Training For The Olympics Is Hard Enough. Try Doing That While Earning A Degree [updated] Nathan Chen wants to try while attending Yale University

[alexikeguchi]

Also, med schools look at your science GPA separately from your overall GPA now. Even if your overall GPA is high because of that tactic of taking less challenging courses to “protect” it, your weakness in the med school prereqs will be revealed by your science GPA if you didn’t do well in those courses. So that’s not a good reason to take “easy” courses at all.

I had to quote you because I couldn't recommend this post more than once but wanted to! Yes, med schools definitely care more about your science/prerequisite GPA than your overall, and courses like "rocks for jocks" and "physics for poets" (yes, even Yale has them) aren't rigorous enough to serve as prerequisites. At this point, many Ivies provide a rank with individual course grades as well so that if there is major grade inflation or the student does well in gut classes, their A will not be taken that seriously. And standardized tests are a great equalizer. By the way, the same is true for Ivy undergrad admissions. I do alumni interviews for Yale, and every year the admissions office emphasizes that they want to select students who challenge themselves with the most rigorous courses available to them. That type of student isn't going to suddenly start taking the easy path. Does anyone seriously think that Nathan would want to slack off? It's just a question of whether there is time in the day for him to accomplish all his lofty goals simultaneously, even as multi-talented as he is.

 

[flyushka]

Um, music was one of the most difficult majors at my college, just saying. I had several musician friends who went on to successful symphony careers who chose to major in something else (including science majors) to make things a little easier for them. It can really depend on the school - actually most of the liberal arts/humanities were pretty rigorous at my school. Things that may be one school's "joke" major can be super intense somewhere else. I did one of the humanities majors at my college and then later decided to change career tracks and go to med school. I had to take most of the pre-reqs at a local (well regarded) university and didn't find anything to be as challenging as my original humanities undergrad experience, including organic chem, advanced calculus or some upper level chemistry classes like PChem. Even med school itself was easier to skate by and pass (though time consuming if you wanted to do well). FWIW in med school I thought the musicians (music majors or not) were among the smartest and most disciplined in our class.

Getting back to Nathan, no idea what he wants to do but as my example shows he wouldn't even have to do the med school pre-req classes while at Yale if he wanted to avoid time-consuming labs while training. These days lots of people major in something completely unrelated and then go back for a 1 year postbac premed program, either an organized one at Penn or similar school or a DIY at your local state university. He could do that after the next Olympics if so inclined. My med school class was full of people who were in the military for 10-12 years before college or had unrelated careers before going back. Anything is possible for him; there's no rule you have to start med school at age 22.

 

[VGThuy]

FSU doesn't verify profiles, but Quora does, so here you go. Music is Course 21.

https://www.quora.com/Out-of-curiosity-what-are-the-easiest-and-hardest-majors-at-MIT

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-easiest-major-at-MIT

https://isawyou.mit.edu/post.php?id=6367

What I got from the first link is that Biology, planetary science, ocean engineering, and management areconsidered "easy" and that there are easy paths even in "hard" majors. Music wasn't mentioned in the "Karma Chameleon" parody, but it was mentioned subsequently by one poster but they said course 21, which is humanities, as opposed to course 21M which is music so it's unclear there. That third link's first post said course 3, 9, and 20 are considered "easy" ones, which are material sciences and engineering, brain and cognitive sciences, and biological engineering. There was one subsequent post that mentioned "music" specifically that stated:

"21M (the music program here is complete shit, the professors I've met are either cracked out of their minds or complete idiots or both, but my high school was ranked 3 in the country for music, so I'm a little spoiled)."

So it sounds like that person had the privilege of being well-educated in one of the top music programs in the country so was well-prepared for music classes, so it was easier for them.

I did appreciate the posts on the forum that talked about how stupid the "pissing matches" were with people wanting to compare difficulty of majors to stroke their ego.

Ultimately, what is easy depends on your skill set and what you are "naturally" interested in pursuing.

 

[Sylvia]

Several people have said that the closest ice rink to Yale is Simsbury.

