Fencing full-ride scholarships

[Li'l Bebe]

Does anyone know which colleges offer full-ride scholarships? preferrably for Div I fencing, but any info would be great

[Soberin]

Originally Posted by Li'l Bebe

Does anyone know which colleges offer full-ride scholarships? preferrably for Div I fencing, but any info would be great

Beats me, but I'll guess Notre Dame, OSU and Penn State for starters. I suspect this topic has been done to death already.

[oiuyt]

Very few.

There's an extremely limited number of schools that are allowed to do so.

Many of them do not do so.

Go to the NCAA website that lists schools sponsoring a sport http://web1.ncaa.org/onlineDir/exec/sponsorship

Select fencing of the appropriate gender. Now eliminate all D3 programs listed. Then eliminate all of the Ivy Group schools (no athletics aid permitted by conference rules). Then eliminate the two programs that are disappearing at the end of this season (Rutgers, James Madison). Then eliminate other schools on a case-by-case basis as you discover that they don't offer fencing scholarships.

Then realize that many/most of the few that you have left slice their scholarships up into partial aid so as to cover more athletes (NCAA women's fencing programs are limited to 5 scholarships, men's fencing to 4.5 (both cases these numbers are equivalency numbers, so two athletes with half aid count as one)).

For reference, Temple offers the full allotment of 5 scholarship equivalents in fencing. None of our fencers are on full grant-in-aid.

-B

[Purple Fencer]

I know Norte Dame does...Derek Snyder for one a few years back...

[foildad]

There are very few fencing scholarships, and I suspect none are "full ride". On the other hand, at some colleges a strong fencer will stand out among other equally academically qualifed applicants. Look at fencing as a "hook" to get you into a superior college. Need based financial aid will follow if you qualify.

[bjacobs]

To the thread starter:

How high are you on the national senior points list?

What was your last junior world cup result?

If these aren't fun questions for you to answer, it might be pretty tough getting one of the few fencing scholarships out there.

[Purple Fencer]

Originally Posted by foildad

There are very few fencing scholarships, and I suspect none are "full ride". On the other hand, at some colleges a strong fencer will stand out among other equally academically qualifed applicants. Look at fencing as a "hook" to get you into a superior college. Need based financial aid will follow if you qualify.

Again...Derek Snyder got a full ride to Notre Dame...I was there when Father Calhoun was announcing it.

[debrobjosh]

So what does it mean, money-wise, if you receive a "National letter of Intent"? I understand that the letter is used to stop the recruiting process, but I would also assume it implies the fencer in question is getting some type of financial aid from the school. Maybe not a full ride, but what?

And I wonder also about needing to be high in the national point list and such.
We have two woman from our club, one last year and one this year, who have were given national letters of intent from Northwestern Univ.
Click here to see the press release for this year.

Both of the women are solid NJ "C" saberists, who also happen to be smart. I sure they would have gotten into Northwestern just on their regular HS records, but I have to assume that because of their fencing skills, they are getting a lot more money then the average smart kid.

Comments?

[campb1pr]

An NLI (National Letter of Intent) is merely what it sounds like. It is a contract between a prospective student-athlete (PSA) and a college or university, stating that the PSA intends to enroll at that school to compete in their chosen sport(s). It does not indicate any degree of athletically related aid will be given to the athlete. It's primary use is to stop the recruitment process. Note that it is only binding for one year - that provision is mostly utilized in sports other than fencing.

I doubt that either of these fencers is getting a ton of money, if any at all, but they are able to stop the letters and calls from other schools. Northwestern gets to talk about their new athletes, to try and recruit others who might be influenced by who their teammates will be, or by the fact that NU actually takes the time to publicize their fencing team like they do other teams. It's a tool for both sides. Take a look at all the publicity on ESPN, CNN, FoxSports, etc. over the first day of the Football signing period.

From the NCAA website (www.ncaa.org):

"The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an institution in which the institution agrees to provide a prospective student-athlete who is admitted to the institution and is eligible for financial aid under NCAA rules athletics aid for one academic year in exchange for the prospect's agreement to attend the institution for one academic year. All colleges and universities that participate in the NLI program agree to not recruit a prospective student-athlete once he/she signs an NLI with another college or university. Therefore, a prospective student-athlete who signs an NLI should no longer receive recruiting contacts and calls and is ensured an athletics scholarship for one academic year. The NLI must be accompanied by an institutional financial aid agreement. If the student-athlete does not enroll at that institution for a full academic year, he/she may be subject to specific penalties, including loss of a season of eligibility and a mandatory residence requirement.

Please note that the NLI program is not an NCAA national office administered program. It is administered through the Southeastern Conference (SEC) office. Specific questions regarding its application should be directed to the SEC office at (205) 458-3013. Additional information can be obtained through the NLI Program web page" http://www.national-letter.org

Please contact the NCAA membership services staff at (317) 917-6222 if you have further questions."

