Does being a student-athlete help your chances at Med School?

[medicalchimp]

Does being a student-athlete give students leanway when it comes to GPA for med school?

Perhaps a better way to phrase it; do med schools look at athletics during college as a favorable or meaningless extracurricular to a resume?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[KnightDoc]

Does being a student-athlete give students leanway when it comes to GPA for med school?

Perhaps a better way to phrase it; do med schools look at athletics during college as a favorable or meaningless extracurricular to a resume?

It sure doesn't hurt!! It's interesting, relatively unique, and, depending on the sport and level of competition, very impressive in terms of leadership, teamwork, dedication, talent, etc. That said, I don't think you get a tremendous amount of slack in terms of expected stats, but, all things considered, it is far from meaningless and far more impressive than the cookie cutter ECs most of us have.

 

[medicalchimp]

It sure doesn't hurt!! It's interesting, relatively unique, and, depending on the sport and level of competition, very impressive in terms of leadership, teamwork, dedication, talent, etc. That said, I don't think you get a tremendous amount of slack in terms of expected stats, but, all things considered, it is far from meaningless and far more impressive than the cookie cutter ECs most of us have.

Very interesting insight! Thanks for the info! What are some typical EC’s y’all have?

 

[aldol16]

Depends on level of competition and your specific role. It's never a negative. But obviously a D1 football player is a more impressive EC than a D3 walk-on rower or something. But in both cases, it shows that you can balance two very demanding roles simultaneously, which is a good thing.

 

[KnightDoc]

Very interesting insight! Thanks for the info! What are some typical EC’s y’all have?

Clubs, clinical volunteering, non clinical volunteering, medical shadowing, research, tutoring, etc. You're still going to need all (or most, research is optional depending on what tier of school you are aiming for) of that, but being an athlete is really a boost, since, as you might imagine, many of us, and many of those screening the apps, are not athletic to the point of being able to participate in intercollegiate sports. Also, it typically takes a tremendous time commitment, so being able to juggle that commitment with all of the other things that go into a successful application is pretty impressive.

 

[Goro]

Does being a student-athlete give students leanway when it comes to GPA for med school?

Perhaps a better way to phrase it; do med schools look at athletics during college as a favorable or meaningless extracurricular to a resume?

If you have good grades, yes. I firmly believe that Admissions Deans have a soft spot for student-athletes.

 

[DarklingThrush]

But obviously a D1 football player is a more impressive EC than a D3 walk-on rower or something.

Sorry this annoys the heck out of me. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the sport of rowing, but often practices are 2x a day with morning practice starting before football practice (usually 5 or 5:30 am). Just because rowing isn’t popular like football, doesn’t make it less impressive if an applicant explains their practice schedule on their app.

I was a D1 rower, who happened to walk on and be very good. My practice schedule was INSANE and rowing is a monster of a sport. Anyone who has ever sat on an ergometer knows how challenging it is. We weren’t offered private tutors like the football team was. We were responsible for our own academics and we worked insanely hard. To make it seem like you have to be a D1 football player for it to boost your app is not correct. ALL athletic sports at a collegiate level take dedication and hard work.

OP, athletics will help your application. Write about it in your PS/secondaries. Talk about it at your interview! Everyone who interviewed me was very interested about my athletic endeavors even though I wasn’t a football player. I also had an average GPA. I am attending a US MD school.

 

[TrackManDan]

Fellow student athlete here, and hope you’re doing well! So as a former student athlete, I can say that it has come up in each interview and usually the interviewer is really intrigued and wants to know more. Based on their understanding, you may have to explain how it all works and the time commitment that comes with being a student athlete. One of my interviewers was a team doc for the US Olympic powerlifting team so he totally understood, the last one not so much. But really what they were interested in was how did I approach things very important to healthcare such as leadership and teamwork as well as perseverance and hard work (especially since I was a track athlete so some of that teamwork is lacking) as well as how many hours per week I put into my sport (I’m assuming to see how putting in x hours along with travel for competition can impact performance with coursework). Clearly it won’t make up for a abysmal or very low GPA/MCAT, but it can give you a boost in how you have this really unique thing about you that most don’t accomplish but as @aldol16 has said it shows you can handle challenging roles simultaneously! I will also note it may not hurt to have a LOR from a Head Coach as they will be able to attest to your character. Best of luck!

 

[MyOdyssey]

Question for the student athletes on this thread: Was it important to medical admissions that you received accolades as an athlete for that to be given much weight?

Different question: If your sport was an individual sport (eg. 100 m and 200 m dash), how did you explain how being an athlete enhanced your leadership skills?

 

[DarklingThrush]

Question for the student athletes on this thread: Was it important to medical admissions that you received accolades as an athlete for that to be given much weight?

Different question: If your sport was an individual sport (eg. 100 m and 200 m dash), how did you explain how being an athlete enhanced your leadership skills?

