How is the life of a recruited D1 athlete?

<p>I've always wondered how life is for a recruited D1 athlete, especially a girl. I have several friends who are girls who play volleyball and have signed on at schools like Duke, Cal Berkeley, etc. I've always thought life must be easy for them? They don't really have to worry about grades, they get to play a sport they love, and pretty much get full rides at the schools to play the sport they love. How much better can your life get? Sometimes, I guess I wish I was a superb athlete (or that I started earlier, then I would be really good by now), I wouldn't mind at all coming to school at 6 or 5:45AM for daily practices...and plus you get all these guys gawking over you haha, and a lot of people watching you play. Seems like the perfect life?</p>

<p>Not necessarily.</p>

<p>"Stanford football players use their brains"
[url=<a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-streeter9oct09,1,2726290,full.column%5DLink%5B/url"&gt;http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-streeter9oct09,1,2726290,full.column]Link[/url&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/p>

<p>I know a few people recruited by top schools. The pressure is actually more on them because they know that they HAVE to keep their grades up or else the scholarships can be dropped. They don't want to loose their dream schools so they work their butts off.</p>

<p>I'd rather be in a situation where it's "okay, if I keep my grades at this level, I will get into X and get scholarship money" versus "if I keep my grades at this level, I might get accepted to X and perhaps receive scholarship money"</p>

<p>yeah i know a few people that have been recruited for d1 schools.. but they're all in the top ten of their class or val or something.. and the few people who are just as good as athletes but aren't as smart usually go to a d3 school.. this one amazing basketball player in my area was ranked like 20th in the country but he's playing at the local community college because his grades were so bad.</p>

<p>i totally agree with andybebad. if you are recruited, you don't have to stress over about the unknown factors of admission.</p>

<p>Yeah exactly. They just have to maintain a certain level of performance, and they are guaranteed the scholarship or admission pretty much.</p>

<p>The life of an athlete is much more difficult than you guys are speculating it to be.</p>

<p>^What if they were with the sport since they were young? Playing the sport would be 2nd nature by now. It wouldn't be that hard.</p>

<p>except once they get to school they have to balance classes and sports. Yes it maybe be second nature but the doesn't mean it isn't hard. One of my really good friends plays D1 basketball. It is by no means easy. Yes, the admissions process was less difficult, but once she got to school she has to deal with much more than the average adjusting freshman. It is a lot of extra pressure. It has its benefits but I wouldn't be too envious.</p>

<p>Just because you've been playing a sport since you were young doesn't mean it's "not that hard. No matter how long you've played, most sports require intense physical and mental concentration and the level of difficulty only gets higher and higher.</p>

<p>Clearly, MonoTombo, you're one of those who judges from afar and has never actually played yourself.</p>

<p>My apologies, I was thinking of running.</p>

<p>running is hard too. long distance running destroys your legs at first. you never get used to throwing up when you finish a race because you sprinted the last 100m or so when your second and have to beat the only person in front of you. (of course, it is pretty sweet when you do beat them and they can't do anything about it because their legs just can't pick up the pace near the end of the race)</p>

<p>im in the recruiting process...and i thought it was going to be a easy process...NOT AT ALL....between talking to coaches 24/7, practicing ure sport, getting the grades, and having somewhat of a social life...
by no means is it easy</p>

<p>Except that you don't have to maintain as high level of grades as the rest of us....and what's the deal with talking to coaches? I mean, what are you discussing? (just curious, I want to learn more about this whole recruiting process)</p>

<p>if you wanna get into the top colleges, you do have to keep your grades up.</p>

<p>OK, all As in a lot of regular classes and some APs isn't anywhere close to as much stress and rigor as all As in all APs or most APs though. I'm just saying the academic standard is lower for athletes...</p>

<p>yea it is. a lot lower.</p>

<p>um actually no matter how high of a recruit you are u still have to keep your grades up
FIRST THING COACHES ASK - Whats ure GPA?
im taking 6 AP 1 Honors and 1 regular class and so far i only have a B</p>

<p>doesnt matter how good you are, if you dont have the grades, ure not playing at a good school in the next level
ofcourse ure going to be able to play at schools like _______(less prestigious school) but no real shot at any good school</p>

<p>but if you're number #4 in the nation for a sport, it's way easier to get into a good school with the same stats than someone without such a ranking.</p>