Blog Post Focus: College Athlete–Worth It?
In this post I shall discuss why I don’t think being a student-athlete in college is a good idea if one is set on going to medical school. Now the environment is different than when I was a college athlete. Then, student-athletes basically were only able to earn scholarships. Some rules fundamentally changed in 2021 and now student-athletes are potentially able to make money in college.
If you are gonna earn a lot of money in college playing sports then good for you. The vast majority of student-athletes are not making money and will not make money (check out the following post going into greater detail https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/06/learning/college-athletes-can-now-be-paid-but-not-all-of-them-are-seeing-money-is-that-fair.html).
Being a Student-Athlete and Working Toward Medical School
You want to attend medical school. You are highly motivated. You are also highly gifted with athletic talent. Is it worth it to be a student-athlete and pursue medical school? Probably not.
Personal Experiences as a Student-Athlete—The Reality
Having been a student-athlete in college at a D1 program my initial thoughts are no. I would have had a much better experience had I not done athletics. I would have had more time, energy, and honestly been healthier (avoided many injuries). I could have spent more time with family and friends. I would not have had to reschedule so many classes. In fact, I could have had a more benign class schedule (a less stressful class schedule along with a much less stressful schedule overall–a double benefit for stress relief).
Athletics are notorious for burning athletes into the ground and causing injury. At my program and so many others there traditionally were a few athletes who could make it through a full season and many more who never achieved their potential because they were hurt. Injuries were plenty and plenty of athletes tried to work through them causing chronic conditions. College athletics are not kind on most bodies. Talk to a few sports medicine physicians and you likely will hear the same.
Some Pros to being a College Athlete and Challenges of Being a Student-Athlete
College athletics are ideal for some. It can be a way to make friends. Can be a way to make school affordable. Heck, if you can lower debt burden even prior to medical school all the better. However, they are not ideal for most. You may or may not save much money from athletics. In that time you can get a job, which can potentially build your resume and lower debt burden better than athletics can. In that time you can volunteer, which can also build your resume. Instead of competing you can take care of your body. You can relax with friends. Meet new people. Travel.
Now, college athletes can make money, but few athletes are getting paid. Any aspiring college athlete likely will gain a scholarship at most. The most competitive in the most popular sports may make money. If you are one of those most competitive players then it would likely be much more lucrative to be an athlete and pursue professional competition than to go to medical school.
Another challenge: you can potentially have more benign and less stressful class schedules without sports practice and competitions getting in the way. Some professors are not sympathetic to the college athlete and do not make any concessions for missing class or exams. Making up classwork and exams can be mightily challenging and may reasonably tank a GPA. I knew many athletes on different sports teams who had to drop their engineering majors because the schedule was just too much atop college athletics. Being a college athlete is not easy if you have aspirations toward high academic achievement such as medical school.
One’s CV and Being a College Athlete
Does being a student athlete make your CV more impressive? Maybe. But, if you only get a few awards during four years–which are huge accomplishments and require tremendous dedication—then it may not be considered as impressive as a few jobs and volunteer opportunities or research. If you can balance a heavy workload atop college athletics that is great. However, not many people will be able to appreciate that.
Not everyone who will be reviewing your application will look at sports participation in a positive light. Few people play sports in college. Chances are some reviewers will find it fascinating without appreciating the commitment you had while others will see it as just another addition to your CV.
Conclusion
Only pursue college athletics if it is a passion you need to experience or if it is what enables you to afford education. Otherwise, I recommend against being a college athlete. It is so much easier to care of your body otherwise when you have time to rest, don’t have pressure to work through injuries, and have a lesser likelihood of injury. You can have so much more pleasant experiences otherwise, such as more time to make friends and pursue enjoyable activities.
However, athletics may make schooling possible for you. If you have a full ride or a significant scholarship, the sacrifice in your time and energy may be worth it. If you don’t have much scholarship money or would be a walk-on, my thought is don’t do it.