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[quote][i]Originally posted by bballman[/i]
[br]As the parent of a baseball player in his senior year of HS and going through the recruiting process, I will give you what I think is the best piece of advice I can give you other parents of baseball players.

Make sure your player does well in school.

How about that??  If your son has talent, his baseball skills will get him noticed.  Either he does or he doesn't have the skills to play at the next level.  The question will be, does he have the grades and test scores to play at the level he wants?  I'll be honest here.  My son has garnered some D1 interest this summer and fall.  Not top level D1, but D1 none the less.  That interest has waned when grades came into the picture.  Are his grades good enough to get into the school?  Possibly.  Are they good enough to get in as a baseball player?  Questionable.  When a college is looking at two players with similar talent, they will take the one with the higher GPA and SAT scores.  It is a reality.  I always heard others telling stories about great players who when seen by a recruiter, the first question asked was - what is your GPA.  Well, I am here to tell you that is a reality.  My son has been asked that many, many times.  He did not do well in school his freshman and sophomore years.  Didn't fail anything, but got a lot of C's and a few A's and B's.  Better his junior year and doing well his senior year so far, but those first two years hurt him.

He currently has generous scholarship offers from some very good D2 schools, but none from D1.  I believe this is because of the grade issue.  Not just because I have rose colored glasses on, but because he has had D1 schools talk to him and after talking about the grade issue, that interest has dried up.

The other issue is getting academic money to go to school.  Another reality is that baseball programs do not have a lot of money to give out.  D1 schools have 11.7 scholarships to spread out among 35 players.  D2 schools have 9 scholarships to spread out among anywhere between 27 and 35 players.  Coaches are trying to manage that money that is available and one of the best ways to do that is to mix in academic money with baseball money.  If they have a kid with good grades, they can get him a good bit of academic money and less baseball money.  They can then save some of the baseball money for a kid with a lot of talent, but less resources - or spread that money around to more players.  It is a very important part of the recruiting process.  The player who can get good academic money is very important to the college coaches.  They all talk about being HOPE eligible - every coach we have talked to.

One more reality.  The baseball world is VERY cometitive.  Most kids want to play at the next level.  The numbers show that there are right around 130,100 seniors playing HS baseball.  During any given year, there are around 7300 spots open for freshman baseball players at NCAA schools.  Do the math.  There is only room for 5.6% of the senior baseball players to play at the NCAA level.  Being a good student along with being a very good baseball player will help you get to the next level.

Anyway, I may have been ranting a little, but I thought that I would bring up some of my insights since we have been going through this process lately.  Do what you have to do to develop your young baseball player, but don't overlook the academic side of things.  It will become VERY important when the time comes. And believe me, it gets there quicker than you can ever imagine.
[/quote]

