Would really appreciate some actual experience from d3 athletes. d is looking for a rowing at d3 school with apprehensions of the responsibilities of a recruit. is it difficult balancing between academics and the sports. Yes have heard the success stories but are they the norm or the exception. insights in this will be helpful.
I have three kids who have either gone through or in the process of going through swimming for a D3 program. One is just a freshman, one graduated and one just started his senior year. The two eldest from a Nescac school. Being part of a team was the best situation for them. Instant friends and the feeling of belonging.
They both were able to juggle the academics and athletics while keeping up their GPAs
Swimmers like rowers are well prepared for the structure and time management needed to succeed.
I would highly recommend taking part in the sport.
Best of luck
I agree with @fleishmo6, my D3 athlete’s experience has been well worth it, and I think most of his teammates would say the same. First, the “family” aspect of the team, that the athletes have a “home” on campus right away, with a group of kids who are there for them. Second, the structure and mental health benefits provided by training – he has to be organized and efficient, and he benefits from the physicality of training, doing what he loves. Third, the career development aspects of being an athlete – prospective internships/employers like the demonstrated teamwork and discipline that an athlete brings to the workplace (he is not interested in law/medicine/grad school). Most of the athletes he knows are solid to excellent students, with med school etc. on the horizon. A couple of kids he knows lost sight of the student part of the experience and suffered the consequences, losing eligibility to compete, losing merit awards etc., that is a very small minority.
Whether it makes sense for an individual kid really depends on that student’s mindset – for mine, participating in his sport is like breathing for him, he cannot imagine not having it in his life. I would say, if a student is contemplating a D3 sport as instrumental, and isn’t “hyped” to participate, then it is a lot of work for something you don’t love and there are plenty of other ways to spend 20-30 hours a week in season and 10-15 out of season.
superb insights!! my d is also very passionate about the sports. being an international student somewhere the apprehension that if both is doable has creeped in.
thanks a lot this will help her make up her mind. but what happens if a student recruit is not able to cope up with both, does the school penalize the athlete somehow.
In D3, there is no penalty for the student who decides to stop participating in their sport – any merit money or financial aid which has been awarded cannot be linked to sports participation, so the money doesn’t change if the athlete chooses not to participate any longer.
There could be some social adjustments if a student had been close to the teammates and then decided to drop the sport – the relationship with teammates would change as the student no longer shares that team practice/competition experience.
That is the beauty of D3 sports – the students are participating because they want to, not because it is how they are paying for college.
With D3 athletics, there are a lot of success stories. That does not mean, however, that every athlete is completely happy. With team sports, there are subs. Some students realize at some point in time that they will never be more than a sub and choose to discontinue. There are some teams that have cuts. Coaches are human too, and some are not likable. This is why it pays to ask a lot of questions during the recruiting process.
That said, all of mine have loved the friendships they made. Each took part in study abroad. None seemed to suffer academically from athletic commitments.
Great will keep this in mind. Had couple of feelers from coaches, so keeping my fingers crossed. I know it’s late but my point to d was having poured in sweat and blood for last 3 years no harm in using rowing as a hook or for lack of better words a leg up in admissions. She does have decent SATs and am not looking for financial aid. Thanks for great replies.
S18 is just starting his sophomore year as a D3 athlete. He loves his teammates and coaches.
What I love is this: academics takes precedence over athletics with his coach. For example: lab from 1:30-5:30 on a Friday with a meet at 5:00? Lab comes first. He can get to the meet late. His coach is fantastic about academics first when they are mandatory requirements. His coach is also open to the fact that he may study abroad for a semester - and that’s ok. He’s allowed to be an athlete and participate fully as a college student.
Is it a lot to juggle with academics/athletics? Depending on the school, and the level of D3, it can be but the benefits of the sport far outweigh the negatives in my opinion. And, as long as the kid is able to juggle and be happy, then why not?
I love D3. It provides the ultimate experience for the student/athlete…and it’s fantastic watching my kid finish out his career smiling.
