We’re newbies too at looking at colleges and athletic programs. Has your S reviewed the NCAA timelines? I believe D1 coaches (with perhaps some exceptions like service academies) cannot even meaningfully respond to emails from prospective athletes until junior year. I do think they can accept a phone call. My kid has reached out to a couple coaches because of casual visits we were making to their schools and the first thing they asked my kid to do was to fill out the online recruiting questionnaire. And so far we’ve been relying on the College Swimming website to learn more about specific programs, particularly the kinds of times their athletes have, and also had while they were in high school, to try to gauge which teams are realistic for my kid.
When my boys were looking at schools they were debating the same options. You can find lower level D1 programs where the coach is flexible with a swimmers practice schedule. Have extra time available for the swimmer to swim his yardage by himself at an off time. Other coaches will not be so flexible. A great question to ask the coach is how many premed/science majors have gone through their swim program. If that number is not very large, that program probably will not be a good fit. For my boys, they selected a school in the NESCAC Conference as that was the best of both worlds for them. Best of luck, you will find a situation that will work best for your son.
Agree with @AppleNotFar and CollegeSwimming. Pay the $20 so your S20 can see exactly where he fits in any given program. He’ll be able to tell how many students are nearing graduation in 2020 and where he sits in relation to other swimmers in his focused events. I have always read that most coaches will be interested in your athlete if he or she can produce points at conference events.
My son was a D1-level swimmer who ultimately turned down at least one Ivy, William & Mary, and others for a top NESCAC. My sense is that the pre-med route would be tough to juggle along with varsity swimming. D1 swimming – even at an Ivy – is a very intense commitment. I would also say that, at least from our experience, DS is getting a truly first-rate education with small class sizes and talented teaching faculty. Those things are harder to find at D1.
I think it will work out…he will either be very into swimming or the pre-med. The other one might suffer a bit. His choice.
Or his times will show he is D1 or D3.
It is far too early to make plans for a HS sophomore. He is still physically growing and he is maturing academically/mentally. Who knows what he will want in two years when he is actively choosing colleges? His passions may change. Who knows- he may want to become a physician with an orthopedics specialty, become a physical therapist, a kinesiologist a…
When my son was in HS he was passionate about running. In college he ran through club sports and got an excellent education in fields he liked. Your son may decide on a school for its academics instead of the chance to swim. While in college he may change his plans.
Eons ago there were twins on the UW basketball team who both went to medical school as I recall. One in three getting in back then (I did). Don’t rule it out but presume in two years he will have gone through a lot of maturing and may change his focus.
From your few paragraphs, it sounds like your S would be a great doctor, so why interfere with what he wants and what could be a good choice for him.
You should let two forces guide the recruiting process – the schools’ interest in your son as a swimmer and his college and life goals. Nothing else really matters. I always said that I would step in only if my kid was headed for a mistake. Majors can be a distraction, particularly for med school. Many may disagree, but I view college as brain training rather than as a trade school for a future job (with certain notable exceptions, like engineering).
So, make a very long list of possible colleges – dream big on the possibilities and include those that you think are “also rans.” Then start contacting the coaches with times (I have learned from this site that video may may be helpful for swimming so that a coach can assess room for improvement) and see what kind of traction your son gets. It could be that only D3s or D2s respond. Then you have let the process solve your concerns about time commitment (you might be surprised about the commitment for D3, however). Or, he may get a lot of response from D1s. That will inform you about what is reasonable for your son to do.
The best thing for a parent to do is support their kid when making choices about and once in college. I always think it is good to say “the swim team is a big commitment, it is okay if you decide that you want something else.” From the outside, we have views about what is right for our kid, but we don’t have to live it. Throughout life, there will be time-related choices to be made by your son. Do I become a PT so that I can coach my kid in little league or am I a transplant surgeon. Swimming versus pre-med decisions are not much different. In the end, he will do well whatever he chooses.
