If you are a student looking to receive a scholarship from the college of your choice, you know how difficult it is: You have to go through a rigorous school schedule and at the same time maintain high grades. In addition to the daily class schedule, you may also have to participate in numerous extra-curricular activities and clubs. It’s stressful to even think about. Multiply this stress by four and you have yourself the strenous climb known as high school. Of course high school does not have to be this difficult. You could always be the under-achieving, mediocre student who just hopes to graduate and pursue a minimum wage job, making the same amount of money as a 16 year-old. Making minimum wage is not a bad thing, but making that amount when you’re a 50 year-old is not the ideal thing to do if you can help it. On the other hand, over-achieving students are constantly competing with their peers to be in the top 10% of their high school class. Not only that, but they are also vying for attention from various colleges and universities.
It is very unfortunate how sometimes students with the outstanding 4.o GPA and the list of extra-curriculars do not get accepted into the college of their choice. It must be very discouraging. They worked as hard as they did, and as a result their dreams are shattered by a piece of paper. There apparently wasn’t enough room for that one extra student. This must mean that any other student resume, less impressive than a 4.0 GPA and countless extra-curriculars will not be considered, right? There wasn’t enough room for the over-achiever, but of course there was room for the student-athlete with a GPA of 2.8. I’m guessing that the student part was left behind.
So is this how pathetic college institutions have become? They allow athletes who have no commitment in the classroom to receive full scholarships. Of course they have to be academically eligible to compete, but it is obvious that their standards are lower than other students. It can only be hinted at, but there should be some suspicion raised towards the academic requirements of a student-athlete. Colleges seem to be acting more like professional sports organization rather than institutions of advanced learning. I’m sure that they want to distinguish themselves in some other way besides academic prestige. There is nothing wrong with that. It all becomes tainted when they offer scholarships to athletes who have no other desire but to play their sport for a few years in college and then turn their attention towards their athletic careers. If universities are going to uphold their strict requirements for academically-driven students, why can’t they do the same for athletes? Also, why are these institutions paying coaches six- or seven-figure amounts when they should be gathering up funds for the enhancement of their schools?
When a student applies to a university, they are basically recruiting and scouting a school. The student has to go to the university. When college scouts scout athletes they are at the mercy of the athlete. They are the ones who are going to the athlete, and salivating at their next sports icon. The athlete knows that they have these colleges at their mercy. Colleges will offer scholarships and other incentives to persuade athletes to attend their school. Rarely, does the university ever “scout” the student, unless you count letters through the mail.
The reality is that sports and competition are generally dominant in this country and frankly the world. This can be backed up by the occurence of the Olympics every four years and the World Cup of soccer, which also takes place every four years. In this country alone, you can look at this month’s March Madness as an example. March Madness is the name related with the post-season of college basketball. It has a reputation of creating “madness” with all of the cinderella stories that take place. Examples would be David defeating Goliath or the underdog defeating the juggernaut. The championship tournament made up of a field of 64 teams, has been known to halt the productivity of the workplace due to its popularity. People will call in sick just to watch the preliminary rounds of the tournament. It is hard to believe that this is what this world has come to, or at least America for that matter. I personally enjoy athletics and the thrills of competition. I only condemn colleges and universities for focusing too much on their athletic programs. It is true that athletes will make their respective country a superpower in the Olympics, but in the end it takes intellectuals and their pure knowledge to make their respective country a world superpower on a global stage.
-payam93
To begin, I want to say that I agree with you completely, it’s sickening that colleges pay more attention to their athletes than their students. The focus in this world is on the wrong people and that’s why innovation is dying here. When you compare the number of kids who want to grow up to be athletes to the ones who want to be…ANYTHING else, its dismal. Sure, when they get older and realize it probably won’t happen they go back to undecided. Where are the people who want to be scientists, writers, doctors, philosophers (haven’t heard of any great ones in a while), and the other things our world really needs?
Still, unfortunately, I understand why the colleges do this. They do it to get more recognition for their schools (which don’t stand out academically enough) and get people to donate money to the college. Yeah, it brings other things to the college i suppose but when everything people do these days is for money thats what makes the most sense. And why they pay their coaches a disgustingly larger amount of money than their teachers is lost on me but so are a lot of things.
The point is academia should win out over sports. What would the people who invented colleges think of us? Nothing good probably…
I would have to say this article is completely true. The problem with our age is that everyone is completely obsessed with sports. Without them, no country is able to “rise-up” out of any of the major world sporting events to get the rediculous amount of attention they all want (especially america, with the gargantuan amount of media that leaves our country). And while I am a full supporter of what Omega said previously, it seems you both are going just a little bit to hard on the athletes. Payam, you most of all should know the physical and mental hurdles athletes must overcome to get anywhere in any sport. Even though I do believe that some serious changes need to come in the priority of the colleges choosing their students, athletics should still be placed pretty high up in the choosings, just not as high as academics.
I also believe that college is for learning but many athletes also go to college to learn and maybe athletis was their only way to get in. I personally know someone who relentlessly searched for soccer scholarships because they wanted to play college ball AND realized the value of continuing their education. Not all student athletes think only of their sports career. For instance, Mia Hamm, who went to NCU on a soccer scholarship got her major in soemthing to do with biochemistry and played for the US Women’s team.
Definitely though, the big sports colleges emphasize athletic prowress more then academics but I think this is rooted in a deeper societal problem that Americans have. It’s not just the colleges but society who over glorifies these athelets and pays them millions a year.
What obsession do we have with sports?
I must agree, whenever I hear of an athlete getting a full ride scholarship, I want to punch a wall in. It’s pathetic that so many student these days think their only future is sports, acting, or music. People who play sports SHOULDN’T be rewarded for playing a game, they should have to be intelligent to get into colleges too.
I agree with every point that everyone has made. First, I would like to acknowledge that not all athletes are just in it for the atletics. I agree with you dazzlestars. In most cases, these student-athletes are just as concerned with their education as their sports careers. It’s a good thing to be involved with both sports and school. It shows how an individual can be well rounded. I’m just cynical towards some college athletes who go to college for one year and then head to the pros. It seems as if college is just an obstacle between them and their sports careers. Fatman, I commend athletes for the physical and mental hurdles they have to climb in order to be competitive in their sport. It is quite astonishing how some athletes do well in the classroom, while competing at a high level outside of the classroom. They deserve a lot of credit. I appreciate everyone’s opinions. You all made good cases.