College and majors to stay away from??

I would guess a lot of softball players just like everyone else graduate with almost worthless degrees. If you are going to spend the time to go to college, at least study something that will allow you to say when I graduate I will be a _________________. Rather than I will have a degree in. ______________.

College softball will occupy, at most, five years of a player's life. The professional playing options are thin, and what money can be made isn't directly from the teams. College softball is where most college softball coaches are born, and being a Power 5 D1 player is an excellent resume bullet, but it will take awhile to make enough to live on.

Going to college not knowing what outcome you're looking for is a recipe for lots of wasted effort and money. Unless you're committed to making softball a career, you'd better think long and hard about your professional goals and factor that into your school selection. There are D1 players who major in the most challenging subjects and figure out how to make that work. If that's your academic goal, don't go to a school where the softball program discourages that in any way.

So is it better to try, fail, and know for sure that you aren't the world's next great super achiever? Or just play it safe and wonder?

I know my default position. But there are potentially some pretty high stakes that would make me come off of that position real quick.

Nuwin said:

So is it better to try, fail, and know for sure that you aren't the world's next great super achiever? Or just play it safe and wonder?

I know my default position. But there are potentially some pretty high stakes that would make me come off of that position real quick.

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For me, I played it safe and I do wonder sometimes. Would have 2 NCAA titles if I stayed with the team - but at the end of the day, that’s probably it. I wouldn’t have the amazing career I have now (at least not as young as I did) and I would have needed to take out a lot of loans to pay for a second degree. I can definitely say that I don’t regret my decision one bit - but yes, I do think it would have been a lot of fun to share the Championship with my “would have been” teammates.

It was almost like an instant gratification vs lifelong gratification decision for me.

I know I'm coming to the thread late, but here are my observations thru my DD's recruitment as shes a committed mid major senior.

1- In my opinion, most D1 schools will allow you to take whatever you want as a major. This is straight from coaches that DD was recruited by. However, the player must keep in mind that the coach will play the best players and lack of focus due to ENG, science, or nursing schedules will almost assuredly result in a performance gap to the kids that don't have those distractions. This is not the case for everyone though (Lyons at OU, plus lots of others)
2- The overt pressure to not take hard majors at OU and maybe the rest of the Top 5 or so ranked softball teams is very real. Those schools are not interested in your degree, they are only interested in Championships. We are friends with 8 past and current OU players from BB.
3- Kids who excel in softball and academics in HS will likely be given a longer leash for the choice of major. If you want the choice, be a badass on the field and in the classroom.

John T said:

Power 5 conference

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It's the SEC, ACC and three others

uncdrew said:

It's the SEC, ACC and three others

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I see what you did there. I still miss the Big 8.

But we're in a world that is rapidly evolving and things may be more difficult than in the past. All because of money football.

This might be more relevant to this discussion than originally thought.

I don’t know I guess I’m just different in my view of college. I see jt as so much more than just an exact path to a certain job. I think it’s about learning who you are as a person outside of your family dynamic and the first steps of growing into who that’s going to be. Increasing your adult responsibilities while still having some kind of boundaries and safety net. So many high income fields expect graduate degrees at this point I’m more concerned about her finishing with a reasonable degree that will leave her options for the next chapter and being happy with her softball and social life. When you say she has 4 years left to play I don’t see that as time to put it aside. I see that as time to make it the best 4 yrs possible. Life will still be there ready to tear you down when it’s over.


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angispeds said:

I don’t know I guess I’m just different in my view of college. I see jt as so much more than just an exact path to a certain job. I think it’s about learning who you are as a person outside of your family dynamic and the first steps of growing into who that’s going to be. Increasing your adult responsibilities while still having some kind of boundaries and safety net. So many high income fields expect graduate degrees at this point I’m more concerned about her finishing with a reasonable degree that will leave her options for the next chapter and being happy with her softball and social life. When you say she has 4 years left to play I don’t see that as time to put it aside. I see that as time to make it the best 4 yrs possible. Life will still be there ready to tear you down when it’s over.


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I agree and disagree. I agree that it is a time to figure oneself out and to learn to be on your own. On the other hand, I also see it as an expensive extension of high school if kids can’t decide at some point during those four years on what they want to pursue as a career while they are there.

The majority of kids in college are not on scholarship and I couldn’t personally imagine relying on my parents to pay for something that expensive just because it seems like a right of passage.