by fasterpitch92701 » Thu Jun 05, 2014 3:32 pm
I still advocate strong academics and will continue to do so. My comments regarding entry GPA's are based on players we know, have played for, have played against, that were either actively recruited or signed by Stanford over the past decade. GPA's are posted on travel team fliers, both the teams we played on and those we played against during travel ball. A lot of local kids strive for Stanford so secrets last 9 seconds (we are 5 miles away). There is a perception that you need to be at the absolute top of your academic game to get vaguely near Stanford. That was what I believed for quite awhile but that perception tilts a bit when athletics gets rolled in and I am not sure it's a good thing. No athletics and you better be a 4.7 GPA legacy with a history of brilliance, published and demonstrated. Demonstrated athletic recruiting suggests that exceptions can and have been made. And it's weird. I always found it an odd paradox at Stanford. They look a certain "fit", which is good, but I don't know what that "fit" is. Stanford, overall, is a stellar school. They have some real "smarties" on the team. Excellent academics. Their grade inflation issue from 8-9 years ago appears calmed. It's still an absolutely premier school, no doubt about it. Truckloads of cash are being dumped into the school from recent and not so recent graduates. However, their softball team has been lackluster over the past few years. They are on par softball wise with... Harvard, Yale and other exceptional educational schools. However, watching them play Washington or Oregon or Arizona is typically a case of stark contrasts and I don't this that shocks anyone. As was noted by another poster they just didn't seem to have their heart in it over the last couple of seasons. The departure of the coach must be a surprise to someone but I don't know who that would be. Regardless, in the end, great GPA's always substantially help and cannot hurt. A low GPA damns you. And softball is only a 4 year deal. A Stanford diploma lasts a lifetime.