Hiring a private college consultant for a strong student/athlete? Where do I start? (costs, middle school)

[GoCUBS1]

Originally Posted by golfgal

It will look very good on their college resumes to work--anywhere. They won't really know it's "your" business. As far as I know there really isn't an age limit to working in a family business but I'm not sure about that. I know kids that were around 13 that were working in family businesses around here.

We have a couple hockey boarding schools near us and while your child is pretty much "guaranteed" a college scholarship if they graduate from those programs....there are a lot of issues at those schools, especially with some inappropriate contact with students...academically they are very good schools but I wouldn't send my child there either.

One consideration for her, if she wanted stronger programs, would be to move to Minnesota...not that you want to uproot your family but one of our older son's dorm mates was one of the top hockey players out of Illinois and didn't make it past the first day of tryouts at their MN college (DI hockey)....

That is good feedback re: the boarding schools as I am apprehensive about it. I am hoping that AAA hockey will get her the right training/exposure. Her coaches have also mentioned Phillips Academy to me, and another hockey school in Toronto...

My DD knows all too well that the MN girls are her biggest competition. She already knows the top MN youth teams / players from tournaments and follows their seasons (e.g. Edina, Duluth) - she can be a little obsessive with that. She has more than once asked if we could move to MN... LOL. It is amazing the number of competitive girls' teams there - just in one town.

She also started later than the MN girls, and had to play with all boys for years because there weren't any girls' teams - but maybe that was an advantage for her. She needs to skate faster but has height and strength and a good shot and assists. She'll likely be over 6 feet tall. She also has a strong work ethic.

She may not be able to compete with the MN and boarding school girls for a D1 scholarship, but maybe her strong academics will get her into the right school. We'll see where this all takes her and how she develops. I will post back a C-D update in 6 years!

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by golfgal

It will look very good on their college resumes to work--anywhere. They won't really know it's "your" business. As far as I know there really isn't an age limit to working in a family business but I'm not sure about that. I know kids that were around 13 that were working in family businesses around here.

We have a couple hockey boarding schools near us and while your child is pretty much "guaranteed" a college scholarship if they graduate from those programs....there are a lot of issues at those schools, especially with some inappropriate contact with students...academically they are very good schools but I wouldn't send my child there either.

One consideration for her, if she wanted stronger programs, would be to move to Minnesota...not that you want to uproot your family but one of our older son's dorm mates was one of the top hockey players out of Illinois and didn't make it past the first day of tryouts at their MN college (DI hockey)....

One of the students from my son's school became the first Florida student to commit to U of MN. His parents had to make the difficult decision to send him up north for school. I think it has been very hard on his mother but he seems to be thriving.

Floridian Guertler making his mark in hockey country - Hockey's Future

I don't know if there are similar programs for girls.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

One of the students from my son's school became the first Florida student to commit to U of MN. His parents had to make the difficult decision to send him up north for school. I think it has been very hard on his mother but he seems to be thriving.

Floridian Guertler making his mark in hockey country - Hockey's Future

I don't know if there are similar programs for girls.

These are the exact programs we are talking about. Being "from Florida" and growing up playing in Florida isn't quite the same thing. He has been playing in the elite leagues in the area for years, same as the OP's D. Most elite hockey players go this route and either play in the MN/ND/Canada area leagues, etc. The best hockey players rarely stay with their high school teams and move on and do online schooling or whatever to graduate.

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by golfgal

These are the exact programs we are talking about. Being "from Florida" and growing up playing in Florida isn't quite the same thing. He has been playing in the elite leagues in the area for years, same as the OP's D. Most elite hockey players go this route and either play in the MN/ND/Canada area leagues, etc. The best hockey players rarely stay with their high school teams and move on and do online schooling or whatever to graduate.

I know exactly what you are talking about. There is another boy from the same area who made the decision to quit hockey because he had gotten to the point where he had to move up north permanently and he just didn't want to do it. He is also an excellent football player and stayed here for football. He just didn't want to leave his family when he was so young.

