School suggestions for academics w good club programs, possibly D3 team

ey039524

Hall of Fame
I know some of you have a lot of experience w college tennis. My eldest son is applying for schools. He has a strong academic portfolio (4.8 GPA, 1500+ SAT). He wants to major in science, possibly engineering. He's primarily a dubs player, but has started playing singles tourneys (current utr is 7.x singles and 8.x for dubs). He originally was thinking UCLA and trying out for their club team. We want him to look at privates as well. I know some have D3 teams that he could try out for, but also club teams would probably be more ideal, just so he can devote more time to academics. If you have any suggestions on schools that he should consider, I'd appreciate your insight. Thanks in advance.
 

LOBALOT

Legend
Club or weaker D3 are probably better options. I am not that familiar with the D3 teams out your way but would suggest you using the UTR app and look at their roster and Power 6 number (Take that number and divide by 6 and that should tell you their average UTR in the starting lineup). I would use caution as college UTRs tend to be deflated from their actual level but that should get you close.

I can tell you the top 20% of D3 teams have UTRs at a minimum of 9 and there are some rosters where the entire team has an 11.5 UTR across the lineup.
 
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ey039524

Hall of Fame
Club or weaker D3 are probably better options. I am not that familiar with the D3 teams out your way but would suggest you using the UTR app and look at their roster and Power 6 number (Take that number and divide by 6 and that should tell you their average UTR in the starting lineup). I would use caution as college UTRs tend to be deflated from their actual level but that should get you close.

I can tell you the top 20% of D3 teams have UTRs at a minimum of 9 and there are some rosters where the entire team has an 11.5 UTR across the lineup.
Thanks, we were recently playing w a former D3 player that just graduated from a top 10 D3 school (according to him). He was solid from the baseline (but admittedly not a real dubs player). Impressive level.

11.5 UTR for D3?! Wow, that's high.
 

LOBALOT

Legend
Thanks, we were recently playing w a former D3 player that just graduated from a top 10 D3 school (according to him). He was solid from the baseline (but admittedly not a real dubs player). Impressive level.

11.5 UTR for D3?! Wow, that's high.

For examples of higher levels check out the rosters in Universal Tennis App for Mens teams at University of Chicago, Denison, Middlebury, Case Western and then for your way Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

Note, these are higher level teams and there are D3 teams with lower team UTRS for sure. That is one thing about D3 is there is quite a bit a variability in level of the teams.

I took a look at Cal Tech, Occidental, and they are pretty high UTRs... Maybe Whittier although I don't know anything about the school and if they have an engineering program.

How about some of the schools in the Northwest Conference https://nwcsports.com/

I have no idea though about the academics or if any have decent engineering programs.
 

JK208

Rookie
I’m in a similar position. Pretty much all T20s except for Harvard have a super strong club tennis team. I think Northwestern, Emory, and Notre Dame all have extremely competitive teams. Notre Dame in particular said their lowest UTR on the club team is 7ish, with their top players being 11UTRs. Good luck with the search!
 

atatu

Legend
UCSB might be a good fit, I think they have an active club team and of course it's a great place to go to school, but I'm biased as an alum. I think the CMS schools all have pretty strong tennis teams so he might not be able to play at those schools although I think traditionally Pitzer is not as strong.
 

ey039524

Hall of Fame
For examples of higher levels check out the rosters in Universal Tennis App for Mens teams at University of Chicago, Denison, Middlebury, Case Western and then for your way Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

Note, these are higher level teams and there are D3 teams with lower team UTRS for sure. That is one thing about D3 is there is quite a bit a variability in level of the teams.

I took a look at Cal Tech, Occidental, and they are pretty high UTRs... Maybe Whittier although I don't know anything about the school and if they have an engineering program.

How about some of the schools in the Northwest Conference https://nwcsports.com/

I have no idea though about the academics or if any have decent engineering programs.

UCSB might be a good fit, I think they have an active club team and of course it's a great place to go to school, but I'm biased as an alum. I think the CMS schools all have pretty strong tennis teams so he might not be able to play at those schools although I think traditionally Pitzer is not as strong.
Thanks for all the suggestions.

