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Nov 26, 2010
4,784
113
Michigan
My dd made a decision when she was in 9th grade. One I have discussed several times before. She told me that she would not be playing college softball so she could focus on academics. When she went to college she missed softball and was able to play club softball. The team went to 2 Nationals and her sophomore year she was second team All American. Once she got into this past year she was too busy for her to play any longer.

As a HS junior she picked the University she went to because it had the exact program she wanted. Its an articulated degree program where you go 3 years and then apply for the program. If you make it you stay in school for 2 more years and you finish up with both a bachelors and a masters degree. From what I remember they accept 9 students into this specific program.

She found out today that she made it. The decisions she made as a 14 year old and then as a 16 year old have paid off for her. When she is all done she will have a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Biomedical Engineering. She told me recently she wants to work on an artificial pancreas.

I couldn't be more proud of her then I am right now.
 
Nov 25, 2012
1,437
83
USA
Well..... not sure she made the best decision forgoing college softball but I guess she has a good consolation prize with her degree.....:p HA! That is amazing and I can only imagine how proud you must be. Love hearing these types of powerful academic success stories as at the end of the day it is what matters! Congrats and the world's innovations in medicine will be bright with DD's like yours leading the way!!
 
May 27, 2013
2,353
113
That is what it should be all about!!!! Congrats to her!!!! What an amazing accomplishment and how awesome to have such a good head on her shoulders at such a young age!!! She will do great things!
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
My dd made a decision when she was in 9th grade. One I have discussed several times before. She told me that she would not be playing college softball so she could focus on academics. When she went to college she missed softball and was able to play club softball. The team went to 2 Nationals and her sophomore year she was second team All American. Once she got into this past year she was too busy for her to play any longer.

As a HS junior she picked the University she went to because it had the exact program she wanted. Its an articulated degree program where you go 3 years and then apply for the program. If you make it you stay in school for 2 more years and you finish up with both a bachelors and a masters degree. From what I remember they accept 9 students into this specific program.

She found out today that she made it. The decisions she made as a 14 year old and then as a 16 year old have paid off for her. When she is all done she will have a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Biomedical Engineering. She told me recently she wants to work on an artificial pancreas.

I couldn't be more proud of her then I am right now.

Very nice!! Thesis or non-thesis Master? Be careful, if she is doing research for her Masters she may love it so much that she will want to do a PhD (reminds me of those kid books I read to my 3 year old.."If you give a mouse a cookie" ) and then be relegated to a life of egghead academic research..I kid that is what I do and while academia doesn't pay that well you have the freedom to leave the office and go hit balls with your kid whenever you want to for the most part!!! :cool:
 
Jan 18, 2018
22
0
For those of you with daughters that are gifted athletically and academically, there is a viable option in many D3 programs. Most D3 programs/coaches realize that academics take priority over softball. Girls are allowed to major in difficult academic programs, miss practice for labs, and are not punished for academic obligations. In addition, the softball is competitive and played at a higher level than what a lot of people think. It is extremely challenging for the girls to develop the time management skills required to play college softball while taking on a difficult academic course load. However, at the end of four years, your daughter can graduate from a fine academic school with a valuable degree while benefiting from the participation on a college level athletic team.
 
Nov 18, 2013
2,255
113
For those of you with daughters that are gifted athletically and academically, there is a viable option in many D3 programs. Most D3 programs/coaches realize that academics take priority over softball. Girls are allowed to major in difficult academic programs, miss practice for labs, and are not punished for academic obligations. In addition, the softball is competitive and played at a higher level than what a lot of people think. It is extremely challenging for the girls to develop the time management skills required to play college softball while taking on a difficult academic course load. However, at the end of four years, your daughter can graduate from a fine academic school with a valuable degree while benefiting from the participation on a college level athletic team.

DS is currently on the D3 recruiting trail and the main advantages I’ve found at D3 are study abroad and smaller class size. One of the D3’s highlighted that kids can join sororities/frats. Not sure if that’s restricted in D1 or if most kids just don’t do it. Athletics require a greater time commitment in D1, but I haven’t seen any of the restrictions you mentioned. The main advantage at the big D1’s are greater academic and athletic resources. These are general observations and only true at the schools I’ve seen. Any school can be the perfect fit and the athletic division shouldn’t be of primary concern. I doubt you’ll find many double majors in engineering working towards earning a master’s in five years at any level with or without athletics.

Congrats to your DD chinimagarden! Pretty special kid and very well rounded to have played club softball on top of everything else she's accomplishing!
 
Sep 18, 2017
21
3
Awesome news!

I admire her for her mature / adult decisions, especially as a young woman. I don't know what my daughter will do, she's just a Freshman now at a Private College Prep HS. She will have big decisions too. IF she stays with Softball, I don't know if she's quite yet Div I material, but she's close. She's a shoe-in for Div II, and quite candidly there are so many quality institutions at Div II too.

If she decided to leave the game, for academics, I would completely understand. Club Ball could be an option too if she does.

But, I can see why you're proud. Special moments like these make being a parent soooooooooooooooooooo worth it all.
 

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