<p>playing a sport like baseball (during the summer) would probably cut down on time for research and prepping for the MCAT, etc…but is it worth it in the long run?</p>
<p>Also, what if the school is not a really big name school? Should I just stick to academics and go to a really good academic school and trade my opportunity to play DIII or DII baseball (division 3 and division 2) for a better education at a great academics school (where i can just focus on my MCAT, grades, and research + ECs)?</p>
<p>Basically, are all the cons that come with playing a DII or DIII sport worth it? (lower grades perhaps, less time for ECs, research, MCAT prep, etc.)</p>
<p>Thanks. I don’t know which path I should follow…</p>
<p>It’s gonna depend on you - what you think you can do, and what you’re comfortable with giving up. How much would you have to sacrifice to play? Are we talking about getting a 3.7 GPA instead of a 3.9? Or will it be a 3.4 instead of a 3.6? Would you have one year of research instead of two? Maybe two other great ECs instead of 5 great ones?</p>
<p>My D does a Division III sport with 6 days a week workouts. Still manages time for academics, other EC’s and a social life. Just depends on the student and their time management skills I suppose.</p>
<p>Its pretty tough, varsity athletes have to put in a lot of time training and working out (my school is DIII and my friends who play varsity sports are hardly ever around, because they are too busy with practice) Med schools will recognize this, but you will still need your gpa to above a 3.5+ (thats the cutoff for most medical schools) and a 30+ mcat score (cutoff for most medical schools).</p>
<p>You should do what YOU WANT to do. If you want to play BBall, then play it, play well and manage your studies well. As long as you hit a 3.5/30 your BBall should show that you have the ability to multi-task and are organised and energetic.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to play then certainly don’t play to impress any one. Play for the love of the game. </p>
<p>My DD played a club sport at a D1 school- it is an emerging NCAA sport and they went to nationals. They did not have the support of the her varsity friends with schedule priority, tutors, etc, but she also had the freedom to skip a practice for studying. It can be done, but it should be done because you want to do it.</p>