I listed awards I received during my collegiate athlete career on my app, but it was never brought up in an interview and I did not talk about it in my PS/secondaries. Rowing can be an individual or team sport depending on the boat you compete in. For leadership skills, I said that I served as an example for other walk ons and underclassmen by showing what hard work, commitment and resilience can do. I led by example on my team, rather than being the team captain or whatever.

 

[deleted1032897]

Nope, accolades didn’t matter in my case. Never was a team captain or anything. Only honors were the blanket all-conference honors given to athletes competing full time with a GPA above like 3.2 each quarter. I actually went through a career-ending (ie, choose an invasive, tough-recovery pin-placing surgery with a relatively poor long term outlook or quit competing) injury and pretty much sucked my entire last year haha, but this played into my development of resilience. And when I explained my experience and reasoning for not getting the surgery during my interview, it led to a good discussion of treatment philosophy as a future physician and seemed to impress my interviewer.

I was a track athlete and I never tried to explain leadership through competing because it didn’t fit for me. I showed leadership through volunteer coaching after college, etc but not in the actual sport. If you actually feel like it enhanced your leadership and have concrete examples, awesome, but don’t try to make it fit just because you think it has to! Not every activity has to enhance/demonstrate all your desirable features.

 

[Goro]

Depends on level of competition and your specific role. It's never a negative. But obviously a D1 football player is a more impressive EC than a D3 walk-on rower or something. But in both cases, it shows that you can balance two very demanding roles simultaneously, which is a good thing.

I have colleagues who think D1 is a vitamin

 

[aldol16]

Sorry this annoys the heck out of me. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the sport of rowing, but often practices are 2x a day with morning practice starting before football practice (usually 5 or 5:30 am). Just because rowing isn’t popular like football, doesn’t make it less impressive if an applicant explains their practice schedule on their app.

I was a D1 rower, who happened to walk on and be very good. My practice schedule was INSANE and rowing is a monster of a sport. Anyone who has ever sat on an ergometer knows how challenging it is. We weren’t offered private tutors like the football team was. We were responsible for our own academics and we worked insanely hard. To make it seem like you have to be a D1 football player for it to boost your app is not correct. ALL athletic sports at a collegiate level take dedication and hard work.

Like I said, it's never a negative. And it's obvious that D1 sports is an increased level of rigor and competition than D3 sports. If you had read moer carefully, there's a reason I never compared a D1 football player to a D1 rower. Both cases show dedication and exquisite balance of coursework. That's not to say D3 players don't also have the same dedication and passion.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Like I said, it's never a negative. And it's obvious that D1 sports is an increased level of rigor and competition than D3 sports. If you had read moer carefully, there's a reason I never compared a D1 football player to a D1 rower. Both cases show dedication and exquisite balance of coursework. That's not to say D3 players don't also have the same dedication and passion.

D1 programs are able to be choosier in who they recruit for their intercollegiate sports at least in part because, except for the Ivies, they’re able to offer full athletic scholarships.

 

[DarklingThrush]

Like I said, it's never a negative. And it's obvious that D1 sports is an increased level of rigor and competition than D3 sports. If you had read moer carefully, there's a reason I never compared a D1 football player to a D1 rower. Both cases show dedication and exquisite balance of coursework. That's not to say D3 players don't also have the same dedication and passion.

I know multiple D3 programs who still have rigorous practice schedules.

 

[hang50]

it'll be just one aspect of your application. it will be big for some schools and neutral for others. I was an All-American D1 athlete that was accepted this cycle... for the school I was accepted to, they seemed very impressed during my interview and asked numerous questions about my experience. for the other interview I had, it was barely discussed--they wanted to talk more about research, which I struggled to get because of my commitments as a student athlete. I know some other D1 athletes that have also been accepted and I think it could have helped make up for lower stats (they had 500-505 MCAT range)...but they all only had one acceptance as well.

In hindsight, I think that if I had to redo my college experience without athletics, I likely would have had a better resume...It was a large time-commitment.

edit: idk if this is relevant to you, but note that all of the student athletes I am referring to, myself included, were accepted to the medical school in the state we were student-athletes at.

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

Sorry this annoys the heck out of me. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the sport of rowing, but often practices are 2x a day with morning practice starting before football practice (usually 5 or 5:30 am). Just because rowing isn’t popular like football, doesn’t make it less impressive if an applicant explains their practice schedule on their app.

I was a D1 rower, who happened to walk on and be very good. My practice schedule was INSANE and rowing is a monster of a sport. Anyone who has ever sat on an ergometer knows how challenging it is. We weren’t offered private tutors like the football team was. We were responsible for our own academics and we worked insanely hard. To make it seem like you have to be a D1 football player for it to boost your app is not correct. ALL athletic sports at a collegiate level take dedication and hard work.

