Is life better when you’re an athlete? Will my classes be better or easier? Do I get earlier sign-up? I’m just wondering what the difference is compared to regular students! Thanks!
Yes! The life of a student-athlete is very fun and busy. You will receive many perks ranging from the classroom to perks in living cost, clothing, and anything you can think of. As a student-athlete myself, I received a full closet of Nike gear, and we have a student-athlete village where it is fenced off and is exclusive for athletes only. Inside we have access to an incredible facility with recovery rooms to doctors available all the time. Basically, everything from clothing to food to traveling and training will be covered in the best way possible. You will have priority selection of classes and have private tutors available to you all the time at the convenience of your schedule. I am speaking from the experience at a Divison 1 school, but nevertheless, student-athletes receive perks beyond what normal students could imagine. Professors are very nice to you as well and will give you extra time for assignments so as long as you keep on top of everything, grades should be good too. I am receiving straight A’s at the moment with ease with efficient time management so it is quite advantageous.
Although m.li’s answer may be the case for him, I want to express that this is not always going to the case. I go to Middlebury College and play lacrosse, we belong to the NESCAC (conference) in Division 3. I, along with all the other student-athletes, do no receive any special treatment and are held to the same academic, social, and all of categorical standards as all the other university students.
The social scene (parties and what not) seems to be dominated by athletes, but other than that we don’t have a fenced off athlete village. We travel with the team in humble means, but do receive a fair amount of athletic gear for free. We don’t get priority for picking classes (although this is actually pretty common because your classes have to work with your practice schedule, but this is not a problem for my college). Tutors are available to all students. All students can have extra time on assignments with sufficient means. Grades are not inflated.