Academic Excellence Distracted

This is the season of college applications, sent out by high school students to colleges of choice by this time, and now responses are either in hand or still awaiting. Some have already committed. It is also a season that includes athletic recruiting, though largely done by this time. Having a grandson recently immersed in both, I have become somewhat educated about benefits and pitfalls in a process that has been so altered by the N.C.A.A.’s money-driven Transfer Portal. The question is this: Are you going to college for the academics as priority, or are you going foremost to compete in the sport of your choice, with pay? The latter is a very strong driver for many. On the other hand, the benefit of being both an academically gifted student and a gifted athlete is that one might be…