<p>If a student is an accepted athletic recruit is he/she expected to play all four years. I wonder if college athletes are able to study abroad, complete internships, or complete senior honors projects? Do expectations vary by division? By sport? By college culture? If a prospective student asks a question (say about a semester abroad) during a college visit will the coach be put off?</p>
<p>Should a student who loves her sport but also wants to experience other academic enrichments be more selective/careful in choosing a college?</p>
<p>If you want to experience other aspects of college (and why wouldn’t you, really?) choose a D3 school. Once you’re accepted, no one can force you to participate for 4 years, or for any amount of time. I do think, though, that you could hurt your chances of being recruited at any school if you express too many doubts, or too much enthusiasm about other interests in an interview with a coach. This from a parent of a 4-year varsity D3 athlete.</p>
<p>^ This advice holds for Ivies and any other non-scholarship schools as well. While most would agree that is ethically questionable to sail in on athletics and drop the sport, there is no real commitment to participate four years, and no financial consequence to dropping the sport.</p>
<p>As a practical matter, collegiate athletics do impact a student’s ability to participate in other collegiate activities, from academic commitments to other ECs and social life. Each student-athlete is forced to find their own balance. I’ve observed that most recruited athletes choose their colleges appropriately based on their athletic vs. academic vs. social priorities. Without question, though, athletic participation comes at a cost.</p>
<p>Thanks…Junior D is interested in several D3 schools and has submitted online recruit forms to them (as advised by several on this forum). Coaches want to meet her when she visits this spring. However, as a parent I am a little wary about the recruit process–given her academic interests (pre-med, and a desire to continue studying the classics with a semester abroad in Rome or Greece). I agree that she will need to find her own balance, and I recognize that it is not in her nature to take commitments lightly. There are a couple of Ivies that she will apply to as well, but not as an athletic recruit (her PRs just aren’t there). </p>
<p>I am hoping that CC is a place where I can gather information, not easily found on a website or an afternoon on campus, to help her find the right fit…and not close any doors.</p>
<p>Maybe it depends on the sport, but for both my kids (ivy, D1), study abroad for a semester or year is out of the question. Also, they usually stay on campus during fall and spring break, return earlier and stay longer at the beginning/end of semesters. Also, some schools/sports require summer training camp (sometimes quite lengthy) before the start of classes.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I’ve seen a number of Ivy athletes spend the summers and winter breaks doing international internships or traveling. So much depends on the inherent schedule of the sport, and the willingness of the student/athlete to stay fit without team or coach support. Track/XC athletes often find they can manage some summer travel and still stay on the training program. Team sports: not so much. </p>
<p>Some coaches are quite interested in athletes taking a well-timed red shirt year in order to build a stronger team down the road, if they see a strong recruiting class coming in the door. The red shirt year can become the study abroad opportunity. There is some latitude, but obviously this isn’t something you will want to bring up in the first conversation with a coach: “hey, how much vacation time do we get?” It’s part of the decision. Some schools and teams may have so many positives that the student will be willing to put off travel until after graduation.</p>
<p>I think a lot depends on the sport, the coaches and the program. My daughter signed a NLI for next year with a D1 school and one of the deciding factors in choosing her school was that the coach would allow her to study abroad in the fall. All the other coaches said summer only. Her sport trains and races both fall and spring, so I understand why coaches would not want them away for the semester, but study abroad is very important to my daughter. She does have to stay on campus fall break and they have a travel training trip for spring break, but she has the whole winter break off.</p>
<p>The most important thing is to discuss all this with the coaches at the schools you are interested in. I think you will find the answers vary from program to program and has less to do with D1, D2, D3, and more the individual coaches.</p>
<p>I visited Princeton and 3 athletes were away for a semester abroad. </p>
<p>The racing season for rowing is in the spring, and during that time no one on the team is allowed to take a semester off. The same goes for winter. However, many choose to go abroad either in the summer or in the fall.</p>
<p>Coaches did not seem put off by my questioning about studying abroad. They weren’t entirely enthusiastic about it, but it wasn’t a dealbreaker for either of us. </p>
<p>I am definitely committed with the intention of rowing for four years.</p>
<p>Daughter had athletic visits at several “academic” D3 schools as well as Patriot League. All of these schools stress academics first and encourage study abroad, although they encourage you to do it off season (fall if yours is a spring sport, for example) or in the summer.</p>
<p>Glad to hear these reports of student athletes studying abroad in the off season! I will pass on your advice to my D about not bringing up the issue during her initial spring visits. Perhaps specific questions (addressed to a coach) about the viability of pursuing a particular academic course of study at college x and y can wait until next fall when she narrows her list of prospective schools.</p>
<p>I think it may be helpful to have my D talk with some student athletes at a few colleges on her list to better understand the joys and the difficulties/constraints they encounter. Better to make decisions with one’s eyes wide open! </p>
<p>I am very green at this: I assume distance runners compete three seasons a year (as they do at our HS). What do sprinters/jumpers and throwers do in the fall? Do they have event-specific training or general endurance, flexibility and/or weight training? Do they train with the XC team or play another sport? Just trying to get a sense of when the season starts and ends for those in track & field! Also, do track athletes routinely miss classes for meets? Colleges in any given league are spread out over large regions of the country! Are meets on the weekends?</p>
<p>Non-XC track team members start practice in the fall. The “official” starting dates are determined by the NCAA by division level (D1 can start earlier than D3), however, several of the schools d visited in early October were already practicing (unofficial “captains” practices with no coaches present) and doing weight lifting that appeared to be supervised by coaches. We got varying answers about the fall starting dates, which was a good indicator of the “intensity” of the programs.</p>