OP, athletics will help your application. Write about it in your PS/secondaries. Talk about it at your interview! Everyone who interviewed me was very interested about my athletic endeavors even though I wasn’t a football player. I also had an average GPA. I am attending a US MD school.

Walk on rower as well. One of my interviewers at had been a student athlete then US-team athlete and didn't wanna talk about anything besides athletics and balancing it with school.

 

[hang50]

Question for the student athletes on this thread: Was it important to medical admissions that you received accolades as an athlete for that to be given much weight?

Different question: If your sport was an individual sport (eg. 100 m and 200 m dash), how did you explain how being an athlete enhanced your leadership skills?

I don't know how important it was for the medical admissions, but it was personally for me to feel as though it was 'worth it' in terms of opportunity costs of 4 year commitment with little free time vs what you could do as a regular student...though I imagine you could easily talk it up and impress anyone even without any 'big' accomplishments.

I was a track and field athlete so to answer the second question, there's plenty of leadership opportunities even in an 'individual sport'. there's relays, theres how you approach practice, the attitude you bring, how you encourage your teammates, etc... then there are community engagement events that you can be part of and get your teammates involved, there's making sure your teammates are in study hall/making good grades, studying with them if you're doing well in a certain subject they are struggling in. I was part of different student athlete groups that ranged from planning community engagement event to monthly meetings with the sports administration to give them feedback on different things...lots of opportunities and different ways to indicate how being an athlete enhances your leadership skills

 

[TrackManDan]

Question for the student athletes on this thread: Was it important to medical admissions that you received accolades as an athlete for that to be given much weight?
Different question: If your sport was an individual sport (eg. 100 m and 200 m dash), how did you explain how being an athlete enhanced your leadership skills?

So as the track guy in the thread, I’ll attempt to answer both. As for the first one, it wasn’t important although it did help I suppose. Receiving recognition as “academic all conference (the teams you play/compete against regularly)” or being nominated and voted as captain two years are things I’ll always be proud of, whether it was in an interview for med school or telling my eventual kids. In the case of adcoms, they were really intrigued as to how it impacted my team or if it came with extra responsibility, etc. To be a student athlete is a tremendous accomplishment, but to be one AND go through the rigors of pre-med life is even more so. And I truly believe adcoms know this and appreciate it as well.

As for the second, in my case I was on relay teams of a total of four people. So I’m that regard, I was on a “team” where my performance impacts others and vice versa. But even more so, there are still team scores in track, so me scoring points by winning races gives me recognition but helps out my team as well. And with anything, people need encouragement, support, accountability, and leadership. I found my leadership by always motivating the people around me. Taking the young guys under my wing, helping them on and off the track, acclimating to college and just being a support system in any way necessary. I ran study halls, was the team liaison to the coaching staff and athletics department, etc.

 

[aldol16]

I know multiple D3 programs who still have rigorous practice schedules.

I know multiple people who matched neurosurg under 230. See how that works? As I said above, both show dedication and that you can balance time-intensive practices and schoolwork. Somebody who plays football at Alabama is going to raise more eyebrows than a D3 rower. Unless, of course, your interviewer just happens to be into rowing and hates football. Then all bets are off.

 

[aldol16]

D1 programs are able to be choosier in who they recruit for their intercollegiate sports at least in part because, except for the Ivies, they’re able to offer full athletic scholarships.

D1 is a different level of competition than D3. So it makes sense that they're going to be recruiting the five-star prospects.

 

[MyOdyssey]

D1 is a different level of competition than D3. So it makes sense that they're going to be recruiting the five-star prospects.

In sports that don't generate revenue, some schools have D3 programs that are about at the level of D1 programs. An example is NESCAC soccer.

 

[ChiefsKingdom]

In sports that don't generate revenue, some schools have D3 programs that are about at the level of D1 programs. An example is NESCAC soccer.

I would find this very hard to be true especially for soccer. Maybe at the lowest of lowest D1 ends. Maybe. Maybe. The top D3 programs are barely comparable to NAIA programs. For instance I went to a top NAIA soccer program and never lost to a D2 program and tied a couple top D1 programs. Top NAIA programs better than any top D3 programs.

 

[MyOdyssey]

I would find this very hard to be true especially for soccer. Maybe at the lowest of lowest D1 ends. Maybe. Maybe. The top D3 programs are barely comparable to NAIA programs. For instance I went to a top NAIA soccer program and never lost to a D2 program and tied a couple top D1 programs. Top NAIA programs better than any top D3 programs.

What are some top school teams in the NAIA?

 

[hailbate]

Sorry this annoys the heck out of me. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the sport of rowing, but often practices are 2x a day with morning practice starting before football practice (usually 5 or 5:30 am). Just because rowing isn’t popular like football, doesn’t make it less impressive if an applicant explains their practice schedule on their app.

