what are my options...?

[gymnastralo]

Hi everyone,

Im currently training level 9 Im 16 years old going to be a junior in HS this upcoming year and was wondering what are my chances of getting a college scholarship? Now let me tell you a little about my gymnastics career to point you in a direction to where I stand as of now. I started gymnastics when I was 11 years old within my second week of classses I was invited onto pre team. Later that year I would compete level 5 after moving gyms. I won level 5 states. Later on I skipped level 6 and went to level 7 the next year. Competed very successfully at 12 years old and won level 7 states. Training level 8 for the next season I injured my back was out for 7 months completely out of the gym and all; came back into training more than half way throught the competative season and had one month to prepare/learn all my level 8 skills to qualify for states. I had one meet left where I could qualify and I did. Competed at states that year and won level 8 states at 13. Went on to compete at regionals and hit all my routines, placing 12th aa. That summer I trained level 9 skills all the way up till the start of the season (where I would have been 14 competing level 9) when then again my back injury seemed to come back. I was ready to compete level 9 that year and then my back injury happened again... I was out a full year this time. Came back to the sport at (January 2010) 15 entered a new gym looking for a better gymnastics enviornment and began again level 9 skills. Currently just turned 16 a month ago and still training level 9 skills ready and determined to compete level 9 this upcoming season.

I know my gymnastics career has been a bumpy road but I think that is what makes it so unique and I just want to know if it could be possible in getting a scholarship into a division I or II school. Originally I wanted Div I all the way but I realized I have lost precious time with my back injuries and began thinking of Div II schools. I want a scholarship bec. financially my family is in a very poor state currently and they are pouring all this money into my training...

Please give your honest opinions and thoughts.

 

[bribri514]

Since you're still training L 9 it's kind of an interesting place to be. If you have already competed L 9 that would me beneficial but you're still not out of the running.The top D I schools (UGA, UCLA, etc.) take only the top L 10s and elites and have already scouted their teams by sophomore year or so. Other D 1 schools take L 10s and L 9s. They'd be schools like Penn State, Denver, Illinois Champaign, etc. Occasionally depending on the school they'll take L 8s if they're really good academically. Schools like that would be RIC, Brown, Yale, (small, usually Ivy League schools).

Right now I'd focus on your academics. Really try to get as high of grades as you can this year. Then talk to your coach and let them know your goal is to get a scholarship. If you go D II and D III getting a scholarship can be trickier because technically they don't give athletic scholarships. Like the Ivies they'll instead do academic merit scholarships but want you to compete. Then you'll want to start making a youtube page with some videos from your best competitions, the best skills you're training, etc. You want to give an honest all around, but also really good picture for scouting coaches. Start looking at schools with gymnastics programs you like and send them the information. Tell them a bit about yourself, your academics, your gymnastics and your accomplishments (in the classroom and at gymnastics).

Coaches can't directly contact you until July 1st after your junior year. If they do this this is an NCAA violation. Give them your club coach's' information though.

In the next few days I was hoping to type up a really long post about all the schools with college gymnastics programs and a quick description of each. Then another post with information for gymnastics looking at college gymnastics and then how to start the process if the college coaches don't contact you first. So hopefully that will help!

Good luck!

 

[Gymdad2]

Bribri has very good advice. You never know what can happen, so do your best to be noticed. As a HS freshman and sophomore DD made L9 nationals, next year she went to L10 regionals, this past season (senior year) she was at L10 regionals, but rolled her ankle warming up floor and scratched and so she never got the chance to show off her skills on the biggest stage. She also did the types of things Bribri suggests and applied to some D1 schools. Did she get a scholarship - yes, 85% full ride, but for ACADEMICS, not gymnastics. About month ago she accepted the scholarship and admission to the D1 school where she will walk on to the team. The Irony? Last night her coach got a call from one of the other D1 coachs where she had applied. He was all interested in her and wanting to know about her skills, scores, career, etc. HC told the coach that she has already committed, so she will concentrate on getting her degree and if she makes the team as a walkon then gymnastics will be secondary. In the long run, the education is much more imoportant. Good luck to you.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Bribri has very good advice. You never know what can happen, so do your best to be noticed. As a HS freshman and sophomore DD made L9 nationals, next year she went to L10 regionals, this past season (senior year) she was at L10 regionals, but rolled her ankle warming up floor and scratched and so she never got the chance to show off her skills on the biggest stage. She also did the types of things Bribri suggests and applied to some D1 schools. Did she get a scholarship - yes, 85% full ride, but for ACADEMICS, not gymnastics. About month ago she accepted the scholarship and admission to the D1 school where she will walk on to the team. The Irony? Last night her coach got a call from one of the other D1 coachs where she had applied. He was all interested in her and wanting to know about her skills, scores, career, etc. HC told the coach that she has already committed, so she will concentrate on getting her degree and if she makes the team as a walkon then gymnastics will be secondary. In the long run, the education is much more imoportant. Good luck to you.

