college scholarship??

[jackys16]

Well I have a question!! Im trying to find out a little more about fencing in college... and I m wondering?? if you get accepted to a college for fencing can you get a full scholarship or 1/2 payed scholarship or what???? and another thing in colleges do they have the diffrent divisions like div 1 or div 2???thanx <3Jacky

[mrbiggs]

Originally Posted by jackys16

Well I have a question!! Im trying to find out a little more about fencing in college... and I m wondering?? if you get accepted to a college for fencing can you get a full scholarship or 1/2 payed scholarship or what???? and another thing in colleges do they have the diffrent divisions like div 1 or div 2???thanx <3Jacky

First, there's no minimum requirement to formatting on this website. Black, small text is A-OK.

Second, there are such a thing as fencing scholarships but they are very few and far between. If you don't have national and probably international points, you won't get one. Yes, they do have normal divisions, but it's somewhat different than that of basketball and stuff; I don't know the details of that.

[bigdawg2121]

In terms of Divisions there are Div 1, 2 and 3 programs in NCAA collegiate fencing. All of them are listed on the NCAA website conveniently. Some schools claim to be "div 1" for fencing or something along those lines but those seem to be nebulous designations at best as many of them don't come close to following Div 1 rules. And yes, there are schools where full, partial, and book scholarships are available. Contrary tto popular belief you don't have to be an amzing fencer to get into all of them (UDM, WSU, Drew, CSU), although having national points, international points, or at least a lot of somewhat decent results and national experience does help.

[KShan5[PrFC]]

You could fence at UMass :-D

[oiuyt]

Originally Posted by bigdawg2121

Drew

Drew is D3, they don't have athletics scholarships available.

Here's a list of NCAA fencing programs, sorted by division:

DIVISION I
Boston College
Brown University
California State University, Fullerton
Cleveland State University
Columbia University-Barnard College
Cornell University
University of Detroit Mercy
Duke University
Harvard University
James Madison University
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Northwestern University
University of Notre Dame
Ohio State University
University of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania State University
Princeton University
Rutgers, State Univ of New Jersey, New Brunswick
Sacred Heart University
St. John's University (New York)
Stanford University
Temple University
U.S. Air Force Academy
Yale University

DIVISION II
University of California, San Diego
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Queens College (New York)
Wayne State University (Michigan)

DIVISION III
Brandeis University
California Institute of Technology
City College of New York
Drew University
Haverford College
Hunter College
Johns Hopkins University
Lawrence University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
New York University
Stevens Institute of Technology
Tufts University
Vassar College
Wellesley College
Yeshiva University

Some of these schools only have a (varsity) program in a single gender. Yeshiva only has a varsity men's team. Cornell, James Madison, Northwestern, Temple, Queens, CCNY, Tuft's, and Wellesley only have varsity teams for women.

Only division I and II programs may give athletics scholarships, per NCAA regulations. Many of the D1 teams do not give scholarships. The Ivy League has a conference rule against doing so, which knocks out Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, and Yale (Dartmouth, which is also Ivy League does not offer a varsity team). Other schools (Duke, UNC, etc.) choose not to offer scholarships in fencing even though they can and do in other sports. Some schools offer scholarships, but not to the full allotment.

If you're interested in pursuing a fencing scholarship talk directly to the coach(es) at the school(s) which interest you. Different schools can have vastly different standards for how strong an athlete one must be to receive athletics aid. It will also vary year-to-year at the same school based on needs of the program, who has recently graduated, how much aid is already allocated to returning athletes, etc.

Actually whether or not you're looking for athletics money, talking to coaches at schools that you're interested in is a very good idea. Frequently doing so can help you determine whether or not you and that school/program would be a good fit.

