Is it possible to have a social life running at a d1 school?????

What you think you want now may be drastically different than what you want 10 months from now. Senior year and going away to school changes you a lot.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Maximum of 3 days a week of class? What kind of school was this? I was really excited the one semester when I only had 4/week.

why should you have a social life in college? you are there to learn.

Didn't realize 3.5 GPA was crushing it.

Having social life, running, and school are definitely possible, especially if you get along well with the team/enjoy their company. A lot of teammates were pre-meds and engineers, and we certainly worked hard in the classroom and on the track, but when it came time for a good party there was no holding back. the key is to only go all out at opportune times (just after nationals, before x-mas break, after an early season meet). An average student take 13-17 hrs of class a week, assuming 8 hrs of sleep and 4 hrs for running-related things you still have ~8 hrs a day to study/hang out. I am incredibly envious of undergrads being in grad school now with 30hrs of class time plus a ton of studying on top of that. have fun, and remember that the kids who black out all the time are the ones who talk the most, but they probably aren't actually having that much fun

What kind of dumb question is that ? Unless you plan after your studies to design miniature nuclear warheads for the Islamic Republic of the Aryans (aka Iran) you don't need to attend the University of Southern California in Watts, California and major in Theoretical Physics, Nuclear Engineering, Semiconductor Engineering, or Materials Engineering. So just have a good time while you are a youngster.

themanontherun wrote:

Your running is your social life. It's what you've chosen to do with your free time. If the alternative is not having a scholarship, think of it as whatever job you'd have to get to put yourself through college otherwise. Be glad for that, because the jobs that would otherwise have you out of college debt free are all taken right now, and even if you could get one would be much more than the 15-20 hours per week you'll be doing.

To restate what another poster said, pick two; running, academics, social life.

Your last line, by the way, is bullshit. You can't say you simply are or are not someone who can focus on academics and running at the cost of a social life, it's a choice that you make whether you acknowledge it or not.

15-20 hours is a gross understatement. If somebody is in a legit program you are talking at the very least 20 hours per week, and then that isn't even factoring in the sleep required. Athletes have to sleep longer than anybody else in order to function at that level. If I slept like my hallmates I'd be a zombie everyday.

Valid assessment by the Polio and true. Looking back college was the best and easiest time of my life. Biology and Chemistry major.

Just don't go and start a family too soon, not the college experience you want to have. See Alan Bader.

I graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, and at the time (back in the 80s), MOST of the classes were MWF. In most of my semesters in college, I only had classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There were a couple times when I only had classes on Tuesday and Thursday...makes for long days those two days, but then the other 5 days were free from class.

OP, I felt very similar to you when I went to college. I had earned a scholarship to a good D1 school that I may (or may not) have gotten into on my own.

I was in-state, and a lot of people from my town went to this school. When I arrived on campus two weeks early for practice, I was bombarded with social opportunities. Guys were rushing me hard for a few fraternities, inviting me to parties, introducing me to girls, treating me awesome.

I spoke with my coach about Greek life and he asked that I wait until 2nd semester. Normally they require you to wait until sophomore year, but he was going to let me do it early. Still, I was pissed off and resented the team and running for "ruining" my college experience. I felt as though I was more popular, better looking, etc. than the guys on the team; they were just a bunch of dorks I barely knew. Still, I ran and once second semester rolled around, I rushed the oldest, most coveted house on campus. I was in. I was made. I got laid all the time and was drinking - not always heavily - 4 or 5 nights a week. My running suffered and pledging was awful. I made it through, put on about 10 pounds and started sucking it up on the track. I got "injured," which kept me on the team.

Summer rolls around and I move in with some of my brothers. Nice guys, but they were such fat slobs. No one worked out, people smoked in the house, etc. Around the same time, I started realizing that the guys on the team were actually pretty cool guys. Many of them had been popular in High School (not that it matters), which was something that I thought was unique to me. A couple of the guys had girlfriends that were really pretty, nice and normal. I found myself enjoying time with these guys more and more, even though I lived with my other "normal" friends. After runs, I was hanging out with the runners, etc. I started to enjoy going to dinner and a movie with a smaller group more than the keg/drug parties that we threw a few times a week. I would groan upon waking in the morning, not because of a run, but because I felt like shit and knew that we had another party to get ready for that night.

Eventually, I left the frat, the living situation and the lifestyle, and moved in with some runners. I ended up being All America my senior year in the 10k and XC.

I still keep up with all of these guys, the frat brothers and the runners, but the runners are probably my closest friends to this day. Obviously, I have made other friends through work, my kids, the country club, etc - but I still respect the runners more than anyone...

OP, make of college what you will, but if you quit running and party all the time, you will probably regret it. I regret that 1/2 year. I wish i had gone into running with everything I had. You have your whole life to drink. No reason to make mistakes and be stupid when it matters most.

Don't glorify partying. It can be fun, but like anything, it is more fun when you do it sparingly.

Flagpole - Ohio Wesleyan is a fine institution, but your experience did not square with mine. And I was a pretty good student who worked hard not to ever neglect academics - borne out later from my satisfying grad school experience.

