re: So how does IMG Academy even keep its doors open?

Going for lacrosse is interesting. I agree going to a prep school in the NE makes more sense. Lacrosse is life up here.

So no pickleball program?

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IMG is the child of Bollettieri‘s. They survive on the tuition of kids that will never amount to anything, but their parents will fork over 70k tuition plus more when they have a “fundraiser”

The actual stud tennis players that went there paid $0….

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Yeah it's like the most expensive travel ball team in the US, but the good kids don't pay.

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So is it a real school. I only hear about their elite sports teams. Can you attend the school without being an athlete?

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Yes it’s a real school and they actually have really good teachers. But make no mistake it is about sports first. The school curriculum is built around the athletic schedules and making sure that everyone qualifies for college.

If IMG had a bunch of great athletes, but none could get enrolled in major schools because of grades, it would put an end to their business model in a hurry.

I guess they’re just assuming my son will qualify, lol. He doesn’t have an 18 yet.

Thanks for the link. I’ll bring up a football GPA to the head coach…my son’s school doesn’t use that 10 point grading scale.

Competing in classes scares me, but each school has tons of help for the scholarship athletes. If you can’t do it with that help then you just don’t want it bad enough. Schools boast 100% graduation rates for those who exhaust their eligibility…so I guess they make it work.

It looks like the formula has gotten a little more lax over the past decade. Or I remembered the original standards incorrectly, more than a decade after the fact.

BigBinBR’s link shows it is now a 17 for a 2.5
However, if you have a 2.7, then all you need is a 15.

Fwiw, a 17 is in the bottom 35th percentile and a 15 is in the bottom 22nd percentile of all test takers and wouldn’t be anywhere near the entrance standards of any reputable public school.

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Also a lot of these guys are coming from very weak public schools, so making a 2.5 or a 2.7 would be very manageable, if they so much as attend class.

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Very true. A 2.5 at an “F” rated school is treated the same as a 2.5 at highly rated school.

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Going for lacrosse is interesting. I agree going to a prep school in the NE makes more sense. Lacrosse is life up here.

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Agree. I know of a kid from here who is moving out of state to attend and IMG-like prep school out of state up north for his remaining Jr and Sr years for lacrosse. He's already getting some offers. But yes, lacrosse is life up north.

My son played a lacrosse tournament at IMG several years ago and it is quite the impressive facility. Never could see ourselves sending our son away to a boarding school. Although, that is exactly the thing to do...an elite status symbol thing for some families up there. Was eye-opening to learn how important this is to many families.

Kind of like the choice between private school and public school here in LA. It's a no-brainer and a must-do for them....except they are literally sending their kids away from home at age 15.