<p>pathways, the competitive schedule for teams is always posted on their team website, so its easy to see how much travel is involved. Not every kid competes at every meet. Some leagues cover a small geographic area, some are large. Again, this is pretty easy to figure out by looking at the schedule on line. Track athletes seem to miss a few Fridays, but are often back on campus on Saturday night. Most kids study on the road, and on Sundays. You can also match up each school’s academic calendar with the meet schedule and figure out if some key meets (and post-season meets) fall at really horrible times like finals week. Track athletes often end up staying on campus way after finals week because the post season goes so late into June, for example. This can be boring or fun, depending on who else is hanging around, what else there might be to do nearby, and so on.</p>
<p>You’ll hear a wide range of stories about how accomodating profs are with kids missing classes or needing adjustments on due dates/exam dates. Ask about specific leagues and schools, and we’ll give you some anecdotal “data”!</p>
<p>Asking current athletes about their experiences can be helpful, but it’s been said on this forum before that these same current athletes have a bit of motivation to see other good athletes sign, so they may not be completely forthcoming about the realities of being a student athlete at their school. Just be a sponge, and you’ll sort this out!</p>
<p>at D’s top d1 program the coach said there is no opportunity for a semester abroad, not even a short summer program. But all the d1 athletes I’m aware of in various sports have the same requirement. It’s their sport 10 out of 12 months. No time for academic travel.</p>
<p>Now there is a lot of national and even the opportunity for international travel via the sport.</p>
<p>and yes, coaches want serious athletes who plan on staying at it for 4 years, often doesn’t happen but that’s what the coach wants.</p>
<p>^^we had the same experience as pacheigh. All but one ivy said that all study abroad programs, etc. would have to be in the summer. The one ivy that said it was OK to leave campus for a study-abroad program was very specific about what academic year and what calendar time that would have to be in. The couple of DIII programs we spoke to were much more flexible about that.</p>
<p>While I agree that it is probably not a good idea to ask coaches directly about study abroad and other ECs, we found that many coaches addressed these issues without being prompted. Most, if not all, coaches agreed that they would prefer that the student athletes complete their study abroad during the summer. They all agreed that it would also be important that the athlete stay in good physical condition during the time away. Regarding other ECs, the coaches told us that while the athletes could participate in other ECs, like sororities and school publications, they expected that the sport would come first and foremost. Many student athletes that we know found it impossible to participate in other ECs. This is something that could become important when the student graduates. (i.e. “You were a communications major, now you want a job at our publication – why weren’t you a member of your college newspaper?”) While most of us parents understand the benefits of playing a sport, it is worthwhile to remember that many others have no idea about the time commitment that it takes to be a student athlete. </p>
<p>Regarding ambitious course selection in college, all of the coaches made it clear that grades and classes were the most important factor. There are resources available to student athletes at all levels (D1, D3, Ivy) but the student must make her needs known. No coach wants an athlete who is academically ineligible to play. At the big, well funded D1 programs, there are tutors and even libraries for athletes. Some programs have mandatory study hours for all athletes and some have athletic/academic liasons who will assign tutors, where there is a need. I think it is appropriate to ask coaches what type of academic support is provided to athletes and most coaches are happy to answer such questions.</p>
<p>Also, just to clarify, “If you are on an athletic scholarship, that will be lost if the athlete doesn’t play all four years.” This is not entirely true. A National Letter of Intent is for one year only. It must be renewed each year. This means that if the student accepts the money, she is expected to participate for that academic year. If she does not participate, then the money for that year is owed to the school. The NLI is “renegotiated” every year.</p>
<p>Regarding non-scholarship schools and Ivies, if an athlete’s application is supported by the coach, there is no “legal” obligation to participate but it is generally expected that the athlete will participate for at least one year. I have to insert that not only is it an ethical issue, but at many schools there are real consequences to the team if the athlete who is accepted based upon athletic support chooses not to participate at all (i.e. the coach may lose one LL for the following year).</p>
<p>For rowing, if you want to be in the top boat that competes in the head races, including HOC, taking off the fall is not an option; that applies to the ivies and top D1 (and one D3) schools. The only accepted excuse is to compete on the senior national team.
With respect to other ECs, while there really isn’t any time left for them, except over the summer, the good news is that many top companies will have special recruiting events for “varsity athletes” only.</p>
<p>beenthere2, I’m really intrigued by your last sentence. What kinds of companies have special recruiting for varsity athletes? </p>
<p>I can add that being a varsity athlete at a selective school has helped kids I know to get summer internships and positions after graduation. The network of former college athletes is very strong. The student/athlete who can make a connection to a former member of their team who happens to be in a position to hire them for the summer or for a permanent position has a real advantage. </p>
<p>I don’t know how that weighs in the decision to participate in college athletics. As was pointed out above, maybe some undergrads would be better off in the job hunt if they had spent some time doing research, writing for a college publication, studying abroad, and so on. However, most college athletes I know didn’t really go about making the decision that way: they were so in love with their sport that not playing in college wasn’t really an option, once the offers were made.</p>
<p>“However, most college athletes I know didn’t really go about making the decision that way: they were so in love with their sport that not playing in college wasn’t really an option” </p>
<p>Perhaps its parents like me that worry about balance, not the athletes themselves…the kids know what they want and don’t think in terms of what they are missing (just on what they are gaining).</p>
<p>I encountered a description of the driven, achievement oriented D1 female athlete in a Duke press release a while back…about finding good pre-med candidates:</p>
<p>"Adds Allan Friedman, If you want to tap into a pool of motivated, team.- and goal-oriented women with great time management skills who are interested in medicine, what better population is there than successful Division I athletes? </p>