Are you a college athlete?

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gsquared

gsquared

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This thread is just to gauge how many pre-meds are engaged in athletics (particularly varsity level). Do you feel that your involvement benefits you? Does being on a varsity team stand out on an application?

I am currently involved with crew, and it is basically legalized torture. Weird thing is, I love it. Rowing really helps me de-stress after a long day of lectures/labs/studying.

Thoughts?
 
Club bball, is as close im gonna get. I am too white haha

ANd yes being on a varsity athletic team should make you stand out.
 
In college, I played varsity field hockey for a team that went to the final four two years in a row, and I was the starting goalie, so life was pretty intense during the fall semester. I think (and hope) it shows the ability to balance a tough academic schedule with other HUGE time commitments. It doesn't hurt to have a few extra things to add to the "Honors/Awards" section of the application (ie All-Academic teams, All-Conference, etc.).

If nothing else, it's a great talking point for interviews, especially for those questions about leadership, dealing with conflict, stress, time management, communication, etc.
 
I am a varsity track athlete at my school (it's an NAIA school)
 
Football player in college. It wasn't a major conference, but it doesn't really matter in college athletics. We would get up at 5 in the morning, lift weights and watch game film till 8, then I would go to class until lunch, then my labs until 4, and then ran over to practice from 4-7. Then ochem etc. homework and studying, plus watching more game film and studying the playbook till I fell asleep. This all week, and saturday would be all day for games, all weekend if we had to get on the plane to fly somewhere. And don't forget injury treatment and team meetings scattered around the week.

Did it help my eventual application? You bet ya. There is no way that doing something like that wouldn't help you. Some of my interviewers have said "If you can do that, you'll be fine in med school." And I have the confidence too. If as an 18 year old kid I can get put on my back by a 25 year old Samoan repeatedly while some coach makes me feel like I am worthless for three hours a day and then go home and focus on chemistry to get an A on the test the next day, I can do a lot of things. (Sums up my freshman year pretty well).

But the real benefit was the discipline of it all. You have to have self discipline and tremendous dedication to play a competitive sport at the collegiate level.
 
I'm part of my school's taekwondo team.
 
Football and track.

Rooter76 said:
We would get up at 5 in the morning, lift weights and watch game film till 8
Click to expand...

Morning lifting and meetings sucked big time.
 
I played football. I also was not a fan of the early morning practice. Especially in spring because it would be so cold that the grass was frozen. But it was actually kind of funny to watch people slip and fall, well it was funny until somebody got hurt.
 
You are in the presence of a coed intramural flag football almost-champion (damn goal line interception!).
 
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Athlete, yes. On the organized team, no. Lacrosse was gonna cost me over 1,000$ that I do not have to play yearly. The school wont cover all costs 🙁.

So instead I just lift weights like a beast. :luck:
 
I was a varsity gymnast at a Big Ten school. I think this experience shaped me into the person who I am today and taught me so much about work ethic, time management, hard work, teamwork, etc, etc. Being able to balance early morning conditioning, classes, labs, traveling, 4 hour practices, plus lots of mental energy hopefully shows I can juggle a lot things. Not sure how much it is helping me in the application process, but I think it will help me in interviews. I have my first interview on the 17th, so we will see how much time gets spent talking about experiences relating to being a varsity athlete.
 
i was a div iii soccer player for 3 seasons at my old school. it definitely had an enormous effect on my character/development and all that crap, and it was a HUGE time commitment in-season (not as much as football but close), but it has not come up in any of my 9 interviews. maybe they didn't think it was a big deal because it was d3... losers.
 
Varsity Cheerleading.. (not the football game sideline kind.. ESPN-style!!)

I think since cheer is such a stereotyped sport, it can go both ways for me. AdComs might make the stereotypical assumption that I'm a pom-pom sporting air-head or..they might be really impressed with the fact that I do cheer competitively (I don't think that many applicants are cheerleaders...).

It has taught me so much.... teamwork.. being a leader.. taking charge.

