Any other college hopefuls?

[Gymdad2]

Aakmlee,

Anthing is possible, but it would all depend on how determined your dd is, how hard she works, how much natural talent she has, and lots of good luck on the injury front. It probably will take all of the above for a L5 at your dd's age to get that far that fast, but again, anything is possible. Good luck!

 

[bribri514]

No....they weren't going to buy her the car, they just were going to give her a stipend and she could use it for what ever she wanted to. The travel was to and from home. Another girl from our gym got academic as well as the full ride and in that case she was able to use the money for whatever she wanted to. We were told by a college coach that the "cost of education" includes some of these things. Also that any academic scholarship money they receive ( as long as it has no athletic component) they can also use for travel, cars, and anything else.

The money you get when competing, it's called per diem. How much each athlete gets depends on where they are, how far they're traveling, etc. etc. There's very strict rules on what money can be used on. There's also money given to athletes who host recruits. Once again very very strict rules (you can use for entertainment or food, but no alcohol, no tangible gifts, no fees to clubs, etc. receipts are required and forms need to be filled out).

All athletes I know in D1 NCAA programs don't just get money or stipends. They have to register their cars and their housing and the jobs with the NCAA every year to prove it's not being paid for by sports. At the beginning of every year there's a big compliance meeting with tons of paperwork and officials from the school. Compliance is a huge deal in college athletic departments. When you get a full ride, and get books and room and board paid for you have to file receipts with athletic department and even return all your books at the end of the year. Any violations at all and it's very possible you lose your scholarship or your entire team gets punished. A lot of scholarships are renewed at the end of the year and you can lose them if your performance drops or you struggle academically. I know many schools that only give partial athletic scholarships too, it's all in the contract you sign on signing day (there are 3 I think? different seasons when seniors commit to schools. At my high school it was always a big deal, even for athletes who didn't compete for the school but for club, like gymnasts and skiers).

That's just what I know about athletic scholarships. Obviously academic scholarships are different. I have one through the school I go to which covers some tuition and lets me do work study (I have a job and that money goes to tuition) and a private one I get that covers other "cost of living things". Each of those have their own rules but nothing nearly as strict at NCAA scholarship.

 

[coachmolly]

Bri, you really did a fantastic job of putting all of that into words. I am amazed! Your info will be a great resource to all of the gymnasts, parents, and coaches reading this thread. Nicely done!
I think one of the best things a parent can do for their gymnast who hopes to compete in college is to educate themselves on the topic as much as possible and also make sure their child's coach is knowledgeable on the whole college process. As a gymnast I wanted nothing more than to compete in college. I would have been thrilled to be a member of the lowest ranked D3 team and never compete at a single meet, I just wanted to be a part of a team and give it my best shot. Unfortunately for me, my coaches were only familiar with the D1 recruiting process and really did not even acknowledge that there might be opportunities out there for me. There is a good chance that even with their support I would have never made it as I had a lot working against me, but I really wish they had known more about programs available other than D1. It seems like most of the parents/gymnasts here with college aspirations are aiming (and on track) for D1 programs, but it's so important to remember that there are other options.
But, it should also be made clear that the scholarship opportunities at D2/3 schools are not as nice. My brother swam for a D2 swim program and was given a partial scholarship for tuition and some preference in housing assignments as well as academic support programs, but had to pay for his own books, pay his own way to some required training camps, those kinds of things. It wasn't the all expenses paid deal it is in D1. But it's still a great opportunity for girls who love gymnastics and want to keep going, and there are some D2/3 schools with exceptional academic programs. So while not as appealing, I think it is a great idea to keep an open mind about these programs.

 

[bribri514]

Bri, you really did a fantastic job of putting all of that into words. I am amazed! Your info will be a great resource to all of the gymnasts, parents, and coaches reading this thread. Nicely done!
I think one of the best things a parent can do for their gymnast who hopes to compete in college is to educate themselves on the topic as much as possible and also make sure their child's coach is knowledgeable on the whole college process. As a gymnast I wanted nothing more than to compete in college. I would have been thrilled to be a member of the lowest ranked D3 team and never compete at a single meet, I just wanted to be a part of a team and give it my best shot. Unfortunately for me, my coaches were only familiar with the D1 recruiting process and really did not even acknowledge that there might be opportunities out there for me. There is a good chance that even with their support I would have never made it as I had a lot working against me, but I really wish they had known more about programs available other than D1. It seems like most of the parents/gymnasts here with college aspirations are aiming (and on track) for D1 programs, but it's so important to remember that there are other options.
But, it should also be made clear that the scholarship opportunities at D2/3 schools are not as nice. My brother swam for a D2 swim program and was given a partial scholarship for tuition and some preference in housing assignments as well as academic support programs, but had to pay for his own books, pay his own way to some required training camps, those kinds of things. It wasn't the all expenses paid deal it is in D1. But it's still a great opportunity for girls who love gymnastics and want to keep going, and there are some D2/3 schools with exceptional academic programs. So while not as appealing, I think it is a great idea to keep an open mind about these programs.

