PoleVaultPower.com

First off, Hi, I'm Andy and this is my first post on here; sorry it's so big.


So I've recently been doing college visits and talking with a lot of different coaches from a lot of different schools. Last week, I visited Cal State Fullerton and I have to say, I pretty much fell in love with it. I loved the campus, the coach, the team...pretty much everything. They even have a great kinesiology program (most likely my major). Now, having said that, I still have one more school that I'm really interested in, that being Cal Poly SLO.

Here in lies my delima. I got a message on my cell last week about 3 or 4 days after having met in person with Coach Vandrovek (awesome guy and know on the forums as bjvando). He said he had good news and to call back. I of course did so immediately and the good news ended up being and offer. Im not going to mention any numbers on here as I dont know if there's any rules against it. Anyway, i was offerd early acceptance with a partial scholarship.

I'm extremely excited about this and really couldnt be happier; Fullerton is my first pick. The problem is that I don't have long to respond to the offer before the money is given to someone else. Now, Im pretty much 98% sure I want to take the offer, but my parents keep telling me to wait and "play the other schools off one another". In all repsect to them, that is a great strategy that most people use, but I know the scholarship situation for male vaulters. It just isn't great. I talked with a few people about this already (teachers, friends, friends in college) and the advice is pretty much 50/50. Some say wait, and the otheres say that if I really like the school, I should just take the offer now.

The thing about "waiting it out" is that I probably could. I anticipate quite a few offers down the road when the season actualy gets going. I'm coming out of my junior year, as far as I know, as #2 in CA. I finished my season last year with a pr of 15-8 with a broken foot. I also have a 3.8 gpa and scored a 28 on the ACT. I know that I look pretty valuable from a coaches point of view.

What I'm looking for here is your guys' advice. I know that many of you probably went through the exact same stuff and many more are probably going through it right now. Please let me know what you think about my situation and any advice you may have for me.

Thanks a bunch

Andy

CS Fullerton doesn't have many scholarships on the guys' side, so that sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

In the end, you have to go to the SCHOOL you want to go to. You might get more money down the road somewhere else, but if that's a good fit for you, it's not worth all the money in the world.

Remember that scholarships are a year to year renewable contract. You might get a better offer at another school, but consider where you will be in 3 years if things don't work out.

Also remember that pole vault coaches change schools frequently. I got really lucky that the 3 year window I was in my last school happened to be the exact same 3 year window my coach was there. All the more reason to place I high emphasis on the school that is the best fit for you overall.

Good luck!!

I have a couple comments:
1. Becca is dead on - you MUST go to a school you like. Period. I'd almost say pick a school and a team over the coach/program. If you enjoy where you are, you'll become better. If you hate going to school, your vaulting will suffer. This happened to me in college - I left a school where I was getting a 100% full ride, for a school where I had to pay $15k/yr (thats after the partial scholarship I was given). And I'd pay the $40k again in a heartbeat cause school #2 was a WAY better fit for me.

2. One of my girls got a scholarship to CSUF (Kelly MacLean). She had a similar deal to you, and took it. She then PRd 7" after accepting the offer. What did CSUF do? They upped the $$ amount - AFTER she had already signed! Now I'm not saying you'll get the same thing - I am saying that my experience with CSUF's program has been very good. I know Kelly loves it there and their vault squad seems REALLY tight and a really good group of kids.

Make your own choice, but I've had good experiences so far!

Nate Fox
Edison HS vault coach

dafox,


Your athlete's story is very motivating. I hope to, with my broken foot healed up, get on some 16's and pr at 17-0. Maybe that will help me out a little financialy.

Also, the impressions you got from the team is the same that I got. When I visited last week, they seemed like a big family.

a big, dysfunctional, family

Isn't that what all vault families are coach? haha.