Greetings all! Yes, I found the other swim parenting thread, but it's two years old, so thought I'd start a different one.
Our daughter is currently a junior with decent swim times. We've started getting letters from D3 schools interested in her swimming for them. Thus, questions abound.
a) Is there such a thing as D2 schools? Our DD has great times (as a junior!) to place and in some instances win D3 meets right now, but she is nowhere near D1 times. Where is D2?
b) So far, the two states we want her to look at (Texas and Virginia) have many D3 schools, but only one total (in VA) state school. If you have a child going to a D3 private school, how much financial aid (percentage of total cost is fine) did you get from the school? (Yes, I know that D3 schools don't give athletic scholarships, but I'm learning, at least for other sports, they will find money to get your kid there.)
c) Does the financial support come with a guarantee to 4 years of support? What if my child gets injured?
d) Is there such a thing as financial support for College Club swimming? (I only just learned of CCS in another thread.)
e) Anything I'm not thinking of with respect to a child competing in a varsity sport in college? Holidays ruined? Required living arrangements? Practices taking precedence over studies? I don't even know where to begin.
I thank you all in advance. This'll be our first of four we're self-supporting. (Previous one used my GI Bill and the other two both joined the military.) Our current college kid knew exactly where he wanted to go and (thankfully) got accepted there. Our daughter isn't sure where she wants to go or exactly what she wants to study. (We've recommended a gap year and she is not for that at all!)
Cheers all and stay healthy!
Hi Mike,
Glad you are asking the questions. Your profile says Boston. If you are there, the Northeast has tons of D-3 schools with a wide range of ability levels. Will try to succinctly answer your questions:
a) These are the national levels: D-1, D-2, D-3, NAIA, Junior College, and CCS. The major ones are the first 5. D-2 is more like D-1 in that they offer athletic scholarships. If you go to www.collegeswimming.com, you can sort all collegiate times by division to see where your daughter best fits - swimmingwise. All of the divisions are anywhere in the country, but D-3 seems to be much more prevalent in the Northeast through the mid-west.
b) The amount of money that D-3 schools might have is entirely by academic or special ability definition and cannot be athletically determined. Where I coached, their academic scholarships were up to almost 50% of the total cost. BUT, each school is different.
c) Regardless of the division, it is rare for a college to guarantee 4 years of support. Even at the D-1 level, most swimmers are going year to year. As the saying goes, what have you done for me lately? The same is true of academic scholarships - you have to get the grades in college to keep the scholarship.
d) CCS is coming on pretty fast and I do not know this division very well.
e) Calvin offered good info here. The college season runs from late September through February. The serious programs will ask for 20 hr/wk of swimming and dryland. Studies should come first. Attrition can be high - up to 50% - at the college level for alot of different reasons. It is really important for your daughter to go someplace that she likes even if she is not swimming. Unfortunately, partying and drinking are part of pretty much every college - some more than others though.
Other things to consider: does your daughter want to be #1 on the team or is ok with being #2 or #3 in her events. Does she want to get to Nationals? If she want to do internships, they can compromise the swim season. Chances are the schools she finally considered will be quite similar in academics, atmosphere, etc.. Therefore, her relationship with the coach could be crucial to helping her when she has a rough patch.
I have coached at all levels and, in my opinion, college has the most amount of drama. Visiting the schools is really important. Luckily, D-3 does not have a restriction regarding the number of official visits, so go to alot of them and ask all of these questions to coaches and admissions people (either in person or over the phone). It is ok to call the coaches any time. Also, she should consider how far away she wants to be in case coming home is important.
Be aware her thinking might change alot in the next 6-12 months. Having to make a decision is alot tougher than window-shopping. And, senior year tends to bring clarity to what she will want. What I am saying - is be prepared for a roller-coaster of where she wants to attend.
Finally, from personal experience, most college kids do better if they find a place where they are in the upper 25% of their class and sport. So, it is unlikely she is going to make huge time drops that will leap-frog the competition. Not getting faster is high on the list of not finishing 4 years of college.
Hope this helps...
Hi Mike,
Glad you are asking the questions. Your profile says Boston. If you are there, the Northeast has tons of D-3 schools with a wide range of ability levels. Will try to succinctly answer your questions:
a) These are the national levels: D-1, D-2, D-3, NAIA, Junior College, and CCS. The major ones are the first 5. D-2 is more like D-1 in that they offer athletic scholarships. If you go to www.collegeswimming.com, you can sort all collegiate times by division to see where your daughter best fits - swimmingwise. All of the divisions are anywhere in the country, but D-3 seems to be much more prevalent in the Northeast through the mid-west.
b) The amount of money that D-3 schools might have is entirely by academic or special ability definition and cannot be athletically determined. Where I coached, their academic scholarships were up to almost 50% of the total cost. BUT, each school is different.
c) Regardless of the division, it is rare for a college to guarantee 4 years of support. Even at the D-1 level, most swimmers are going year to year. As the saying goes, what have you done for me lately? The same is true of academic scholarships - you have to get the grades in college to keep the scholarship.
d) CCS is coming on pretty fast and I do not know this division very well.
e) Calvin offered good info here. The college season runs from late September through February. The serious programs will ask for 20 hr/wk of swimming and dryland. Studies should come first. Attrition can be high - up to 50% - at the college level for alot of different reasons. It is really important for your daughter to go someplace that she likes even if she is not swimming. Unfortunately, partying and drinking are part of pretty much every college - some more than others though.
Other things to consider: does your daughter want to be #1 on the team or is ok with being #2 or #3 in her events. Does she want to get to Nationals? If she want to do internships, they can compromise the swim season. Chances are the schools she finally considered will be quite similar in academics, atmosphere, etc.. Therefore, her relationship with the coach could be crucial to helping her when she has a rough patch.
I have coached at all levels and, in my opinion, college has the most amount of drama. Visiting the schools is really important. Luckily, D-3 does not have a restriction regarding the number of official visits, so go to alot of them and ask all of these questions to coaches and admissions people (either in person or over the phone). It is ok to call the coaches any time. Also, she should consider how far away she wants to be in case coming home is important.
Be aware her thinking might change alot in the next 6-12 months. Having to make a decision is alot tougher than window-shopping. And, senior year tends to bring clarity to what she will want. What I am saying - is be prepared for a roller-coaster of where she wants to attend.
Finally, from personal experience, most college kids do better if they find a place where they are in the upper 25% of their class and sport. So, it is unlikely she is going to make huge time drops that will leap-frog the competition. Not getting faster is high on the list of not finishing 4 years of college.
Hope this helps...