According to Hersh's latest Globetrotting blog piece with the Hughes sisters:

While Yale has an on-campus ice arena, Ingalls Rink, it was usually booked by the men’s and women’s hockey teams during the afternoons, which would have been the ideal time for [Sarah] Hughes to skate there (after classes) when she was preparing for ice show appearances during her final three years at Yale.
She had a car on campus and found available ice at the Northford, Ct., Ice Pavilion, 10 miles from Yale. It has three ice sheets.
“They were easy to work with,” Sarah said.

ETA that I hadn't heard about this rink before: http://northfordice.com

 

[berthesghost]

Just gonna wait until someone posts that obviously keeping in shape for a few ice shows and training for the Olys are = so of course Nathan can do it

 

[Vagabond]

I find it funny that there’s a discussion about difficulty of classes at MIT, on FSU of all places.

Especially since Nathan Chen isn't going to be at MIT.

 

[overedge]

Especially since Nathan Chen isn't going to be at MIT.

[raises hand] I'll take the blame for bringing up MIT as an example of a tech-heavy school that also has a strong music program. I take no responsibility for what happened after that.

 

[chapis]

And while Nathan try balance Yale+Skating, I am reading South Korea Skating Champion Young You: ¨You, who was in third grade at the time, dropped all academic studies except English and math to focus on skating¨ https://www.forbes.com/sites/elaineramirez/2018/04/05/young-you-under-30-asia-yuna-kim/#128c18a83006
w..t..h?

 

[Vagabond]

[raises hand] I'll take the blame for bringing up MIT as an example of a tech-heavy school that also has a strong music program. I take no responsibility for what happened after that.

Yale is tech-heavy?

 

[overedge]

Yale is tech-heavy?

I was responding to the allegation that music is an easier major than engineering or sciences or maths. You'll have to ask the poster who believes that about what that has to do with Yale.

 

[Vagabond]

Given what Nathan Chen has done with his life so far, I would not be surprised if he graduates early (while still competing) so that he can focus on the Olympics for a year before going to medical school.

 

[olympic]

Nathan may be another Debi Thomas: Competes well when he is super-busy in his non-skating life. No time to overanalyze anything, so one just goes out and does it.

 

[Spiralgraph]

I hope Nathan's mental outlook and focus is much better than Debi Thomas's, considering how her life has turned out.

 

[chapis]

I hope Nathan's mental outlook and focus is much better than Debi Thomas's, considering how her life has turned out.

I don´t think is about of outlook and focus, she is sick, Bipolar disorder.

 

[GarrAargHrumph]

I don´t think is about of outlook and focus, she is sick, Bipolar disorder.

Thanks for posting that. I was going to mention this. Debbie's issues are due to significant health issues.

 

[platniumangel]

I would think Yale would offer online course options..... plus, I am sure he will adjust his class schedule to fit his training. Plus, there are summer sessions.

 

[Sylvia]

Just a sampling of Nathan/Yale-related articles...

Olympian Nathan Chen Is Accepted at Yale, But Will Skating Get in the Way of His Enrollment?http://people.com/sports/olympian-nathan-chen-accepted-yale-figure-skating/

From Ice to Ivy League: Nathan Chen the 'Quad King' Accepted at Yale: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/...hen-Quad-King-Accepted-at-Yale-478837393.html

Olympic Figure Skater Nathan Chen Is Officially Heading to Yale in the Fall: http://time.com/5226684/nathan-chen-yale-class-2022/

Good Job, Nathan Chen! https://www.thecut.com/2018/04/good-job-being-accepted-to-yale-nathan-chen.html

 

[znhurston]

there aren’t any. All of the usual suspects that people will throw out like David Jenkins, Debi Thomas, Paul Wylie, Michelle Kwan etc flipped back and forth with one suffering every time the other was given any attention. All won their oly medals while on breaks or official leave from school.

Also Paul Wylie, right?