hey! new word gymdad2. i-might-opine-important= imoportant! love it!

 

[Gymdad2]

Thanks Dunno - See, Even a typo can be meaningful. if something is 'imoportant' then it is important to both Dad and DD and her education is exactly that. LOL

 

[Natasha]

Bribri has very good advice. You never know what can happen, so do your best to be noticed. As a HS freshman and sophomore DD made L9 nationals, next year she went to L10 regionals, this past season (senior year) she was at L10 regionals, but rolled her ankle warming up floor and scratched and so she never got the chance to show off her skills on the biggest stage. She also did the types of things Bribri suggests and applied to some D1 schools. Did she get a scholarship - yes, 85% full ride, but for ACADEMICS, not gymnastics. About month ago she accepted the scholarship and admission to the D1 school where she will walk on to the team. The Irony? Last night her coach got a call from one of the other D1 coachs where she had applied. He was all interested in her and wanting to know about her skills, scores, career, etc. HC told the coach that she has already committed, so she will concentrate on getting her degree and if she makes the team as a walkon then gymnastics will be secondary. In the long run, the education is much more imoportant. Good luck to you.

Gymdad2- love hearing how your dd got an academic scholarship at a D1 school. Did she apply for that separately, or was it just offered on the basis of applying to the school? Just curious how that works. In the past I was concerned about my daughter not having time to be involved in other activities to be competitive for merit scholarships, but I recently heard an admissions counselor give a seminar in which he talked about how they are more interested in kids who show commitment to something rather than being involved in lots of things. If I could "pick" my daughters future (haha) then I would love for her to be in your dd's situation. Agreed, education is much more important! Best wishes to your dd as a walk on!

 

[Gymdad2]

Gymtigermom,

I can't say how it should be done for everybody, but in DD's case, she applied to 2 d2 schools and 3 d1 schools, and along with the application she sent each schools gym coach a copy of her recruiting video that we had made. She was accepted at all of the schools. Along with the admission application, she did fill out an application for financial aid and the offer of aid did come back with the offical acceptance letter. She also applied for aid from FASFA which is the Federal student aid program and each school offered a partial scholarship and she also received a grant from FASFA. She then started doing college visits and decided not to go to the d2 schools (though one offered a place on the gym team as a walkon), and also rejected the 1st d1 school (in a large Eastern city which I think intimidated her as we live in a mostly rural midwestern state). The 2nd d1 school is in the Southeast ( the gym coach there told her to tryout for the team as a walkon but did not promise her a place). We visited there and she loved the school and the city and accepted their offer of admission. That school's aid offer plus the FASFA grant added up to 85% of the cost, and that includes all fees and tuition and room and board. Of course we will never know what that other D1 coach had in mind when he called to ask about her skills. But for all of you who are thinking about a college scholarship, be aware that there are a lot more academic scholarships, awards and grants than gymnastics scholarship so no matter how much you love gym do NOT overlook the academic side of high school. DD was a very competent 2 year L10, but it is her academics that is going to provide for her college degree. I wish your dd (and all the young gymnasts out there) the very best of luck in your careers.

 

[mpkbt]

Towson just signed a girl who was a first year 10 as a senior. I didn't see a video of her skills but according to the article she did make it to Nationals. Everybody has mentioned that D1 schools will take level 9's....I can really only think of 2 in the last couple of years that have signed girls to NLIs that were not level 10s. Those schools were Alaska and Centenary. Can anyone remember others? Check out College Gym Fans...they have a lot of info on recruiting and a database of all girls in your graduating class. The other option is to go level 10 and wait a year to go to college. I knew a girl who was going to try this and ended up signing at the end of her senior year instead.