T O P I C R E V I E W
bballman	Posted - 09/16/2011 : 12:29:34 As the parent of a baseball player in his senior year of HS and going through the recruiting process, I will give you what I think is the best piece of advice I can give you other parents of baseball players. Make sure your player does well in school. How about that?? If your son has talent, his baseball skills will get him noticed. Either he does or he doesn't have the skills to play at the next level. The question will be, does he have the grades and test scores to play at the level he wants? I'll be honest here. My son has garnered some D1 interest this summer and fall. Not top level D1, but D1 none the less. That interest has waned when grades came into the picture. Are his grades good enough to get into the school? Possibly. Are they good enough to get in as a baseball player? Questionable. When a college is looking at two players with similar talent, they will take the one with the higher GPA and SAT scores. It is a reality. I always heard others telling stories about great players who when seen by a recruiter, the first question asked was - what is your GPA. Well, I am here to tell you that is a reality. My son has been asked that many, many times. He did not do well in school his freshman and sophomore years. Didn't fail anything, but got a lot of C's and a few A's and B's. Better his junior year and doing well his senior year so far, but those first two years hurt him. He currently has generous scholarship offers from some very good D2 schools, but none from D1. I believe this is because of the grade issue. Not just because I have rose colored glasses on, but because he has had D1 schools talk to him and after talking about the grade issue, that interest has dried up. The other issue is getting academic money to go to school. Another reality is that baseball programs do not have a lot of money to give out. D1 schools have 11.7 scholarships to spread out among 35 players. D2 schools have 9 scholarships to spread out among anywhere between 27 and 35 players. Coaches are trying to manage that money that is available and one of the best ways to do that is to mix in academic money with baseball money. If they have a kid with good grades, they can get him a good bit of academic money and less baseball money. They can then save some of the baseball money for a kid with a lot of talent, but less resources - or spread that money around to more players. It is a very important part of the recruiting process. The player who can get good academic money is very important to the college coaches. They all talk about being HOPE eligible - every coach we have talked to. One more reality. The baseball world is VERY cometitive. Most kids want to play at the next level. The numbers show that there are right around 130,100 seniors playing HS baseball. During any given year, there are around 7300 spots open for freshman baseball players at NCAA schools. Do the math. There is only room for 5.6% of the senior baseball players to play at the NCAA level. Being a good student along with being a very good baseball player will help you get to the next level. Anyway, I may have been ranting a little, but I thought that I would bring up some of my insights since we have been going through this process lately. Do what you have to do to develop your young baseball player, but don't overlook the academic side of things. It will become VERY important when the time comes. And believe me, it gets there quicker than you can ever imagine.
25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)
Triple	Posted - 09/25/2011 : 07:03:48 Joe- Thanks for your input. Wow. Enlightening. Brings up a lot of questions.
cop311	Posted - 09/24/2011 : 19:42:29 Triple- from what I see a typical AP student could take for example their senior year- AP English AP chemistry AP calculus and then regular history, gym and Heath for example. Conceivably they would have more free time than a full IB program. Of course a student who took all or mostly AP classes would have the same time management challenges. With AP you have the option to do that. With IB you don't have the option to lessen the load.
cop311	Posted - 09/24/2011 : 19:18:11 Without getting into a debate about the whole "global world view of education" the IB program contains other things AP does not. Specifically A 4000 world essay, and service projects. Also, The structures of the two programs are very different. Think of AP and IB this way: AP is a smorgasbord: pick the courses you want, leave behind those that tempt you less. IB, by contrast, is a �prix fixe� menu: you get all or nothing. There is a range of choice within IB, but the entire high school curriculum is dictated by those initial choices. Again I'm not advocating IB and he hasn't been accepted just really interested if anyones kids were in IB and how it affects baseball. Those who are interested can go to just about any college's website and compare the credit transfer policy for IB and AP. Some schools may favor one over the other or be the same.
Triple	Posted - 09/24/2011 : 16:41:12 Do colleges prefer IB over AP? I just don't understand the difference. It seems that both get the same amount of credit. Kids take AP classes and play baseball. What does the IB designation get them that loading up on AP classes doesn't?
JoeBraxton	Posted - 09/24/2011 : 06:44:34 You might want to do some further investigation regarding the IB via these links http://www.truthaboutib.com/home.html http://www.edwatch.org/updates06/040706-IBaq.htm
cop311	Posted - 09/23/2011 : 22:45:40 Kind of hard to say what's better. Both are great for getting into college. It just depends on what you want to do I guess. IB seems more difficult but some colleges give AP more weight. One of those things you have to decide on I guess. I would like my son to be able to play baseball though because he enjoys it so much. Would hate for him to miss that but at the same time if he is able to do the IB program how can you not go for it?
Triple	Posted - 09/23/2011 : 17:41:19 cop311 or anyone else, my questtion was sincere. What is the difference if they both give college credit?
cop311	Posted - 09/23/2011 : 11:12:17 No not debating just hoping to hear it's possible to do both I guess.
Triple	Posted - 09/23/2011 : 10:32:59 What is the difference between IB and just taking AP classes? Both give college credit.
cop311	Posted - 09/23/2011 : 00:27:24 Of course it's a lot of work and time consuming. Not sure if it meshes well with baseball.
