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On 1/9/2025 at 5:05 PM, CooterBrown said:

Sports don’t mean shit because they are the differentiator for athletic scholarships and lessened admissions standards for recruited athletes.

100% not true for the service academies.  Athletics are a big deal for the rank and file applicants.

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On 1/12/2025 at 11:27 AM, Armybrat said:

38 years ago my oldest son, very active in sports and in the top 15% of his class, couldn’t come close to getting into UT. 

Da fuq?  I was somewhere around 11-13% and barely did any sports and had no problem getting accepted (about the same time frame).  Made a bad decision and went elsewhere, but I got the acceptance without much drama.

On 1/13/2025 at 2:44 PM, Bateshorn said:

For those with kids who excel in sports and grades: I am imploring you to look East towards quality Div III programs.  They are desperate for quality athletes and the coaches can get preferred admissions.   Do you have a child who is National Merit and also All District or Region?  Good enough to not get stomped by Div. I athletes, but not good enough to get an offer to a school that is up to academic snuff?  The New England Small College Athletic Conference would very much like to make their acquaintance.

 

Maybe not in the east but we're looking at this for our son who is on the high school swim team. If he's able to get his times down then he might be able to get the interest of some DII schools at least. He's got the potential to get into UT but won't have a shot at the swim team - he's just not at that level.

Good luck to everyone that has a child that applied to UT.  First round of admissions is announced on Wednesday.  

And UT says jk, lol February 15th now. Just admit y'all weren't prepared to read 90,000 essays.
On 1/13/2025 at 2:44 PM, Bateshorn said:

For those with kids who excel in sports and grades: I am imploring you to look East towards quality Div III programs.  They are desperate for quality athletes and the coaches can get preferred admissions.   Do you have a child who is National Merit and also All District or Region?  Good enough to not get stomped by Div. I athletes, but not good enough to get an offer to a school that is up to academic snuff?  The New England Small College Athletic Conference would very much like to make their acquaintance.

 

My friend coaches a D3 volleyball team back east. It’s a struggle since they can’t offer athletic scholarships, tuition is expensive, the athletic department doesn’t bring in a ton of money so he has a very limited budget for staff, travel (road games and tournaments), recruiting. He has some influence in getting kids accepted and works hard to match them up with merit scholarships, work-study, and other forms of aid to offset the costs. If my sons get accepted (academically) to a good D1 school that costs less than the D3 school that will let them play sports, we’ll have a serious conversation about the value of playing D3 sports vs. more student loans and (possibly) less respected degree. 

On 1/13/2025 at 2:44 PM, Bateshorn said:

For those with kids who excel in sports and grades: I am imploring you to look East towards quality Div III programs.  They are desperate for quality athletes and the coaches can get preferred admissions.   Do you have a child who is National Merit and also All District or Region?  Good enough to not get stomped by Div. I athletes, but not good enough to get an offer to a school that is up to academic snuff?  The New England Small College Athletic Conference would very much like to make their acquaintance.

 

This is 100% where we are.  Daughter really wants to get out of the state and we're engaged with the coaches at Carnegie Mellon and WashU.  Loras College in Iowa is also really coming on strong.  

My point is you're not going to play pro.  So use the sport to help get into schools that otherwise are highly selective.  

3 minutes ago, DaysOff said:


And UT says jk, lol February 15th now. Just admit y'all weren't prepared to read 90,000 essays.

It's weird, I still remember almost all of my admission essays.  The topics, even the feedback.  

Sports is a huge commitment in college, even D3.  My son elected to opt out of the club soccer team at UT because of the practice and travel demands, and that's not even a varsity sport.  It may be similar in terms of hours per week, but I honestly don't know how varsity athletes do it if they're serious about academics.

2 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

but I honestly don't know how varsity athletes do it if they're serious about academics.

That's the dirty little secret.  One girl on our club team, her older sister plays at Texas State and wants to be a vet.  Coach isn't having it and she might have to switch majors or switch schools.  The percentages are not in the girls favor.

Only 7% of all female HS athletes play in college at any level.  And then less than half of them keep playing through their senior year.  It's a grind for sure.  

