Austin College

[EWNHorn]

Hey guys
I figured some of you may have info to help me! My son is being recruited by DIII Austin College to play OT. He was a TE at Texas High for his Soph and Jr years and moved to OT when he had a big growth spurt his Jr year. He got meaningful snaps on the 5A D2 THS football team that went 4 rounds deep in the playoffs. He was still learning the position and just couldn't beat the starter.
Now AC is a hella expensive college and they do academic scholarships and his grades are pretty good. 3.6 gpa with DC classes. Anybody know much about this school? They found him at a camp we went to about 2 weeks ago and they call or text everyday just about. Anybody have some information on how DIII works? Its in Sherman and he's very excited but it has to be in a certain price range hahaha.

I'm a proud dad because he never missed a practice or summer workout since he started football his freshman year (my ex, his mom, wouldn't let him play until i just signed him up freshman year). Great kid and never been in trouble. Just wants to be a coach.

Thanks for any info, because this is out of my realm of knowledge.

 

[clob94]

First-- congrats.

Second-- I was never recruited by D3-- but its my understanding they don't give scholarships.

Third-- if your boy gets offered money for tution, ask for more. There's chingoles of free money out there in the form of Pell grants and foundations and trusts set up by rich alumni. I'll say it again-- ask for MORE funds. The worst they can say is "no".

Finally-- D3 football isn't a job. D1-- total fvcking job. You've REALLY got to love playing football to play D3. Why? Because you're on the clock.
See-- in HS, most starters think they've got a shot to go to college-- SOME college-- to keep their career going. D3 kids-- they know they've got 4-5 years and then football is over. Giving up that sport is hard to do. You gotta truly love the game to play at that level. Most texas High schools have better facilities- draw bigger crowds, and are more recognized in their community than D3 players. There's a decent chance that most kids he takes classes with won't ever know he is on the team.

Finally-- ask for more money.

 

[EWNHorn]

Thanks.
The school is $56K a year. They "feel like" they can get him around $30K in scholarships. I will have him fill out Pell and other grants for sure. Now every coach makes a kid feel like they really want him but hes taller and bigger than most all their current OL and he's decently athletic since he was a TE before moving.
Yes, his current stadium is bigger than the one they have. He loves the game. He studies game film every week. He's taught me things I didn't even know. He just wants to play as long as he can. He does know he won't be in the NFL. The school seems to be well respected in academics.

Thanks Clob. He won't ever be DI but he is the kid that coaches dream of because its always "Yes sir". He will do whatever is asked of him. This college as a whole is smaller or same size as his high school.

I appreciate the info

 

[HornEsch]

Yeah my son is being recruited by them as well. It is way different than D1 school when it comes to scholarships. The school itself is really small, about the size of a high school. For my son they were not a good school for what he wanted to study. He only plans to use football if it gets him a scholarship. He is an undersized OL (5'11 265) so he isn't going to get any D1 offers. So it would have to be e D2/3 and again the way they do money, is a lot different and not even always available.

 

[NativeTex]

The academic rep of AC is hard to beat, historically. Check out their rates of placing grads in graduate & professional programs. Pretty demanding classroom work.
There's always money. My daughter was accepted at a private school, and I was astonished at the amount of money that could be made available. She wisely chose to go elsewhere, but if she hadn't, we found that we could afford the private place, with all the help. We actually paid an academic and admissions counselor to help us with that; didn't cost much and was worth it. This was > 10 years ago though; things change.

 

[weevilcatch]

Austin College is not very good at football. However, it does have an excellent reputation for their grads as stated above.

D3 schools, many anyway, have endowments that they can use to help get the price down. If a school REALLY wants to get a kid they will find the money. It's almost like buying a car, lol, you have a price in your head you will pay and you try and get the dealer to that price. If they won't get there then you either leave, or deal with the financial obligation.

With that said, if your son loves to play and wants to coach then giving it a run is worth it IMO. I played D2 baseball...had some preferred walk on options to a few D1s, but ultimately took my scholly from a D2. Loved every minute of it. No regrets one bit.

