conversation about getting to college

I TOTALLY AGREE!!!!

My husband and I totally agree with you!!!!Grades are so very important...We have always insisted that both our daughters apply themselves whole heartedly in their academic work...Let's also not forget that it is also the classes they take such as Honors and AP courses that will enable them to go to the next level in their academic pursuits....My oldest daughter who graduated this year had a weighted GPA of 4.75 and graduated with over 20+ college hours credit to boot. She received the North Carolina Teachers Fellow Scholarship , and a state and federal grant to assist with her college expenses...I wish ALL parents would follow your ADVICE....Softball is an awesome sport but.... Let's all be real.....It is our responsibility to ensure that our children are preparing themselves for the rest of their lives.

 

It's about time!!

I'm so glad to hear someone finally come out and say what it is really like in the college recruiting world when it comes down to the actual $ costs! I never ever hear our TB coach talk about academics and how important grades are and what it takes to actually get accepted into college. There is some misconception among players that if they get offered a scholarship to play ball that it means they are automatically going to that particular school. Not true, most have to be accepted into the school first like any other student. How many times do you hear that so and so got offered but grades weren't good enough? Glad to hear someone point out that softball scholarships are miniscule compared to the overall costs of the school itself. I hear all of the time how someone got a full ride to play softball. I highly doubt that....those are far and few between unless maybe you are a top notch pitcher going to a big D1 program. Let's be realistic with our kids and like someone else said it is our job as parents to prepare them for life. If they are lucky, softball can be part of the bigger picture.

 

+100, grades are the most important thing, softball will end but you work for the the long haul. i have 1 in nursing school at a private collage, no playing softball, could not keep up her clinical work and play, other is 13 and thinks she will play professional after her law degree, i just shake my head. my point is i dont want either of my girls to depend on a man to keep them up, you work hard and make you own way in life!!!!!! i get a kick of the parents who think their daughters will all get a scholarship just playing ball, grades, grades, are the way to a scholarship..........thanks scott

 

Great conversation. Too many girls/athletes/parents don't get this. You have to work your butts off on and off the field to get what you want but softball/sports will eventually end.

We actually benched (told the coach she wasn't allowed to play) our oldest DD in HS because she was slacking off with her grades. Her coach didn't like it since she was a starter but we told them her grades come before everything else and we meant it. Once we (her parents) released her to play again, her coach benched her for getting benched by us. She got the message!

As stated in a couple of the interviews cheeze did, they need to figure out what they want to do in life, find a college that offers them the best opportunity to get there, understand what it takes to get there, and then worry about softball.

 

Gender Counts !!!

Just to take a moment away from the greatest sport of all, I would like to express my thoughts on scholarship monies,etc.. As alot of you know I have twin sons at App.State; we applied for many scholarships, and got denied for various reasons. My oldest son scored a 1240 on the SAT when it was 1600 and the other a 1460 almost had a perfect score on the English, neither one got any monies for scholastics...GO Figure !!! One of my kids works for an internship up in Boone as a journalist for one of the local newspapers, and has corrected the editor of the paper on many occasions, he is only 21 and he isn't a DUMMY like his ole man, but could not get any help monetary on his scholastics. Both kids were in the top 10% of the high school class # 23 & #26 / Honor Society out of 300 plus kids.. NO MONEY--WHY ????

Guru

 

It seems that D1 schools don't give nearly as much money for grades as D2 & D3. If course D2 & D3 cost a good bit more usually so they need to give more. And they have money to give where the state school don't. You have to weigh it out in the end and see which one will cost you more if that is your goal. Getting no money at a school that costs $10,000 a year or getting $16,000 in accademic money at a school that costs $26,000. a year? Which one is better for your kid or which one is she passionate about? That is the real question since she needs to be there and graduate in four years or so. But at least with the grades being good she has the choise of all those D2 & D3 schools as well as the D1's, with or without softball being in the mix.

Our Valedictorian this year is going to Chapel Hill, he had a 4.2 GPA and he is not getting any academic money:-(.

 

Wow- Unreal !!!

There you go !!! HE !!!

 

I just went through the scholarship process with my dd (academics only) and found there's much better odds in applying for local scholarships than the university academic money. She applied but got no money awarded by the university scholarships, and she was in the top 7% of her class of over 400 graduates! She did get a few local scholarships and one that is awarded on a regional basis.