ROTC Nursing and Sports

USN16x

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Aug 27, 2013
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I was just wondering if it is possible to be in rotc as a nursing major and play sports? I know that academics and rotc come first but I'm still interested in playing a sport (lacrosse) in college. If I were to play I would probably play on a DIII team or on a club team.
 
ROTC itself would encourage it. It would be hard to coordinate with practices and drills, PT, etc. You would need a somewhat understanding coach. But folks have done it in the past so it can be done. However, nursing is a pretty demanding major which adds a whole new dimension to the difficulties. You could give it a shot and see if you can handle the stress of juggling it all, but it will not be easy.
 
Possible, yes. Difficult, extremely.

More than likely along the way, one of the 3 will give way, especially when you get into clinicals.

If you are over the top smart and organized, it can be done with some sacrifice given to the sport from a scheduling perspective considering when you practices and clinical work will be scheduled. Other sports (swimming for example) with practice hours that may be worked around (depending upon school facility) are easier to make work, but even then the sheer amount of hours necessary for nursing (forget about ROTC and sport) makes this seem almost impossible.

Aglahad will probably chime in to give you a better picture of the scheduling issues...
 
I played a sport my Freshman year with ROTC and it was doable albeit I was constantly getting shin splints from ROTC as well as practice.

Past Freshman year is when it gets dicey. You have to factor in clinicals, clinical prep (Lots of of homework for clinicals, nursing labs, ROTC classes and labs as well as your normal class load. I am not going to say it's impossible but you will need an understanding coach and ROTC instructor as well as a new way to get sleep :wink:.
 
My DD is a freshman at PLU, Nursing Major, Cross Country and Track athlete, and 4 year ROTC Nursing Scholarship recipient. She is kept extremely busy. She has also joined Color Guard, and was asked to join the Ranger Challenge team but politely declined due to her involvement levels. She was this way in high school also. Can be done, but it is difficult and you have to stay on top of things and not get behind. Besides all this she is always attending study groups. She was also asked by her MSI intrustor to teach the other cadets how to run properly, and she did a class presentation. This past weekend she got fellow ROTC cadets to volunteer at her Cross Country team's home meet for extra credit. She doesn't have much time to herself but seems to manage her free time well and use it effectively. Her coach and ROTC unit are also very flexible and understanding, but they also know that she is dedicated and reliable and a person who gets things done and does not fall behind. Passes all her quizzes in MSI class, and gets grades above the average in her classes. Once again, it can de done but it takes a special type of person and commitment. She is also in a 4.5 year nursing program as this is what the School of Nursing offered her with her conditional admission to the nursing program as a freshman since they have a small nursing program and basically have 2 nursing classes. It helps to only have about 15 credits per semester too.
 
My DS is a nursing major in ROTC and also chose to join a fraternity. It has proven to be quite challenging.

In addition to some of the considerations mentioned above, here are a couple of things I would think about:

1. How good a student are you? Nursing is a challenging major and will require a lot of study. My DS is a good student but not a great student (he has a learning disability) so finds he needs to study more than some of his peers. That takes time.

2. What does acceptance into the nursing program as a freshman mean at the schools you are considering? At most of the larger universities in the south acceptance as a freshman means acceptance as a pre-nursing major with the need to apply again in your sophomore year to be accepted into the upper division. Often the acceptance rates into the upper division are below 60% and often require GPAs above 3.4/3.5 (the minimum may be 3.0 but if you want a prayer of being accepted then a 3.4/3.5 or even higher is needed) As you've only got three semesters of academic work to use to apply it's easy to dig yourself a hole and put yourself in a bad position just because you bit off more than you can chew. And because acceptance is so competitive that hole doesn't have to be that deep (just ask my DS!). Now that being said at least one of the schools my DS considered reserved some slots for ROTC nursing majors. Unfortunately the school he chose does not. In short, I'd recommend looking for schools where acceptance in freshman year means acceptance for four years so if you find you're stretched a bit too far and your grades aren't what you had hoped, it doesn't mean losing a chance at sticking with your major because you don't get accepted into upper division.

3. What are the required courses for your major and will you be able to fit everything in and stay at 15 credits a semester including ROTC? My DS has wound up with 17 or 18 credits for a couple of semesters in order to accomodate all his nursing requirements and his ROTC courses. And that is with his ROTC courses fulfilling his history requirements and some AP credits filling his free electives (unfortunately his AP credits didn't match up well with his requirements so they wound up just being extra credits).

