I recently dove into more research and insight on players wanting to pursue certain majors in college that have a tendency to conflict with golf schedules and coach preferences. I’ve got quite a bit to share so I’ll start this week with some of the coaches feedback.

Keep in mind, that these particular responses are from some of the most elite DI programs (all are top 100 ranked DI prograams) where the golf demand is very tough, along with some demanding academic schools included in these responses.

I started with this group of coaches/programs just to shed some light on those elite programs that many girls dream of attending. As much as many girls want to overachieve and “do it all”, sometimes it’s just not that simple.

I’ll be sharing more coach and player responses plus data on programs across all divisions as this was just a small segment of the whole picture, but does represent some fairly common responses and scenarios for all of college golf.

“I don’t tell them they can’t major in something, if they are interested they will be good”

“Super difficult here are Architecture, engineering, computer science, medicine.”

“We have not yet had to restrict a player from any major. The kids wanting to do the super difficult majors just have to understand the massive (I mean massive) time commitment from golf and school.”

“Nursing, Architecture, and Engineering are very difficult to do and play a sport. The lab requirements for these majors are overwhelming at times. [A player] wanted to be an Engineer but she was never at practice and always had night labs so she switched to Business. I will always accommodate someone’s desire for one of these majors but they often figure out that is hard to do them and play a sport.”

“Majors that are difficult to do while playing sports are Pre-Med and Engineering. Not impossible just demanding and many times due to labs interfering with practice times. If majoring in these types of majors it very often takes more than 4 years to graduate.”

“The Sciences have labs that take up a large 3-hour chunk.”

I have had players major in Nursing and Engineering. Both are extraordinarily challenging. Nursing will not be a future option as the 12-hour rotations then going straight to practice just don’t work.”

“Any engineering or architecture is very difficult..we’ve also had issues with pre-med/ bio/ sciences and nutrition with afternoon labs and absence policies.”

“Our team is all over the place. We have media studies, business, accounting, urban studies, English, and biology. The majors that are more difficult to manage are the sciences and nursing. Nursing is a four-year program so you have to start in it and it’s really difficult to get all of the hours that you need.”

“I always have recruits ask me if there are majors that I don’t allow and my answer is always no. It’s all about getting your education just knowing which majors are more difficult! Our best player, Riana, who is likely going to go to regionals on her own is also a biology major and got a 4.0! It’s always possible to get it done.”

“I have coached a variety of student-athletes. I always stress to them that they can be really good at two things in college but three things are buying for their attention – academics, athletics, and their social life. I’ve only seen one person excel at all three. Hard majors include premed, chemistry, biology, anything with an internship, and anything else with labs. Architecture is another tough one. Fine art is an extremely tough one. I did coach one student-athlete who graduated with a bachelor’s in fine arts and was the only student-athlete to accomplish that. I try to remind prospective student-athletes that the investment a school is making in them adds up to quite a significant amount and with that, there is a high level of expectation to Be the best they can be in their sport and academically.”

 

Written by: Brandi Jackson, RecruitPKB College Consultant

For more information about college recruiting, please contact Brandi at bjackson@pkbgt.org