Hello all. My daughter is a HS sophomore and planning to play lacrosse in college. She has her mind set on D1 however she also hopes to go into nursing. I have heard there are few D1 lacrosse programs that allow nursing. As a parent, of course I’d like her to avoid having to attend a ton extra schooling after undergrad. Any thoughts right now on D1 lacosse colleges that allow a player to play and work on a nursing degree?
I have two nursing grads (separate schools) who were originally planning on playing a D1 sport. Not a chance that you can play a D1 sport and be a nursing undergrad student, at least after junior year (or sophomore depending on the program). The clinicals, and the schedule would make it almost impossible.
University of Detroit Mercy. There have been multiple nursing/lax players recently. Not sure if there are any currently. Automatic academic scholarships that can be combined with athletic money.
Honestly, a coach who is actively trying to recruit your daughter might say, " Sure, its possible to do both." but unless your daughter is Wonder Woman it probably isn’t possible to be successful at both. Maybe for a season or two, but the rigors of any nursing major make playing a sport nearly impossible. I have three kids. The oldest and second were involved at the club level in college. One is now in medical school. Neither would have been able to complete their particular undergrad majors in four years while playing at a D1 level. Some majors work better with a D1 sport, but other majors do not. My youngest is a college senior, and has had a great time as a D3 athelete. Even so, i don’t think even D3 would have been feasible if she had been a nursing major.
Specifically ask for information on how many nursing majors have been able to play lacrosse at the colleges you are interested in, and then ask to speak to those students. Speak to someone from the school of nursing at the university and ask specific questions about how it would be possible to do both.
There are several nursing majors who play lacrosse at Florida Southern, which is a D2 school. Florida Southern has played in the NCAA final four for the last 4 years, so it’s a top program. Several All-Americans on the team. Almost every player on the team is on the Conference honor roll (3.5 gpa, a little grade inflation happening at FSC, sez the mother of a kid on another team in that conference).
You’d need to find a school where the nursing courses are offered at the same campus. For example, the U of Maryland lax team is in College Park but the nursing school is in Baltimore. Same with Colorado, with the team in Boulder and the nursing school in Denver. Other D1 teams may not have nursing schools associated with their teams.
My daughter was in engineering and everyone said that wasn’t possible while playing a varsity sport. It wasn’t a problem at all. Her roommate was applying for dental school. There were one or two courses she couldn’t take because they were only offered in the spring (cement canoe building was one), and she didn’t do any internships or co-ops during the school year, but all in all was very happy with her playing experience and school experience.
Another D2 school you might look at is Regis, in Denver
My niece was recruited to UMass Lowell for lacrosse and is attending next year as a nursing major.
The other thing you will have to find out is if she is really a D1 caliber lacrosse player.
Also read in: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/
One of my daughters high school lacrosse teammates goes to Dusquene plays and also is a nursing student. I am not sure how that will work out once she gets to the clinicals portion – she is a sophomore now.
The issue, after the first year or two, is clinicals. Unlike a lab, that might be able to be rescheduled under the supervision of a TA, clinicals must happen at hospital approved time and the faculty member must be present. There is so much less flexibility with a nursing clinical than there is with any other major requirements that I can’t see how it’d be possible for a d1 scholarship athlete once clinicals (not sim labs) begin, usually junior year.
If she Is good enough to play for BC - women’s lax played for national title last year and they have a great nursing school too.
D’s friend was recruited to play D3 lacrosse. She’s played all 4 years and is graduating this spring with her BSN. She had to schedule carefully but she got it done.
My daughter did a BSN (and MSN). From what I saw, the scheduling really is a problem. There were clinicals and a precept and she would have to get to various hospitals and a nursing home and a clinic around the city. for her clinicals Transportation time was sometimes an issue. I think it would be hard to get to practices given the intensity of the nursing schedule.
I’d like to point out that there’s a huge difference in the level of commitment required of the student between DI and DIII. Yes, a DIII student could probably participate in the sport and major in nursing. She’s freer to miss a practice (or even a game or a season) if the clinical schedule demands, and the coach can’t hold scholarship money over her head. In DIII, the only thing keeping the student in the game in love of the sport/competing. She’s not dependent on it to stay in school. The coaches know this, and while sure, you can get a jerk who wants to punish players for missing anything, most are smart realize they have to be a lot more flexible with academic requirements or they’ll lose players.
OP asked for suggestions of schools where it DOES work. I gave her D2 Florida Southern that had 7 BSN majors on its roster last year, they were all on the honor roll, and 4 were All Americans so somehow they are making it work. Someone mentioned Dusquene, which has a new coach who I know is flexible and lets students miss practice if they have to for academics.
Most of the D3 schools at the top of lax are LACs and do not offer nursing. D3 schools don’t have athletic scholarships to ‘hold over a player’s head’ but they do have playing time, and believe me that’s much more valuable to a lot of players. However, if someone knows of a D3 program with nursing, I’m sure OP would be happy to consider it.
My D does not play LAX but is a nursing major and a varsity athlete at a D3 school. She has friends playing at D2 schools. The level of commitment can vary greatly from school to school at D2 and D3 schools. My D’s D3 has a travel and training schedule that’s pretty intensive but she’s managing well because her school schedules classes around her athletics. Clinicals will start next year but there was a junior on the team this year who successfully managed both. She has friends at D2 and most have a similar level of commitment as her.
I honestly don’t see how a student could manage D1 with clinicals unless the school does not travel much. My D was recruited D1 and was assured by some coaches she could manage both but we knew the lack of nursing majors on the teams were a red flag. Most coaches point blank told her that she would not be able to play past sophomore year which often meant they would not offer a roster spot at all. Some encouraged a different major but D was not willing to compromise her goals.
York College of PA has a very respectable D3 women’s lacrosse program and a reputable nursing program and I found it to be fairly generous is scholarship and aid.
My wife was a highly recruited soccer prospect 30 years ago. Because she wanted to go into nursing and it would have been impossible for her to play soccer and graduate in four years, she told her coaches she was done with soccer after high school.
She later found out that a number of nurses had played D1 sports and graduated in five years. If she had to do it over again she would have chosen that option. Would that still be within budget?
I went through three rosters: Penn, no nursing majors, Johns Hopkins, no nursing majors, Marquette, ONE! HUZZAH! I think the best idea is to call coaches at target colleges and discuss it.