Please let me know if anybody familiar with situation who got soccer scholarship and majoring nursing.
I am bit worry about both intense commitment might end up not be able to graduate in 4 years etc. My several other friend’s children got swimming scholarship and they said pretty though commitment. One took 5 years to graduate from psychology major two friends children are still in colleges. I know she is great player and very proud of her to got full scholarship but I am just worried.
You won’t have time for soccer once you start nursing clinicals. There is just not enough time in the day.
My daughter is an engineering student on an athletic scholarship for lacrosse. Even if she does take an extra semester or year, it will still cost less overall than not having the scholarship and she’s happier too. Her program often has ‘recommended’ semesters of 17 or 18 credits, and I think that is too much in the spring, her season, so this spring she’s taking 15 and not taking the English class. She really struggles in English, so it’s as if she has 4 or 5 fewer credits! She may take the English class this summer at a community college, cheaper for me, and keeps her on track for the number of credits.
She goes to a technical school, so many of the athletes are engineers-to-be. They are very, very scheduled, but my daughter thrives on that structure. Does she miss social activities? Sure, including no spring break for her (EVER!) but that was her choice. What does she do in her spare time? Work out. Or study. She’s a nerd.
There are benefits to being the athlete too. My daughter got closed out of a lab and the only other time available was during practice. A miracle occurred and two days later a spot opened up in that closed lab. She was having trouble getting to office hours of one class, and a second miracle happened and either the coach or TA adjusted a schedule. If a third miracle happens, I’m looking for a star in the east! She’s a really good player and the coach is aware that school is more important than the sport, but everyone is working together to make it all work. My daughter is excused from team stuff if it isn’t important and she has a school conflict. She’s also excused from her sorority stuff if team stuff interferes, because the sorority knows she’s on scholarship. The coach checks everyone’s grades, makes them go to study tables 8 hours per week, and has had no trouble with my daughter (despite the drama of “I’m going to fail everything, I just bombed that quiz” which were always slight exaggerations as she got a 3.8).
Everyone needs to be on the same page for it to work, and your daughter has to agree to sacrifice her social time for the team, and team time for school.
Well, there may be times when the coach will have to be flexible because one can’t miss clinicals for games. I do know students, however, who finish BSNs while on athletic scholarships. Nursing isn,t like other majors. One can’t take lighter loads during the season as once in the major all the courses tend to be prereqs for the the nest semester, so when something has to give, it’s the sport. I currently have a football player graduating with his BSN, but he took a year off from football and yes, gave up the scholarship for that one year. I have a few volleyball payers who’ve managed because the program at my uni tends to load up on the nurses in the spring and volleyball’s competitive season is fall. I’ve never seen a softball player manage the sport and the major.
All she can do is try. She should be ok for the first year or two if she’s a good time manager and willing to give up on some of the social aspects of college, but she may have to give up the sport in her upperclassmen years. Sorry I can’t be a better cheerleader for your situation. I just don’t see it work out all that often.
Thank you very much for your informations. I am worried about my friend’s daughter but the end that is their decision so, I am just hope she can put up with her commitment.
I agree that once she starts clinicals, she really won’t be able to balance both soccer and nursing school. Even if she’s a highly organized genius, there are going to be too many times where she would be expected to be two places at once.
^^^
Very true…and I can’t imagine a coach constantly allowing a nursing student to “not travel” or “arrive late to a home game” because of clinicals the last two years.
If the athletic scholarship is needed to afford the school, then that needs to be a consideration. Losing that money the last two years could make the school unaffordable.
Thank you so much for your useful information. I really appreciate it. Thanks again.
Two of the biggest conferences, PAC 12 and B1G 10 will now be granting scholarships for 4 years, and if the student does not play the last two years, she’d still get to keep the scholarship. Of course those are all D1 schools, the scholarships will be hard to come by, and the first two years of competition will be intense.
Thank you for your information. I am not sure she will go to D1 or D3 school but thank you.
My wife skipped college soccer because she was heading to a nursing school and regrets it to this day. If she knew that she could have taken five years and still played soccer, she would have. A friend’s daughter did two years of D1 softball before deciding that chem labs were more important than batting practice.
My suggestion for someone in that position is to not cut the sport out yet. Play a year and reevaluate.
There’s a huge difference in the level of commitment required from a D1and a D3 athletes. Oh, and D3 schools cannot give athletic scholarships.
Heather Buck was a nursing major while playing basketball at Uconn (which is pretty on par with the biggest sports commitments you can have as a student athlete). She did it, but she redshirted her freshman year (she got mono) so she had five years. Some of the process and challenges are described here (she did have to make up clinical hours): http://www.middletownpress.com/general-news/20120211/uconn-women-heather-buck-and-kelly-faris-successfully-juggle-studies-in-tough-nursing-major-playing-for-huskies-2
Thank you very much for all the good informations. I really appreciate it your time to answer my question.