Playing college football at a prestigious university

Colleges & Universities Carnegie Mellon University
1

<p>Carnegie Mellon’s head football coach has contacted us at home a few times - seems they’re interested in recruiting Brandon for their football team next year. I believe he’s also talked to Brandon’s high school coaches. </p>

<p>n the past, Brandon had not expressed any reciprocal interest in CMU. Indeed, he flat-out said “No” just a couple of weeks ago when we asked him point-blank if he would want to attend Carnegie Mellon or play college football. </p>

<p>But . . . last night, a CMU football player called Brandon at home, and they spoke for about 10 minutes. He told the guy that he was “mildly interested” in going to CMU and playing football. </p>

<p>Brandon never minces words and has very little tact; if he had NO interest, he would have told the guy exactly that. </p>

<p>And if he wasn’t, he would have NEVER told US he was “mildly interested.” He probably wouldn’t have even told us who had called! Appears he was a little flattered by the attention - who wouldn’t be?</p>

<p>I think it is safe to assume that getting that call made him think more favorably about CMU and football. </p>

<p>I’ve emailed CMU’s head coach today to:

  1. tell him to congratulate whoever thought of having a current football player call Brandon
  2. tell him a little bit about Brandon’s high school and athletic achievements
  3. let him know that Brandon will be playing in our county high school All-Star football game next Wednesday, and if there is a current or former CMU football player living in our area, perhaps he might want to ask that person to come talk to Brandon after the game. </p>

<p>I didn’t think to ask about athletic scholarships at CMU. I looked on their web site and this link was all I could find: </p>

<p>“If you are interested in being recruited for Carnegie Mellon varsity sports, please click on the sport on the right navigation and fill out the form.”</p>

<p>I know literally nothing about the college athletic recruiting process. Does an athletic scholarship generally mean tuition is paid? or housing? or both? Or a small stipend? </p>

<p>Carnegie is such a prestigious school & has such a great reputation for business & engineering, it would be great if Brandon had the opportunity to attend, even if he intends to pursue pre-med. </p>

<p>Does anyone out there know anything about CMU’s pre-med reputation?</p>

<p>I know it’s a little late in the game to be seriously thinking about another prestigious school. Brandon has already applied to Notre Dame and Unviersity of Florida, and is working on apps to Duke, Vanderbilt, Harvard, and Stanford. </p>

<p>Thanks so much in advance for any help on this!</p>

2

<p>College sports are in three levels - DI, DII, and DIII.
There are all kinds of rules guidelines relating to each about everything from recruiting to scholarships.
I am surprised if he is that good that no one else has contacted you and that you do not know anything about college sports. His high school coach should have been giving him/you information. You should have been contacting all the coaches at the various colleges (each place usually has a recruitment form on the web site like CMU does) if there is any interest. Also, if he would be considering playing for DI or DII team he would have to register through the NCAA clearing house:
<a href=“https://www.ncaaclearinghouse.net/NCAA/common/index.html[/url]”>https://www.ncaaclearinghouse.net/NCAA/common/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Anyhow, regarding scholarships, CMU is DIII, and DIII schools cannot offer athletic scholarships.<br>
DI schools do have scholarships and I am not sure about DII.
Here is info on the NCAA web site about recruiting:
<a href=“http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLN4j3CQXJgFjGpvqRqCKOcAFfj_zcVH1v_QD9gtzQiHJHRUUAc0tpTA!!/delta/base64xml/L3dJdyEvUUd3QndNQSEvNElVRS82XzBfTFU!?CONTENT_URL=http://www2.ncaa.org/portal/legislation_and_governance/eligibility_and_recruiting/recruiting.html[/url]”>http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLN4j3CQXJgFjGpvqRqCKOcAFfj_zcVH1v_QD9gtzQiHJHRUUAc0tpTA!!/delta/base64xml/L3dJdyEvUUd3QndNQSEvNElVRS82XzBfTFU!?CONTENT_URL=http://www2.ncaa.org/portal/legislation_and_governance/eligibility_and_recruiting/recruiting.html&lt;/a&gt;
Finally, here is the lists of DI, II, and III football schools:
<a href=“http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLN4j3CQXJgFjGpvqRqCKOcAFfj_zcVH1v_QD9gtzQiHJHRUUAc0tpTA!!/delta/base64xml/L3dJdyEvUUd3QndNQSEvNElVRS82XzBfTFU!?CONTENT_URL=http://www2.ncaa.org/portal/sports/fall/football/mens/index.html[/url]”>http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLN4j3CQXJgFjGpvqRqCKOcAFfj_zcVH1v_QD9gtzQiHJHRUUAc0tpTA!!/delta/base64xml/L3dJdyEvUUd3QndNQSEvNElVRS82XzBfTFU!?CONTENT_URL=http://www2.ncaa.org/portal/sports/fall/football/mens/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I think Duke, Notre Dame, and UF are all DI and would have scholarships. How available they are , how many kids get them, I do not know.
I think since Harvard is ivy they do not have athletic scholarships either but if he was wanted by the team it would be a great hook to get admitted. As it will be at CMU since the coach obviously wants him.</p>

3

<p>I think the big question is does your son want to play football in college? Even at a DIII he’ll have a large time commitment, and I too believe DIII doesn’t offer athletic scholarships. CMU is much different from, say, Notre Dame.</p>

<p>CMU’s team won UAA league championship this year, lost in round 2 of NCAAs. They were undefeated in regular season so the team is good for its level.</p>

<p>Pre-med…till recently you could access their career center and see where, for instance, biology or chem majors went to medical school, but it seems now you need a CMU account to get this information. Here’s an older thread:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=73850&highlight=medical+school+buffalo[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=73850&highlight=medical+school+buffalo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>A minor point…I’d encourage Brandon himself to send subsequent e-mails to the coach.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

4

<p>Interesting . . . I didn’t know DIII schools cannot offer athletic scholarships. That could make a big difference. </p>

<p>Thanks so much for everyone’s help with this!</p>

5

<p>AKA, Developmental or Merit Scholarships/Assists.</p>

6

<p>Even if Brandon can’t receive an explicit athletic scholarship, I think that many Div III schools are more generous with merit scholarships for recruited athletes than for other students. You might be best off asking on the Parent’s Forum or searching it for past discussions about athletics in college in general.</p>

7

<p>Well, I don’t know what to tell you about getting money for sports, but I can tell you a bit about the program itself. However, I know a lot of people, including myself, who have scholarship/grant money though CMU.</p>

<p>I’m a girl, so I’m obviously not on the football team. However, I’m dating a guy who is. It does take up a decent amount of time but I haven’t heard anyone complaining. This year, our football team had a record of 11-1 and we actually ranked pretty high within DIII. All of the guys I know that play are really fun, down to earth people. Also, my boyfriend will be going to med school. He’s not “pre-med” per se, but he is double majoring in biomedical and mechanical engineering. I have other friends who are pursuing a more traditional pre-med path, and they are extremely competetive students.</p>

<p>CMU is an amazing place. You should really try to encourage your son’s interest if you believe that it’s a good fit.</p>