I was a D1 rower, who happened to walk on and be very good. My practice schedule was INSANE and rowing is a monster of a sport. Anyone who has ever sat on an ergometer knows how challenging it is. We weren’t offered private tutors like the football team was. We were responsible for our own academics and we worked insanely hard. To make it seem like you have to be a D1 football player for it to boost your app is not correct. ALL athletic sports at a collegiate level take dedication and hard work.

OP, athletics will help your application. Write about it in your PS/secondaries. Talk about it at your interview! Everyone who interviewed me was very interested about my athletic endeavors even though I wasn’t a football player. I also had an average GPA. I am attending a US MD school.

To offer a different perspective, becoming a D1 college football player or basketball player is much more difficult than walking on to a D1 rowing team, and I really don't mean any offense by that. I know a few rowers at my school and that process does seem like hell.

With football, at least last year, there were ~1 million high school football players (High school football players | Statista)

If we assume that it's equally distributed by grade, then there are about ~250,000 football players (and this is an overestimate, seeing as a majority of players will join as freshmen with some who will eventually quit before their senior year).

To become a D1 football player, generally, you need to be in the top 2,000 players to be even CONSIDERED for D1 football (aka Top 0.8% of high school football players in your class). To get that recognition is a whole other deal for high school football players. It's constant camping, recruiting visits, traveling, working out, etc. to get recognition from other schools to be considered for a scholarship as a part of their class. Not that other students don't go through a lot in high school to get where they are, but the difficulty of becoming a D1 football athlete (especially at a reputable institution) is absolutely insane.

We can repeat this with basketball as well. Last year there were ~540,000 male high school basketball players (High school basketball players | Statista)

If we assume equal distribution (which again is overestimating), then there are ~135,000 male high school seniors.

Basketball is even more tough with how small teams are (each D1 team has 13 scholarships total (Fr-Sr), so they only take very small classes every year). Typically, top ~1,000 high school basketball players are considered (~Top 0.7%) for D1. Same deal with football. To get there involves constant camping, etc. to be at the peak of their game.

When people say "ball is life", for these athletes who make it to D1 football/basketball, it literally is their entire life. Like it's not just a stroke of luck for a majority of athletes (especially basketball) to make it to D1.

At least to me, that's why D1 football/basketball players are held up in such a higher light: the process of becoming one is absolutely insane relative to anything else I've seen.

 

[hailbate]

On an unrelated note, that's why I have such high respect for the best of the best who were able to conquer D1 basketball/football and still go on to medical school.

Guys like Myron Rolle (#5 high school football player in the entire country in his year - Top 0.002%), who ended up being a Rhodes Scholar, getting drafted into the NFL (only Top ~300 college football players in the entire country in a given year end up getting drafted), and is now at MGH for Neurosurgery residency (went to FSU for medical school). Or guys like Aaron Craft (#91 high school basketball player in his year) who is now entering OSU medical school this upcoming year. Just absolutely insane what athletes like them are able to accomplish in a lifetime.

 

[GreenDuck12]

Sports make an interesting EC. In my org team sports are weighted more than individual sports (not arguing it is right or wrong, just what the formula is) but stand out achievements make it more significant. Sports show commitment leadership and ability to persevere. If combined with strong academic achievement, it shows strong management skills. We did not lower the academic bar for folks in sports. A 3.4 gpa with sports looks better than a 3.4 gpa playing video games but a 3.6 gpa with volunteer work wins most of the time.

 

[DarklingThrush]

To offer a different perspective, becoming a D1 college football player or basketball player is much more difficult than walking on to a D1 rowing team, and I really don't mean any offense by that. I know a few rowers at my school and that process does seem like hell.

With football, at least last year, there were ~1 million high school football players (High school football players | Statista)

If we assume that it's equally distributed by grade, then there are about ~250,000 football players (and this is an overestimate, seeing as a majority of players will join as freshmen with some who will eventually quit before their senior year).

To become a D1 football player, generally, you need to be in the top 2,000 players to be even CONSIDERED for D1 football (aka Top 0.8% of high school football players in your class). To get that recognition is a whole other deal for high school football players. It's constant camping, recruiting visits, traveling, working out, etc. to get recognition from other schools to be considered for a scholarship as a part of their class. Not that other students don't go through a lot in high school to get where they are, but the difficulty of becoming a D1 football athlete (especially at a reputable institution) is absolutely insane.

We can repeat this with basketball as well. Last year there were ~540,000 male high school basketball players (High school basketball players | Statista)

If we assume equal distribution (which again is overestimating), then there are ~135,000 male high school seniors.

Basketball is even more tough with how small teams are (each D1 team has 13 scholarships total (Fr-Sr), so they only take very small classes every year). Typically, top ~1,000 high school basketball players are considered (~Top 0.7%) for D1. Same deal with football. To get there involves constant camping, etc. to be at the peak of their game.