18 minutes ago, Murfdogg21 said:

My friend coaches a D3 volleyball team back east. It’s a struggle since they can’t offer athletic scholarships, tuition is expensive, the athletic department doesn’t bring in a ton of money so he has a very limited budget for staff, travel (road games and tournaments), recruiting. He has some influence in getting kids accepted and works hard to match them up with merit scholarships, work-study, and other forms of aid to offset the costs. If my sons get accepted (academically) to a good D1 school that costs less than the D3 school that will let them play sports, we’ll have a serious conversation about the value of playing D3 sports vs. more student loans and (possibly) less respected degree. 

I've said this many times, depending on the school, the price isn't usually the price when talking D3 schools, depending on your income.  If you are middle class, after need and potentially merit aid, the cost is often 1/2 to 2/3 less than the listed price. Don't look at that sticker and immediately swear off a school.  It's worth reaching out to the coach, having a conversation, throwing in an application, and seeing what the school offers you. Your child doesn't have to be resigned to the Greek IM field at second tier state U. 

On 1/15/2025 at 1:09 PM, Fudge Nuggets said:

100% not true for the service academies.  Athletics are a big deal for the rank and file applicants.

A school like Middlebury, Tufts, or Bowdoin, which are near impossible to get into academically, will give A LOT of preference to a top tier athelete who can pass the academic sniff test. 

14 minutes ago, Bateshorn said:

A school like Middlebury, Tufts, or Bowdoin, which are near impossible to get into academically, will give A LOT of preference to a top tier athelete who can pass the academic sniff test. 

Pffffft.  They ain't even D-I, dawg.

26 minutes ago, Bateshorn said:

A school like Middlebury, Tufts, or Bowdoin, which are near impossible to get into academically, will give A LOT of preference to a top tier athelete who can pass the academic sniff test. 

Very good to know

37 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Pffffft.  They ain't even D-I, dawg.

True.  Texas State and North Texas are D-I.  

OTOH, if you aren't going pro and looking at business, law, or medical school post graduation, would you rather have paper from: Bowdoin or North Texas?

On 1/15/2025 at 12:09 PM, Fudge Nuggets said:

100% not true for the service academies.  Athletics are a big deal for the rank and file applicants.

This.  Leadership experience is also highly valued.  They want well rounded individuals.    

On 1/15/2025 at 12:09 PM, Fudge Nuggets said:

100% not true for the service academies.  Athletics are a big deal for the rank and file applicants.

Yep got a good friend who is a retired Colonel and West Point grad. His oldest is there now. Not only did both do sports in HS, realize at least at WP every single cadet must compete in some athletic endeavor all four years. Intercollegiate, Club or Intramurals, whatever but you have to do some “sport”. 
 

Edited by Surly Bevo

2 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

Yep got a good friend who is a retired Colonel and West Point grad. His oldest is there now. Not only did both do sports in HS, realize at least at WP every single cadet must compete in some athletic endeavor all four years. Intercollegiate, Club or Intramurals, whatever but you have to do some “sport”. 
 

Yup, two of my cousins are Army grads who played "sprint" football at West Point.  I suppose that's a level above intramural but not D1 type competition.  One of them eventually reached Colonel and ended up back on campus as an assistant AD.

12 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

Yep got a good friend who is a retired Colonel and West Point grad. His oldest is there now. Not only did both do sports in HS, realize at least at WP every single cadet must compete in some athletic endeavor all four years. Intercollegiate, Club or Intramurals, whatever but you have to do some “sport”. 
 

My son did it the hard way and did not play a varsity sport in HS.  His academics, leadership, community service, et al were stellar.  He still had to go the prep school route, basically to prove he could handle the physical training component of the academies. He was 6'4 and about 160 his Senior year.

High school athletics isn't mandatory for consideration, but if it is absent, you gotta freaking crush the other stuff.

As an aside, I felt like military drill team with rifles was every bit as demanding as some of the other country club sports, if not more so, and he was commander his Junior year( very rare.)  The admission folks could not have cared less.  No fucking athletics.  It made a huge difference.

Edited by Iceman

On 1/13/2025 at 2:44 PM, Bateshorn said:

For those with kids who excel in sports and grades: I am imploring you to look East towards quality Div III programs.  They are desperate for quality athletes and the coaches can get preferred admissions.   Do you have a child who is National Merit and also All District or Region?  Good enough to not get stomped by Div. I athletes, but not good enough to get an offer to a school that is up to academic snuff?  The New England Small College Athletic Conference would very much like to make their acquaintance.

 

I don't know how to save posts so I'm responding to this for future reference.

