<p>Hey CC community (this is my first post),</p>
<p>I'm a rising senior and I compete in the horizontal jumping events. I'm currently being recriuted by several DIII schools, some DI, and a couple of Ivies. My main interest is between the DIII schools and the Ivies and I was wondering, what are the differences between competing for a DIII and the Ivy level and what are the benefits for competing for either one?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I would expect the time commitment at an ivy to be more, seeing that it’s d1</p>
<p>Agreed, and if you’re looking at the NESCAC schools (Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan et al) those schools provide for shorter seasons, etc. in order to allow more time for you to be a student.</p>
<p>Yes, the time commitment will (generally) be a lot more in the Ivies. 3.5-4 hours daily in the Ivy League vs. 2.5 in a quality D3 program. Training facilities and quality of competition will be higher in the Ivies (again, generally speaking). </p>
<p>Competing in college, at either level, means that you need to love it and be prepared to make it a major part part of your college life. It’s just ramped up a bit in the Ivies.</p>
<p>Thanks, so the main difference is time commitment. Does any one know if it would be possible for me to be a pre-med major while competing in track in either an ivy or DIII school?</p>
<p>I don’t know about the Div IIIs, but the Ivies <em>do</em> place academics above athletics. DS is a biophysics major at a most rigorous Ivy and balances academics and athletics pretty well.</p>
<p>I don’t see pre-med as an overly demanding college track. First of all, most colleges don’t have a designated "pre-med’ major, and med schools accept applicants from a broad variety of majors, as long as they’ve met the admissions requirements, such as organic chemistry, etc.</p>
<p>This is something to talk with coaches about at different schools. Generally at the D3 schools it is possible, but challenging. Ivy does place the emphasis on academics, but the increased time commitment could pose a problem fitting in labs etc.</p>
<p>In DD’s sport, I’ve known kids who opted out of D1, or who went D1 and ended up quitting because they couldn’t be a science major and an athlete at the same time due to conflicts.</p>
<p>D is a track athlete at an Ivy and has teammates who have gone on to med school or engineering. It is challenging, for sure, but doable. As Sherpa said, there really isn’t a ‘premed’ program - you can be admitted to med school from just about any major. But you may feel a little more pressure to keep a high GPA if med school is in your sights.</p>
<p>There are very few DI athletes at top Ivies who make Phi Beta Kappa (capped at no more than 10% of seniors at Harvard.)</p>
<p>Consider if you are aiming at the tippy-top med schools, or would be happy at a solid stat U med program, which might accept a lower GPA.</p>
<p>There can be conflicts with afternoon labs, as noted by an above poster. </p>
<p>There will be more travel, at greater distances, (overnights) for Ivy track meets. You will need to be more organized, and be willing to sacrifice a lot of social time to keep up with the demands of rigorous science classes, required practices, and meets.</p>
<p>Do not expect track coaches to give you leeway for academics. Many have not attended Ivies, and do not know the pressures and workload. Their primary motive is to produce winning teams.</p>
<p>Then again, if you’re the rare breed who can rock the MCAT, keep a solid GPA and compete as a varsity Ivy athlete - you’ll find very few doors closed to you.</p>
<p>I’m a HS jumps coach that has had students go to all divisions of college, most go DIII, have had a dozen or so in DI and one did go Ivy. DI to DIII difference was time and the level of competition. DI Ivy verses Big Ten was also different. The Ivy my athlete went to did expect about 3 hours of practice a day (1 hour in off season) but they also worked around the class schedule. Big Ten Track was their first consideration and you had to work your class schedule around practice and meets (3-4 hours practice a day with only limited time off in off season). </p>
<p>That said the Ivy kid did well in Track and improved a little (6-11 to 7-0.25 HJ) the Big Ten kid improved his LJ a lot (23-10 to 25-4).</p>
<p>Pre-med at an Ivy requires that you take one year (ie, 2 semesters) of each of the following (and their accompanying labs) by the end of your JUNIOR year: Chem, Organic Chem, Biology, and Physics.
Otherwise, you are free to major in whatever you like, although it is easier to pick a major which requires most of these courses as part of that major.
It’s doable, others have done it, but there might be some scheduling conflicts particularly with the labs so try to choose a school that has class schedules that conflict less with athletic requirements (Princeton and Dartmouth come to mind) and don’t be afraid to ask the coaches recruiting you how many premed students have been on the team.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your help y’all. Also, I didn’t want to start a new thread but I wanted to ask what I should expect when July 1st rolls by?</p>
<p>If you are a tippy-top recruit, i.e. the coach’s absolute favorite, you may be showered in phone calls. If you are a good solid recruit, you may not hear anything until the coach returns form vacation, or goes into full Official Visit scheduling mode, which may not be until August or September. Be patient and good luck!</p>
<p>Remember that coaches can only call an athlete once a week. So you will be “showered” in calls if a LOT of coaches have you as a priority. Otherwise, take any call as true interest.</p>