When people say "ball is life", for these athletes who make it to D1 football/basketball, it literally is their entire life. Like it's not just a stroke of luck for a majority of athletes (especially basketball) to make it to D1.

At least to me, that's why D1 football/basketball players are held up in such a higher light: the process of becoming one is absolutely insane relative to anything else I've seen.

Yes. There are far more football and basketball players out there than rowers. But you do know that you can walk on to a basketball team or football team and not play a single game your entire career and still be considered a D1 athlete, right? Additionally, every other team has a set number of scholarships to give out as well. Not every D1 athlete is on scholarship.

Also, “ball is life” is great. I was fortunate enough to coach one of the top junior teams in the country. Rowing was life for them as well. They practiced every evening from 4 pm to 8 pm and raced countless races all over the country. During spring season, they practice 2x a day. Morning before high school and after as well. Most of them are now at Ivy League schools or top schools which turn out the most national team/Olympic athletes.

I’m not denying football and basketball is impressive. However, keep in mind that they are major money makers for the schools. They are highly regarded also because of that.

Eta: my dad was a D1 basketball player. There is no denying football and basketball are extremely competitive. But you don’t have to be in a revenue generating sport to be impressive.

 

[FriendOfCacti]

Just want to add to what's already been said - I was a D1 athlete in a non revenue generating sport, and I do feel it helped me stand out from the general admissions pool quite a bit. My stats are not great (LM <70, bogged down by a low GPA) and I still ended up with 9 IIs which I would never have dreamed at the beginning of my interview cycle.

My biggest takeaway and lesson I tell all of my former teammates who are now applying is that athletics alone will never save an underdeveloped app (and not just in terms of stats), and you still need to have all of the basic clinical experiences even if they seem "cookie cutter" and boring. I have teammates who were team captains, all-Americans, and did a few years of healthcare consulting (mostly on the business side), yet never managed to get in any shadowing or clinical volunteering because "they thought their ECs were already amazing" and got ZERO interviews. Maybe this isn't that common of a mindset and I don't need to be giving any advice on it, but I've seen it in multiple people now. At the end of the day you are applying to a doctorate in a very specialized field; this isn't like undergrad where you could just be really smart and have some standout ECs (like being an athlete) and get into every school you applied to, because they wanted to create a well-rounded undergraduate community. You need to have DIRECT and RELEVANT experience in the medical field, and the hours you spend working on your sport will never compensate for that.

Edit: Also thought I'd state the obvious and say that I think this question is HUGELY school dependent. I've seen Goro make that D1 comparison multiple times on SDN, so I probably wouldn't have had luck if I applied at his school. However 2 of my acceptances came from schools where my interviewers were GUSHING about my sport - not necessarily the accomplishments/records I set, but about working in a team and communicating and how that related to healthcare. I've also watched white coat ceremonies on youtube (lol) where the deans would specifically brag "In this auditorium we have 2 Rhodes scholars.... 4 D1 athletes.... 15 published authors..." and stuff like that so I think it is a nice statistic for schools to have in their class, if that is the optic they are aiming for

 

[hailbate]

Yes. There are far more football and basketball players out there than rowers. But you do know that you can walk on to a basketball team or football team and not play a single game your entire career and still be considered a D1 athlete, right? Additionally, every other team has a set number of scholarships to give out as well. Not every D1 athlete is on scholarship.

Also, “ball is life” is great. I was fortunate enough to coach one of the top junior teams in the country. Rowing was life for them as well. They practiced every evening from 4 pm to 8 pm and raced countless races all over the country. During spring season, they practice 2x a day. Morning before high school and after as well. Most of them are now at Ivy League schools or top schools which turn out the most national team/Olympic athletes.

I’m not denying football and basketball is impressive. However, keep in mind that they are major money makers for the schools. They are highly regarded also because of that.

Eta: my dad was a D1 basketball player. There is no denying football and basketball are extremely competitive. But you don’t have to be in a revenue generating sport to be impressive.

Yes I am aware of PWOs and in general walk-ons who make a D1 team. A majority of those players were on the cusp of D1 scholarships and still at the top of their game in high school and had scholarship options at the D2-D3 level (if we want to make the distinction, probably top 5,000-10,000 athletes). Should a distinction be made between a scholarship and non-scholarship D1 football/basketball player in terms of applications? Probably.

And my argument wasn't that rowing ISN'T impressive or that rowers don't have to go through a lot to get to where they are, it was more so that generally it is more difficult to get to a D1 football/basketball team (whether that is walk-on or scholarship) than it is rowing. I mean you could dedicate your entire life to football/basketball and still not be good enough for D1 (hence the Top 0.7-0.8% of your class), whereas I'm not sure if you could have that same confidence with rowing seeing as I knew a fair number of people who were able to walk on with limited experience. Once again please don't take that as a slight, I have a lot of respect for rowing and similar D1 sports and regardless it's a fantastic part of any application, but I'm just saying that getting into D1 football/basketball teams is probably one of the most insanely competitive fields out there as a whole relative to pretty much any other D1 sport.

