<p>It's pretty simple really. I'm stuck between going to a really good engineering program at an instate college or going to a decent engineering program at a school where I have the chance chance to play college d2 soccer. I'm mainly concerned on whether I could handle both soccer and Chemical Eng! Does anyone have some info on how a student athlete's daily schedule is in preseason, during season, etc and whether or not they enjoyed the athletic commitment and sacrifice of social life? Any help would be appreciated...thank you!</p>
<p>I would imagine that this is highly dependent on the school. Can you talk to the coach and players at the schools you are looking at?</p>
<p>The issue with engineering is that it is demanding. There is also rigid set of coursework that need to be taken in a set order. Dropping courses for whatever reason can cause real problems due to the pre-requirements. There are not many electives that can be used to balance the workload. There is also be a large lab component. You will spend many more hours in a classes than most majors. As a freshman in the dark ages, my first semester was 17 credits and had 6 hours of labs in addition to the normal lectures required for the five classes. The lab reports can also take a lot of time. If you have mid week games or if the team travels on week days, make sure that you can make up the labs.</p>
<p>A lot will depend on what is important to you and how good you study habits are. </p>
<p>My son is not in engineering, but is a pre-med neuroscience major playing D2 soccer. While it is challenging, he is doing fine so far. I think it is very dependent on the school and the coach. During the season they have games 2 games per week usually, plus 2 hour practices the rest of the week. It is difficult when they travel, but his coach is very intent on having his athletes do well academically so really works with them. During the winter, they alternate between weight training and field work, but still spend 8-10 hours per week working either with the team or on their own. They do tournaments during the spring but they are all on Saturdays which makes it easier. My son is very busy, but definitely has time to maintain his grades and have a social life as well. He spends a lot of his free time with teammates - I think they just have so much in common- but also has time for other activities. You would probably get the best feel for the time committment by talking to potential teammates. Find out if any of them are in engineering and how they are doing allocating their time. Also get a feel from the coach about his attitude towards academics vs. soccer. It is definitely possible but is a huge commitment. </p>