College, Fencing and Your Child – A Breakdown of College Acceptance Statistics
One question that we get asked constantly is about the role that fencing plays in helping kids get into college or to succeed in college. Every parent thinks constantly about their kid’s future, right? We certainly do. For most of us that means focusing on how we can make that college dream happen in the best way possible, both academically and financially.
Athletics and college are BIG deal. A tremendous deal. They can be a huge piece of the puzzle.
Fencing is among the best places to be for families who want to get their kids ahead of the game in the college admissions and scholarship process, and the numbers are here to back it up.
Compared to the average of all sports, fencing has a fantastic advantage. The overall percentage of high school students who go from competing in a sport in high school to playing in college is just 7.6% for boys and 7.9% for girls. Fencers come in at a whopping 29.6% for boys and 38.2% for girls!
Compared to the highest ranking sports, fencing also has a huge edge. According to the 2013-14 High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations, fencing has the highest rate of conversion from high school participation to college participation of any sport, and not just by a little but by a wide margin!
Let’s look some numbers for the last school year. In the two tables below (one for boys and one for girls) you will find stats including the percentage of kids that were accepted into the best colleges and universities who went on to compete in their high school sport at the collegiate level. For your convenience we have organized the table in rank order, from sports that are most likely can give you “the best ticket to college” to those that probably will not really help in college acceptance.
* NOTE: if you notice that there aren’t many numbers near the bottom of the lists, there’s a reason! These sports either didn’t translate into substantial progressions from high school to college (far below one percentage point is not reported), or are not sports that the gender participates in heavily (football and baseball for girls, field hockey and softball for boys).
Girls
#Sport
High School Girls
College Athletes
% of high school athletes competing in College
% of high school athletes competing in NCAA Division I
1
Fencing1,774
677
38.20%
23.20%
2
Ice Hockey9,150
2,150
23.50%
7.50%
3
Lacrosse81,969
10,869
13.30%
3.40%
4
Synchronized Swimming603
74
12.30%
10.90%
5
Rifle1,587
189
11.90%
8.70%
6
Skiing4,541
496
10.90%
4.10%
7
Soccer374,564
37,760
10.10%
2.40%
8
Field Hockey61,471
5,885
9.60%
2.90%
9
Water Polo18,899
1,820
9.60%
3.60%
10
Golf72,172
6,638
9.20%
3.10%
11
Gymnastics19,231
1,733
9.00%
6.20%
12
Cross Country218,121
19,351
8.90%
2.60%
13
Softball371,891
30,874
8.30%
1.60%
14
Swimming & Diving165,779
13,679
8.30%
3.30%
15
Basketball433,344
27,710
6.40%
1.20%
16
Volleyball429,634
26,570
6.20%
1.20%
17
Track & Field545,011
33,197
6.10%
2.30%
18
Tennis215,737
10,869
5.00%
1.40%
19
Bowling25,751
1,173
4.60%
1.10%
20
Snowboarding290
11
3.80%
–
21
Archery2,162
73
3.40%
0.50%
22
Wrestling9,904
294
3.00%
–
23
Badminton12,152
150
1.20%
–
24
Skiing – Nordic/XC4,863
44
0.90%
–
25
Beach Volleyball–
619
n/m
n/m
26
Cycling130
78
n/m
n/m
27
Equestrian1,306
2,295
n/m
n/m
28
Rodeo143
850
n/m
n/m
29
Rowing4,242
7,800
n/m
n/m
30
Rugby322
362
n/m
n/m
31
Sailing122
648
n/m
n/m
32
Squash–
449
n/m
n/m
33
Baseball1,066
–
–
–
34
Football1,828
–
–
–
35
Totals3,089,759
245,181
7.90%
2.30%
Boys
Sport
High School Boys
College Athletes
% of high school athlets competing in College
% of high school athletes competing in NCAA I
1
Fencing2,189
651
29.70%
16.90%
2
Gymnastics1,995
382
19.10%
16.90%
3
Lacrosse106,720
13,857
13.00%
2.80%
4
Ice Hockey35,393
4,360
12.30%
3.30%
5
Baseball482,629
55,410
11.50%
2.10%
6
Soccer417,419
37,890
9.10%
1.40%
7
Skiing – Alpine5,593
495
8.90%
2.90%
8
Golf152,647
12,292
8.10%
2.00%
9
Football1,122,024
90,136
8.00%
2.40%
10
Swimming & Diving138,373
10,893
7.90%
2.80%
11
Water Polo21,451
1,670
7.80%
2.70%
12
Rifle2,668
199
7.50%
4.50%
13
Cross Country252,547
18,217
7.20%
1.90%
14
Basketball541,054
32,190
5.90%
1.00%
15
Tennis191,004
10,060
5.30%
1.40%
16
Track & Field653,971
33,955
5.20%
1.70%
17
Volleyball52,149
2,314
4.40%
0.90%
18
Wrestling269,514
9,756
3.60%
0.90%
19
Bowling28,121
769
2.70%
–
20
Archery2,705
54
2.00%
–
21
Snowboarding696
14
2.00%
–
22
Skiing – Nordic/XC4,406
41
0.90%
–
23
Cycling466
179
n/m
n/m
24
Equestrian177
49
n/m
n/m
25
Rodeo123
1,372
n/m
n/m
26
Rowing2,544
3,091
n/m
n/m
27
Rugby1,440
555
n/m
n/m
28
Sailing145
507
n/m
n/m
29
Squash–
471
n/m
n/m
30
Badminton4,436
–
–
–
31
Field Hockey159
–
–
–
32
Softball1,436
–
–
–
Totals4,496,194
341,530
7.60%
1.90%
Reference for stats: http://www.scholarshipstats.com/fencing.html
Understanding the Numbers
OK, so those are a lot of numbers – what do they mean? They mean that if your child is fencing in high school, then they have about a 29.7-38.2% of a chance to be accepted to the best colleges in the US and stay in the sport. So all of the time, effort, (ahem) money that you’re putting into this activity has a good chance of being something that they go on to participate in as part of their college’s team. By comparison if your child (boy or girl) is on the high school soccer team, that chance is more like one in ten. Volleyball and basketball are about one in twenty. Those a great sports, but they don’t carry from high school into college.
There are two numbers in those charts, the percentage of athletes who go on to play on collegiate sports and then the percentage who play in Division I schools. Colleges are divided into divisions – one through three – with the largest and most prestigious schools being Division I and the smaller schools with smaller programs being in the other divisions. The key here is that ONLY Division I and II schools can offer scholarships to athletes. So those sports that have high participation in Division I schools are important if you’re interested in pursuing scholarship opportunities. You’ll notice that fencing has the highest by far in girls sports and ties with gymnastics for the top spot in Division I for boys.
If what you’re interested in is college opportunities for your child, then fencing is the place for you! The numbers are unmistakable incredible.
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