The student-athletic experience at D3 is usually awesome, but @gointhruaphase has it right when pointing out some of the potential downsides to it. For many kids this could be the first time for a lot stuff as an athlete: not starting, facing cuts, getting injured, have a coach quit or a dozen other things. The team can be a great thing, but the school has to be a fit as well because you never know how your career will play out. My DD had one player in her class never fit in with the team or the school and she transferred out at the end of the year. Another got cut after soph season for a combination of performance and behavior. One from the class behind her only made it a week before a career ending concussion and another from that class dropped out a week into school for reasons unrelated to sports. The coach left after her second season too. This is on a roster of 15!
Here’s a thing to consider when digging into programs: look at the rosters over a period of years and track what percentage of players make it through all four years. There are a lot of reasons for not going all the way, but if almost no one at all does it that should send you to the coach with questions: is it injuries, playing time, too hard to get classes, a series of personality issues or what? The answer can illuminate a bunch of different aspects of a program.
@StPaulDad thanks. Hope d gets to experience the all the above.
Further development question the coach wanted to know when the applicant will make a dicision where to apply. Does that mean coach wants to know about ED or RD. Question is does that make a difference. Thanks again for all the replies.
Sounds like the coach wants to know the timing of the student’s decision regarding what college(s) they will be applying to, and of course, whether the coach’s college is on the list.
ED or RD is certainly germane, but it does not sound like the coach is offering your D an athletic recruitment slot with full coach support. For DIII (and Ivies) schools generally want recruits to apply ED (for those schools that offer it), but some certainly go thru RD as well. DI is different, even for the schools that have ED (Duke, Vandy, NU, Bucknell, etc.).
Your D will have to ask the coach these questions to understand if they are offering any type of support for her application, whether an ED app would be required in exchange for that support, and the acceptance rate of student-athletes who have had the same level of coach support. Posters could probably help more if you identify the school.
D was a D1 swimmer her freshman year and was overwhelmed with the amount of time in the pool, weight room and other mandatory events. And, with the exception of a few weeks off after conferences, trained the entire academic year. She had difficulty balancing her sport and academics. She transferred to a D3 school her sophomore year and has not looked back. She is less stressed and much happier in college. Good luck!
Yes I was also thinking along the same lines. After d replied that she is looking at d3 schools coz of rowing there was standard non committal response saying or rather not saying anything specific. Just that all good ask if any queries kind. Point is I understand where the coach is coming from, i.e., needs commitment but d here thinks she should keep her options open. Catch 22 situation. Sorry rambling as the situation is getting murkier.
I’m not clear if your daughter is expecting a coach to help her with admissions support. If so, she needs to ask the coaches directly: can you help with admissions support? Coaches will only be able to help with top recruits and most will want an ED application in return. If your daughter is expecting support, she should be prepared to commit to one of the schools/coaches within the next several weeks (in the case of highly selective schools) and should be able to tell the coaches right now what her timetable and process for a decision will be. If, on the other hand, she simply wants to know whether she can be on the team if admitted on her own, she should ask the coaches that. Then she can apply to several schools and decide later which to attend. The latter scenario seems the most likely to me as she should know by now if she’s a top recruit. She can choose to apply ED in the latter scenario as well, but she likely wouldn’t be getting any athletic-based boost through admissions for doing so.
D3 sports are great for the right kind of athlete, and plenty of student-athletes manage to balance athletics and academics every year. If your daughter is a good student and is committed to her sport I don’t know why she wouldn’t give it a try. That assumes, of course, that the D3 school fits her academically.
My daughter was D2 on a team new to the school. OUt of the 9 freshmen who started with her, 2 quit after the first year (but stayed at the school), and the 7 remaining played every game for 4 years. 5 of the 7 graduated on time and the other 2 took an extra semester. The following year the numbers were about the same.
So I think the retention rate was pretty good. The gpa for the team was pretty good, I think ranked 5th of all the athletic teams at the school, and overall the athletes had higher gpa’s than the school average.
Athletics adds structure. At D’s school, freshmen athletes had mandatory study tables until they had a 3.0. The coaches were notified if the athlete missed a class or had a bad grade. Math quizzes were on Friday mornings and exams on Thurs nights, so no games or practices then (they’d hold the buses if traveling on Fridays until the quiz was taken).