[oiuyt]

Note that, as mentioned in the quoted text, an NLI DOES imply at least some athletics aid. This can be as low as a "books" scholarship (pretty much just what it sounds like, it covers required text books and nothing else) up to a full grant-in-aid (tuition, room & board, books, all fees).

As a side note, and explicitly not stating anything about Derek Snyder's situation, about which I know pretty much nothing, LOTS of athletes -- both in fencing and in other sports -- have it reported about them that they have a "full ride" when they do not. Sometimes intentionally, other times through miscommunications. Sometimes it's announced that someone has full tuition, and people hearing that announcement think "full ride" (which it isn't). Other times it's merely like the game of telephone that many of us probably played as children where the informational content of a message is gradually lost and distorted as it passes through multiple people.

Interesting that Northwestern has just announced the NLI signees. The early signing period was back in November. Between then and the next such period in April NLI's cannot be issued or signed. This is (or should be) a late release of fairly old news.

-B

[edew]

Stanford has provided full rides. The Zimmerman sisters and the Reichling brothers (well, at least Felix, I'm not sure about Florian) got them.

[RITFencing]

I can think of one fencer who had one at Penn State (or maybe UPenn?) but he lost it.

[oiuyt]

Penn is Ivy and may not offer athletics aid.

Penn State may.

-B

[garyhayenga]

Originally Posted by debrobjosh

So what does it mean, money-wise, if you receive a "National letter of Intent"? I understand that the letter is used to stop the recruiting process, but I would also assume it implies the fencer in question is getting some type of financial aid from the school. Maybe not a full ride, but what?

And I wonder also about needing to be high in the national point list and such.
We have two woman from our club, one last year and one this year, who have were given national letters of intent from Northwestern Univ.
Click here to see the press release for this year.

Both of the women are solid NJ "C" saberists, who also happen to be smart. I sure they would have gotten into Northwestern just on their regular HS records, but I have to assume that because of their fencing skills, they are getting a lot more money then the average smart kid.

Comments?

In the past Northwestern has had something like 2 1/2 scholarships to give out. For the women's team, the men's team is no longer varsity.

In most cases they tried to split them out in 1/2 or even 1/3 part-scholarships. They do occasionally give out a full ride scholarship, but it's fairly rare.

gary hayenga

[RebelFencer]

Originally Posted by RITFencing

I can think of one fencer who had one at Penn State (or maybe UPenn?) but he lost it.

Case Szarwark is on a full ride to Penn State, I believe.

[piste off]

Originally Posted by RITFencing

I can think of one fencer who had one at Penn State (or maybe UPenn?) but he lost it.

Please don't confuse Penn and Penn State... it makes the people at UofP go CRAZY!

Also, don't confuse either with the State Pen.

Rick


BTW

Penn State gives scholarships, UofP can't, but being a good fencer will get you a better chance of getting in.

[sabreteur]

Salle Diablo, ASU's fencing club offers a limited number of scholarships.

[Phorid]

For researching college fencing (and lots of other activities):
1. Go to usnews.com;
2. Select on left "Best Colleges";
3. Select "College Search";
4. Select "Sports and Activities";
5. Scroll down and find "Fencing";
6. Check the boxes you want (men, women, scholarships offered).

You will receive the following list if you check "scholarship money offered":

Results
California State University--Fullerton (CA)
New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJ)
Ohio State University--Columbus (OH)
Pennsylvania State University--University Park (PA)
Rutgers--New Brunswick (NJ)
Sacred Heart University (CT)
Stanford University (CA)
University of Notre Dame (IN)
Wayne State University (MI)

There may be others that are just not listed.

[oso97]

Originally Posted by Phorid

For researching college fencing (and lots of other activities):
1. Go to usnews.com;
2. Select on left "Best Colleges";
3. Select "College Search";
4. Select "Sports and Activities";
5. Scroll down and find "Fencing";
6. Check the boxes you want (men, women, scholarships offered).

You will receive the following list if you check "scholarship money offered":

Results
California State University--Fullerton (CA)
New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJ)
Ohio State University--Columbus (OH)
Pennsylvania State University--University Park (PA)
Rutgers--New Brunswick (NJ)
Sacred Heart University (CT)
Stanford University (CA)
University of Notre Dame (IN)
Wayne State University (MI)

There may be others that are just not listed.

See thread about the fencing program at Rutgers being cut from varsity status.

[oiuyt]

Originally Posted by Phorid

There may be others that are just not listed.

Temple is not included on that list. As previously mentioned, we do offer scholarships.

Originally Posted by sabreteur

Salle Diablo, ASU's fencing club offers a limited number of scholarships.

Note that ASU's club is non-varsity.

-B