Thanks! I got lots of the info being around athletes (mostly skiers and gymnasts in DI programs and seeing all the, with all due respect NCAA crap they have to put up with! Is very crazy!

Anyway, you share a very good point too coachmolly I too was aiming for DI scholarship too when I was younger, (level 10 through middle school), but then financial, time and geographic circumstances changed. Then I was hoping to walk on to DI team. I was able to find many different scholarships to get me to a college where the academics, school culture and athletics seemed to be a good fit outside the golden "full ride" (which are so so rare!) But decided this year after lots of effort it's not meant to be (old injuries are flaring up). So now I want to focus on being involved in gym in other ways. Now that I am at a school with a DI program, I don't want to switch schools to do DII or DIII gymnastics. But for girls entering college I think they're such good ideas and such good programs to focus on!

I don't want gymnasts and parents to think they'll never get gym scholarship to college. Unfortunately, DI full rides to big gym schools are very rare, and require at the least, you to be level 10 in high school and having placed at JO state meets (at the very least, and really that's just to walk on to a major DI team with no scholarship money). You have to think of it like a puzzle. Building lots of pieces, partial scholarships, academics, the fit of a school, smaller D2 gym programs, etc. into the bigger picture.

 

[emorymom]

Sorry to thread hijack and divert this thread even further! As a current physician and former med student (UC Davis) - I've had the opportunity to serve on various admissions committee for undergrad and med school as well as residency. You are completely correct in that the student athlete will have to do just as well as the other applicants on the MCAT, GPA, etc. to be competitive. If equally talented academically, we would probably choose the student-athlete.

Imagine her SAT and MCAT scores if she spent all those gym hours in the library and all the gym tuition on standardized test prep classes!

Or half of those extra hours on frat row ...

 

[Pogo]

it should also be made clear that the scholarship opportunities at D2/3 schools are not as nice.

I think I know what you mean, but just so everyone is clear, D2 schools generally only give partial athletic scholarships and D3 schools don't give any athletic scholarships. D1 is a "head count" system where a school can only give scholarships to a maximum of 12 women. In contrast, D2 schools have seven and a half scholarships that they can divy up to as many gymnasts as they want. This is why D2 squads tend to be very large, because you can have 2 dozen gymnasts who each get a partial scholarship, which can be supplemented by academic scholarships, and of course, need-based financial aid. D3 is limited to academic and need-based aid. I believe that all schools also allow scholarships for students fitting the criteria of each schools particular endowment, such as coming from specific geographic areas, or being a specific major, etc.

 

[Pogo]

I think one of the best things a parent can do for their gymnast who hopes to compete in college is to educate themselves on the topic as much as possible and also make sure their child's coach is knowledgeable on the whole college process.

I totally agree with this. Anyone who has a daughter who is considering NCAA sports needs to become familiar with the NCAA requirements. Here is a good place to start:

Becoming a Student-Athlete - NCAA.org

Keep in mind that the NCAA has two websites. NCAA.org focuses more on the NCAA as an organization, and NCAA.com is more of a sports fan website.

 

[Tuduri]

Extra Hours

Spending extra hours in the lab or library may help our girls be more successful academically in high school or college. On the other hand, can we determine or quantify how successful our girls would have been without gymnastics? Would they still have had that same determination, focus, and drive, etc, that they now have? Would they be as happy and enthusiastic? Did gymnastics possibly play a role in developing these characteristics? It is hard to say with such intangibles. But I would hazard to guess that gymnastics has played an important role in my own daughter's positive maturation, both socially and academically. At some point all the girls(and boys)have to give up the sport because of other demands of life. But I would not downplay the positive role that gymnastics, despite its physical and temporal demands, plays in the success of our girls.