-B

[jessicasimpson]

The NCAA puts a cap on how many scholarships a school can give, for mens fencing, schools can give 4.5 scholarships, and for women they can give 5. That is not per year, that is total. so if Ohio State gives 5 freshman girls full scholarships, they can not give any more for 4 years (unless someone losses theirs)

[oiuyt]

Originally Posted by jessicasimpson

The NCAA puts a cap on how many scholarships a school can give, for mens fencing, schools can give 4.5 scholarships, and for women they can give 5. That is not per year, that is total. so if Ohio State gives 5 freshman girls full scholarships, they can not give any more for 4 years (unless someone losses theirs)

Just as a technical note, all NCAA athletics scholarships are capped at a maximum of one year. They are renewable, but schools are not allowed to guarantee them for anything beyond that time. Schools are allowed to give out information such as "historically we've always renewed all of our scholarships". This is a common practice, although there are certainly some schools which will reevaluate returning athletes annually to determine how much aid to give them. Each year is technically a clean slate (although getting a reputation for giving freshmen a scholarship and then pulling it sophmore year just because someone better comes along is unlikely to be good for future recruiting efforts).

Fencing is a equivalency sport. The scholarships can be chopped up and divided any way the department chooses, as long as the total is equivalent to 5 (women) full scholarships. Common levels include full tuition, half tuition, full room-and-board, half room-and-board, books and fees, or any combination of the above (full tuition, plus full R&B, plus B&F being a full ride).

-B

[Go? Fencing?]

Originally Posted by bigdawg2121

...Drew....

Or you could be like my brother- get into Drew, get disgusted with the way the fencing team is run, and quit fencing.

[melihop]

Originally Posted by KShan5[PrFC]

You could fence at UMass :-D

lol.. i tryed that.. they waitlisted me! *cries*

[wbowman]

While the Ivy League does not give athletic scholarships, they do give financial aid based on need. And being a sought-after fencer (or excellence in any other extracurricular activity) CAN (but doesn't always) give you some help in the Admissions process.
The policy at Princeton (the one I'm most familiar with) is that once someone is admitted, their goal is to make sure that person is financially able to attend.
Obviously though, getting in is the hard part, and there are no guarantees. (a former private school headmaster once told me that Princeton's admissions process was the one he was least able to predict.)

[bigdawg2121]

Ehhh, ooops....my bad, I meant to erase Drew when I edited and exchange CSU instead of adding CSU, but yeah...sorry about that.

[Zasha]

agreed. if a school likes you enough, they will find a way to give you money.

[fencerbill]

Partly based on my observations through the years from the Boston area, which has (in no particular order) Harvard, Brandeis, Wellesley, Tufts, Boston College, MIT and, nearby, Brown, UMass & UNH.

First you have to get the grades and SATs. But then, fencing can help you stand out from the crowd. Fencers who are in the competitive academic range will be accepted when non-fencers with the same, if not better, academic credentials will not.

Second: it is true that few colleges actually give out fencing athletic scholarships. And the Ivy League schools and their equivalents are said to not give them at all. They are supposed to be need blind. If you qualify, they will try to find a combination of scholarships, work/study, guaranteed jobs, loans, etc. to make it possible for you to attend. But isn't it amazing that the really good fencers get aid combinations that don't tie up a lot of their hours so that they have the time available to attend all of the fencing practices AND to make the not infrequent trips to fencing meets, qualifiers and IFA (and equivalent) and NCAA championships.

Another thing to keep in mind. Eastern corridor (Boston, New York, down to Penn/Temple/Princeton) fencing teams have to make less frequent and shorter trips to away fencing meets. Almost every Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Air Force, etc. away meet is overnight if not flyaway. Even more difficult to keep up the studies.

[keropie]

Originally Posted by fencerbill

Another thing to keep in mind. Eastern corridor (Boston, New York, down to Penn/Temple/Princeton) fencing teams have to make less frequent and shorter trips to away fencing meets. Almost every Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Air Force, etc. away meet is overnight if not flyaway. Even more difficult to keep up the studies.

Imagine how much fun it is down here in NC, where, up until three years ago or so, we were driving up to PSU, NYU, Chicago, Boston in vans. Now we get to ride chartered busses instead lol. So either way, we're spending a lot of time on the road...

