<p>Im a second year premed student majoring in bio physics. I have spent these last two years pretty much doing nothing but studying and a few ECs because of an extremely heavy course load (3 sciences per semester, while maintaining a 4.0). </p>
<p>Well anyways im naturally a really outgoing person and I love sports (was the kid in high school who got A's but cared more about friends and fitting in). I really miss the good times i had from sports when i was in high school and i have been thinking about starting a row team at my college. I made my fall schedule A LOT easier than what its been (getting 4hrs sleep per night has been rlly taking a toll on me) so the time commitment wouldnt affect my studying too bad. I read about some of the more competitive med schools (esp pritzker) that they like to see the well rounded applicant who's not nerdy and has a certain "fit". Looking at my transcript right now someone would say im definetly nerdy but i rlly dont think i am. I want to convey this, and im wondering if starting a club sports team would show that im not? If i were to start a row team it would be in the fall, we'd have practice approx 10 per week plus regattas </p>
<p>What do you think. Is this a good idea? Or are there better ways to do what i am trying to do ?</p>
<p>College is not high school. You should not be looking to pad your resume in anticipation of applying to med school, esp right before your application year. </p>
<p>If you want to help create a rowing/crew club at your school because you genuinely enjoy rowing–go for it! If you’re doing it to “look less nerdy” for med schools–don’t bother.</p>
<p>You don’t mention if you have done any community service work, physician shadowing, research or hospital volunteering. If you haven’t, then your time would be more productively spent doing any of those things first.</p>
<p>(BTW, to deflate your ego a bit–your science schedule isn’t all that unusual for pre meds. Both of my kiddos [double science/math majors] routinely took 4 sometimes 5 science classes/semester and still managed to participate in a wide variety of ECs. Don’t use academics as an excuse.)</p>
<p>I am not quite sure how you would start a club sport like rowing for the fall unless your school already has varsity rowing and you can beg hand me downs from them. It could take a year or more to raise funds, gather enough fellow rowers to learn the sport, etc. How are you going to buy shells, where would you keep them? There are major logistics involved. It might be more realistic to simply join an existing club sport.</p>
<p>@wayoutwestmom:
First off i would like to apologize if i came across as having a big ego, when i said science i meant strictly science classes and that was not including my math classes. Everyone is busy and by no means did i mean to come off as being one of the busiest out there (many of my friends act like that and yes that gets annoying). But I would not consider my schedule the typical pre-med path. If you are not a science major or are majoring in only one science you can get away with taking 1-2 science classes a semester. As your sons/daughters figured out it’s when you start double majoring in science /math that one’s schedule gets more intense. Since most students major in just biology they get out of having to take all the math classes on top of the premed requiremts. Im not saying its the most intense schedule, all I was trying to say is that it is definetly a bit more packed than your traditional route. Your sons/daughters I’m sure can attest to that as 4-5 sciences im sure is even harder. </p>
<p>I do have some ECs, they’re pretty typical for premed and so that is why I didn’t really mention them in my first post. I currently do research 20hrs per week, shadow a physician (3-4 hrs per week), tutor at a nearby elemenetary school (4hrs per week), and a couple premed clubs that do mainly volunteering and fundraising (1-2hrs per week). </p>
<p>As far as “padding my resume before the apllication process” sorry that is not the case. I genuinely love sports and working in teams, that is why this would be such a great club. It is important to have a balance in ones life and I think sports are the perfect way to counter the stresses of school. I would be doing this because I enjoy it, I was only curious to know if med schools looked at people in sports a lot different than those who are not.</p>
<p>Right, I understand there are major logistics, but the question is, is it doable? Afterall, any team has to start from scratch. I am not trying to become a national champ, all I wanted to do was start a club for students who don’t have the time to play a varsity sport. If it becomes anything bigger great, but thats not really my goal. Even if in the first year there is a low turn out rate (which would most likely be the case), I would still be satisfied with getting just one boat in the water and holding practices. </p>
<p>There is no varsity row team at my school and so this would be the very first one. My school is by a major river (and i mean major) and so my best bet (I’m thinking) is to find sponsors by the river. Any guidance as to more details, like some of the things I need to look into like tips on fundraising, recruiting etc would be a lot of help.</p>
<p>boto–sorry if I can off snarky, but you initial post sounded like you’re making excuses for “nerdy” profile. Double majoring in the sciences or science + math is tough But double majoring isn’t all the uncommon among pre meds. </p>
<p>Med school is all about managing your time effectively. Not only will you have intense classes, and spend hours + hours in working in the university hospital clinics (yes, even as first year), but you will also be expected to be involved in multiple ECs (community service projects, community outreach, non-academic class projects/activities). This is true whether you attend a brand name or no name med school. </p>
<p>I still stand by advice: if you genuinely enjoy rowing and this is how you want to spend your time–do it. But don’t do this just to impress an adcomm. (Truthfully no one will care all that much unless your interviewer happens to be rower.)</p>
<p>D. had to drop her club sport after freshman year because of time commitment.
However, she has very wide range of interests and was engaged in several EC’s Medically related and others. She continued using her sport for workouts though. You should try and see. D. ended up with crazy number of various ECs according to her pre-med committee, and graduated with Music Minor. Well, she does not have time for her sport in Med. School, but I believe that eventually she will get back to it. She was on competitive team from age 5 all thru HS.</p>
<p>I agree–and only posted again for emphasis. You also have to take into account finding schools to row against and the costs of traveling to regattas. Even sports that require relatively little equipment (eg ultimate frisbee–a few discs and jerseys) is a bear to start up at a school–my friend recently did it at my UG school, and trust me it was a lot of work! Starting any student organization takes tremendous drive, a ton of time, enough people behind you, and a nice chunk of change (unless you can swing it that you’re only volunteers and you’re providing a free service that doesn’t require any infrastructure–but that’s tough to do and not applicable in terms of a sport). </p>
<p>I’d personally join another sport if I were you!</p>
<p>My D has rowed all 4 years at her school, and the costs associated with it are astronomical! I have know idea how much such an endeavor would cost to start up a club sport, but I do know that ONE 4+boat is over 20K. Times that by 4 shells min, add in some 8 boats, coaches, vans, etc, etc, etc. </p>
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<p>Her freestyle times were quite impressive Miami!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the feedback. I agree it is an extremely large project, especially for someone who wants to make it more of a hobby than a full time deal.</p>
<p>Fortunately, however, after some research I found there is actually a city row team not too far away from where I go to school! I get to row without the hassles of having to start a team on my own? Sounds good to me!</p>