My kid just got her 12th acceptance to UMass and they gave her a $14,000 merit scholarship.

She's 12/12 with only CU-Boulder outstanding.  She's received $175,419 in cumulative merit scholarships at the 12 schools.

Maybe she underestimated the schools she could get accepted to or maybe I should go into college counseling as a side hustle.

6 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

My kid just got her 12th acceptance to UMass

She applied to UMass 12 times?

I kid, congrats on all her options.

38 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

My kid just got her 12th acceptance to UMass and they gave her a $14,000 merit scholarship.

She's 12/12 with only CU-Boulder outstanding.  She's received $175,419 in cumulative merit scholarships at the 12 schools.

Maybe she underestimated the schools she could get accepted to or maybe I should go into college counseling as a side hustle.

same here - daughter got into everywhere she's applied. we're proud and very surprised. we're also waiting on CU. 

Biggest win application-wise was Baylor. Didn't expect to get in there. 

 

6 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Sports is a huge commitment in college, even D3.  My son elected to opt out of the club soccer team at UT because of the practice and travel demands, and that's not even a varsity sport.  It may be similar in terms of hours per week, but I honestly don't know how varsity athletes do it if they're serious about academics.

I got offered half my tuition paid for academics and half for basketball at Colorado School of MInes. Went for my visit, realized how demanding that would be, and ended up at UT. 

Those kids were straight out of "Real Genius". They were breaking into the library in the middle of the night to study for finals. 

 

Edited by Deej

1 hour ago, CooterBrown said:

She's 12/12 with only CU-Boulder outstanding.

Unless things have drastically changed then 13/13 is easy money right?

9 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

Unless things have drastically changed then 13/13 is easy money right?

I figure she has to be denied somewhere. Might as well be the one place I thought was a shoe in.

 

Y'all CU applicators please keep updating with your experience.  It's on the short list for my Jr, visiting this summer (after a Red Rocks show, natch).

59 minutes ago, Deej said:

Those kids were straight out of "Real Genius". They were breaking into the library in the middle of the night to study for finals. 

You could’ve been their Chris Knight.

On 12/29/2024 at 8:48 PM, TwiceHorn said:

Really not any worse than East Texas. 

Paulie-Walnuts-Track-Suit-510x638.webp

 

Nah. It probably isn't.

Edited by dcbc

Y'all CU applicators please keep updating with your experience.  It's on the short list for my Jr, visiting this summer (after a Red Rocks show, natch).

They release EA decision on 2/1. Attended the scholarship zoom call a few weeks ago. They basically don’t give shit because out of state applications are sky high and willing to pay full price. IIRC, the number she threw out was like $7,500 max merit aid.
10 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

This is 100% where we are.  Daughter really wants to get out of the state and we're engaged with the coaches at Carnegie Mellon and WashU.  Loras College in Iowa is also really coming on strong.  

My point is you're not going to play pro.  So use the sport to help get into schools that otherwise are highly selective.  

If you're looking in the Midwest already, you ought to add Carleton.  My niece from Florida swims there and absolutely loves everything about it. She's another example of what's been discussed on this page.  Her grades in high school were great, but who knows if she would have gotten in without preferred admissions.

Pretty excited and proud, our daughter was admitted with her first choice major. I had heard a lot were deferred but this am I saw it was some like 95% deferrals. Crazy! She was auto admit - valedictorian, School of Natural Sciences. 2 years ago my son was deferred until Feb and got in first choice major engineering. He was not auto admit (although #3 in class)

14 hours ago, CooterBrown said:


They release EA decision on 2/1. Attended the scholarship zoom call a few weeks ago. They basically don’t give shit because out of state applications are sky high and willing to pay full price. IIRC, the number she threw out was like $7,500 max merit aid.

I’ve made this joke before in this thread, but when Oregon played Colorado, that’s a lot of rich California kids who didn’t get into their first choice UC school.

14 hours ago, TexasHooch said:

If you're looking in the Midwest already, you ought to add Carleton.  My niece from Florida swims there and absolutely loves everything about it. She's another example of what's been discussed on this page.  Her grades in high school were great, but who knows if she would have gotten in without preferred admissions.

Every Carleton grad I’ve met is fucking smart and cool.  

3/3 now, UT said yes for major choice 2, wait until 2/15 for first choice.

Good luck to the rest of all y'all.