AMAZING
 
I did crew in college too. 5am morning practices were great for getting me out of bed and to class on time😉

Now that I've graduated I joined a local rowing club.
 
Not a college ath. but a professional boxer/fighter... So that's 2-3hrs/ day for fighting maybe more if you consider conditioning--- then I work 40hrs on the weekend... and take a full time class load--

Did it help my application? Of course!
 
not a varsity athlete anymore, but i was. We probably have 10 or so D1 and probably about another 10-15 D2 and 3 athletes in our class, so i'm going to go out on a limb and say it is a definate positive addition to your application
 
track, cross-country, 3 seasons/year at a DIII school
definitely helped my application, but not my gpa
 
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Another one here for the crew team. Such sweet torture!

I hope it helps in the admissions process considering it takes up so much of my time...
 
I m a college basketball player. Academic all american and the whole bit. I think it has definitely made my app stand out and it was often fodder for conversation;Like why medicine and not a career in bball and how I managed my time etc. I think I have enjoyed playing basketball. Would my GPA have been higher without bball no doubt but still my GPA is OK so I m not complaining. I think the key is that I would not have played if my GPA was in the tank.....but yes like the crew guys are saying playing major sports is a bitch
 
Pole Vaulter DIII Varsity Track for 1 yr.
 
I wish I had tried out for the varsity soccer team, but I didn't and still don't think that I am big or fast enough. It'd be nice if my school had a club team. I do a 3-5 intramural sports a semester and I go to the gym to play soccer and basketball about 2-3 times a week when I'm not busy.
 
So the general consensus is that playing a sport is a positive thing for an application? Would it be advisable to use this as a selling point?
 
gsquared said:
So the general consensus is that playing a sport is a positive thing for an application? Would it be advisable to use this as a selling point?
Click to expand...


I wouldn't play a sport just for your med school app. Play the sport because you want to play it and not for the sake of the adcom. Do things that you enjoy. There are plenty of ways to build and show the characteristics developed as an athlete.
 
I was set on joining crew too until I realized I wasn't an early morning person. Two weeks in and I dropped. Supposedly people in crew in our school have really good grades. Too bad I wasn't bad ass enough for it lol. Free weights ftw!
 
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gsquared said:
This thread is just to gauge how many pre-meds are engaged in athletics (particularly varsity level). Do you feel that your involvement benefits you? Does being on a varsity team stand out on an application?

I am currently involved with crew, and it is basically legalized torture. Weird thing is, I love it. Rowing really helps me de-stress after a long day of lectures/labs/studying.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...


I was on the crew team for two years at school. "Legalized torture" is an excellent way to describe the sport. I definitely loved being on the team, though. It sounds like you had afternoon practices. Unfortunately, I had to get up at 4:30am for practice, which ended at 8am. 2 years of waking up that early definitely took a toll on me. But, I would definitely do it again! Crew is amazing 🙂
 
i don't know if this counts, but i'm on my university's billiard's team. =)
 
Squash. Most random and ridiculous sport ever.
 
I have little to no athletic abilities, and am often hit with balls when I do play sports lol. I did used to play a bit of volleyball freshman year with a friend. I found it enjoyable and relaxing (and a good workout!) until my friend became too competitive. She yelled at me for not diving for the ball sans kneepads on a basketball court while just practicing bumping back and forth. W. T. F.

I do enjoy playing sports recreationally (i.e., not on teams, just with a few friends), but I'm not any good. I think basketball is fun but I am not really coordinated to continuously dribble the ball while moving. I tried soccer but I like using my hands too much. Touch football sounds like it'd be fun now that I know how the game is played. I used to play hockey on rollerblades (roller hockey? lol) with my brothers when we were younger, but now I think I'd break my leg. And I'm done rambling since nobody probably cares lol.
 
I'm also a varsity cheerleader
 
Last edited:
gsquared said:
This thread is just to gauge how many pre-meds are engaged in athletics (particularly varsity level). Do you feel that your involvement benefits you? Does being on a varsity team stand out on an application?

