I’m just curious, but if an American athlete is interested in a Canadian school, what is the process?
Pretty much the same, fill out the recruiting form and contact the coach.
The internal process probably varies a lot depending on sport and program. Admission is less of an issue at most Canadian universities as it’s largely stat-based.
Just be aware that in some sports there really isn’t the same sort of collegiate sport infrastructure and competitive experience one finds at the D1 level in the NCAA. Again, depends on the sport.
I’m sure others have more experience with this than I do. Listing the sport might help with getting helpful replies.
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I am just being curious at this point, nosing around, but it occurred to me that my soccer player who loves the cold and wants to be an engineer might like Waterloo.
It just made me wonder how the process works.
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Check the academic admissions requirements for engineering at Canadian universities. They’re usually more rigorous than at US universities. Most Canadian universities require calculus, chemistry and physics at the 12th grade level. Waterloo requires AP calculus and AP physics.
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This is my younger child, and we’ve got a long way to go before we’ll know what kind of academic stats or soccer skills he’ll end up with. Right now he seems to have a lot of potential for both.
But I worry that his dream of a college experience that combines engineering and NCAA sports is unrealistic. That it would be hard to do both at a high level. I wondered if Canadian schools might have sports that are a little less intense and allow for a better balance, which is what led me to peruse the Waterloo website and ask the question.
Calling @DadTwoGirls who may have knowledge of Canadian college sports.
I do not know much about sports at Canadian universities. Sorry.
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It’s awesome that you’re thinking ahead for your son, and if the combination of top-tier academics and top-tier athletics may be too much, there are lots of ways for him to have a great experience - maybe he’s recruited by a school that’s not as well-known for engineering but still provides a great education, or maybe he goes to a highly prestigious engineering school and plays on a high-level club team. I don’t think the data supports “do it all, but in Canada” as a particularly likely scenario, though: for example, the University of Waterloo’s Men’s Soccer team’s current roster shows that every player is from Canada.
Good luck with these early days!
Just a word of caution - Waterloo Engineering is one of the most rigorous and esteemed Eng. departments in the world. Very hard to combine with a varsity team. If you look at the roster, only a few take Engineering. I would reach out to some players for their perspective.
On the other hand, Canadian college varsity soccer isn’t as serious as in the US in terms of schedule or training.
UToronto is intense as well.
There are many excellent Canadian Unis with strong Eng. departments that won’t be quite as stressful - Queen’s, McGill, Western, McMaster, Dalhousie. All perhaps worth looking at.
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My daughter was an NCAA athlete and an engineer. Her roommate majored in bio and chem and is a dentist. Since it was a STEM school, most of the athletes were in STEM (a lot of business majors too). She was also in a sorority, joined a few clubs, worked for a professor. She never got to go on spring break because she played a spring sport but was in school in Florida every day was spring break, right?
At Colorado School of Mines, every man on the soccer team a few years ago was in engineering and I think most athletes are in engineering since most of the school is. If you have a question about a particular team ‘allowing’ athletes to major in engineering, check the roster as many list majors.
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Wouldn’t playing D3 while majoring in engineering accomplish your goals?
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Does your son play American soccer or Canadian soccer (ice skates & a stick) ?
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