 

[NativeTex]

Austin College is not very good at football. However, it does have an excellent reputation for their grads as stated above.

D3 schools, many anyway, have endowments that they can use to help get the price down. If a school REALLY wants to get a kid they will find the money. It's almost like buying a car, lol, you have a price in your head you will pay and you try and get the dealer to that price. If they won't get there then you either leave, or deal with the financial obligation.

With that said, if your son loves to play and wants to coach then giving it a run is worth it IMO. I played D2 baseball...had some preferred walk on options to a few D1s, but ultimately took my scholly from a D2. Loved every minute of it. No regrets one bit.

Excellent advice, and coming from a place of real experience. Well said.

 

[westx]

Austin College is not very good at football. However, it does have an excellent reputation for their grads as stated above.

D3 schools, many anyway, have endowments that they can use to help get the price down. If a school REALLY wants to get a kid they will find the money. It's almost like buying a car, lol, you have a price in your head you will pay and you try and get the dealer to that price. If they won't get there then you either leave, or deal with the financial obligation.

With that said, if your son loves to play and wants to coach then giving it a run is worth it IMO. I played D2 baseball...had some preferred walk on options to a few D1s, but ultimately took my scholly from a D2. Loved every minute of it. No regrets one bit.

Man, I didn’t know you were a collegiate baseball player. Learn something new every day. I thought you were a fūtbol guy (or is that wasatch).

 

[weevilcatch]

Man, I didn’t know you were a collegiate baseball player. Learn something new every day. I thought you were a fūtbol guy (or is that wasatch).

Haha, I'm definitely a futbol guy just didn't play. My athletic skill sets were more accustomed to baseball than soccer.

 

[EWNHorn]

Thanks guys. I wish our HS coaches helped a little more with DIII contacts but they are focused on the DI guys which I understand. Like I said he played a good bit as back up and filled in with injuries.
I don't know how to make the contacts so we took him to a small college camp and he got interest from 3 schools but AC has been the most aggressive. He just moved to OT this year so there was a huge learning curve from TE. He isn't a DI or DII kid.....definitely DIII at best. Just trying to figure this out without ever going through it myself.

 

[ElDiabloTejano]

First, from a T High alum, congrats on a great season. I'm gonna be Mr buzzkill, though. Often, the entire purpose of these d3 football programs is to get students enrolled. They play on the egos of the parents and kids that want to post on social media that junior got an offer to play at suchandsuch place. Then they tell you they can give you 3000 dollars in financial aid (because again, d3 can't give scholarships). But it costs 25 grand a year to go there. So the school isn't getting the full 25g but they have you on the hook for a big chunk. Then the kid makes friends and doesn't want to leave and gets more student loans, etc. I hope this isn't your case, but as a high school coach I see this racket every year. Do your due diligence. Sorry to be debbie downer.

Who ya wit? T-HIGH!

 

[EWNHorn]

First, from a T High alum, congrats on a great season. I'm gonna be Mr buzzkill, though. Often, the entire purpose of these d3 football programs is to get students enrolled. They play on the egos of the parents and kids that want to post on social media that junior got an offer to play at suchandsuch place. Then they tell you they can give you 3000 dollars in financial aid (because again, d3 can't give scholarships). But it costs 25 grand a year to go there. So the school isn't getting the full 25g but they have you on the hook for a big chunk. Then the kid makes friends and doesn't want to leave and gets more student loans, etc. I hope this isn't your case, but as a high school coach I see this racket every year. Do your due diligence. Sorry to be debbie downer.

Who ya wit? T-HIGH!

Oh no. They've offered enough to get him way down and thats without Pell grants and stuff he will qualify for. We want what he wants and he knows if he can't get the total number down to a certain point then its the JC here that has no football. I've been very clear with the coach that it's only happening if we can get way down because we can do it way cheaper at JC and then send to state sponsored DI school as a student only and be all good.
You're not a Debby Downer at all! That's the info I need that I'm not getting anywhere! I've got him applying for every scholarship and grant known to man! He just wants 4 more years of the grind and the games. He doesn't care the record he just wants to help!