I know some people in Philly (friends of my cousin) who find housing for hockey players from around the country so that they can train in areas where the level of play is very high. The kids they deal with go to a private day schools but board with families in private homes, not at boarding schools. I don't know if that would be an option for the OP instead of boarding school or if it is even necessary. There are a few kids from FL who have gotten D1 scholarships from FL but Gabe is the first to sign at U of MN.

I don't know how much the girls programs follow the boys.

At any rate the OP will have some options for her daughter. The educational consultant who posted in this thread was right on about finding a school where the child would be happy if they were not able to play their sport.

It is really really important for kids to like the school first and the situation in their sport second. Last season was my son's first year at Case Western and he got very little playing time. He was very glad that he picked a school where he was happy to be a student first and a football player second. He is expecting to play more his sophomore year but I think it can be really rough for a star HS player to get zero playing time in college. Kids really have to like their school situation because when they are faced with an injury or lack of playing time it can be tough to take if you hate your school as well.
We know quite a few football players who went to schools just to play football and wound up getting hurt and being stuck at a school that they would never have chosen if football was not in the picture.

[GoCUBS1]

Thanks again for the feedback. I'm all ears!

I agree with my DD choosing a college on academics first. As I said in a previous post, I don't want hockey to detract from her educational goals. She has very high educational goals.

At the risk of bragging (and I apologize if it is coming off this way, but I want to properly convey her intelligence/academic level), I'll say that she is not just a top student, she has consistently (for years) had the top natl. test scores/grades in one of the best gifted schools in the country. She has placed out of testing levels (e.g. above 99.99% in Cogat, above 12th grade in MAP/ISAT). The school hired an outside psychologist to try to better assess her IQ levels. We were told that they do not know what her top IQ ceiling is, because above 99.99% it gets tricky. She is considered "profoundly gifted" at this level. This summer, she will take the ACT. She is 11.

She is 1 out of 15 students (from a class of 1,000+ in an excellent school district) in the high gifted program AND she is the top of that class. Her curriculum is 3-4 years accelerated. She is equally strong in math and reading (left and right brain). She is also completely ambidextrous (which is good for hockey and music). Her teacher has recommended looking into IMSA (one of the best STEM H.S. in the country). She was also a top student at both Northwestern U's & Stanford's Gifted & Talented programs, which she will attend again this summer. If she is not an academic standout, I don't know who is. I do not think schools like MIT are out of the realm of possibilities for her.

She may be a good hockey player, but in the scheme of things, she is more of a standout as a student. Her brain can take her very far. I have seen better AAA hockey players at her level, but I have seen very few (if any) at her academic level.

Again, I am sorry if this comes across as bragging, but I am trying to properly convey her academic level. I am very confused as to how to help her best plan for college, perhaps leveraging her sport along with her academics, etc. I need some guidance on this because I believe she will have lots of opportunities/paths to choose from, and I don't think I'm properly equipped to navigate these waters.

[golfgal]

I'm a planner, I understand why you want to have this information now but she has a lot of years ahead of her to worry about this and she is going to change each and every year. If she is that accelerated she will have plenty of choices. You will just need to apply to a lot of schools, 10-15 schools probably since the type of schools she will most likely be interested in have low acceptance rates, even for brilliant students. It just is what it is. I also suspect, and this may change as well, that when push comes to shove she won't want to play in college. Playing a DI sport is VERY time intensive and she will miss a LOT of school from October to March playing, then all the off season training, etc. She will probably be better off in a DIII school like MIT (I'm assuming they have hockey) because the schedule isn't as rigorous for games.

She will get in somewhere, it might not be her #1 choice but there are a lot of brilliant kids that do not either. When the time comes she should apply to 3/4ths of her choices, whatever they are, as "reach" schools--for her that will be admissions reaches--so MIT, Cal Tech, etc. The other 1/4th should be safety schools, schools she knows she will get into, most likely schools like your state Flagship or an out of state private school like Carleton, maybe even Notre Dame, etc. The problem she will have, however, is her "safety schools" may feel that way and reject her because they don't think she will attend.