I'm one to say if you think it's what you want to do and you've built out a strong plan (not a hope but a plan) and think you can do it, then go for it. But make sure you've got a strong plan!
 
My DD is a freshman at PLU, Nursing Major, Cross Country and Track athlete, and 4 year ROTC Nursing Scholarship recipient. She is kept extremely busy. She has also joined Color Guard, and was asked to join the Ranger Challenge team but politely declined due to her involvement levels. She was this way in high school also. Can be done, but it is difficult and you have to stay on top of things and not get behind. Besides all this she is always attending study groups. She was also asked by her MSI intrustor to teach the other cadets how to run properly, and she did a class presentation. This past weekend she got fellow ROTC cadets to volunteer at her Cross Country team's home meet for extra credit. She doesn't have much time to herself but seems to manage her free time well and use it effectively. Her coach and ROTC unit are also very flexible and understanding, but they also know that she is dedicated and reliable and a person who gets things done and does not fall behind. Passes all her quizzes in MSI class, and gets grades above the average in her classes. Once again, it can de done but it takes a special type of person and commitment. She is also in a 4.5 year nursing program as this is what the School of Nursing offered her with her conditional admission to the nursing program as a freshman since they have a small nursing program and basically have 2 nursing classes. It helps to only have about 15 credits per semester too.

She can do all of this because she is a Freshman. The easiest portion of the nursing process was the first year because all you have is pre reqs and I can guarantee you without a shadow of a doubt that 15 credit level she is seeing will jump to about 20-21 plus clinicals in a few years. I don't want to be a debbie downer but all the athletes (including me) dropped ROTC extra currics and sports by the end of Soph year or beginning of Junior year, Not trying to b e a debbie downer, just realistic. As a Freshman she isn't taking any nursing classes (just pre reqs) and when the program starts she will have 4-5 every semester after the first one.
 
Thanks everyone for the advice! If I do play a sport it will most likely be freshmen year only, I don't want to fall behind in nursing and ROTC.
 
Thanks everyone for the advice! If I do play a sport it will most likely be freshmen year only, I don't want to fall behind in nursing and ROTC.

I would just play it by ear, if you think you can handle it after a year go for it.
 
Being able to play a sport in college will be totally up to you. My daughter is in her 3rd year of nursing school and has had great success doing both. Like many of the others have stated yes it is hard, just stay well organized. For my DS not only is she a starter and one of the captains of her college softball team, but in her NROTC unit she ranks as #1 for her year group. Best of luck to you :thumb:
 
My DD is a freshman at PLU, Nursing Major, Cross Country and Track athlete.
OP's question is about Lacrosse, a Team sport. There is no individual training as there is in track, tennis, golf. For Team Sports, practice times are fixed and inflexible. All the players are there, or they are not. In track, the only team aspect is a relay race, and even then there is very little training with all 4 members.

Softballmom -- I don't know how she does it, unless she is a pitcher (quasi individual sport). Wouldn't softball practice from 2-4 every day conflict with labs?

So, my input is that you can probably do it all in an Individual sport, but next to impossible in a Team sport.
 
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OP mentioned playing either DIII or Club level. DS plays club LAX. Many (most?) Club level coaches are much more flexible with practice schedules and understanding that school and ROTC come first. DIII is still NCAA and the programs are more demanding of athlete's time. DS's coach knows even if he misses some practices due to other conflicts he is still going to PT every week. Oh ya, NCAA athletes are excused from one PT session per week but club athletes are not - but that might be different for each det.
 
Does the Army give preference to Nursing majors for scholarships?

Separate pool and I would say the 4 year scholarships (or scholarships in general) are A LOT easier to obtain than line. The trick is getting into nursing school and staying in.
 
OP mentioned playing either DIII or Club level. DS plays club LAX. Many (most?) Club level coaches are much more flexible with practice schedules and understanding that school and ROTC come first. DIII is still NCAA and the programs are more demanding of athlete's time. DS's coach knows even if he misses some practices due to other conflicts he is still going to PT every week. Oh ya, NCAA athletes are excused from one PT session per week but club athletes are not - but that might be different for each det.

I had that problem with club baseball and lax and subsequently wouldn't get excused from PT even though I practiced every day and our workouts were much more intense than PT. Needless to say shin splints and injuries followed.
 
Bottom line is every college and team coach are different. So far my daughter hasn't any problems with clinicals interfering. But with another year and a half to go anything could happen. Currently she is happy and excelling in nursing school, nrotc and playing short stop. I would suggest being very open to your class advisor, your nrotc class advisor and coach to see if they think its possible. Good luck
 
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