Hi guys! I’m a junior at a medium sized high school in rural MD. I am a competitive swimmer who is looking for some division 3 schools to swim at! My SAT is a 2090 super scored, 1990 single sitting, and my GPA is 4.0. I also want to go to a school that prioritizes academics and has a good pre-med advising office. Preferably a school with more than 2000 people East of the Mississippi River. All suggestions are appreciated!
These schools appear on “The Experts’ Choice: Colleges with Great Pre-med Programs” (available online, check the full resource):
Knox
Muhlenberg
Franklin & Marshall
Bucknell
URochester
Bates
William & Mary
Emory
Colgate
Hamilton
You should be able to pick a school or two from this group based upon how selective a school you would like to attend and what you learn about their swimming programs. (You can eliminate the two Princeton Review “Party Schools” should you regard that survey seriously.) As an opinion, a 2000 student cut-off is an unfortunate one, in that it comes in just above schools with full academic and sports programs (often 1800+).
Scratch Muhlenberg. Great school for Pre-med. No competitive swimming program.
what are your swim times, that will be key in ruling in/out certain schools
the list above is good for premed but a few are D1 for swim
How serious are you about becoming a doctor? Really serious? Heart set on it? Always wanted to be a doctor?
Or…just…I’m smart and therefore I should be a doctor?
Are you retesting? Are you going to take the ACT as well?
I’m asking because your SAT scores are modest for successful premeds and therefore you really should NOT add in a sports activity that will take a good bit of your time.
It will also be hard for you to fit in the lab req’ts since many of those are held in the afternoons.
My son has two housemates who were former college athletes. Both did their premed prereqs AFTER college because they knew that their sports req’ts would not allow adequate attention to get a high GPA.
Kenyon College. Rhodes College. Furman University.
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want to major in Biology or Biochem with a minor in Political Science. I
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Ok…I doubt that you’ll have the time to do the above/premed and swimming AND get a med school worthy GPA.
with regards to D3 swimming and premed you can do both. Yes, it is tough but most of the D3 coaches allow for you to miss assigned practices for labs late in the day and they set up sets for you that can fit your schedule at different times of the day. Most college swim coaches at D3 colleges are also aquatic directors so they are at the pool in their office throughout the day. What Mom said is correct, getting a high GPA with a science major is tough but doable
good luck
@mom2collegekids I am definitely set on medicine but I also have a passion for swimming. In college I would put my grades first and if my GPA fell too low I would tell the coach I can’t be on the team anymore.
My times are ok, not the fastest but not the slowest. I’m 58.57 in the 100 back, 52.49 in the 100 free, and 1:55 in the 200 free. However, I’m working with a trainer for muscle building and hope to see my times fall by at least a second next year.
To give you an idea of the times for D3 swimming, here are the results from the NESCAC championship meet. NESCAC is one of the stronger leagues.
http://www.nescac.com/sports/swimdive/2015-16/championship_men/NESCAC_MSWD_Final.pdf
Here are the latest NCAA national rankings for D3 swim teams (under the M. SW. column)
Do you know about the website collegeswimming.com? That’s a great site where you can compare your times with the kids on the teams. You should start contacting coaches and visiting schools (if possible) as soon as possible. With your times, I’d look at Skidmore. Coach Greenleaf is great! My kids were both very impressed with that school. It’s currently my D2’s first or second choice. I would also take a serious look at The College of Wooster which is a fabulous school. Loved coach Harrington and really loved everything about the school and you’d likely qualify for merit aid there. It’s excellent in the sciences. If you want to use swimming as a hook for admissions, your current times need to be at the high end for that school. You might be able to get into Vassar (it’s a lot easier for boys) and they are really serious about improving their swim team. We liked the coach there (though she’s very serious) and we loved the team and the team parents we met. All of those schools have excellent academics and the coaches emphasize that your studies come first. Are you a junior?
Denison U in Ohio. Beautiful campus, Tier I for Pre-Med, and terrific Div III swimming program with great aquatics center in the middle of campus. Perfect fit.
Good luck!
@ColdinMinny <<< Tier I for Pre-Med >>
What does that mean? And who determined that?
Rugg’s Guide. It is based on surveys of admissions officers at med schools ranking undergraduate programs.
Not the be-all to end-all, but in looking over their rankings I have seen no major issues over the last few years.
Thank you. @ColdinMinny
I was asking because the AAMC doesn’t list it as being a school that provides many applicants.
OP is not fast enough for the Denison Team, it’s the top men’s team in DIII. Another school you should look at @greeneggsandsam9 is Allegheny college in PA. I can put you in touch with a friend whose daughter was recruited to swim there and another friend whose son is there, but not swimming. They’re both very happy with the school. The swimmer is pre-med I believe. So, that’s my list for you Skidmore, Allegheny, College of Wooster and maybe Vassar.
Look at Ursinus
http://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/article/2015-10-19/kristin-day-named-2015-ncaa-woman-year
this young woman diver attended Clarion University in PA, she majored in chemistry and had a 4.0 gpa.
You might be able to contact her through Facebook and ask her opinion on the swimming program at her school and how she managed her sport and academics.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_college_athletic_programs_in_Pennsylvania
^sorry Clarion U is apparently DII?
Juniata College and Allegheny College on the DIII list might be good choices. Not sure if they have swimming.