Very smart student but only three star athlete

[Misterbill]

Originally Posted by kumar157

Yes, SLU is St Louis. My son thinks he has a good chance to play for UConn or St louis or Boston Univ. He knows more than me as I did not go to school in US.

If this is the objective, I repeat there is room to cut slack on the academics.

At the same time, I agree with the tenor of most of the other posts about the choice of objectives

[kumar157]

Originally Posted by Misterbill

If this is the objective, I repeat there is room to cut slack on the academics.

At the same time, I agree with the tenor of most of the other posts about the choice of objectives

Thanks.
That will bring some peace in our relationship as we fight almost daily due to our conflicting interests.

[kumar157]

Originally Posted by tennis_ocd

imo you've got to put grades and SATs above tennis -- and I wouldn't let a teenage see you waffle with the decision. as a 15 yo 3-star he'll have many opportunities to play.

Thanks for reinforcing my thoughts.

[Clemson_tennis]

Originally Posted by ClarkC

The top D3 teams are full of four-star players, while numerous D1 teams could never dream of getting a four-star recruit. Do your homework before misleading someone with false information.

Well it is true that there aren't a ton of good teams in d3. D1 is far deeper. There are probably only about 4-5 d3 schools that would be in the D1 top 75. Emory the only one with a shot at top 40. There are several results every week of lower d1 schools easily beating D2 and D3 schools.

I think the person who suggested schools like Villanova and Georgetown earlier is right. Those are great academic schools and also d1.

Like I said earlier there are several other benefits you get at a d1 school that are separate from scholarship.

[kumar157]

Originally Posted by Clemson_tennis

Well it is true that there aren't a ton of good teams in d3. D1 is far deeper. There are probably only about 4-5 d3 schools that would be in the D1 top 75. Emory the only one with a shot at top 40. There are several results every week of lower d1 schools easily beating D2 and D3 schools.

I think the person who suggested schools like Villanova and Georgetown earlier is right. Those are great academic schools and also d1.

Like I said earlier there are several other benefits you get at a d1 school that are separate from scholarship.

Researching on Tennisrecruiting, Villanova and Georgetown seem to be a good place for my son. But a 3* may not get in if there are not many players graduating that year.
I can afford to pay full tution but a little scholarship would be nice after so many years of spending time and money on tennis.
It was a long and expensive journey so far with over two years left!!.

[goran_ace]

Originally Posted by Misterbill

If, as you say, the objective is UConn (does SLU=St Louis?), you have room to cut some slack on the academics, since he is a sophomore taking all APs and getting A's and B's.

If there is a different objective, I might offer different advice

There is a big difference between general admission into SLU, and applying for their med scholars program.

[kumar157]

Originally Posted by goran_ace

There is a big difference between general admission into SLU, and applying for their med scholars program.

Yes. You are right. We are only thinking of the 4 year general and not the 8 year integrated medical. I guess it may be easy to switch to general easily but how difficult is it to switch from general to medical?.

[kme5150]

Try not to take this the wrong way but if he is having trouble keeping up with his studies now with only playing 7 hours of tennis a week. How is he going to be able to keep up with his studies when a coach expects 15 hours a week out of him?

Spring Break is coming up. Do yourself a favor and try to visit the campuses that he might be interested in. Since Spring Break for most colleges and high schools don't align, he will get a good idea of what the school is like during session.

[ATP100]

Originally Posted by kumar157

Thanks.
That will bring some peace in our relationship as we fight almost daily due to our conflicting interests.

There should be no fight, discussion is okay, but no fight. Make a decision,
stick to it.

[goran_ace]

Originally Posted by kumar157

Yes. You are right. We are only thinking of the 4 year general and not the 8 year integrated medical. I guess it may be easy to switch to general easily but how difficult is it to switch from general to medical?.

A buddy of mine was med scholar at SLU. When he was a senior in high school he was deciding between Ivy's, Northwestern, and SLU med scholar, to give you an indication of his grades. Med scholars (as opposed to regular pre-med students) are automatically admitted into med school as long as they maintain their grades and a few other requirements. You can only apply to this program as an incoming freshman; you cannot switch or transfer into it.

[Clemson_tennis]

Originally Posted by kumar157

Yes, SLU is St Louis. My son thinks he has a good chance to play for UConn or St louis or Boston Univ. He knows more than me as I did not go to school in US.

Maybe Boston College with the way that team is. Especially now with Muppidi gone.

[kumar157]

Originally Posted by kme5150

Try not to take this the wrong way but if he is having trouble keeping up with his studies now with only playing 7 hours of tennis a week. How is he going to be able to keep up with his studies when a coach expects 15 hours a week out of him?

