smudubs wrote:I have been looking for a thread on which I could post this question, and this seems to be the best. I have two kids going into their sophomore and junior years of high school. Accordingly, we have been visiting schools this summer and will continue doing so next year. My son is near the top 10% of his class, was a member of the state champion academic decathlon team, placed third individually in academic decathlon, scored in the 97th percentile of all test takers on the PSAT as a sophomore, and is ranked in the top 30 in the nation in four track & field events in his age group. He has decided to focus on track and hopes to do decathlon in college, which the coaches on his club team believe he can do.
Against that backdrop, what schools would all you suggest we investigate? He visited Rice while we were in Houston for Junior Olympics last week and really enjoyed the visit. He has already told me that he will not consider following in our footsteps and going to SMU because a) it's too close to home and b) doesn't have a men's track program. Thoughts?
there are a lot of variables to consider that you have left out
1. what major.....lets be honest unless your son is going to The Olympics he will be one of the NCAA athletes "going pro" in something other than sports so his choice of majors matters
2. small school, large school, huge school, in state or out of state, public or private are any of those an issue or a consideration
3. here is probably what you do not want to hear......Texas A&M
but here is the reality
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Men%2 ... mpionships
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Henry_ ... s_coach%29
other than that if close to home Arkansas and Arkansas is very aggressive in recruiting top Texas academic students as well......obviously USC is on the list as well, but it has been a long time since they were relevant
following that it is Texas or Texas Tech in the state of Texas.......yes that Texas Tech they have a great coach and great facilities, but like many things Texas Tech it is difficult for them to push past the larger and more established programs
of those choices obviously they are all public and Texas would be the leader in overall academics and the with the other three while A&M would be second overall as a university it will depend on the choice of major as well along with what they like or dislike about the school
obviously as an athlete they should have an easier time having a "clique" of friends so meeting the coach and team should be a priority and the reality is parents do not want to face this, but if a student is not enjoying themselves outside of class it will absolutely 100% lessen their academic performance period.....and I do not mean getting wasted every weekend, but just having a quality group of friends to hang out with
at UT for instance to have a group of friends you often need to live a "cause" like saving whales or going emo or waving your big freak flag or you live under water with the scuba club.......if you are not in a fraternity that is especially so.......everyone is "hard core" and wrapped up in some "thing" they are saving or doing or pretending to be.....obviously as an athlete you have a group to start
at A&M it is actually easier to just meet others that are "college students" from "wherever" and looking to be college students.....the same will be true for Arkansas
Tech is actually getting more of a frat life, but there are plenty of students still just being students......athletics there would probably really help
and again not just track as well.....as has been shown by past "incidents" at some of the schools mentioned athletes from different sports often end up interacting with each other and it is not always positive especially if you get cross wise with one of the more self control challenged football players....so if your son hates the attitude of the football team at a school and the "athletics life" starts off with "football" at the top well consider looking around unless it is clear that most in his sport of choice and the companion sport of women's track choose their associates more carefully and only the hanger-on-ers follow the football crowd.....and again even places with troubled athletes in any sport that does not man that ALL in that sport are an issue.....so perhaps trouble from all sports goes one way and the rest all go another......but it is a consideration since that will probably be your son's first social group to start
if in a program like engineering where the degree is in demand and your son can make top grades and be aggressive about an internship then any on the above list should be fine
or is in a program like education, nutrition, nursing ect where the pay is commensurate with having the degree for the most part and where that degree is from does not increase your pay and possibly only slightly increases your chance of getting the job over and above your interview/resume again the choice of school matters less
in something like business, liberal arts, humanities, arts ect where school rep matters and or jobs are less plentiful you will need to evaluate degree program/school/desire for top track program probably in that order
