UNC's lacrosse recruiter left over the summer. I wonder if he was smart to see this coming. Now he is in the same position at UPenn.
UPenn just publicly committed a 2018. A high school freshman with no grades, no scores. From a lacrosse evaluation perspective, the recruiting tournaments for clubs in fall don't start until this weekend.
This is lunacy. An Ivy League school allowing a coach this latitude? I am sure this kid is an exceptional lacrosse player, but if I had a UPenn degree I would feel pretty embarrassed and offended by these admissions spot hall passes for kids with junior high school transcripts. Most applicants to UPenn submit perfect grades and scores into their senior year, and most of them don't get in.
Who is the commit? From Long Island?
Must be either PA/NJ/LI or NE. The Canadians and MD kids generally do not go IVY (there are exceptions so don't go crazy). Now, before we all get crazy, keep in mind that this kid does not even have a "likely" letter and certainly has not passed through admissions. All he has done is commit to the admissions process when the time comes. If he doesn't get the grades, he will not get in and he'll play elsewhere. No winks or faint promises will get the kid in - he will have to earn it although for sure he can get in with grades below the avg penn applicant - but they still have to be very strong grades and test scores before he gets his "likely" letter. Unfortunately, we're now likely to see a bunch of these "diaper" committed to the admissions process announcements from the other IVYs too. Just grin and bear it.
I'll tell you what's crazy though. A kid committing to High Point over Cornell. Clearly a 4 year lax decision and not a 40 year consideration.
How do you know? Have you spoken to the kid or his family? Could it be that Cornell is over his head and he would rather a higher gpa at High Point? Could he want to be a teacher or police officer and thus could not justify the additional debt at Cornell? Could he not want to shovel snow before practice or play February games in Ithaca? Maybe he got an offer he couldn't refuse or maybe he fell in love with the High Point campus. Or better yet, maybe he just couldn't stand being around people like you for 4 years, not everyone wants to take over the world. Considering the kid goes to one of the toughest high schools in the country, I'd say it's fair to assume that he and his family put a lot of thought into this decision and came away with High Point being the best decision for him. I guess they should have called you first though…
Or maybe he just wants to work for a IVY grad.
Could be High Point offers a major he is interested in, could be financial, could be the kid wants a life out of academics. I have a bunch of relatives who went to Ivy schools. Some are successful, two are chronically unemployed (one Yale, one Princeton). have no clue how to manage personal finances and always think they are too good for every job they are offered. At 40 plus still have student debt. An Ivy education not for everyone and it is not a guarantee of success, especially if you are miserable while attending. Be happy the kid left a spot for your kid!