My own Division 1 athletic scholarship experience (at a very competitive top ranked school) was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Nothing comes close. Athletics in some way always came first, likely due to the inherent pressures of being on scholarship (I came from poverty, so it was a real necessity for me), and the peer pressure from coaches and teammates (not necessarily a bad thing) to do well. Accordingly, I was always playing catch-up academically, although by it wouldn't have been obvious by outward appearances and my grades. I was consistently frustrated that I had to study for sufficient grades rather than having the time luxury to really learn the material, and this wore on me. I qualified for a rigorous honors program my senior year - my acceptance was likely helped greatly (and I mean greatly) by the fact that no other scholarship athlete had completed the course before and the department wanted one - this school was and is a national academic power and and I felt like an imposter much of the time - and it involved a 150 page thesis reviewed (again and again) by a team of professors. My running suffered, because while in no way did I mail it in, there were weeks at a time where 35-40 miles became the norm - and it was incredibly stressful. (I did get high honors in the program, a huge confidence boost that stays with me to this day). This is why I loved graduate school, I could finally study in a way that met my own internal standards. My wife and I started dating at the very end college, and in hindsight she confirms this is a nice way whenever other parents ask her about scholarship athletic experiences. And to the original poster, I sure as heck at age 18 did not have the maturity to even ask the questions you are asking, so the fact that you are asking them is helpful. In any event, my experience was the opposite of Flagpole's, and even in the midst of a very busy and rewarding career with a wife and two wonderful late teen children, I am never as busy and as stressed as I was in my college days - it is not even close.

As to social life, I did not miss the drinking and partying a la Animal House three or four days a week. This was never for me, and early on, being from a poor single mother home, I figured out that I did not have the luxury of spending time or money on these things as I was starting out "behind" everyone else, whether I liked it or not. This didn't make me a heroic figure in any way; I just couldn't deal with the anxieties and insecurities that would obtain with goofing around. The poor have less margin for error and I knew it. Needless to say, despite the stories about athletes that obtain mythic proportions, the Animal House stuff just isn't compatible with Division 1 athletics. But what I did miss is the social isolation that accrues with spending so much time in the track community and in not getting involved with other social or academic groups. My ease in dealing with large groups of people is still my weakest life skill, and while my personal development is entirely my own responsibility, it would have helped me immeasurably to join a club, or charity with a mission I liked with large groups of non-athlete students. I would be much better with people today.

In any event, I don't think my experiences are all that different from many former Div. 1 scholarship people who post here, but I hope this note raises some thinking points.

By the way, the poster above is 100% spot on. Never, ever miss a class, and get to know each professor. This doesn't mean brown nosing, but really focus in class so as to ascertain the professor's priorities as relates to the material, and put yourself in their shoes as to what kind of feedback they are seeking. Be always as prepared to engage intellectually as you are to run a fast first mile in an XC race. And don't ever walk away from class not understanding the key points - go back and soon as possible to master them if you don't.

I think the OP asked a legitimate question, and my response is pretty much based on personal experience. I was able to balance athletics, academics, and social life pretty well in college but you have to be smart about it. Here's my advice:

1. Don't join a frat or sorority, doing so basically puts one foot out the door in terms of running for your D1 team, and students in Greek life are known to be a bit more into partying than other students. That being said, if your brothers/sisters understand your athletic commitment, and don't force you to do any stupid pledge shit or other stuff that gets in the way of running than you might be able to pull it off. Make sure you know what you're getting yourself into before committing to it.

2. You'll probably figure this out pretty quick, but IMO partying the night before you have to wake up early for practice isn't really worth it. Yeah, maybe once a while after a race and before your Sunday long run it's fine but it's not really fun to be tired and hungover at the same time. My college team had one day/week (Saturday) when practice was on your own and this was also the easiest and shortest day of the week (usually following the hardest day of the week). I went out a lot of Friday nights, and was able to sleep in and recover in time for my Sunday long run.

3. Don't drink within 2 days of a workout, your workout will be compromised.

4. When it comes to racing, I would say you don't have to go dry the whole season (we're pretty much in season all school year anyway). That being said, you probably shouldn't be drinking more than once/week in season and my rule was always abstain 2 weeks before an important race.

Take that for what it's worth, but if you set boundaries for yourself and stick to them I think you can balance it. In the end, you gotta draw a line on the partying somewhere because as you know it's a good time and easy to get sucked into it while loosing perspective on other things. My personal opinion is that if you want to be successful or really good at something (besides drinking or being social), you have to be smart and limit your partying. This applies to post-college life too.

Please do not take the scholarship. I can tell already you are looking at college all wrong and will do nothing positive for yourself or the team while there.

Call your college coach now and tell him you just aren't ready. Then spent a few years growing up first and then go ..... oh wait you probably won't get in will you and couldn;t pay for it anyways.

Or maybe you could honor what git you into college instead of thinking of it as a detriment to your social life.

Running got you in but you plan to sabatoge that even before you get there. How sad of a person you are revealed yourself to be.

Either don't go or go and dedicate yourself to your academics and running.

Your social life partyuing didn't get you into school.

You have some good numbers, but let's be realistic about practice. I went to a successful DIII school, and I spent at least 3 hours a day dedicated to practice time. A serious DI school will usually require more. No way you can get by on 10 hours a week of practice. Plus, you have to count the number of Saturdays that are lost completely to out of town meets.

Still, you should have at least 6 hours a day to do everything in the world you want to do. There is a lot of time in the day. Just don't waste it surfing the web and watching tv.

You can have success 2 of the following 3...so pick 2 on which to focus, the one you leave out will certainly shit the bed.

1. Academics

2. Partying

3. Running

You will never be able to party 3-4 nights a week ..sorry if thats what you want. But you can party about once or twice a week depending on meet schedules. This will slightly affect your running performance but you can run well while doing this. Lastly take advantage of every little help academically. Take advantage of tutoring or maybe your school has a learning resources for student athletes. This will help you maximize your time spent doing school work. Lastly ...unless you have something specific you want to do, pick an easy major and take easy classes it will help a lot.

mig1168 wrote:

pick an easy major and take easy classes it will help a lot.

Great advice. I am sure she will be happy that she listened to you.

This is what is wrong with you dumb fvcks who cannot get jobs.