Good plan!! I just hope I need such a book someday!!! LolSeriously: You should write an e-book and self-publish it on Amazon. You'd make lots of money, and people would have a source of badly needed information. I'd buy that book in a heartbeat.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Good plan!! I just hope I need such a book someday!!! LolSeriously: You should write an e-book and self-publish it on Amazon. You'd make lots of money, and people would have a source of badly needed information. I'd buy that book in a heartbeat.
It could be called College Gym Confidential...and you are correct, a source of badly needed information....if we had known one tenth of what we now know about the school my daughter committed to, I never would have ever let her even look at the place, never mind go there....the fact is, there was no way to route out the info back then...even when we went there, talked to people ( and make no mistake, you need to talk to people who are no longer at the school and have been through that program to get the real skinny), they all spouted the party line.....as did the other schools we visited. Sadly, after being there , we realized how truly awful these people are, and there's not much you can do then as it's tough to get them out with all the regs on transfers and such. That I didn't figure this out until too late is one of my biggest parental regrets....
Totally agree, she is only interested in schools that have the major she wants. But I am confused on a couple of your other comments. First she was on the shortlist for the last spot left on a team for 2017. The position was given to someone else and she was offered a walk-on spot. I understand that the girls the school committed for 2017 can only commit verbally because they are too young to officially commit and the same would be true of my daughter if she accepted the walk-on offer. Its just a verbal agreement that either party can change at any time. So is there something wrong with them making the walk-on offer to my daughter? The only thing I can think of was if any of the verbal agreements fell through and she already agreed to walk-on they would not offer the slot to her because she already agreed to walk- on. The other question is that you mentioned that she would have to pay 100% of her tuition and would have to secure financing outside of athletics. Are you just saying that she would have to pay tuition and get financial aid, loans etc. just like any other non-scholarship student - or is there something more to that point that I am missing?I have first-hand experience with this process. An "offer" to walk-on to a team received prior to the spring of her senior year is, for all intents and purposes, useless. I am being blunt here for a reason; DO NOT stop other college search activities based on this "offer". Most (if not all) D1 gymnastics teams make their walk-on offers only after they know how much room will be left on the team after the scholarship athletes accept or decline enrollment; this doesn't happen until the spring of the senior year. You also need to be aware that a walk-on athlete is responsible for paying (or securing payment outside the athletic department) 100% of the cost of attendance at that school. You also need to be aware that the ability of a walk-on athlete to secure an athletic scholarship in later years is not something that you should bank on.
My recommendation is that she find a school that she really wants to attend because they have the academic environment and program that she can thrive in; if they have gymnastics that is a bonus. Remember, being an outstanding gymnast won't get a student admitted to a college; they have to meet the academic requirements first. Being a walk-on athlete can be a very costly undertaking so the school had better have the undergraduate program that she really wants before you pay the bill.
Good luck.
Bookworm, don't you have two gymnast daughters? Did you go through this process with both? If yes, was it any less painful with the second given your family's past experience?
Wow. This really is sobering. I've actually never heard anyone who had personal experience with college gym say anything other than "it's the greatest experience ever." Is your dd's issue mainly the time commitment and unreasonable expectations of student athletes? What questions exactly do you wish you would have asked?It could be called College Gym Confidential...and you are correct, a source of badly needed information....if we had known one tenth of what we now know about the school my daughter committed to, I never would have ever let her even look at the place, never mind go there....the fact is, there was no way to route out the info back then...even when we went there, talked to people ( and make no mistake, you need to talk to people who are no longer at the school and have been through that program to get the real skinny), they all spouted the party line.....as did the other schools we visited. Sadly, after being there , we realized how truly awful these people are, and there's not much you can do then as it's tough to get them out with all the regs on transfers and such. That I didn't figure this out until too late is one of my biggest parental regrets....
Wow. This really is sobering. I've actually never heard anyone who had personal experience with college gym say anything other than "it's the greatest experience ever." Is your dd's issue mainly the time commitment and unreasonable expectations of student athletes? What questions exactly do you wish you would have asked?
ZJsMom had a great question for you - she asked What questions exactly do you wish you would have asked?Yeah and that had been our experience too..."everyone LOVED it."...and the issue isn't the time commitment or the expectations of the student athlete, it's that the coaches are horrible coaches who don't want to be there coaching the team, they're nasty as the day is long, it's a negative punishing environment, they pit the girls against each other, fat shaming, training them into the ground with " voluntary" sessions, threatening scholarships from day 1, kids disappearing off the roster for " medical" issues that other schools probably would have managed, they NEVER do anything fun as a team ( you know how you see teams on instagram having cookouts, going on a camping trip, white water rafting, apple picking, pool party etc... not this team, it's like the coaches can't stand to be around them!).....just a whole lot of negativity that we didn't sign up for and I can tell you, it gets old quickly...and 4 years is a looong time .....my daughter loves the actual school but the gymnastics part and the negatives associated with it, we never saw it coming. The stress of the whole experience has not been worth it in my book.....
ZJsMom had a great question for you - she asked What questions exactly do you wish you would have asked?
... So is there something wrong with them making the walk-on offer to my daughter? The only thing I can think of was if any of the verbal agreements fell through and she already agreed to walk-on they would not offer the slot to her because she already agreed to walk- on. The other question is that you mentioned that she would have to pay 100% of her tuition and would have to secure financing outside of athletics. Are you just saying that she would have to pay tuition and get financial aid, loans etc. just like any other non-scholarship student - or is there something more to that point that I am missing?
Just curious- you said that the mindset of a college coach is not the same as a club coach- can you elaborate a little? We are a long way from even worrying about this- DD is only a 7, and in 4th grade- so not on my radar at all!! It is interesting to hear about it though!
This is a good point.Another thing to consider as a walk on, is would your dd ever actually compete? Is she strong enough on any event to make the line up. Because being a bench warmer, and mat mover, for D1 team would not be what most girls think of when they dream of college gymnastics.
Unless her AA and event scores are up where the other team girls are then chances are she will never compete for the school, even though she will train and attend all the other things the team does. She may not even travel to meets due to funding issues.
Maybe better to be at a D2 or D3 school where she would get to compete and be an equal skill wise.
Bookworm, thank you for your forthright answer to these questions. You are giving valuable insight into this process to many parents that they can't get anywhere else. I am so very sorry your daughter got into a difficult program and sincerely hope your second daughters experience is more fun and balanced.
Us oldies on the site know that your DD has had her ups and downs. You could have left this site long ago, we appreciate that you continue to share your hard earned wisdom with this community.
I hope you and your older daughter find surprising and amazing happiness in her gym this year or at least the rest of her college experience and your younger finds the right fit .
Wow! That surprised me as gymnastics isn't a revenue driver like football or basketball.