I am currently involved with crew, and it is basically legalized torture. Weird thing is, I love it. Rowing really helps me de-stress after a long day of lectures/labs/studying.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...


Was on my university's tennis team and lacrosse and it definitely was a benefit. Just keeping fit has been great because I didn't keep up my fitness level during medical school and it was costly. Now, the stress reduction that regular exercise (read pumping iron) provides is great. I also think the team effort was good too. Made some great friends.
 
I did gymnastics before I tore my rotator cuff. I will miss it forever 🙁 .
 
One year of lacrosse. The only thing I regret about being pre-med is that I really couldn't have done lax all four years.
 
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I play varsity football. I think that it overall is a positive experience. There have been many days I am up at five in the morning to lift weights and/or watch film. Likewise, there have been many nights I have been up studying until one or two in the morning. Like someone said earlier the discipline of the experience is the most important trait I have gained from playing collegiate football. I have read many post about how tough medical school is and I have thought to myself what I am going through now will more than prepare me for medical school, and hopefully it will help with admission when the time comes.

If you have the opportunity to participate in collegiate athletics I would encourage you too, if and only if you enjoy it. Otherwise, you will be miserable, becuase it is a greuling process at times.

I forgot to mention this earlier. The worst thing I have experienced with playing football is that I had suffered a knee injury (which required surgery) with four weeks to go in the semester. I missed two weeks of school. When I got back I had three tests to make, two quizzes, three calculus homework assignments, and not to mention finals the next week. Because of all of this I ended up with two B's, talk about depressing. Luckily my gpa is still in good shape 3.74.
 
Golfer at Division I Big XII school.

overall, being a student athlete has completely changed my personality and how i approach things. i've mastered the art of "making time" when there is none. it comes in handy when you miss weeks of class at a time. 😛 I think i'm a better person for having done all that and i would hope that the experience would help my application. (i guess we will see when i receive notice in a couple days!! *fingers crossed* )
the biggest challenge for me was that my coach was not supportive of the fact that academics was #1 for me, and golf was #2. therefore i was not a favorite and it caused some difficulties for me. but in that sense, i think it was a good experience to have to deal with someone for 4 years who didn't see eye to eye with me.
 
amwatts0322 said:
Club bball, is as close im gonna get. I am too white haha

ANd yes being on a varsity athletic team should make you stand out.
Click to expand...


LOL I don't think being white is an excuse to blow in sports anymore

Heisman (Let's go Tebow), Best tackles, 2 best safeties, best linebackers, best defensive end (overrated) and second best wide reciever in college football was white.


That being said I hope club and intramural sports (flag football and rec basketball) count for something!!!! I put a lotta time into those and I'm putting it as an EC.
 
Soooo I had an interview today, closed file, and one of the questions they asked was, "What has been one of the most challenging experiences for you and how did you handle it?"

Was DEFINITELY glad to have my experience as a collegiate athlete to talk about, not to mention my masochistic devil-woman of a coach...
 
played competative soccer all my life but could never try out for varsity b/c i kept getting injured during my seasons 😡
 
Division 1 college football: 1 blown game away from playing in a national champoinship a few years ago.
Track and field: 3 team national championships

Did all this while working 20 hours a week in lab.

I bring it up every chance i get in interviews cos my grades are below average for most of the schools i am applying to.

My selling point is that the fact that i am even in the same interview process with other applicants (who do not have the same time commitments) with higher grades shows that i have what it takes to make it in med school regardless of how i look on paper.
 
Division I softball at the University of Florida... I'm so late finding this post! I hope this revives it a little. I think my accomplishments on the field (record holder at UF for just about all of the pitching statistics) and my experiences as a student-athlete are what set me apart in interviews. Anyone else agree?
 
If sitting on your ass is a sport, then yes.
 
big ten baseball
 
LoveBeatles said:
Varsity Cheerleading.. (not the football game sideline kind.. ESPN-style!!).......AdComs might make the stereotypical assumption that I'm a pom-pom sporting air-head
Click to expand...

and they would be right considering your superhigh BCPM gpa of 2.82 ! 😀
 
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