What's funny is that the player I mentioned that we played w was from one of the Claremont schools. It was a joy to see him rally w my son (big hitting and fast movement).
 

sureshs

Bionic Poster
I know some of you have a lot of experience w college tennis. My eldest son is applying for schools. He has a strong academic portfolio (4.8 GPA, 1500+ SAT). He wants to major in science, possibly engineering. He's primarily a dubs player, but has started playing singles tourneys (current utr is 7.x singles and 8.x for dubs). He originally was thinking UCLA and trying out for their club team. We want him to look at privates as well. I know some have D3 teams that he could try out for, but also club teams would probably be more ideal, just so he can devote more time to academics. If you have any suggestions on schools that he should consider, I'd appreciate your insight. Thanks in advance.
Harvey Mudd College D3 part of Claremont group. I know 2 juniors from my club who went there
 

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
If he is not trying to be mainly focused on tennis in his life, shouldn’t he just pick the best academic school or the one where graduates get good jobs the easiest in his technical field of interest? He can join tennis clubs and play tennis for the rest of his life, but his college choice may or may not open doors for him early in his career. Even if he doesn’t make the club team, any big school like UCLA will have many high-level players he can play with socially.

College kids with a full academic schedule at a good academic school trying to get great grades often find free time only at odd hours very early or very late in the day to work out or play sports.
 

bobleenov1963

Hall of Fame
If he is not trying to be mainly focused on tennis in his life, shouldn’t he just pick the best academic school or the one where graduates get good jobs the easiest in his technical field of interest? He can join tennis clubs and play tennis for the rest of his life, but his college choice may or may not open doors for him early in his career. Even if he doesn’t make the club team, any big school like UCLA will have many high-level players he can play with socially.

College kids with a full academic schedule at a good academic school trying to get great grades often find free time only at odd hours very early or very late in the day to work out or play sports.
^^^This. With 4.8GPA and 1500+ SAT, he is perfect for University of Virginia. The club tennis at UVA is very good.
 

LOBALOT

Legend
Thanks for all the suggestions.

What's funny is that the player I mentioned that we played w was from one of the Claremont schools. It was a joy to see him rally w my son (big hitting and fast movement).

I figured that might happen. CMS has a very strong team.

In fact, the level of play in D3 has gotten crazy good especially if the school is strong academically so you may not find a good fit that supports your son's high academic goals that he can also play varsity tennis. Perhaps like others suggested look at club.
 

LOBALOT

Legend
I figured you guys out west would be familiar with the schools out there and would jump in. I only know the schools that make the D3 NCAAs playoffs from out that way.
 

ey039524

Hall of Fame
If he is not trying to be mainly focused on tennis in his life, shouldn’t he just pick the best academic school or the one where graduates get good jobs the easiest in his technical field of interest? He can join tennis clubs and play tennis for the rest of his life, but his college choice may or may not open doors for him early in his career. Even if he doesn’t make the club team, any big school like UCLA will have many high-level players he can play with socially.

College kids with a full academic schedule at a good academic school trying to get great grades often find free time only at odd hours very early or very late in the day to work out or play sports.
Agreed, my preference for him would be to focus on academics and just play club. I'm concerned about the time required to play on a team.
 

LOBALOT

Legend
Agreed, my preference for him would be to focus on academics and just play club. I'm concerned about the time required to play on a team.

D3 is working out to be a perfect mix for our son. The amount of practice, lift, cardio, travel, match time is not crazy and with that he is forced to be careful with his time and when he has it to focus on his studies. He has a very high Bio GPA going, has made Academic all district teams 2 years in a row (not quite made Academic All American yet) and plans to head to med school.

One of his coaches coached a D1 team, another played for him and taught my son, and they said to be careful with D1 tennis if you want to pursue something like medicine as the time commitment is a bit nuts. D3 is just about perfect.

Good luck as you explore a best fit for your son!
 

Connor35

Professional
For examples of higher levels check out the rosters in Universal Tennis App for Mens teams at University of Chicago, Denison, Middlebury, Case Western and then for your way Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

Agree with this. I went to both CWRU and Carnegie Mellon and those are great schools where you can play D3 tennis.
 

InsuranceMan

Hall of Fame
I think D3 tennis is probably a wash, only places I can think of are like Ithaca, RIT, IIT, etc. Your son sounds intelligent and academically inclined, I wouldn’t bother with the stress of it, those schools are below him it seems. Known many a kid in that situation and those who force the D3 usually with hindsight I think they made the wrong choice.

There’s always club tennis. I don’t see why he couldn’t go to a great school and play club. I don’t personally think club is all it’s cracked up to be but you know it depends on where he’s at and how serious he likes his attitude to be to enjoy the game imo
 

ey039524

Hall of Fame
I think D3 tennis is probably a wash, only places I can think of are like Ithaca, RIT, IIT, etc. Your son sounds intelligent and academically inclined, I wouldn’t bother with the stress of it, those schools are below him it seems. Known many a kid in that situation and those who force the D3 usually with hindsight I think they made the wrong choice.

There’s always club tennis. I don’t see why he couldn’t go to a great school and play club. I don’t personally think club is all it’s cracked up to be but you know it depends on where he’s at and how serious he likes his attitude to be to enjoy the game imo
He doesn't feel the need to compete. He just enjoys playing. I've told him I'd like for him to play club and keep the focus on academics.

