<p>An Stanford athlete, in the above posted article, states what I think is the biggest problem in trying to excell in a demanding academic field as an undergraduate athlete. Important academic opportunities are lost at many of the elite schools if they deny access to the higher level courses because of time conflicts. This is true at Stanford and at Yale, and I imagine many others as well.</p>
<p>"Some trade-offs are harder to accept than others, Barnes says. The main problem I find is that so many classes are offered in the afternoon when we cant take them [because they conflict with practice times.] Our coach is very understanding and will let us take a class in the afternoon if it is essential to graduating, but if we just want to take it out of interest then were out of luck. This is possibly the single most frustrating aspect of being a student-athlete. Nearly all seminars are held in the afternoon; these present a real chance for close work with a professor and yet we can never take them.</p>
<p>“if they are essential to graduating…” is not putting academic priorities on the same level as athletics. Kids who want to do research with professors, take upper-class seminars, take field studies courses, travel abroad, and immerse themselves in their academic field to the degree necessary to continue at an elite university for graduate studies will have to make the choice fairly early on which road they want to take. I’m not saying this is wrong necessarily, but it’s something that most student-athletes haven’t really understood until they find themselves having to make compromises. For the majority that stay with the sport, the compromises are worth it, as they love the sport more than anything.
If there are schools out there where students can compete athletically at the highest levels and still dedicated themselves to their academic field at the same high level of achievement and involvement, it would be very helpful for the parents on this board to let the ccers know what schools these are. Apparently Brown is one. Any others?</p>
<p>I was talking to a parent whose daughter is at USC and is doing very well in her studies despite taking time to compete internationally at track and field.</p>
<p>ASAP, I can’t claim if Brown is one or not but can only relate what it has been like for my daughter. </p>
<p>Her fall dryland practices are in the late afternoon five days per week and two very early AM ones. The early AM ones do not interfere with classes. The late afternoon ones rarely do either, except this year she took a RISD studio course that goes until 6 PM so she misses that one day of practice. Then in winter, she does have to “clear” her schedule of two full mornings per week but so far that has not been a problem. She also must be gone all weekend but that affects homework time but not class time. She has one kink she had to figure out because the van leaves Fridays for winter races at 4 PM and she is the only one still in class because she is taking another RISD class on Fridays next semester that goes until 6. She wanted to drive her car to where the team was going each of those weekends but that is not going to be allowed. However, RISD’s academic semester starts later than Brown’s and so she realized she only has two Fridays she’d have to leave RISD studio early at 4 (it is a six hour class, so two hours early) and then also will have to miss one entire Friday should she race in Nationals. She has spoken to dept. heads at RISD explaining that situation and they have OK’d it. Last year, one thing that happened that is actually the opposite of what you are talking about is that when her team MADE Nationals, which were in Idaho, they were going to have to miss a week of classes in early March. Usually they don’t miss classes except I think one or two days the entire semester. At the 11th hour just about, Brown was going to pull the plug in letting the team go because they did not want the girls to miss a week of school. This was unfortunate (though I do point it out to you that the school put ACADEMICS first) because all the other teams who qualified were going, Brown’s team was the eastern regional champs, and if they couldn’t go to Nationals after earning that berth, it seems not too great that they had tried to get there in the first place and then not been able to do it. There were some “negotiations” and the team got the permission of every single one of their teachers to miss a week of class, get all the work ahead of time and work out when they’d have to hand it in. Every professor signed off on it and was willing to work with them. I recall one girl in pre-med courses like Organic Chem, the ski coach had to give her the exam on the trip. But otherwise, the girls had work with them and did it, and had to hand it in when they got back, etc. All are excellent students, from my knowledge. I hope that doesn’t happen again this year but Brown came in second in Nationals and my guess is they can go again this year if they make it. </p>
<p>As far as Study Abroad, it has not negatively impacted the girls. My D cares a LOT about Study Abroad and knew she wanted to do it in college when she applied to college. While her sport competes in second semester, they do practice in fall semester. But the second semester if the one NOT to miss. So, the only thing is finding a semester abroad program that is in fall, which is not that limiting. I suppose you could miss a year of the sport but she would not want to. A girl on her team is in India this semester but will be back for the season. My D is going to hopefully study in Italy next fall. She wasn’t able to pick one program that was only offered in spring semester but is excited about the fall semester program she is applying to and might have anyway even without that restriction. </p>
<p>Therefore, her athletics has not impacted her studies. She is taking EVERYTHING she wanted to take anyway. </p>
<p>I can’t speak for every person, every sport, etc. at her college or other colleges. But this is a picture of what it has been like for my D at her college. </p>
<p>Leinart should be commended: for managing to lead his team to a national championship; for being able to complete nearly all of his academic requirements in three years; and, for turning down millions of dollars by not entering the draft last year after he had won the Heisman Trophy. Instead he risked injury to come back to play another year for his school when he had nothing left to prove athletically or academically, and youre criticizing him? That doesn’t make any sense. This is a kid who deserves praise for his performance on many different levels.</p>
<p>I agree with ts dad about Leinart. He could be a millionaire right now. This of course is not true of most college athletes. Obviously it is a tremendous amount of work to be a varsity athlete and try and complete your studies well. For those on athletic scholarships, they have no choice. For those at elite colleges who are not on athletic scholarships (since most elite colleges don’t offer them), it is a choice. If the student is feeling shortchanged in his or her education, drop down to club level, do intramurals, whatever. I know it sounds hard but no one is forcing these kids to do sports. Our high school gets about 10 kids a year into Ivies that are recruited for athletics. Some never play the sport, many quit after a year. My daughter was a gymnast and quit before college since she was spending 4 hours a day at the gym (which was a long drive from the house). 52 weeks a year. She probably would have been recruited if she’d stayed with it but she found she had no life and when she stopped to think about it, she realized she did not want to be a gym coach which was the only future she had with the sport after college. If your child is suffering from “no life” or not enough time for studies, they have to decide how important the sport will be to them after graduation. It is a choice for them to make. They may choose athletics and that is fine, but they do have a choice.</p>
<p>Ok. I take back some of my comments realting to doing four years of work of work in three years, but not the one about sticking with USC even when he could have earned millions of dollars and had nothing left to prove.</p>
<p>I absolutely agree and think that with all the football requirements and outside media preesures he has faced, finishing all but one course in 4 years is still a nice accomplishment.</p>