clementine Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 I know this question may sound silly, of course we want as much scholarship money as possible. But... Our daughter received an athletic scholarship and an academic scholarship. These amount to about 35% of her tuition, room, and board. She is eligible to apply for the highest scholarship which would cover about 75% of tuition, room, and board. But, with the acceptance of this scholarship comes the job of being an apprentice to an instructor within your major. This would take a 2-3 hours per week, on top of her sport and academics. Would this put too much pressure on a college freshman student/athlete? I don't want her to spread herself too thin - her academics come first and her sport comes second. I realize you don't know our daughter, but I'm wondering if any of you have advice for us having had children in this situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara H Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Two hours is very little time and I'm sure in addition to the very sizable scholarship it may lead to other important opportunities to get to know professors and that may lead to stuff like research opportunities, presenting at conferences, etc. On a per hour basis that would add up to A LOT of money. That said some sports are crazy demanding. So, one place to start - has she been given an estimate as to how much time per week her sport will take? That's really a key question because it varies widely based on sport and competitiveness of the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Is there a higher GPA requirement for *maintaining* the better scholarship such that she would have that added pressure as well? The current scholarship requires a 3.0 to keep it but the higher one requires a 3.5 to keep it? I have no idea, but I thought it would be worth asking. I agree with Barbara - two or three hours per week sounds quite doable in general terms, but I know nothing about the demands of athletes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 I would pursue the honors scholarship. I don't think an additional two-three hours a week would be that demanding, plus, the honors scholarship would be more of a guarantee than the athletic scholarship. If your daughter gets injured, the athletic scholarship would disappear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 Two hours is very little time and I'm sure in addition to the very sizable scholarship it may lead to other important opportunities to get to know professors and that may lead to stuff like research opportunities, presenting at conferences, etc. On a per hour basis that would add up to A LOT of money. That said some sports are crazy demanding. So, one place to start - has she been given an estimate as to how much time per week her sport will take? That's really a key question because it varies widely based on sport and competitiveness of the program. Thank you for your reply. She hasn't looked into the time requirements for athletics, although there is quite a bit of travel on weekends. I'm sure the apprentice work is during the weekdays, but if there are two-a-day practices there isn't much time left over after she adds in her classes. If the apprentice work could be done in the evenings, her decision would be much easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 I would pursue the honors scholarship. I don't think an additional two-three hours a week would be that demanding, plus, the honors scholarship would be more of a guarantee than the athletic scholarship. If your daughter gets injured, the athletic scholarship would disappear. Very true! I hadn't thought of it that way! Thank you. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara H Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 My inclination would be to pursue it now with the hopes they will be flexible and work with her schedule. My guess is that they will be accommodating because departments like to retain their very best students (and if she's competitive for this award it sounds like she has the potential to be one of their very best students). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 My inclination would be to pursue it now with the hopes they will be flexible and work with her schedule. My guess is that they will be accommodating because departments like to retain their very best students (and if she's competitive for this award it sounds like she has the potential to be one of their very best students). I was hoping the same thing. I know they value their student athletes and want them to succeed academically as well, so I think (hope) they'd happily work with her schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 I was a student athlete back in the day and after freshman year I had an on-campus job. I was a runner so that may make a difference in practice times. Some days were short and some days were long - 3 mile repeats takes a lot less time than loading into the van and going to a park to run 6 miles and drive back. But the job was before practice - I was a lab assistant and had to work until the lab was done. Only one day a week and prob 2-4 hours per week. There were times I had to go straight from the lab to practice. It was doable for sure. But it was also a division 3 school. And a small campus. One mile from one end to the other. And a city block wide. Other sports may take more time. A bigger campus may be harder. Division 2 or 1 coaches may not be as understanding about a job. Lots to consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 I would advise her to go for it. She is applying for the scholarship, correct? The 75% offer isn't in hand at the moment? Why turn down the opportunity when it hasn't presented itself yet? I assume her sport is seasonal and would only last for one semester. More than likely she will be given some degree of latitude with her schedule during her season with the idea she would work more diligently on the apprenticeship during her off season. She may be doing something as simple as reading through articles and writing a quick summary or taking care of lab animals. This is what I did for a psych prof when I was in undergrad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 It depends. What is her major? Does it require a lot of labs? Those up the in class hours a ton already. Is she all right with taking a low hour load every semester and adding on an additional semester or two? Because that is what is likely going to happen. If she is a science major, she should probably limit herself to 12 or 13 hours.A non-lab requiring major and she might be able to handle 15 a semester. She will need to add that additional hourly requirement to her load to see how many hours she is actually considering. (And that does not even consider her required practices. Schools that have athletic scholarships usually have absolutely, no question about it, required practices. And, it isn't a matter of just what semester they have as an official season. They find a way to practice pretty much year round. Some sports more than others, of course.) Being a student athlete is tough. It is hard to stay up at night until...10 getting homework finished, get up at 5 the next morning for practice, go to classes from breakfast until 4 (those labs are killer), have a test during that time, and then practice again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Is there any possibility that she might not want to continue her sport all 4 yrs? Does her career path recommend co-op opportunities, study abroad, or any other option that might interfere with her sport? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted December 2, 2014 Author Share Posted December 2, 2014 It depends. What is her major? Does it require a lot of labs? Those up the in class hours a ton already. Is she all right with taking a low hour load every semester and adding on an additional semester or two? Because that is what is likely going to happen. If she is a science major, she should probably limit herself to 12 or 13 hours.A non-lab requiring major and she might be able to handle 15 a semester. She will need to add that additional hourly requirement to her load to see how many hours she is actually considering. (And that does not even consider her required practices. Schools that have athletic scholarships usually have absolutely, no question about it, required practices. And, it isn't a matter of just what semester they have as an official season. They find a way to practice pretty much year round. Some sports more than others, of course.) Being a student athlete is tough. It is hard to stay up at night until...10 getting homework finished, get up at 5 the next morning for practice, go to classes from breakfast until 4 (those labs are killer), have a test during that time, and then practice again. This is where my thoughts were headed too. Thank you for this! We have to sit and talk this through. Much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted December 2, 2014 Author Share Posted December 2, 2014 Is there any possibility that she might not want to continue her sport all 4 yrs? Does her career path recommend co-op opportunities, study abroad, or any other option that might interfere with her sport? I'm almost positive she'll do the 4 years, but only time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in VA Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Encourage her to pursue it. The amount of money that 2-3 hours per week represents is incredible, and the opportunity to make connections within her major is HUGE. If she decides down the road a ways that she is over-committed, she can make an informed decision THEN as to what to drop. (Sometimes things that look absolutely amazing end up not working out, so she may change her EC interests over time.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 My son chose not to apply for the Honors College at his first choice university. Doing so would have limited several of the general education courses to those in the Honors College and he is very interested in some that are not in the college. I supported him in this decision because he had a well thought out reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabelen Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 My son chose not to apply for the Honors College at his first choice university. Doing so would have limited several of the general education courses to those in the Honors College and he is very interested in some that are not in the college. I supported him in this decision because he had a well thought out reason. My daughter was offered an academic scholarship and an invitation to the University Honors program. She accepted the scholarship but declined joining the Honors program for the same reason your son did. I understood although I felt it is a shame that this meant having discussion classes with TAs rather than with professors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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