 

[bookworm]

Towson just signed a girl who was a first year 10 as a senior. I didn't see a video of her skills but according to the article she did make it to Nationals. Everybody has mentioned that D1 schools will take level 9's....I can really only think of 2 in the last couple of years that have signed girls to NLIs that were not level 10s. Those schools were Alaska and Centenary. Can anyone remember others? Check out College Gym Fans...they have a lot of info on recruiting and a database of all girls in your graduating class. The other option is to go level 10 and wait a year to go to college. I knew a girl who was going to try this and ended up signing at the end of her senior year instead.

You might have to be careful waiting...I think with the incoming class either this year or next, if you "wait a year" , you lose that year of eligibility to compete. I also agree with mpkbt, I too cannot think of many Level 9s signed by D1 schools other than the 2 mentioned....there are plenty of Level 10s still unsigned so I would think a school realistically would sign them before a Level 9...

...and to reference the OP's actual question, I do think it's highly unlikely that you would get a gymnastics scholarship at a D1 school and it's basically a timing issue...at your age (16, Jr in HS) and Level (9) , the scholarships are going to be scooped up by girls your age who are already proven Level 10s (for D1 anyway) ...I think your energies would be better spent as Bribri mentioned , concentrating on an academic or need based scholarship for a D1 school.. you could look into the D2s (there aren''t many of those) or the D3s if you really wanted to go for the gymnastics aspect...I've heard that if these schools "want" you , they make a $$ package happen..

 

[exgymnastmomx3]

My dd is in the recruiting process right now and she finished her last season as a second yr. level 10. She placed 2nd AA at Regionals both years and made JO Nationals both years. She will be a junior this upcoming year. I keep up with who is being recruited with which skills, etc. and I don't see level 9's as having a realistic shot at a scholarship. Lots of girls go D3 and a bunch of them that I know finished at level 8. Also, the quesionnaires that dd has had to fill out are very extensive about accomplishments and seem to not really care how she did in any level below 10. Also, they want a list of injuries. I'm not trying to be discouraging, but watching how good these kids are at the Universities that have contacted her via mail, makes me wonder what her chances are and if she's good enough to compete for these schools.

 

[Natasha]

exgymnastmomX3,
So a L8 gymnast could compete for a D3 school? Just trying to get an idea of what is realistic for college gymnastics...my daughter would love to compete in college. Also, do you know if the dedication to gymnastics helps with getting merit scholorships, even if they aren't L10 or going to nationals, etc.

 

[gymkat]

Gymnastics can help with merit scholarships, but it won't make up for lower test scores or grades, especially if the scholarships are entirely numbers-based.

I was in a similar position as the OP-- I was an okay L9-- and focused almost entirely on academic scholarships and on schools with excellent academics and large endowments. (For the record, the coaches at Brown and Yale were not interested in me. Penn State, Illinois, and Denver definitely aren't looking at L9s unless they have an outstanding event. I wasn't interested in attending any of the D2 or D3 schools.) Gymnastics didn't matter at the in-state school (large, public) that I applied to because the scholarships were based on numbers, but it did help a little at the school that I attended (medium-size, public, OOS) because I had to send in a separate application for the more competitive scholarships. Also, I competed NAIGC (college club) in college, which is always an option.

 

[bookworm]

My dd is in the recruiting process right now and she finished her last season as a second yr. level 10. She placed 2nd AA at Regionals both years and made JO Nationals both years. She will be a junior this upcoming year. I keep up with who is being recruited with which skills, etc. and I don't see level 9's as having a realistic shot at a scholarship. Lots of girls go D3 and a bunch of them that I know finished at level 8. Also, the quesionnaires that dd has had to fill out are very extensive about accomplishments and seem to not really care how she did in any level below 10. Also, they want a list of injuries. I'm not trying to be discouraging, but watching how good these kids are at the Universities that have contacted her via mail, makes me wonder what her chances are and if she's good enough to compete for these schools.

I totally agree with this post having been through this process last year ....it is so stressful and frustrating because you just never know what a school might want. I agree that you have to be a Level 10 to have any shot at a D1 school...my daughter was a 6 yr Level 10, been to JO Nationals every yr, even won at JOs and it was no walk in the park for us (she did end up signed by a great D1 program so I can breathe a little easier). So to echo exgymnastmom, I'm not trying to be discouraging but in the last 2-3 years, the whole recruiting process have gotten increasingly competitive.