Are you really prepared to play college softball?

[riseball]

I had loans coming out of college..it wasn't a death sentence...

Could that have been due to having a useful major and some actual skills that allowed you to get a real job and make some money?

 

[_MIA_]

Could that have been due to having a useful major and some actual skills that allowed you to get a real job and make some money?

or I don't own a cellphone and up until last year had the same tv I had in graduate school 15 years ago. My wife was/is a teacher (she hasn't worked since we had our first child) and had loans as well and last time I checked she was alive as well (and we were not married yet when she started paying off hers).

My thought on this is go to the best school you can get into. Academics aside, surrounding yourself with other high achieving people will push you to be the best student you can be. If you don't need that sort of motivation then fine. However it is my experience as a student who was in a college setting for 10 years and someone who has taught for 13 years, many kids "play down to their competition" and as a result don't reach their full potential.

 

[MNDad]

Four engineering majors out of how many on the team...20? Just curious...how many freshman that your DD started with graduated in four years? Who else had an engineering degree?

Regarding females and STEM being too hard, you're arguing something that I never said nor intended. Again, it's about how parents underestimate the challenges of living away from home for the first time, managing ANY academic workload (much less STEM), and playing a varsity sport. Having personally witnessed several spectacular student-athlete failures, and considering the fact that STEM doesn't make up the majority of college majors to begin with reasonably suggests that adding a STEM workload on top of everything else is unrealistic for most. Not all...not your DD...but most.

None of that has nothing to do with discouraging females from majoring in a STEM degree program because it's too hard. One of my DDs is already in one, and the other will likely go that route as well.

Of the six freshman that entered with my daughters graduation class, all six graduated in four years. Had two transfers also come in so there were 8 that all finished in four years. That’s rare and a testament to the school and the support and academic services they provide. These girls also went through three different head coaches. Pick a school, not a coach.

The four engineering majors were my DD, a junior and two freshman. The junior is by far the best player on the team.

I didn’t mean to imply that you were arguing STEM majors are too hard for girls. If it came off that way, or if I outright said it, I apologize.

I agree on parents and students not understanding the demands and the toll it takes to participate in college athletics at any level. Like you, I’ve seen way too many and end up quitting. Some simply choose to focus on their studies. Especially if they’re in a competitive major like pre-med. Most of the ones who quit its lack of maturity more than their majors.

I’m just trying to say if I kid manages their time they can major in just about anything. It’s hard, but I don’t think it’s unrealistic because I’ve seen so many do it.