I think he's just going to apply to some good schools and see which accept him, and then look into what tennis programs they have as an extracurricular.
 

Connor35

Professional
He doesn't feel the need to compete. He just enjoys playing. I've told him I'd like for him to play club and keep the focus on academics.

I think he's just going to apply to some good schools and see which accept him, and then look into what tennis programs they have as an extracurricular.

It's not tennis but my niece played 2 seasons of D1 in another sport, then stopped to focus on her studies in a rigorous major and just played club in that sport.

I'm sure it was the right decision academically, but she was very unfulfilled with club sports since she was way better than most teammates and opponents and those who played just didn't take the game as seriously.

That said, of course, your son can never go wrong making the best decision for himself based on only purely academic considerations.
 

TheBoom

Hall of Fame
He doesn't feel the need to compete. He just enjoys playing. I've told him I'd like for him to play club and keep the focus on academics.

I think he's just going to apply to some good schools and see which accept him, and then look into what tennis programs they have as an extracurricular.
I loved playing D3, I honestly wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I had awesome teammates, traveled the whole east coast, played incredible teams...but I also wouldn't recommend it for everyone. It sounds like your kid's a high achiever academically and if he were also in the 10-11 UTR range, I'd say go for it. A lot of the top D3 schools have awesome academics as well and that'd be about good enough to at least get on the team.

I'll reiterate what was already said, but the problem is at a 7 UTR, your son probably won't make it on a team at a school worthwhile for him. If he isn't serious about competing, I'd definitely go to the best school possible and just play club as previously mentioned. And honestly, he'll probably be happier for it.

There are a lot of pros to playing, but it was also incredibly stressful, especially when you're playing to keep your spot every week. I played 4-6 on my team and had a UTR that hovered between 9-10 until injury my senior year. As we got better and I dropped down the roster, keeping my spot became increasingly stressful and less fun to the point that I took 5 years off and only got back into tennis over the last year and a half. Everyone's different, but my experience isn't uncommon and if he loves tennis he should just enjoy it!
 

TennisBro

Hall of Fame
^^^This. With 4.8GPA and 1500+ SAT, he is perfect for University of Virginia. The club tennis at UVA is very good.
That's a very high GPA and SAT for any of the best unis in the US.

I'd be interested to know the choices of subjects alongside tennis; if one wishes to work in the field of the sport after graduation what're the choices? if not, what're the choices?

My 16-year-old son tells me that he'd study Kinesiology as his first choice, since he's aiming for D1 when time comes and as he wants to work in the sport's field if he doesn't turn pro. I do guide him into PE but would like to know from the experienced ones what pathways do the youngsters choose and which ones are better sponsored for the top level tennis players.
 

MaxTennis

Professional
I know some of you have a lot of experience w college tennis. My eldest son is applying for schools. He has a strong academic portfolio (4.8 GPA, 1500+ SAT). He wants to major in science, possibly engineering. He's primarily a dubs player, but has started playing singles tourneys (current utr is 7.x singles and 8.x for dubs). He originally was thinking UCLA and trying out for their club team. We want him to look at privates as well. I know some have D3 teams that he could try out for, but also club teams would probably be more ideal, just so he can devote more time to academics. If you have any suggestions on schools that he should consider, I'd appreciate your insight. Thanks in advance.

I studied Computer Science at UCLA and played for the Club Team (was on the comp team first year, then just played for fun the remaining years). I was a high 2 star/borderline 3 star as a junior (peaked at around 314 in national rankings) and was considering D3 schools to play tennis at, versus the traditional T20 schools. At UCLA, I had a great experience and overall, I think NOT playing college tennis helped me maintain my love for the game.

Happy to answer any questions if your son is curious.
 

ey039524

Hall of Fame
I studied Computer Science at UCLA and played for the Club Team (was on the comp team first year, then just played for fun the remaining years). I was a high 2 star/borderline 3 star as a junior (peaked at around 314 in national rankings) and was considering D3 schools to play tennis at, versus the traditional T20 schools. At UCLA, I had a great experience and overall, I think NOT playing college tennis helped me maintain my love for the game.

Happy to answer any questions if your son is curious.
Thanks for your input, Max. UCLA was his first choice before we got his SAT scores. We just found out two days ago that he improved his math score to 790, so his super score now sits above the median for most schools. He applied to some UCs and will apply to some ivy's along w Stanford and other top schools.

We played w a kid from his high school who won league 3 years in a row, then played club at UCLA. He said he was having a blast.
 

Robert F

Hall of Fame
I agree with others that if his primary goal is academics that is what should be his main drive in picking his school.

