I am having a huge dilemma deciding between colleges. I have two options. The first is playing a sport (D3) at a state school. I love this sport and have dedicated a very large portion of my life to it. I am having a hard time picturing myself as a ‘regular’ student. I have always had runs, lifts, and practice basically my whole life, and I have always had a very structured schedule. This means I have went from waking up early, practicing, and always having had to work in homework and studies in a very structured manner. I have never had the option of waking up whenever I want and doing whatever the whole day and do not know what i would do with all this free time in college. Another problem with this, the biggest problem, is that this state school is well below my academic standards. My SAT score is about 400-500 points above their average. I would declare as a biology major with a biochem minor and aim for med school. Although, I am not sure how competitive of an applicant I would be because of this schools low academic reputation. My second option is going to a school with a 0-6 PharmD program. This is a very reputable school with an almost guaranteed 6 figure salary waiting at the end. Going to this school would feel like my hard work in high school would have paid off, as I am a top 10 graduate.
Does anyone have any opinions, suggestions, or anything else I should consider? Any input would be tremendous.
Go to the better school for your academic interests. When you get there, either walk on to their sports teams or join a club team. Don’t let sports push you into a poorer academic choice.
There is nothing wrong with going to the state school and playing a D3 sport. Does this state school have an honors college? If so then you would not be 4-500 points about the average. You would be surrounded by like people. These honor colleges are set up to give you the private school experience for the state college cost.
It does have an honors college but the requirement for this honors program is still 200 points under my SAT and not very selective… @MassDaD68@ThankYouforHelp
When I first pulled up this post, I was thinking of posts were someone contrasted a smaller, stronger (academically) school with a larger school with more emphasis on sports. Your issue is a little different. But in my mind, I almost always give a preference towards the academically stronger school. After all, you’re going to SCHOOL, so academics should be the first priority.
In any case, I think it’s good that you’re thinking about this, at least the idea that you’ve had a structured schedule, that that’s been a big factor in your life, and how you’re going to be impacted by possibly not having this in your life going forward.
It sounds like this could’ve been something you thought more about in formulating your list of schools to apply to – perhaps there are schools that are strong academically where you could’ve continued to play your sport – but if that’s water under the bridge, it may not be useful to think about that too much now. (It might still be relevant if, say, you can take a gap year, or consider transferring after a year or two at one school, or if there are some candidate schools that are still taking applications.)
Otherwise, I’d suggest you go with the academically stronger school, and look for ways to continue your sport and/or maintain the structured schedule you’ve had up to now. For example, maybe there’s a club team for your sport, or another group in the school/community that plays the sport, or maybe you can do it on your own, or maybe you can pick up another similar sport, or …
So, at the academically stronger school, there are ways of either continuing your sport or maintaining your structured schedule; at the weaker school, you can do your sport, but you can’t really mimic the stronger academics.
@mattlax27, there is an important element missing from this analysis: change. YOU will (should!) change more than you can really visualize from where you are now. It is entirely possible that you will get to college and:
-> decide that playing for an intra-mural team is fine, or even that you are ready to be done with formal teams
-> decide that bio/bio-chem/pre-med/pharmacy is not for you
Which school will give you the most options if you decide either or both of those?
Some factors NOT to consider in making your choice:
=> the reputation of the sport uni with regard to med school: the pre-reqs for med school are very standardized across unis, and with the possible exception of a couple of super-elite schools, your undergrad school will not be a factor in med school admissions.
=> your ability to picture yourself in a different life is a really good thinking point, but not a good metric for making the choice of uni. You will have to learn to structure your own life even if you play a D3 sport.
=> an ‘almost guaranteed 6 figure salary waiting at the end’ is not only a bad metric for choosing a college but for choosing a life path. Seriously. This is what you will do all day, every day- and pharmacy is not for everyone.
Does your state university system have a medical school? If so, they may have stats on how many applicants they take from their in-state feeder schools. Also, any school with a decent population of future doctors should have a pre-med advisor. See if you can talk to that person about acceptance rates and where students end up attending.