Published by Joe Jimenez, Chapman University Star
There is a common misconception in the high school baseball world that academics do not matter. This is not true. There is no denying that skill and talent can get a player recruited, but academics are just as important. A high academic profile paired with next level talent can provide the recruit with more options for schools while also helping the player and his family save some money!
“How do GPA and Test Scores Impact My Chances of Getting Recruited?”
While the college baseball process is in large part influenced by your ability on the field, troubles in the classroom can negatively impact any recruit. First, lower GPA and test scores greatly reduce your options of schools. One of the first things coaches ask to know at any given showcase, camp, or game they are attending is one’s GPA. Imagine this: a coach from the college of your dreams comes up to you after a game. He’s extremely interested in you as a potential recruit, but your grades and test scores won’t get you into the school, so he can no longer recruit you! For the rest of your life, you could be saying, “Man, if only I worked harder in school, I could be playing at my dream college!”.
A high GPA also signifies the work ethic of the player – something every single college coach wants to see. Think about the following scenario: a coach has two identical players, the only difference being their GPAs. Which player do you think the coach will pick? Current Los Angeles Dodgers minor league coach and former coach at New Mexico and UNLV Tony Cappuccilli talked about this in our recruiting webinar a couple weeks back. He says:
“I’m going to look at two guys and look at their academics and understand that a kid that really puts in a lot of work is going to be less of a headache moving forward from it. I don’t need to keep my eye on that guy as much because we know that the better student is going to get his work done”
While college coaches are recruiting skill and talent, they are also recruiting people which fit their culture, and every single coach wants a player with both talent and work ethic. Working to be the best teammate you can extends beyond the field and into the classroom. Having a strong academic foundation increases your stock as a recruit.
Later in the webinar, Tony subtly referred to the coach’s decision coming down to money as well, hitting on another common misconception in the college baseball recruiting world. Unlike NCAA college football or college basketball, college baseball coaches RARELY grant FULL scholarships to players. The reasoning? College baseball has very little scholarships available to give out to players. To keep all their high level recruits happy, coaches will give out percentages of scholarships to guys. For example, three guys could each split the money allotted for one scholarship as they will each get 33%.
This doesn’t help with rising tuition rates all over the country. US News Report on 2020 Best Colleges recently reported the average tuition and fees at private National universities has jumped 154% over the last 20 years, which can be seen in the chart below at the bottom of the page*.
“How can I help my parents make this more affordable?”
Imagine you are looking to play at a private university in California. Some of these private colleges have tuition of up to $60,000 per year! Let’s say you are offered a 50% scholarship – you and your family still have $30,000 to pay at that point.
So what are your options from there? Along with your application for the school, you could also send in your FAFSA application, the application for federal student aid. If your parents make below $150,000 annually, there’s a good chance you could earn some grant money and student loans, but you still have to pay the student loans back at an interest rate after college. If your parent makes more than $150,000 you might still receive some loans, albeit much smaller.
The other option? Your work hard for good grades in high school so you can earn an academic scholarship or grant to use on top of an athletic scholarship. On top of your 50% athletic scholarship, you could earn academic scholarship worth additional $20,000 per year**. You’re now paying 1/6th of the original price of tuition per year! Working hard in the classroom allows more financial freedom and the opportunity to save a lot of money in the long run, while making college more affordable for the whole family!
“Ok, I understand the importance of my GPA and work in the classroom, but now what? What’s next?”
Creating a list of colleges is the first step in the process. Is this a final list? No! This list should be dynamic and change throughout the years once you start to learn more about yourself. It’s important to think about what specific attributes you are looking for in a college. What do you want to major in? What is your preferred size of the school? Where is the college located? These are just a few questions to consider. There’s no pressure in being able to pinpoint exactly what you are looking for, but just starting to think about it is a crucial first step!
Once you have a rough list of schools you may be interested in, the next step is researching the GPA and test score numbers for these schools. Having the awareness of the GPA requirements of schools you are interested in provides the motivation to keep working your butt off in the classroom and keep you on track for your recruitment process!
All to say – if you work toward bolstering a high GPA while performing on the baseball field, this will widen your opportunities as a recruit while also saving you money, setting you up for a bright future!
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us with questions! You can visit us via email, twitter DMs, or Instagram DMs at @majorleagueuniversity!
**Please note that this figure is just an example for the sake of the scenario. There are many schools out there which provide a lot of academic scholarship money to great students at varying scholarship levels.