Spring Break is coming up. Do yourself a favor and try to visit the campuses that he might be interested in. Since Spring Break for most colleges and high schools don't align, he will get a good idea of what the school is like during session.

Good thought.
He played 15 hours at an academy and made A's and B's in his freshman year with all AP courses. He was around 290 nationally during that period. I cut down his hours in this sophomore year expecting that he may not do well and his ranking dropped to around 330. He still makes A's and B's. I just don't want to take chances when it comes to studies. Lately he is arguing with me that he does not need a high GPA but would rather have a better tennis ranking. His aim is to play lower D1.
I think it's a good idea to visit some campuses early on, as suggested by you, so that he will make up his mind and work towards the target with a purpose.

[goran_ace]

Another thing you might want to sit down and talk to him about is that he fully understands that varsity athletics and being pre-med each require a high level of commitment. By trying to commit to both, you are effectively committing to neither. Sure there are doctors out there who were athletes, but these people are exceptional and it is not the norm. Eventually he may reach a point where he has to decide which one he has to give up.

[Misterbill]

Originally Posted by kumar157

Good thought.
He played 15 hours at an academy and made A's and B's in his freshman year with all AP courses. He was around 290 nationally during that period. I cut down his hours in this sophomore year expecting that he may not do well and his ranking dropped to around 330. He still makes A's and B's. I just don't want to take chances when it comes to studies. Lately he is arguing with me that he does not need a high GPA but would rather have a better tennis ranking. His aim is to play lower D1.
I think it's a good idea to visit some campuses early on, as suggested by you, so that he will make up his mind and work towards the target with a purpose.

All AP courses in freshman year now!!! Must be a private school, right? With that kind of transcript he should be targeting the most selective schools in the country.

[kumar157]

Originally Posted by goran_ace

Another thing you might want to sit down and talk to him about is that he fully understands that varsity athletics and being pre-med each require a high level of commitment. By trying to commit to both, you are effectively committing to neither. Sure there are doctors out there who were athletes, but these people are exceptional and it is not the norm. Eventually he may reach a point where he has to decide which one he has to give up.

Very true. That may be the reason why I see so many doctors playing tennis in adult leagues. Probably they gave up the sport to pursue medical degree early on in their life.
Priorities and long term vs short term benefits.

Thanks.

[tennisplayer1993]

My friend plays for Colgate and he was a two star athlete. His grades were mostly all As/Bs in APs as well

[kme5150]

I don't know if this is your first child in the system here but here in the states your acceptance into college is based on 9th, 10th and 11th grades along with ACT/SAT scores. We always pushed the first 3 years and let them take 2 easier classes their senior year. Both of our children committed prior to starting their senior year so this was discussed with the Universities prior. Both schools had no problem with it but they both still took 2 AP classes their senior year.

Don't give in to your son, you are the parent. Don't fall for, "you didn't go to school here" or "this is what everybody does".

[rufus_smith]

I went throught this same thing with my daughter.

Just My Opinion. Playing college tennis has some drawbacks in that it limits what schools you can attend and it is time consuming and he may end up not liking the coach or his fellow players or traveling and the scholarships are not that big. If he really likes tennis he can still play in tourneys on his own. Still college tennis could make sense if the family was hurting for money and he got a good sized tennis scholarship.

OTOH, if he can get top grades in high school he can attend a prestigious top college which will serve him well the rest of his life. Recreational tennis will always be there.

Everybody has their own needs and priorties. gl

[Misterbill]

Originally Posted by kumar157

Hi Clemson_tennis,
He was 290 nationally (6 months back) but was doing 12 hours play and 3 hours of fitness per week. I cut it down to focus more on academics and he dropped in ranking. So I guess if I can add hours he may do better in the tournaments. But I am scared that his grades may drop. I want him to be a good student athlete and accomplish his dream to play for d1 (low d1 like UCONN or SLU). Is that a realistic goal?.

Thanks.

If you want him to accomplish his dream to play for a d1 such as UConn or St Louis................I cannot understand what the two of you are fighting about every day.

Seems to me the two of you are in agreement

[coaching32yrs]

There is no "magic dust" that goes with a D1 program. I have seen some of the D1 teams you mentioned play: BU, UConn, 'Nova.
There are D3 teams that are as good and better. Your son is not going to be a pro player. Why go to a D1 program where he will be training and practicing up to 20 hours a week year round? It gets in the way of academics. At D3 the practices are less hours per week, and the season is shorter. Missing an occasional practice is OK. Many kids have an obsession with D1 and I do not understand it.