Originally Posted by Anonymous
My worst fear as a parent would be my kid committing to a selective school as a 9th grader, and then the way it turns out he has a 3.6-3.7 and only above average scores. There are a lot of kids out there who have a 4.0 capability. I believe the kids who get the best grades work the hardest for their grades. Worst of all worlds is a scholarship school coach telling a non-revenue sport kid that he can get him in with a 3.xx. Or an Ivy coach stating that, whether it really is 3.0 or even 3.6. A 3.6 won't get any non-preferenced kid into a very selective school. I think a valid point is that coaches have some room, but not nearly as much as they think they do. The kids who didn't get into Princeton weren't lax bros, one our family knew had good grades, but not great grades. A 3.9 was definitely attainable but he was a 3.6 and didn't ace out any AP courses or tests. I am plenty familiar with "room", as I needed and got some as a recruited athlete a generation ago to a selective school D1 program. I did the "senior slide" spring of senior year and got 3 Bs and only 2 As, and that alone was not a big deal. I see it as a risk that a kid committed far in advance of senior year has the temptation to glide some and have a longer more mediocre academic record. I can appreciate that maybe the #1 and the #2 recruit can get a lot of room, but I rather doubt coaches at Penn or at Princetok can show up with a portfolio of 9 or 10 kids needing a lot or any room at all.


your worst fear as a parent is that your kid doesn't get admitted to a "selective" school? Charmed life