 

[Talldoctor96]

Being a D1 athlete gives you an extraordinary opportunity to allow your humanity to shine in your application. You have an opportunity many others don't to show you you are outside of the classroom/med EC's. Use it to humanize you.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Being a D1 athlete gives you an extraordinary opportunity to allow your humanity to shine in your application. You have an opportunity many others don't to show you you are outside of the classroom/med EC's. Use it to humanize you.

You played intercollegiate basketball, volleyball or water polo I assume?

 

[Talldoctor96]

You played intercollegiate basketball, volleyball or water polo I assume?

Lmaoooooooo boooooom roasted. Ill have you know I was the Flag Football MVP BRUH. But like what I said is true whether you mock me or not hahahah

My D1 friends come college were a hottttt med school commodity and they frequently spoke about it in their interviews.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Lmaoooooooo boooooom roasted. Ill have you know I was the Flag Football MVP BRUH. But like what I said is true whether you mock me or not hahahah

My D1 friends come college were a hottttt med school commodity and they frequently spoke about it in their interviews.

I was referring to the “tall” in your handle and leaping to a conclusion based on the substance of your post.

 

[Talldoctor96]

I was referring to the “tall” in your handle and leaping to a conclusion based on the substance of your post.

I played varsity baseball in high school soooo bow down.

LOVE YOU <3

 

[LindaAccepted]

Does being a student-athlete give students leanway when it comes to GPA for med school?

Perhaps a better way to phrase it; do med schools look at athletics during college as a favorable or meaningless extracurricular to a resume?

Mostly favorable and meaningful extra-curricular if it was a serious commitment, especially if it involved teamwork and leadership. Almost any athletic commitment requires self-discipline and this is highly valued in medical school. Most sports require teamwork. Teamwork is highly valued in med school admissions. Sometimes sports allows you opportunity to be a leader, that is also valued in med school. And if you are an athlete who also maintains good grades and time for clinical exposure, you are revealing critical time management skills.

However, sports will not explain away a dismal GPA. If you still have a competitive MCAT, the serious athlete will get a leeway on a slightly below average GPA, but not a lot.

 

[RM38]

I played baseball in college and I do think it helped me when applying. I think being at a major program like a power 5 school would help bring some additional interest over playing at D3 school, but the time commitment is still there regardless of the level and they will recognize that. I played at the D3 level for a team that was in the top 25 pretty much every year and I promise you the commitment was fairly similar to smaller D1 programs, especially since we did not have the support staff those places do. A lot of the athletes at major schools have less time to study because they choose to do additional stuff outside of practice that adds time to their day because they are focused on getting drafted, not going to school for the most part. I know this as we had a lot of transfers from major D1 programs (SEC schools) and they would tell us what the practice schedule was like. We also traveled by bus, not plane which caused us to miss a fair amount of class since our conference was huge ( Central Indiana to South Texas). I had a below average GPA, but above average MCAT. Sports were commented on at multiple interviews and it was a good conversation starter. The guy whom interviewed me where I ended up going liked baseball, so I think it helped get me in. I knew one other guy that did the Luge and he also got a ton of questions about it when we were doing interviews for residency. Agree with others that you still need to be at least reasonably competitive with your overall app outside of sports for it to matter. It won't make up for a 2.8 GPA unless you completely destroy the MCAT.

 

[Division1MD]

Just want to add to what's already been said - I was a D1 athlete in a non revenue generating sport, and I do feel it helped me stand out from the general admissions pool quite a bit. My stats are not great (LM <70, bogged down by a low GPA) and I still ended up with 9 IIs which I would never have dreamed at the beginning of my interview cycle.

My biggest takeaway and lesson I tell all of my former teammates who are now applying is that athletics alone will never save an underdeveloped app (and not just in terms of stats), and you still need to have all of the basic clinical experiences even if they seem "cookie cutter" and boring. I have teammates who were team captains, all-Americans, and did a few years of healthcare consulting (mostly on the business side), yet never managed to get in any shadowing or clinical volunteering because "they thought their ECs were already amazing" and got ZERO interviews. Maybe this isn't that common of a mindset and I don't need to be giving any advice on it, but I've seen it in multiple people now. At the end of the day you are applying to a doctorate in a very specialized field; this isn't like undergrad where you could just be really smart and have some standout ECs (like being an athlete) and get into every school you applied to, because they wanted to create a well-rounded undergraduate community. You need to have DIRECT and RELEVANT experience in the medical field, and the hours you spend working on your sport will never compensate for that.

