What are your top 3 criteria when choosing a school?

[jda]

So much nuance with grades.  If a coach really wants you, then the minimum for the school is enough.  If you are a borderline player, then great grades helps.  There are high academic schools that don't really look at GPA or test scores anymore - my youngest was over a 4.0 and is at a UC school and their only real thing was not having a D or F in high school as a minimum.

 

If your kid can play well enough for a top program to take a look, then I would think that anything over a 3.0 or 3.2 without Ds or Fs would be plenty fine.  If you want to hit a high academic, then 3.8+ might be better.

 

No coach will expect your kid to get better grades at their school, so some one-off coaches will want better grades than the minimum to get in, or choose a kid with better grades whom they think might be less of a risk.

 

There are plenty of schools with missions to accept in-state kids with HS diplomas regardless of test scores or GPA.

[eddiebigeddie]

2 hours ago, jda said:

So much nuance with grades.  If a coach really wants you, then the minimum for the school is enough.  If you are a borderline player, then great grades helps.  There are high academic schools that don't really look at GPA or test scores anymore - my youngest was over a 4.0 and is at a UC school and their only real thing was not having a D or F in high school as a minimum.

 

If your kid can play well enough for a top program to take a look, then I would think that anything over a 3.0 or 3.2 without Ds or Fs would be plenty fine.  If you want to hit a high academic, then 3.8+ might be better.

 

No coach will expect your kid to get better grades at their school, so some one-off coaches will want better grades than the minimum to get in, or choose a kid with better grades whom they think might be less of a risk.

 

There are plenty of schools with missions to accept in-state kids with HS diplomas regardless of test scores or GPA.

I was more referring to what helped with the cost of school and our decision. The coach wanted my son from day one it was a matter of what was best fit for him/us and cost for school. 

[jda]

For sure.  If the NCAA settlement goes through, then academic scholarships won't be needed with 100% athletic, but not all schools are NCAA, of course.  Interesting to see where this goes.

 

My 4.0+ GPA kid with great test scores get no academic money at an academic school.  Sad face for me.

[Warrior42111]

Just to go off the above conversation, academics, and character are the biggest tie breakers unless you are a top recruit. 

 

In football where I played and was a GA, basically if a coach is looking 4 players for 1 slot and they are all similar talent wise, they're going to have the GAs go through academics, and their personality / lifestyle. The less time you have send assistants and GAs to make sure a player is going to class, and not out getting hammered on a Tuesday, the more you can focus on practice. 

[golferdad8]

On 12/12/2024 at 2:50 PM, jda said:

My 4.0+ GPA kid with great test scores get no academic money at an academic school.  Sad face for me.

 

I'm sure your kid is getting a great education & will get more out of his college experience than if he had settled more cash, payable in long-term personal & professional growth (and meeting some great future problem solvers & leaders). 

[jda]

2 hours ago, golferdad8 said:

 

I'm sure your kid is getting a great education & will get more out of his college experience than if he had settled more cash, payable in long-term personal & professional growth (and meeting some great future problem solvers & leaders). 

 

For sure.  No complaints.  Mostly wanted, and doing a bad job, to illustrate that academic scholarships are not any more reliable than athletic scholarships.  🙂

[TroyB123]

2 hours ago, jda said:

 

For sure.  No complaints.  Mostly wanted, and doing a bad job, to illustrate that academic scholarships are not any more reliable than athletic scholarships.  🙂

Sounds similar to my older, more academic son.   Lots of academic money offered from his safety type schools, but nothing from the school he really wanted to go to and where he ended up going.

[Ray Jackson]

Just took a re read through this thread as my son (2027) has just started the official recruiting process. The suggestions from everyone were very helpful, thank you. 

[leezer99]

Take a five year contract if they're offering. 

[Ray Jackson]

48 minutes ago, leezer99 said:

Take a five year contract if they're offering. 

Yes that was one area I was ignorant on, I guess if your a top recruit you maybe able to get more than a one year contract? But then I presume that has requirements to the player to stay even if he isn’t in the starting 5 at all?

[leezer99]

1 minute ago, Ray Jackson said:

Yes that was one area I was ignorant on, I guess if your a top recruit you maybe able to get more than a one year contract? But then I presume that has requirements to the player to stay even if he isn’t in the starting 5 at all?

 

Five year allows for a down year or injury. 

[jda]

I talked to #2 is who home for a bit.  This coming year will be the first year where any coach is returning... and she will be a senior.

 

I would strongly suggest that nobody value a certain coach too high on their list, or at least be able to live with things if the coach leaves.

 

For her, a three years later, in this order:

School

Town

Academic Rep/Alumni Base

Culture of the Athletic Department

....

Winning and the Coaches

[ChipNRun]

I'm a retired business prof. I have taught golfers at Div. I, II and III level schools.

 

One thing to remember is the student should match the school with his or her long-term goals.

 

Does golfer want to play pro tour, or work in golf industry course operations? I got to talk to the one-time director of the PGA Management program at Coastal Carolina U. He said that each year only a couple of the PGAM students play on the golf team. Most were focused on making industry connections and preparing for the Playing Ability Test.

 

And, the student should also focus on academics, getting a degree to activate if PGA tour or golf industry doesn't pan out. 

 

On 12/12/2024 at 1:51 PM, jda said:

No coach will expect your kid to get better grades at their school, so some one-off coaches will want better grades than the minimum to get in, or choose a kid with better grades whom they think might be less of a risk.

 

Especially for golfers, time management is critical in college sports. I had an odd mix of sports back in junior college (pre-1980). I wrestled and was backup on the golf team.

 

For wrestling practice, I walked two blocks from the library to the gym, and had about two hours of practice and the day was done. For golf, it was 20 minutes to the course, three to four hours of practice, and then return to campus.

 

Golfers often face a long weekend tournament, or, in post-season, a week away from campus. Golfers need to coordinate with profs to get assignments done on time and get the material missed while on the road.

 

Many Div. III and NAIA programs have a Div. I refugee who crashed and burned academically in the big time.

[Golfingdawg19]

My daughter committed to a D1 school so this is my take on things based on her experience. She went on 3 visits and all three schools offered a full ride scholarship. One was a small school (5k students) and two were mid sized schools (20k students). She didn’t like the feel of the small school even though it was the nicest campus of the 3. The one mid sized school was better at golf and had better facilities but didn’t have an assistant coach. They also had a small recruiting budget, didn’t travel much as a team, and the campus was “dated.” The third school had the best combination of coach and assistant coach. They had the best academics and money as a program to be able to travel. So my daughter put a focus on the “whole package.” She wanted the best blend of golf, academics, social life, and business connections for later in life. So each kid has to figure out what is important to them. 

[Golfquant]

On 11/22/2024 at 9:06 PM, kekoa said:

Lets say that 3 schools are interested- how do you go about picking? 

reach out to former players and ask them about the team culture

 

also look at linkedin profiles of former players and see if any ended up doing what you might want to do post college; if you want to be a pro golfer but the school has never produced one, it's obvious it's probably not the best fit; similarly, if you want to be a doctor but no one on the team has ever gone to med school...there's probably a reason for that