Agree with all the comments about D3 sports above. D was a 4 year starter at a NESCAC and had a better gpa during her in season semesters, I think because she was forced to be very disciplined in time management. Most of her closest friends were teammates. She was able to do paid internships every summer in her STEM major with one of her professors, and she is working at a top research institute as her first job. There were ups and downs though. There was coaching turnover, and there was always some drama each year over playing time, especially as upperclassmen got displaced.
OP, reading some of your description of what is going on with coaches, I don’t think your D is actively being recruited. At this point, if she is being being recruited, the coaches will be very straightforward about it. Often they will have already asked their recruits for transcripts, test scores and senior schedule to run by the AO for a “pre-read”, basically the AO making an initial decision as to whether or not they would accept the student with athletic support. Coaches for many sports always encourage potential walk-ons, but that does not mean they can or are willing to give the applicant any boost. Your daughter needs to ask the coaches point blank if they will be giving her full athletic support (an allocated slot), “soft” support (put in a good word) or no support. This can affect your decision making and expectations on admissions, including whether and where to use ED.
There’s some ambiguity in the word responsibility in your initial question. Are you asking about your DD’s role the admissions process or living as a student athlete at a D3 school?
Regardless, there’s some very good advice above: you need to know what you want/need from the process, and then your DD needs to be direct with the coach to get an answer. Coaches should be able to handle direct questions and give you some idea where you stand. But your role is to clearly let them know where they stand as well. Much depends on if you need help to get in, so a direct Will You Help Me If I Choose You question will be answered. If you don’t think you’ll need help then you’re probably just asking about your spot in the recruiting class and on the team. Is that right? Clarify your thinking and then put her on the phone to move things ahead. You may be expected to apply ED to get the support, so be prepared to answer an equally direct question back.
By responsibility i meant her living as a student athlete at d3 school.
Thanks for all the advice I have understood that DD has to make up her mind before talking to the coaches as the coaches expect ED in lieu of their support.
she has fallen in love with Brown (knowing fully well that rowing will become recreational sports for her there) and so she is shying away from ED commitment. Theses are testing times to say the least.
As parent one knows about bird in hand theory but the resolve (which probably came from rowing) to be the best defies logic at times. She has her chance to superscore SAT in October which will JIT for EDs but too late to be er… recruit-able. She is interviewing with Trinity college (safety) today lets see how that goes.
Rowing in the NESCAC is year round. They do they longer races in the fall (HOTC, etc) and the sprints in the spring. She is probably used to early mornings already, but that will likely be her life when they are on the water. Teams are families, so it’s a great way to have a friend group on campus.
Crew offers a lot of walk on opportunities so if she wants to row and be part of a team, that is probably possible. It doesn’t mean she will necessarily be in a boat. D3 a d otherwise. Many of the fall regatta have novice events, so there is always a need for new rowers (beyond the ones who were recruited.) I realize you are asking about getting a recruiting bump, not about participating.
And she should know that she could easily be displaced by new rowers every year. She could also quit. While injuries are not as common in crew as some other sports, they happen. Then, the upside of the pack of friends that was your team becomes a hole in your life.
Most students can balance this with academics. There is a lot more free time at college and having this structure can help. With that said, it can req6some organization, especially in the spring, to manage travel and studying, especially at the end of the season that tends to overlap with exams.
Good luck!
S19 is a freshman at a NESCAC playing a sport that is year round. Practice from 4:30-6:30 every weekday means eating dinner at 7:00 and not studying until more like 8:00. It also means rushing from classes two days a week that end at 4:00 to get to the field house on time. Luckily it’s a small campus.
Of course he’s been studying during his breaks from classes in the afternoon as well but he’s busy. He’s trying to join some clubs and he’s noticing that they tend to meet at 7:00. So, he either grabs a dinner to bring with him super quickly or can maybe eat and get to a meeting by 7:30. He’s not quite sure how this will work yet.
It’s still early in the year and the school is just having an activities fair this week. He’s going to ask some questions there about how athletes can be otherwise involved on campus. He has a lot of interests and doesn’t want to be limited by his sport. That being said, he’s met great kids and is really enjoying being on the team. He says that the hardest thing about school is trying to figure out how to fit everything in!