cop311	Posted - 09/23/2011 : 00:24:08 The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme for students aged 16�18 that provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into higher education, and is recognised by universities worldwide. Administered by the International Baccalaureate (IB), the IBDP is currently taught in English, French or Spanish. In order to participate in the IBDP, students must attend an IB school. IBDP students complete assessments in six subjects from the six different subject groups, and complete three core requirements. Subjects are assessed using both internal and external assessments, and courses finish with an externally assessed series of examinations, usually consisting of two or three timed written examinations. Internal assessment varies by subject (there may be oral presentations, practical work, or written works) and in most cases is initially graded by the classroom teacher, whose grades are then verified or modified, as necessary, by an appointed, external moderator. Basically you complete the program in high school and depending on which university you go to, a student may enter with enough college credits to graduate a year early.
bbmom2	Posted - 09/22/2011 : 21:01:44 What is the IB program??
cop311	Posted - 09/22/2011 : 17:18:30 Anyone have any experience with the IB program in high school and still playing baseball. My son has a chance to be accepted into the program next year (9th grade) but loves baseball way more than school of course. While he is a good player the reality is doing well academically is going to be a sure bet rather than pinning hopes on a baseball career. BUT he wants to play travel and high school baseball. Anyone's kid do all three?
Dr. Old School	Posted - 09/22/2011 : 15:11:53 I am not sure I buy the statement "your kid's GPA at the end of their Freshman year will be where they end up when they graduate. " If you are saying that in liklihood, how well they do as a freshman is an indication of how they will do the other three years, I can kind of buy that, but that is to assume that if they struggle to get their feet under them their freshman year, and had a few C's, they could not get their bearings and make A's and B's the other 3 years. Now I will strongly agree that not doing well their freshman year can be hard to recover from. Having a 2.5 their freshman year, and making a 3.5 the following three years still only brings you up to around a 3.17 after your Junior year and graduation GPA of a 3.25. It is hard to bring up a full point.
Critical Mass	Posted - 09/22/2011 : 08:56:57 Well said bballman, bear in mind that on average, your kid's GPA at the end of their Freshman year will be where they end up when they graduate. That 1st year is critical, combined with the fact that most kids won't get those "rides" to play baseball and grades become even more important as they enter college and eventually the workforce.
loveforthegame25	Posted - 09/18/2011 : 12:57:00 Thank-you bball. My son was a straight A student until this year. Starting to act like its no big deal to get a B or a C. I'm hoping he has a change in attitude before its too late
rippit	Posted - 09/17/2011 : 19:24:22 quote: Originally posted by PATbb wow, sounds is if the Hope scholarship thing is broken, using grade point average actually would encourage a kid to take easy classes in order to get the better grades, by doing so he may not be ready to handle the college courses because he hasn't taken the college prep courses needed to make it through....should be some sort of sliding scales within the AP(college prep) classes at the high school to reward kids who are challenging themselves with the AP courses and yet can still get good enough "grades" to qualify for Hope. There is. I thInk you know that!! Lol. B in ap same as A regular.
PATbb	Posted - 09/17/2011 : 16:18:23 wow, sounds is if the Hope scholarship thing is broken, using grade point average actually would encourage a kid to take easy classes in order to get the better grades, by doing so he may not be ready to handle the college courses because he hasn't taken the college prep courses needed to make it through....should be some sort of sliding scales within the AP(college prep) classes at the high school to reward kids who are challenging themselves with the AP courses and yet can still get good enough "grades" to qualify for Hope.
coachdan06	Posted - 09/17/2011 : 00:54:33 He-ya Baseballman you write a great article Thankew for shootin it straight and hopefully help along some of the others who havent yet been to the "school of hard knocks"
Gwinnett	Posted - 09/16/2011 : 21:25:52 Great stuff! Thanks!
bballman	Posted - 09/16/2011 : 21:13:09 Most schools go with a sliding scale. The higher the SAT/ACT, the lower the acceptable GPA. Often times the schools will take into account that the classes are AP as well. However, keep in mind that HOPE does not give much if any consideration to AP classes. And in your example, a 2.99 GPA will not get you the HOPE scholarship. Bottom line is schools will take ACT/SAT into consideration relative to GPA. Hope doesn't care much for AP.
baseballparentof2	Posted - 09/16/2011 : 19:39:03 quote: Originally posted by PATbb thanks for the post? one question I would have on this subject is: do they look at ACT scores more than High School GPA? for example: say Kid "1" takes Advanced courses and college prep courses and gets 2.95 out of 4.0 average, where kid "2" takes just your standard course offering and gets 3.5 out of 4.0 average, yet kid "1" scores much higher on ACT than kid "2"....... which Kid gets more of a look? The kid with the 2.95 isn't going to get any academic money since he will need atleast a 3.0 to get some of the HOPE. Doesn't matter what kind of classes he took.
PATbb	Posted - 09/16/2011 : 17:06:18 thanks for the post? one question I would have on this subject is: do they look at ACT scores more than High School GPA? for example: say Kid "1" takes Advanced courses and college prep courses and gets 2.95 out of 4.0 average, where kid "2" takes just your standard course offering and gets 3.5 out of 4.0 average, yet kid "1" scores much higher on ACT than kid "2"....... which Kid gets more of a look?
mallard	Posted - 09/16/2011 : 16:07:06 BBallman, I commend you for your honesty. It's hard for Dad's to be that honest about their "pride and joy". You definitely have hit the nail on the head though. School is very important especially in GA where a lot of coaches look at kids that can get money thru the HOPE scholarship and then they will add their scholarship on top of that. If you have 2 kids with equal talent, or somewhat equal talent and one has better grades and don't get in trouble. The one with the better grades will always win out.
Tribe	Posted - 09/16/2011 : 14:35:03 Great post...thanks

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