^^^Love your post @gointhruaphase
With regard to building the list and learning about programs, another resource that has more recently emerged are current and former teammates and swim acquaintences who are going through the process now and those who are now swimming in college. Lately AppleKid has mentioned about this kid or that kid who has committed to swim at XYZ college, or who seems to really enjoy swimming at XYZ college, some of which is coming from social media and some just from talking at school, practices and meets. The input has broadened the list, and I think that’s a good thing at this stage. Right now we’ve got the college kids back to train with our club team so I imagine there will be more impressions and information gathered from them over break.
There is so much wisdom here. Thank you all!
Your son sounds like he would do amazing with balancing pre-med studies and swimming D1. There’s no reason to discourage him from that, if he’s able to balance all of his high school responsibilities and has a passion for his sport! It would definitely be best for him to ask each individual coach about athletes on the pre-med track, like how feasible it is and how many players are currently pre-med. When I was speaking with D1 coaches (for rowing, but I assume swimming could be similar), some of them said they DELIBERATELY recruited pre-med athletes, as it shows their dedication and work ethic, as well as likely would bring the team’s average grades up. Best of luck!
Just saw this thread and learned a lot. Thank you all.
@ShrimpBurrito
Ur DS sounds like a very mature young man, and I am looking forward to hearing more about his progress in School and in swimming!
IMy DS was a collegiate (elite LAC) D3 swimmer and is currently in medical school. D3 was a good fit for him. D1 was never really an option for him. He was a very strong student and swimming opened doors for him at 2 Nescacs and where he ended up. He was very successful as a college swimmer, and won medals all 4 years at championship meets. In retrospect, his success in the water carried over to leadership and mentoring the younger swimmers.(That side of him was an aspect I never imagined, but was proud to witness). I will assume his commitment to his sport helped him in his medical school application.
I urge your student to look at current medical school credit requirements. Yes, you can be any major for med school, but my Bio major DS ended up with a chem minor due of ALL the requirements. And don’t forget, all of these science classes have labs = time. The science classes only begin to prepare them for the MCAT. I don’t know much about the Kinesiology major, but look into if it allows enough leeway for the additional coursework.
Best of luck to your son.
As others have said, it is possible to be a successful med school applicant and an athlete but you both will need to be flexible and creative to get everything done for a strong application. My experience is that different advisors (athletic vs. academic) will try to get him to focus on one thing or another, he and you will need to work the balance.
All med school applicants are expected to have doctor shadowing and meaningful (clinical) volunteering, and athletic accomplishments don’t negate the need to get those things checked off. Spend time investigating the med school application process, if that is the path he is set on, and map out how to squeeze everything in, it will not happen on its own and also doesn’t need to happen in 4 years. There are lots of med school students who take a fifth year in undergrad school or apply in a gap year (after graduation).
Something to keep in mind when trying to balance med school requirements and sports (at any level), the med school application calculates an overall GPA and a science GPA based on an AMCAS formula. The form has a place for the grades of the required classes, regardless of major, and grades are not entered by semester. There is no benefit or allowance given to students who take a hard major or a “heavy” work load in a competition semester. That means your athlete can take all “weed-out” classes like Bio, Org Chem, BioChem, Physics either in summer school (at a university, not a comm. college) or at the very least in a light, non-competition semester. There is also no benefit to cramming all of the necessary 100 level classes into the first year or taking a hard major.
The med school application process follows a yearly cycle, with initial apps going in during the summer, secondaries (MORE essays) are due in late summer - early fall and interviews run from Oct – Feb. Most schools have a pre-med society or student group that will help him learn about the process, because just like athletic recruiting, getting into med school will be much more likely if you understand the requirements and process, and develop a strategy.
Thank you all so much! This input is extremely helpful.
Med schools don’t have many varsity athletes who enter. But if he were to swim for a D1 team, it would certainly be noticed by the admissions committees. They generally don’t make concessions for athletes in terms of GPA and MCAT score though.
Have you considered a post-bacc program? These are designed for students who decide to do pre-med requirements after finishing college. There are some one year programs that lead to a masters degree. This can often be a way to boost GPAs, and make candidates more attractive for med school admissions?
I have no specific advice for you, but just wanted to say our sons’ pediatrician was a swimmer at the University of Texas back in the day. 
I don’t know what his undergraduate major was though.