats to your daughter on accomplishment !.

Oh my daughter definitely didn't make the decision alone, but it was ultimately her decision. She's the one who will (hopefully) be going to the institution for four years, and I wasn't going to cram my choices down her throat. It's a complex calculus, as you state, with athletics only playing one part. Thankfully my kid put the athletics down the list of concerns, with debt and chosen major and class availability at the top.