I am a visiting lecturer in the Economics department at Georgetown. I have seen a lot of student athletes pass through and can appreciate these factors as a parent of a lacrosse player in this 2017 class:
1. Student athletes manage a course load on top of approximately 25 hours a week drained for sports. Thankfully most athletes are good time managers. 2. Assuming a student athlete manages time well, there is not a lot of it left. If that time is used to study and prepare, but difficulty remains to make grades it makes a solution nearly impossible. I believe you are greatly overestimating the value of academic support/tutoring. Yes, it is going to be there. But will it help cure the problem? If yes, then barely at best. I have been approached by many decorated student athletes from Georgetown and other strong schools on the D1 lacrosse circuit for job search help. There is nothing anyone can do to alter a bad outcome: if you graduate from a Georgetown or a UVa with a "staying eligible" GPA it cheapens out what was otherwise a great value to have a degree from a strong school. 3. If you can accept that tutoring or support are not the magic cures, then what I would suggest is commit that your kid takes 5 years for college or goes to school each Summer to finish in 4. Right there with that comment I blow up your economic spread in that a parent will pay or the student athlete will incur debt for an additional year of college at full price.
You want your son to have a degree that carries him well in life. The 2.5 student athlete club is not going to carry a kid far...even with a degree from a great school.
Excellent post and thank you for your contribution from Georgetown University. BOTC welcomes your input on any of the other academic subjects being discussed on this or our other threads.
