What is a good scholarship?

[MsDinosaur]

My dd will go to college either way for now she is playing the game because it is fun.

Ditto this! Even if she never plays at all in college, DD has loved playing and I love the intangibles that she has gotten from it: things like learning to be part of a team and learning that hard work breeds success.

 

[BB875]

I have read a lot of the posts here and I think there is no right or wrong answer. Kids/families/goals are all different. My experience is this. DD#1 accepted a nice offer from a nice D2 school. The coach is awesome! They have a good academic program in the field of study she said she was interested in now. I'm not sure if she will stick with that major. Who knows. Her softball skills will provide her with an education and no debt when she graduates(I sure hope!) One thing I learned is nothing is certain and you just have to go with the best assumption and hope for the best. Of course she plays the game for fun, she's been doing this TB addiction for 10 years, more than 1/2 of her life!

For her situation, selecting this D2 school was perfect. The class sizes are about 25 or less. Tons of academic help and attention. Coach has expectations academically. Older players already giving her advice on academics. For me its all about her education. I'm sure all parents feel the same. When our DDs graduate from college, the softball skills will take a back seat to what life has in store for these kids. Hopefully, they will take with them the memories and life lessons they learned on the field and apply those great moments and lessons to their job/family/friends.

Softball-wise, she was told she will be able to compete for a starting position & contribute as a freshman. What more can you ask for?

 

[Indiana]

I think AimHigh and Chinamigarden both made some good points. I'm starting to appreciate community college - it looks like a great way for a kid to grow up a little and explore what they really are interested in - academically and athletically. It makes me wonder, though: if you look at the full sticker price at some of the private schools, they are in the neighborhood of 40, 50, 60K/year. Let's say a student goes to a community college, to the tune of about 1/10 of that price, for 2 years, thinking to transfer after 2 years. How receptive are the pricier 4-year institutions to transfers from community colleges? Do they resent missing out on the $120K they would have received had the student entered as a freshman? How about athletics? Do the coaches appreciate getting a broken-in, more mature athlete at age 20 that is useful right away for less overall money charged to the program?

 

[3'sDad]

Indiana: Quite the well developed hypothesis regarding transferring into a program as a junior with two years of competiton under your belt. Study habits are established, the student-athlete is more mature and they've been exposed to some travel associated with playing & studying at the JC level.

 

[tmolina]

I think AimHigh and Chinamigarden both made some good points. I'm starting to appreciate community college - it looks like a great way for a kid to grow up a little and explore what they really are interested in - academically and athletically. It makes me wonder, though: if you look at the full sticker price at some of the private schools, they are in the neighborhood of 40, 50, 60K/year. Let's say a student goes to a community college, to the tune of about 1/10 of that price, for 2 years, thinking to transfer after 2 years. How receptive are the pricier 4-year institutions to transfers from community colleges? Do they resent missing out on the $120K they would have received had the student entered as a freshman? How about athletics? Do the coaches appreciate getting a broken-in, more mature athlete at age 20 that is useful right away for less overall money charged to the program?

I know of several Jr. College kids that transferred to local D! school and won a national championship. So it is within the relm of possibility and wouldn't bother me if my DD ended up going to JC first.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

The JC can be a viable option. Some are feeder schools to certain D1, unofficially.

I know a girl, who DD use to pick up with her team, who was courted by a nice D1. She is a catcher ( 2013 grad ) but the D1 will have a senior stud catcher and a stud junior catcher next year. The funds just weren't where the dad felt they should be, and they were pretty much told play time the first couple of years might be limited at best.

Let me skip all the midnight phone calls behind closed doors, she immediately got a full offer from the JC in the same city as the D1. Supposedly, the "handshake" deal is for her to attend the JC and then transfer to the D1 her junior year.

Now "if" that is true, I believe it's a smart move. For one, the upper classmen catchers are going to play, she's not. Second, the D1 keeps her on a short leash right there in town. Third, she will have 2 years of fully paid education for sure. Forth, she'll play both years as an underclassmen. Fifth, some get "sticker shock" that first year in D1 sports and this will allow her to get acclimated to the schedule of college ball.