Edit: Also thought I'd state the obvious and say that I think this question is HUGELY school dependent. I've seen Goro make that D1 comparison multiple times on SDN, so I probably wouldn't have had luck if I applied at his school. However 2 of my acceptances came from schools where my interviewers were GUSHING about my sport - not necessarily the accomplishments/records I set, but about working in a team and communicating and how that related to healthcare. I've also watched white coat ceremonies on youtube (lol) where the deans would specifically brag "In this auditorium we have 2 Rhodes scholars.... 4 D1 athletes.... 15 published authors..." and stuff like that so I think it is a nice statistic for schools to have in their class, if that is the optic they are aiming for

After reading this whole thread, this is probably the most accurate and helpful post I have read. I agree with everything this poster says.

OP, college athletics DOES 100% BOOST YOUR APPLICATION, and it BOOSTS IT A LOT. I am commenting this because I want all the other division 1 athletes out there to know that yes, adcoms view competitive interscholastic athletics very highly and frankly I do not think enough people tell you that during the process. Due to extreme time commitments in college, I was worried about how much time athletics was taking away from other areas of my application and asked a lot of people who normally gave me the same answer that I have seen from (presumably non-athletes) in this thread and on reddit, etc that "it helps a little, but it's no better than scribing or research, etc." I will simply have to tell you that in my experience that was not true at all.

Now, I do believe that it does depend a little bit on the sport, the level of competition/division of NCAA, and other factors. But that is mostly because of the time commitment and the skill required. Yes, a lot of posters are on here arguing that d2 or 3 sports are "just as hard" or maybe a lesser known sport like rowing which has "INSANE schedules," and yes, being a d2 or 3 athlete is a significant time commitment too, but I cannot speak on how much those things will help you. I say this because I was a member of a top 10 nationally ranked division 1 program, which probably affected how highly adcoms viewed my athletic experience. It was a 12 month commitment, being on campus all year round (yes, all summer), workouts around the clock, planned meals, customized class scheduling, etc. I'm not sure how comparable it is across sports and division classifications so that's why I would say all the arguing about whose sport is "harder" is kind of irrelevant and not very useful. Basically, if it is a big time commitment, and you show that to ADCOMs, I think they will like that.

With all of this being said, it's not like you can have a 3.0 GPA and 500 MCAT and expect the acceptances to be rolling in just because you were an athlete. And yes, you still need to get some relevant clinical and other medical experience. But athletics certainly does make your app stand out, and if you are equal in stats with another applicant who has all the exact same cookie cutter EC's as literally every other applicant (research, volunteering, scribe, etc), then I do believe it gives you a leg up over that applicant.

 

[Daphne7]

As a D3 athlete that got accepted this cycle, I would say it depends on your ability to balance the time commitment of the sport with maintaining high standards of academics. Due to the huge time commitment, athletics hurted me in that my grades suffered as a result, and I applied to lower tier schools than I think I would have had I not played sports and used that time to bolster my GPA. However, athletics was also probably my saving grace in that nearly every school I interviewed at talked about it at some point, and I don't think I would have gotten accepted had athletics not been a vital part of my application. The most important part of athletics for me was the opportunity to build character and soft skills that aren't readily appraisable by your gpa or mcat. Because of athletics, I could talk in-depth about the communication, empathy, and leadership skills that I developed, which I would argue are just as important to your development as a physician and team player. Outside of med school, sports definitely helps to build character which is one of the major advantages when it comes to applying, and I would definitely do it again if I could go back in time.

 

[MyOdyssey]

As a D3 athlete that got accepted this cycle, I would say it depends on your ability to balance the time commitment of the sport with maintaining high standards of academics. Due to the huge time commitment, athletics hurted me in that my grades suffered as a result, and I applied to lower tier schools than I think I would have had I not played sports and used that time to bolster my GPA. However, athletics was also probably my saving grace in that nearly every school I interviewed at talked about it at some point, and I don't think I would have gotten accepted had athletics not been a vital part of my application. The most important part of athletics for me was the opportunity to build character and soft skills that aren't readily appraisable by your gpa or mcat. Because of athletics, I could talk in-depth about the communication, empathy, and leadership skills that I developed, which I would argue are just as important to your development as a physician and team player. Outside of med school, sports definitely helps to build character which is one of the major advantages when it comes to applying, and I would definitely do it again if I could go back in time.

Were you a captain playing a team sport?

 

[WaterFlow]

Retired D1 athlete here! I think being an athlete helped during interviews. I found that a lot of my interviewers enjoyed discussing my experiences as a high-level D1 athlete.

 

[Daphne7]

Were you a captain playing a team sport?

Yes, during my senior year. Led a team of about 15 peers and underclassmen.

 

[Jeremy Bearimy]

Sorry this annoys the heck out of me. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the sport of rowing, but often practices are 2x a day with morning practice starting before football practice (usually 5 or 5:30 am). Just because rowing isn’t popular like football, doesn’t make it less impressive if an applicant explains their practice schedule on their app.