But, I also think if he was involved in Club Tennis or a easy going D3 school, the structure and support provided by a team might be a great way to balance out academics and free time. Being on a team gives a lot of social support. Having a set schedule by a sport forces your study time. Plus having teammates that are juniors and seniors will help him learn about the culture and "tricks" of a school---what classes to take, how to get an internship etc.

For me, when I went to college, compared to highschool I had so much more free time, I would always feel I'd have plenty of time to study...until it was the weekend before and exam, then I wish I had studied more. When you are involved in a sport or activity (Band, musical. newspaper etc), you have to study when you can and this makes you a better student.

Regardless, it looks like he has a great future ahead of him, regardless of school, if he keeps his work ethic up he will find sucess wherever he goes.
 

dak95_00

Hall of Fame
I know some of you have a lot of experience w college tennis. My eldest son is applying for schools. He has a strong academic portfolio (4.8 GPA, 1500+ SAT). He wants to major in science, possibly engineering. He's primarily a dubs player, but has started playing singles tourneys (current utr is 7.x singles and 8.x for dubs). He originally was thinking UCLA and trying out for their club team. We want him to look at privates as well. I know some have D3 teams that he could try out for, but also club teams would probably be more ideal, just so he can devote more time to academics. If you have any suggestions on schools that he should consider, I'd appreciate your insight. Thanks in advance.
Look at the University of Cincinnati. They have a club tennis team. Anyone on campus can participate but there are tryouts for the travel team. UC has a great engineering program too.

My daughter made the 3rd travel team but has played for the first team when others are unavailable to play. They travel to Purdue, Tennessee (Knoxville), West Virginia (Morgantown), and Ohio State. The list also gives you an idea of other schools that have club teams aka USTA Tennis on Campus.
 

LOBALOT

Legend
Look at the University of Cincinnati. They have a club tennis team. Anyone on campus can participate but there are tryouts for the travel team. UC has a great engineering program too.

My daughter made the 3rd travel team but has played for the first team when others are unavailable to play. They travel to Purdue, Tennessee (Knoxville), West Virginia (Morgantown), and Ohio State. The list also gives you an idea of other schools that have club teams aka USTA Tennis on Campus.

Cincinnati is a very underrated tennis town. There are some nice clubs there and strong junior development program.

When my son was doing junior tournaments we spent many a weekend there playing.

2 neat clubs come to mind one next to the hotel there across from the microbrewery (that is how I locate a lot of places ;)). They had a really good stringer there that was really into his craft. My son was playing in a tournament there and playing a much higher seed and I looked over and Peyton Stearns was standing next to me watching my son take the kid out. She must have just come from a hit.

Another neat club you got to through these winding roads up and down hills and across rivers and creeks. The club was on this big hill. It was a pretty neat club as well.
 

dak95_00

Hall of Fame
Cincinnati is a very underrated tennis town. There are some nice clubs there and strong junior development program.

When my son was doing junior tournaments we spent many a weekend there playing.

2 neat clubs come to mind one next to the hotel there across from the microbrewery (that is how I locate a lot of places ;)). They had a really good stringer there that was really into his craft. My son was playing in a tournament there and playing a much higher seed and I looked over and Peyton Stearns was standing next to me watching my son take the kid out. She must have just come from a hit.

Another neat club you got to through these winding roads up and down hills and across rivers and creeks. The club was on this big hill. It was a pretty neat club as well.
I loved when I lived in the Cincinnati area. There’s always so much to do.

I don’t know the various clubs there but the area obviously hosts the Cincinnati Open, formerly the Western & Southern. There’s professional baseball, football, and soccer too.

But to follow up from the original, there’s a large tennis retail store that is a big competitor to Tennis Warehouse. My daughter and some of the other club tennis team members work there part time. She says I would love walking through their warehouse and promises to give me a tour soon. Oh. The club team members get a membership to the Western Athletic Club to play as much tennis as they would like. They have organized practices twice per week on Wednesday and Sunday evenings.
 

LOBALOT

Legend
I loved when I lived in the Cincinnati area. There’s always so much to do.

I don’t know the various clubs there but the area obviously hosts the Cincinnati Open, formerly the Western & Southern. There’s professional baseball, football, and soccer too.

But to follow up from the original, there’s a large tennis retail store that is a big competitor to Tennis Warehouse. My daughter and some of the other club tennis team members work there part time. She says I would love walking through their warehouse and promises to give me a tour soon. Oh. The club team members get a membership to the Western Athletic Club to play as much tennis as they would like. They have organized practices twice per week on Wednesday and Sunday evenings.

Yup, we usually hit that spot when we go to the area.
 
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