<p>My son has been in a state of turmoil since finding out that if he wants to play for the tennis team he has to keep his schedule open from 2pm to 5pm everyday! Well being a freshman, he took whatever classes were open on his given registration day. He has both Chem 6A and math 20A during those times. Between lectures and discussions its seeming impossible to find any open classes without huge waiting lists. He is concerned that if he were to give up his classes that he is in now and doesn't get in on a waiting list than he will be down 2 classes. Not to mention setting him back for next quarter! How likely is it that classes will open within the first couple of weeks ? Should he talk to the chem and math department and tell them his dilemma or will they not care that he is trying to work things out so he can play for the school? Personally as a mother I wouldn't be too dissapointed if he doesn't play as it seems like they miss a lot of class time traveling to other schools and am worried about him falling behind on his studies. Any advice from people who have been down this road is greatly appreciated!!</p>
<p>Has he talked to the coach about the scheduling problem?</p>
<p>My S had a seemingly intractable schedule problem related to sports, too. The coach sending an email to the appropriate parties seemed to resolve it with no problem.</p>
<p>The coach told him to talk to the Chemistry and math departments but from what he's been told from other students, theres not much he can do!</p>
<p>Bring it up to the coach. I have never heard of a coach demanding that a kid set aside part of the academic school day for practices.</p>
<p>Call the Athletic Director and explain the situation. Also, question the legalities of what the coach is enforcing. How is it appropriate to remove an athlete from academic periods of the school day?</p>
<p>What is his planned major? How important is tennis to him?</p>
<p>hmmmm...D1 is at a DIII LAC and coach always helps with scheduling. D2 just got accepted at a DI and coach told her all athletes get priority scheduling so there won't be problems. Are you sure the coach really wants him on the team???</p>
<p>nysmile...it is not uncommon to have practice in the afternoon.H played college hockey many years ago and the practice started at 3 every day. It happens at lots of schools and has for decades.</p>
<p>I can't ever remember taking a class after 1:00pm. I liked being free in the afternoon even if it meant an early morning class!</p>
<p>^^agree with all posts that say this doesn't sound right.</p>
<p>D is a freshman athlete. Her profs asked athletes to state, in writing, the lab times that would work with their practice schedule and said they would be assured of those time slots. Coach said he could adjust practice time if need be. Individual sport, so this works- team sport, not so much! </p>
<p>I was happy to see profs and coaches working together to make the schedule work for the student. This is how it should be.</p>
<p>ucmomhopeful-
Was your son a walk-on? From our experience, athletic programs provide priority scheduling for athletes and have a team academic advisor who helps with scheduling. Additionally, they have procedures for allowing make-up work when travelling.</p>
<p>Yes he was a walk-on. He is a biology major at UC San Diego and his classes are pretty intense. They don't give priority to incoming freshman athletes the first quarter however if he does decide to play than he will have priority for the 2nd and 3rd quarters.</p>
<p>ucmomhopeful-
Is there a team student-athlete academic adviser he can go talk to? He/she might be able to help him change some of his sections (I am assuming there are multiple sections of math and chem) to avoid the conflict.</p>
<p>(BTW, I do understand intensity of course load. S is a student-athelete engineering major at a D1 university.)</p>
<p>Here is the link to the UCSD athletic site:
UCSDTritons.comOfficial</a> Web Site of UC San Diego Athletics</p>
<p>On the left hand menu there is a link for "Student-Athlete Services". You might be able to find a name of someone your S can talk to.</p>
<p>Thanks for this tip! I'm going to call him now!!!</p>
<p>Is he varsity or club? IF he is club the coach has to work around his schedule, of he is varsity there should be assistance from the team in priority scheduling.</p>
<p>if he is a varsity walk on, then he may have to get creative, but shouldn't there be some GE classes he could take instead of those two and get them in the AM?</p>
<p>Have your son talk to his athletic advisor, a young man, can't remember his name at UCSD. He will call the teachers and see if there is something that can be done. Most sports practice at that time so there are other options. It gets increasingly harder as you get older with the additional lab classes that are needed, many are only offered once a day. My son had the same problem last year and it was all fixed relatively easy. Hopefully he will stick with the sport, it is one of the best experiences a college student can have.</p>
<p>I didn't realize you were talking about sports on the college level. I thought the conflict was in regards to high school Varsity sports.</p>
<p>Oh no, we did the whole high school thing. He played Varsity #2 singles all 4 years! That was tame compared to what he's going through now!! According to the chem and math departments, neither the coach or even professor has any say on who gets in a class from a waiting list. Evidently there is no priority for incoming freshman atheletes!! Since he is a bio major, it would be very difficult to jus take ge's at this time. It would put him behind tract and he's planning on doing research and then going to med school. He may have to just wait until his soph year and do club or intramural teams to keep busy. The point is that it has been such a huge part of his life for the last 10 years competing in both high school and on the national junior circut levels so its really been a tough decision for him!</p>
<p>ucmomhopeful -
I am so sorry things might not work out for your S this year. I wish him the best.</p>
<p>UCmom- I have two Ds who have done bio at a UC, one has done a sport. One followed the dept guidelines and recommendations, the sporty one is following her own path and that is the one who is going to go to med school. Don't let them scare you with all their recommendations. DD was told NOT to study abroad, but she did, she was told she would never finish on time. She did decide to only do it for one term instead of all year, just in case she could not get enough classes to transfer. She is now a senior and just found out she could graduate in December if she wanted!</p>
<p>So, print your own list of requirements and keep track of them, but don't feel you must do it in the school's recommended order and all that.</p>
<p>My D who did follow the schools directions felt like she was a robot. Have your son do the things he likes. Like college apps, med school apps also appreciate some one who follows their passion. The only risk to getting out of order is the timing of the MCAT and now that it is given year round, you still have time to take it after fall junior year classes.</p>
<p>If tennis is important to your son, have him pursue it- he'll know in his gut which is most important.</p>
<p>Most bio majors have you do 1st year chem, then Ochem in year two; if it is a bio and math class, those should not bump him from any other critical classes.</p>
<p>You have to talk to the coaches. Schools vary on how accomodating they will be.</p>