[BB Boom Boom]

I get the impression from the original post in this thread that he/she is looking at fencing as an avenue to help pay for some or all of college.
let me say now as an experienced parent of an excellant fencer IF THAT IS THE ONLY REASON YOU WANT TO FENCE DON'T DO IT, SAVE THE MONEY YOU WOULD HAVE SPENT ON FENCING AND GO JOGGING FOR SOME EXERCISE.
By this I mean if I had put aside all the money we spent on fencing I would have more than enough money saved to pay for college. Fencing is a marvellous sport and participants get a lot out of it, but it is a demanding sport and a college scholarship can be earned academically a lot easier than by excelling at this sport, and if you don't love the sport than you will never excell.
Additionally, I would like to point out that the fencers I truly respect are the ones who still come to tournaments and fence their hearts out, even though they never get to the medal ceremony. I went to our first Y-12 event years ago and even today, now that they have grown out of the age categories, I still see some of the same kids competing and giving it their all. There is far more to be gained than the money to pay for school.

[Christina]

Reply #5 recommended contacting college coaches. Are there rules about this? Is there a preferred way to do this? My daughter is a decent fencer with some national experience and a junior in high school in NJ. Although she wants to fence in college, we are clueless about how to approach the coaches/application process and would appreciate any help/info. Thanks!

[MyrddinsPrecint]

there aren't rules about contacting club coaches.


when it comes to contacting NCAA coaches, they know the rules of their institution better than anyone else. if they are currently in a period where they can't talk to your daughter, they won't. (assuming they follow the rules).

There are very few rules about when YOU can contact THEM, most of the rules are about when THEY can contact YOU (and how).

start with the NCAA clearinghouse, if your daughter is interested in NCAA schools ( http://www.ncaaclearinghouse.net/nca...mon/index.html )

they'll have links to information too, although my experience is that it will often make things less clear rather than more.


if you go to the "search" part of this forum, you'll find a number of posts about the college selection process and how it relates to fencing--- how people picked colleges, what kind of programs their college has, how happy they are, why it is or is not a good fit.

we mostly have members of club teams here (does that say anything? if so, what? interesting....) but i can think of at least one NCAA college student and one NCAA coach that post here off the top of my head.

Strong contingents from UMass, Smith, RIT, and a smattering of Brown, Temple, Bryn Mawr, Clemson....... and then a lot of other people too! (michigan... maryland.... i'm missing a lot of people.)


and obviously, we all think our schools were highly superior choices.... for us. well, a couple people don't..... i get the feeling that the RIT guys wish they had girls..... or really anything to do other than drink : )

[remise]

There's a kid I fence with who has a "C" rating. He thought the colleges were soliciting him because of his fencing rating. It never occurred to him that because he is a straight "A" student in math, physics, science, and english - that MAY have had something to do with it.

[epeeisky]

Originally Posted by Christina

Reply #5 recommended contacting college coaches. Are there rules about this? Is there a preferred way to do this? My daughter is a decent fencer with some national experience and a junior in high school in NJ. Although she wants to fence in college, we are clueless about how to approach the coaches/application process and would appreciate any help/info. Thanks!

In my experience when you put down that you fence on your application to school letters just show up. I applied to NYU and did not know they had a fencing team. Three weeks later I got a reqruitment letter. It is very hard to get any sports scholarship because there just are not that many. I chose to go to a college(Centenary College) without a fencing team or club, but has a great fencing club with a nationaly known coach about a mile away.

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by Christina

Reply #5 recommended contacting college coaches. Are there rules about this? Is there a preferred way to do this? My daughter is a decent fencer with some national experience and a junior in high school in NJ. Although she wants to fence in college, we are clueless about how to approach the coaches/application process and would appreciate any help/info. Thanks!

Feel free to contact the coaches at any point. Pretty much the only restrictions are there to prevent the coach from directly contacting her. At this point (her being a junior), she should feel free to send an e-mail to any and all coaches at schools she might consider attending.