NC Schools & Academic Requirements

Are you going to be limited on type of major

Two stories that I have been told

1. A freshmen who is in the school of design at a University thought about attending a tryout for walkons. However, staff (school of design advisor) told him he could not do both - would have to make a choice.

2. Another looking at schools to attend was informed by staff at two engineering schools that he could not do both.

I guess the demands required by baseball add another consideration based on what you want to be doing after college. What kind of majors can you pursue at the various schools successfully while also playing varsity baseball.

 

Sorry it took some time to get back to this thread. gkg- I received the following information that addresses your questions. I hope this helps:

many professors (though, and I emphasize this, many are not) are biased against athletes and will indicate such to some students. That is, they believe that the travel and time involved with athletics does not permit enough time for students to do both and suggest they make a decision. I know this is bunk, but many of us pointy-heads are so immersed in our work that we sometimes fail to see the world beyond our small domains.

Also, most students don't settle on a major until their junior year, and many during their sophomore year. Exceptions are in majors that require many prerequisites (education, engineering, some natural and physical sciences, pre-med, etc.) such that there isn't time to "decide" what you want to major in as people thinking this is what they want to do must indicate such in the first year in order to make sufficient progress to graduate in four years. However, it usually takes athletes (depending of course on the institutions) an extra semester of school to graduate due to the limitations on the courses they can take and do well in-season.

So, such a comment would beg the, "do you think you can do it?" question as well as a reconsideration or the delay of this decision until late sophomore year. In essence, the student can do both, just look at the graduation rates of athletes in major D-1 programs that graduate on time and pursue graduate or professional degrees; if it weren't possible, they'd never be able to do so. In other words, it boils down to how hard one has to work and how well they balance these competing demands.

 

Another thing student-athletes should consider is WHEN the courses will be offered. A lot of baseball student-athletes find it difficult to meet their academic requirements due to the professors unwillingness to schedule morning classes. We have found that a majority of professors devote mornings to research and other activities and teach classes in the afternoons. Baseball student-athletes are not allowed to miss class time for practices and we typically do not allow our players to miss classes for home games. As a result, baseball student-athletes find their options somewhat limited when it comes to choosing a major. Our Chancellor is working diligently to "encourage" professors to offer more morning classes. Until the University causes the professors to realize their "purpose", not much will change. I have a sister and sister-in-law who are college professors. They both schedule morning classes and therefore have a LOT of student athletes. As they say ~ tenure has its rewards.

 

Regarding classes & times

This varies tremendously by institution, department/discipline, and professor.

Some schedules are dictated by space at schools where that is a premium (which seems the case at the "high growth" state schools), others are dictated by deans & department chairs where administration is predominant, and some schools permit the individual professors to select the times when they want to teach. Me, I like to teach mostly morning courses (no 8am though), so I can spend afternoons with my kids. However, it doesn't always work this way (for example this semester I'm teaching a late afternoon class because that was the time the computer lab that I need for my course was available).

So, scheduling is not always up to the individual professor. Sure, we may get to teach the courses we want, but we do not always get the times we may prefer for a variety of reasons.