Quote:
Originally Posted by als463
The only thing I want to add to this is that you would be very surprised by how many parents who are part of a long history of Penn State Alumni would actually stand behind their child if they chose to stay. I say this because I have talked to numerous Penn State Alumni who have had their children get offers from schools that I see as having much better academics (though I bleed blue and white and am completely proud of my alma mater) than Penn State and turn them down to attend PSU. In fact, I have a sorority sister who attended another university where she pledged our sorority. She married a Penn State Alum and she really wants to see her daughter (who is under age 10) go to PSU and join my chapter. I LOVE that idea and will be the first one in line wanting to write her daughter, who is a sweetheart, a rec. I'm just saying that people give birth thinking, "Yep, this is a future Nittany Lion." I say this to show how deep it goes. Before anyone assumes this is because people are all about the "football" aspect of Penn State, it has much more to do with it than that. The degrees I hold in certain programs rank very high in the country. Academics are a major aspect of it.
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I don't mean to sound snarky, but the line you highlighted was not referring to any parent of any child going to Penn State. I was responding to a question 33girl had asked about whether
future football players whose parents had ties to Penn State might be willing to turn down football scholarships at other schools and instead choose to go to Penn State and play football without a scholarship, so while the story about your sorority sister is sweet (and I mean that sincerely), unless her daughter is a future Division I scholarship level football kicker - it's not really relevant.
Neither are points about regular students who get academic scholarships or grants to other schools and choose to go to Penn State instead. I'm sure there are many Penn State parents who would prefer their children stay at or go to Penn State even if they have scholarships to other schools because that is a sentiment common to alums at many schools. Likewise, there are students at many schools who have turned down scholarships at other schools because they had long-standing parental ties, religous ties, state ties or a personal emotional ties to the schools they chose. None of this is unique to Penn State.
Again, what I stated was that I thought it unlikely a Penn State alum who had a son that was capable of playing Division I Big 10 football on a scholarship would encourage that child turn down other division I football scholarships to schools with equal or superior football and/or academic traditions in order to go play football at Penn State on no scholarship given the sanctions the football program will be under.
First, there are a limited number of Penn State alums that have male children capable of getting division I football scholarships and playing at a competitive level in the Big 10. For the few that do fit that description this could mean saddling themselves or their parents with considerable debt (particularly if they are OOS), but more importantly, if they had any NFL aspirations at all (and most do), they would be knowingly putting those aspirations at risk given Penn State football's current situation.
If the kid doesn't particularly want to go to the NFL or doesn't think they have a shot, and if their parents can afford it without incurring major debt then I can certainly see them making that choice, but that's a very small group and it won't be enough to help the football program much - which was my point.