I was a D1 rower, who happened to walk on and be very good. My practice schedule was INSANE and rowing is a monster of a sport. Anyone who has ever sat on an ergometer knows how challenging it is. We weren’t offered private tutors like the football team was. We were responsible for our own academics and we worked insanely hard. To make it seem like you have to be a D1 football player for it to boost your app is not correct. ALL athletic sports at a collegiate level take dedication and hard work.

OP, athletics will help your application. Write about it in your PS/secondaries. Talk about it at your interview! Everyone who interviewed me was very interested about my athletic endeavors even though I wasn’t a football player. I also had an average GPA. I am attending a US MD school.

^^^Mostly here for the rowing love.

Former D1 rower here, very happy with my app cycle! I think more so than athletics simply being a benefit as a checked box on an application, it paid itself forward in experience and stories. My sport came up so often as an example for questions asked in interviews and secondaries. I really had to stop myself from using it as an answer every time to prove I did something other than row (which...is debatable).

As others have said, you still need the stats to get in the door, but once you're there, your experiences as an athlete can be a testament to your work ethic, adaptability, structure, grit, and other qualities that doctors and med students need in spades.

 

[doctorosteo]

If you have good grades, yes. I firmly believe that Admissions Deans have a soft spot for student-athletes.

Curious what number range would you define as good grades

 

[Goro]

Curious what number range would you define as good grades

Depends upon the school. There is no single answer here.

 

[Goro]

Sorry this annoys the heck out of me. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the sport of rowing, but often practices are 2x a day with morning practice starting before football practice (usually 5 or 5:30 am). Just because rowing isn’t popular like football, doesn’t make it less impressive if an applicant explains their practice schedule on their app.

I was a D1 rower, who happened to walk on and be very good. My practice schedule was INSANE and rowing is a monster of a sport. Anyone who has ever sat on an ergometer knows how challenging it is. We weren’t offered private tutors like the football team was. We were responsible for our own academics and we worked insanely hard. To make it seem like you have to be a D1 football player for it to boost your app is not correct. ALL athletic sports at a collegiate level take dedication and hard work.

OP, athletics will help your application. Write about it in your PS/secondaries. Talk about it at your interview! Everyone who interviewed me was very interested about my athletic endeavors even though I wasn’t a football player. I also had an average GPA. I am attending a US MD school.

I agree with you, but also keep in mind that many faculty will think that D1 is a vitamin.

 

[DarklingThrush]

I agree with you, but also keep in mind that many faculty will think that D1 is a vitamin.

Hahahaha while that may be true, I wrote on my actual application “NCAA Division 1 Student-Athlete” to avoid any confusion.

 

[finn1234]

I would find this very hard to be true especially for soccer. Maybe at the lowest of lowest D1 ends. Maybe. Maybe. The top D3 programs are barely comparable to NAIA programs. For instance I went to a top NAIA soccer program and never lost to a D2 program and tied a couple top D1 programs. Top NAIA programs better than any top D3 programs.

Not that this is super applicable to the OP's question, but I would just like to throw it out there that this is wildly inaccurate. I played for a top D3 soccer program and we regularly beat mid-level D1 teams by a sizable margin (2-3 goals). I cannot speak to NAIA because I never competed with any teams in that association, however the NCAA divisions are NOT broken down strictly by performance or skill level. Keep in mind that inter-divisional play is often not recorded statistically and each division has a wide spectrum of quality, vigor, and commitment. At the programs (in any division) where these are high, I can only imagine that admissions committees would be interested in all the qualities that are typically associated with student-athletes: dedication, perseverance, resilience, teamwork, leadership. That is all.

 

[ChiefsKingdom]

Not that this is super applicable to the OP's question, but I would just like to throw it out there that this is wildly inaccurate. I played for a top D3 soccer program and we regularly beat mid-level D1 teams by a sizable margin (2-3 goals). I cannot speak to NAIA because I never competed with any teams in that association, however the NCAA divisions are NOT broken down strictly by performance or skill level. Keep in mind that inter-divisional play is often not recorded statistically and each division has a wide spectrum of quality, vigor, and commitment. At the programs (in any division) where these are high, I can only imagine that admissions committees would be interested in all the qualities that are typically associated with student-athletes: dedication, perseverance, resilience, teamwork, leadership. That is all.

Yeah, I'm here for this debate all day. Happy to take this to the DMs since it'll get outside OPs post. Not "wildly inaccurate" at all. It's really even hard to describe a "top D3 soccer program." Even if you went to Amherst or I think Messiah was top back in my day, no way you'd be beating mid-level D1 teams by a sizable margin and regularly. No need to describe a sizable margin in soccer since we both come from "top" programs in our respective division. No D3 team is regularly taking on someone from the MVC and beating them....again regularly. This is absurd and wildly inaccurate.

I will; however, agree with the statement regarding adcom committees.