What class were you?

 

[weevilcatch]

First, from a T High alum, congrats on a great season. I'm gonna be Mr buzzkill, though. Often, the entire purpose of these d3 football programs is to get students enrolled. They play on the egos of the parents and kids that want to post on social media that junior got an offer to play at suchandsuch place. Then they tell you they can give you 3000 dollars in financial aid (because again, d3 can't give scholarships). But it costs 25 grand a year to go there. So the school isn't getting the full 25g but they have you on the hook for a big chunk. Then the kid makes friends and doesn't want to leave and gets more student loans, etc. I hope this isn't your case, but as a high school coach I see this racket every year. Do your due diligence. Sorry to be debbie downer.

Who ya wit? T-HIGH!

A lot of this. I can't speak on football, but in baseball D3/NAIA and some D2 schools will bring in 55/60 kids in August. It is a numbers game. 15/20 kids will quit in the first couple of weeks because they find out that college baseball isn't like their HS...everyone is good and they're just another guy.

I know in NAIA it is how some schools are funded their scholarships. Bring in X amount of kids and you get X amount of schollies.

ElDiablo is right on in many cases, but again it's why I said if a school REALLY wants a kid they'll find the money. And often times, kids will get more money from the school in order to retain them after year 1 or 2.

 

[Buck Bomb]

I played D3 football for 4 years. I can speak to all the ins and outs. Austin College FB program stinks BTW.
CLOB pretty much nailed it. There is money out there. (grants, financial aid) Ask for it. There is also "work" programs at every D3 school. They pay student athletes by the hour to help out around campus. Example: watch over the weight room in the evenings. In my day those 8 hours per week ended up being 20. I would ask the coaches if that would be an option for your son.

 

[EWNHorn]

I played D3 football for 4 years. I can speak to all the ins and outs. Austin College FB program stinks BTW.
CLOB pretty much nailed it. There is money out there. (grants, financial aid) Ask for it. There is also "work" programs at every D3 school. They pay student athletes by the hour to help out around campus. Example: watch over the weight room in the evenings. In my day those 8 hours per week ended up being 20. I would ask the coaches if that would be an option for your son.

Thanks!!!

 

[EWNHorn]

Yeh I see their record is bad. He just wants to play somewhere.

 

[TX1972]

I had several friends from high school who went to AC and others I met in med school. All were happy with their choice. I know that even the Ivy League gets "academic" schollies for jocks, because I knew dads of ball players who told me. If you can afford it, I would recommend AC.

 

[GORME]

Now AC is a hella expensive college and they do academic scholarships and his grades are pretty good. 3.6 gpa with DC classes. Anybody know much about this school? They found him at a camp we went to about 2 weeks ago and they call or text everyday just about. Anybody have some information on how DIII works? Its in Sherman and he's very excited but it has to be in a certain price range hahaha.

I'm a proud dad because he never missed a practice or summer workout since he started football his freshman year (my ex, his mom, wouldn't let him play until i just signed him up freshman year). Great kid and never been in trouble. Just wants to be a coach.

Thanks for any info, because this is out of my realm of knowledge.

SU in Georgetown gives out 30k+/yr (tuition is around 46k excluding housing/food) starting in the fall if GPA is 3.6 and above. They have a D3 football team and I have a few friends with full rides. It is the oldest university in Texas.

 

[weevilcatch]

SU in Georgetown gives out 30k+/yr (tuition is around 46k excluding housing/food) starting in the fall if GPA is 3.6 and above. They have a D3 football team and I have a few friends with full rides. It is the oldest university in Texas.

Beautiful campus too if I remember. That was 10 years ago.

 

[EWNHorn]

SU in Georgetown gives out 30k+/yr (tuition is around 46k excluding housing/food) starting in the fall if GPA is 3.6 and above. They have a D3 football team and I have a few friends with full rides. It is the oldest university in Texas.

Thanks man! We will contact them for sure to see if there is any interest.

I appreciate you guys giving me info and being straight up with me!