Her best chances of getting into an academic school is to apply to a lot of them...or if your finances are such she can apply ED at her favorite school and be done with it if she gets in. ED is iffy for financial aid so you really need to be prepared to pay the full cost--or if she goes hockey, she will have to apply ED or EA for Ivy's and similar (ED is early decision and if you get in you have to go to that school--EA is early action and you find out sooner if she is admitted or not but you don't HAVE to go there). Ivy's that are recruiting an athlete will require EA--keep in mind that they do not give scholarships but their financial aid is wonderful.

I would let the hockey develop as it will. I wouldn't worry too much about her needing that to get in right now. It will be there if she wants it to be down the road. It's good to have a loose plan, but it's just too early to decide. Coaches can't even start contacting her for 3 more years.

If, when application season starts and she is like a lot of teenagers and think you have no brain cells and doesn't listen, then would be a good time to pull in a college counselor, until then, don't. You are doing everything you can for her now, she is well rounded, obviously smart and doing well in school, etc. That's the best thing you can do for her at this point.

[GoCUBS1]

In case anyone is interested (comments encouraged!), here are the Women's NCAA ice hockey programs.

I am surprised there are so many. I didn't think there were that many competitive, college level players out there (many are probably coming from MN, Canada, or Finland though). One good thing (for my DD) is that there was a drop in hockey enrollment at my daughter's age level (probably as a result of the poor economy - it's an expensive sport!) so that may help her cause.

Div IA NCAA Tournament:

Bemidji State University
Boston College
Boston University
Brown University
Clarkson University
Colgate University
University of Connecticut
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Harvard University
Lindenwood University
University of Maine
Mercyhurst University
University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota Duluth
Minnesota State University
University of New Hampshire
University of North Dakota
Northeastern University
Ohio State University
Pennsylvania State University
Princeton University
Providence College
Quinnipiac University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rochester Institute of Technology
Robert Morris University
Sacred Heart University
St. Cloud State University
St. Lawrence University
Syracuse University
Union College
University of Vermont
University of Wisconsin
Yale University


Div III NCAA Tournament:

Adrian College
Amherst College
Augsburg College
Bethel University
Bowdoin College
Buffalo State College
Castleton State College
Chatham University
Colby College
Concordia College
Concordia University Wisconsin
Connecticut College
Elmira College
Finlandia University
Gustavus Adolphus College
Hamilton College
Hamline University
College of the Holy Cross
Lake Forest College
Manhattanville College
Marian University
University of Massachusetts
Middlebury College
Neumann University
New England College
Nichols College
Norwich University
Plymouth State University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Saint Anselm College
College of Saint Benedict
St. Catherine University
St. Mary’s University
Saint Michael's College
St. Norbert College
St. Olaf College
College of St. Scholastica
University of St. Thomas
Salve Regina University
University of Southern Maine
State University of New York at Courtland
State University of New York at Oswego
State University of New York at Plattsburgh
State University of New York at Potsdam
Trinity College
Utica College
Wesleyan University
Williams College
University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
University of Wisconsin–River Falls
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
University of Wisconsin–Superior

[Katarina Witt]

I don't have kids in high school any more, so I don't want to steer you wrong, OP, but. . . everything I have read says that you do not have to pay someone to help you get scholarships. This was certainly true wrt academic scholarships 5-10 years ago when my kids were going to college. I don't know what has changed since then.

I'm surprised to read that St. Olaf has women's hockey.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Katiana

I don't have kids in high school any more, so I don't want to steer you wrong, OP, but. . . everything I have read says that you do not have to pay someone to help you get scholarships. This was certainly true wrt academic scholarships 5-10 years ago when my kids were going to college. I don't know what has changed since then.

I'm surprised to read that St. Olaf has women's hockey.

It's in MN--everyone has hockey in MN

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by Katiana

I don't have kids in high school any more, so I don't want to steer you wrong, OP, but. . . everything I have read says that you do not have to pay someone to help you get scholarships. This was certainly true wrt academic scholarships 5-10 years ago when my kids were going to college. I don't know what has changed since then.

I'm surprised to read that St. Olaf has women's hockey.

Its in MN of course they have hockey.