Scholarships???

[bpatient]

Since the scholarship requirements at California schools seem to strongly favor state residents, Gymbabi might be interested to learn that several local programs listed Level 9 gymnasts on their rosters last season: I think these included Fullerton, Sacramento, San Jose, and UC Davis.

 

[I-Heart-Beam]

Can you get international scholorships?

 

[LemonLime]

I was interested to learn that it's feasible for a Level 9 gymnast to earn a scholarship. It doesn't seem particularly common, though: of the 278 new NCAA gymnasts listed at collegegymfans, only 10 had not reached Level 10 or elite. Two went to Air Force, which has rather special recruiting requirements. One ended up at Berkeley; she had been, I think, a four-year Level 9 and a state, regional, and Western National champion. Centenary, Kent State, Rutgers, Seattle Pacific (Division II), Southeast Missouri, and Towson (2) also added Level 9 gymnasts to their rosters this year.

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.

UCLA has a L9 walk-on that starts next fall.

 

[Tusk]

I was interested to learn that it's feasible for a Level 9 gymnast to earn a scholarship. It doesn't seem particularly common, though...

True enough, although one of the most accomplished college gymnasts of all time, Meridith Willard of Alabama, was a level-9 before college. Keep in mind that in college you are a STUDENT-athlete; if you are an outstanding student, like Meredith Willard who won both an NCAA All-around Championship and an NCAA Post-graduate Scholarship, you will be even of more interest to college recruiters.

 

[Pogo]

As for "partial" scholarships, admittance, etc. . . . In D1 schools, there is no such thing as a partial scholarship under Title IX becuase women's gymnastics is in a protected category with two other women's sports. . . .

LemonLime, you put together such a thoughtful post, that I hate nit-picking, but this needs to be clarified. There are partial scholarships in Division I. Every Division I school is permitted to award a maximum of 12 gymnastics scholarships, to a maximum of 12 people. This doesn't mean that every Division I school awards 12 full scholarships. It can award partial scholarships, but is limited to the 12 athelete maximum. Sometimes the budget won't allow for 12 full scholarships.

 

[luv2watchgym]

Several of our level 9's have gotten scholarships, and even those who didn't still seemed to get a leg up in admissions because of their gymnastics. For example, one girl, who had been to Level 9 Nationals twice, was accepted to an ivy league school (which don't give athletic scholarships at all) despite having SAT's that were somewhat subpar.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.

UCLA has a L9 walk-on that starts next fall.

Stupid question.... doesn't "walk on" mean that they did NOT get a scholarship?

 

[gymkat]

Several of our level 9's have gotten scholarships, and even those who didn't still seemed to get a leg up in admissions because of their gymnastics. For example, one girl, who had been to Level 9 Nationals twice, was accepted to an ivy league school (which don't give athletic scholarships at all) despite having SAT's that were somewhat subpar.

It's interesting that you mentioned this. I got a full ride for academics, but I've seen my admissions profile to my program, and gymnastics was mentioned very prominently (they highlighted how many years and how many hours/week I had dedicated to gymn).

It's also definitely possible for colleges to contact L9s. I was contacted by a lower-ranked D1 school with strong academics after a major meet my senior year (I won AA but had a pretty awful meet); apparently their program at the time was looking for girls with solid basics who had the ability to upgrade skills throughout college.

 

[Allaroundfan]

My dd is going through the "hunt for a scholarship" now. What I can say is that it is a lot of work and it really does have to come from the gymnast. I think its important to be realistic about the schools that she hopes to get recruited by. Fortunately/unfotunately (depending on your perspective), the gymnast has to do all the work. She has to communicate with the coaches - they really don't want to hear from us parents. Your daughter should work with her coaches to come up with a list of possible colleges that's she's interested in (gymnastics and academics) and that she and the coach think she has a shot at making. The list should have some stretch teams as well. She needs to go to the websites and see how many girls they have in her class and what their specialty is. For example if she is a sophmore for school, then she should look at the sophmores at the colleges. Its not an exact science, but often if a school has 3 sophmores, then they will be recruting 3 gymnasts from your daughter's class. Then send video to those coaches. the easiest way is to post it on Youtube, but my dd has had a number of schools ask her to send them a hard copy.

Persistence and realism are the keys. Keep talking to the coaches and don't reject the idea of walking on to a team in the first year and competing for a scholarship the second year.

Good luck