On 1/18/2025 at 11:28 AM, Bateshorn said:

Every Carleton grad I’ve met is fucking smart and cool.  

What about the DIII Catholic school in IA, Loras?  Anyone heard of it or have any opinions?

43 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

What about the DIII Catholic school in IA, Loras?  Anyone heard of it or have any opinions?

@Al_4_ISU any thoughts?

Love Dubuque.  Loras is a beautiful campus.  I have a good friend who went to Loras (we met as adults well after college) and he enjoyed his time there a lot.  My wife had actually committed to run track there before Northern Iowa offered her a partial scholarship.  I've never met anyone who went to school there and didn't have a quality experience they remember fondly.

It's a good school, in an area with more to do than you'd think.  There are a couple quality ski hills in the area (Sundown in Iowa, Chestnut in Illinois), 3 mountain bike parks, a longer crushed limestone bike trail.  Downtown Dubuque has gotten a lot of investment in recent years and has some really solid restaurants, breweries, bars, and decent music venues.  Galena, IL is just down the road (small charming Midwestern town where people from Chicago go to "get away from it all").  Dubuque has several cool state parks nearby (Mines of Spain, Backbone) with lots of hiking.  The Mississippi itself provides a lot of cool outdoor recreation.

If you're good with private religious schools and all that entails, you could do a hell of a lot worse than Loras, IMO.

Some pics I took while visiting Dubuque a couple years ago.  Downtown, the Loras football field, a few biking pics, and Dimensional Brewing.

2C7A2C67-3E81-49A3-9E0C-FD13CD546DE6.JPG

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CFA3D2C3-E986-4827-9713-6CB12ACF8F7A.JPG

IMG_4282.jpg

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IMG_4315.jpg

On 1/17/2025 at 3:47 PM, The Dog said:

same here - daughter got into everywhere she's applied. we're proud and very surprised. we're also waiting on CU. 

Biggest win application-wise was Baylor. Didn't expect to get in there. 

 

Is Baylor hard to get into?  Serious question.

On 1/18/2025 at 9:31 AM, dlatin said:

2 years ago my son was deferred until Feb and got in first choice major engineering. He was not auto admit (although #3 in class)

I don't understand, is his class less than 50 people?

4 minutes ago, orange dream said:

Is Baylor hard to get into?  Serious question.

On 1/18/2025 at 9:31 AM, dlatin said:

really more specific to my daughter but the acceptance rate at Baylor is less than 50%

5 hours ago, orange dream said:

 

I don't understand, is his class less than 50 people?

 

3 people 

18 minutes ago, Dennis Taylor said:

Is a home school kid the valedictorian?

UT has a framework for auto admit homeschool.  I think it’s something like 33 on the ACT and you’re in.

 
3 people 

A guy I knew freshman year was salutatorian with a low B average. He had a graduating class of 7. I guess he got the free tuition state universities gave valedictorians and salutatorians back then.
I don't understand, is his class less than 50 people?

Think it was 38. May have been less. Kids move around, graduate early, or not at all. His class ended up being quite small. My daughter’s is maybe 60.

Son ended up getting the Presidential Scholarship at FSU, which includes full scholarship. 48 applicants chosen
10 hours ago, dlatin said:


Son ended up getting the Presidential Scholarship at FSU, which includes full scholarship. 48 applicants chosen

Congratulations!!  A buddy's daughter got a full ride to UT-Knoxville on a similar deal (Haslam Scholars) included tuition / fees / books / living stipend and even covers the cost of study abroad and some guaranteed internships.  My buddy bought himself a new boat with his new found surplus.

19 minutes ago, orange dream said:

Congratulations!!  A buddy's daughter got a full ride to UT-Knoxville on a similar deal (Haslam Scholars) included tuition / fees / books / living stipend and even covers the cost of study abroad and some guaranteed internships.  My buddy bought himself a new boat with his new found surplus.

That there's what ya call one of them oxymorons ain't it

21 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

What about the DIII Catholic school in IA, Loras?  Anyone heard of it or have any opinions?

I don't, but my Son's childhood best friend goes to St. John's in Minnesota and LOVES it.  Granted, he went to a Benedictine High School, but they offered him a ton of need and merit aid. The St. John's Football Corch back in the 80s and 90s was kind of a legend for being a good dude and the opposite of a Bobby Knight style asshole. 

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