 

[Vagabond]

there aren’t any. All of the usual suspects that people will throw out like David Jenkins, Debi Thomas, Paul Wylie, Michelle Kwan etc flipped back and forth with one suffering every time the other was given any attention. All won their oly medals while on breaks or official leave from school.

Not true.

Hayes, ever the protective older brother, said this week David's gold medal too often is overlooked.

"David won the Olympics while he was in medical school [at Western Reserve], and that accomplishment has never gotten the attention it deserved," he said. "I could not have competed and gone to law school at the same time, and I couldn't see how he could do it, but he did."

http://www.cleveland.com/olympics/index.ssf/2010/02/akron_native_david_jenkins_sti.html



More recently, Tim Wood was a full-time student at John Carroll University when he won his Olympic Silver Medal in Grenoble.

 

[berthesghost]

Not true.

David has done multiple interviews on this subject. He did the Olys during winter break and skipped 1960 worlds because he had to rush back to school. I think he even left like the day after the lp or something. Anywho, I clearly said break. You can send a box of chocolates with your apology

Ps it’s interesting if you look it up. He also goes into how he didn’t do triples at the Olys because school kept him too busy to train properly.

 

[Vagabond]

Entire post, with no links

And was Tim Wood on break?

Note that in the article to which I linked, he is quoted as saying, "I spend at least four hours a day on school figures." School figures!

I look forward to receiving my Ferrero Rocher.

 

[shine]

Agree to disagree. Unless you're attending a music specific school ala Julliard, music was one of the joke majors that people used to pad their GPAs for grad school.

Huh? Don’t people who go for a music major usually already have a music background and are planning on making it a career? And doesn’t it usually require auditions to get into a music program which means you would’ve already had years of training? The way you say it makes it sound like music were like accounting or some subject people could just pick up when they start college.

 

[Wyliefan]

More recently, Tim Wood was a full-time student at John Carroll University when he won his Olympic Silver Medal in Grenoble.

I'll be darned! That's my dad's alma mater, and he graduated in '66. I wonder if he ever met Tim. I doubt he'd even have been aware of the medal, though. I can get him watching skating now, but back then I don't think he knew any sports existed except football and golf.

 

[MAXSwagg]

^It's way easier than any engineering, science, or quant major. Music is one of the easiest majors you can take (unless you're at Julliard) if you want to cruise and protect your GPA.

Makes no sense. As someone who is currently in a STEM PhD program, and majored in STEM and music performance at the u dergraduate level, music theory even at the introductory level was more difficult for me than two semesters of organic chemistry, particularly 18th Century counterpoint. And graduate or professional programs in STEM will not really care about your non-science course grades so there really is no “protecting your GPA.”

 

[giselle23]

I hope Nathan's mental outlook and focus is much better than Debi Thomas's, considering how her life has turned out.

She did pretty well for someone with her mental outlook and focus at the time. And attending school isn't the reason she didn't do better.

 

[Spiralgraph]

My own post "I hope Nathan's mental outlook and focus is much better than Debi Thomas's, considering how her life has turned out. "

She did pretty well for someone with her mental outlook and focus at the time. And attending school isn't the reason she didn't do better.

Okay, I've been rightly chastised for my incorrect comment. I take leave to withdraw and quickly. I do hope whatever path Nathan chooses, it is what he really wants.

 

[olympic]

My initial comment was praising Debi's successful balance between school and career v. competitive skating

 

[PDilemma]

Huh? Don’t people who go for a music major usually already have a music background and are planning on making it a career? And doesn’t it usually require auditions to get into a music program which means you would’ve already had years of training? The way you say it makes it sound like music were like accounting or some subject people could just pick up when they start college.

My roommate in college got a B.A. in elementary education and music education and B.M. in piano pedagogy. And her course load for the B.M. degree was not easy. Four semesters of music theory was no joke. And it was well known on our campus that the 8 hours of History and Literature of Music that people getting a pedagogy or performance degree in the music department had to take were among the hardest courses there. For her culminating degree requirement, my roommate had to give a lecture recital where she not only had to play but had to educate the audience about a topic relating to piano performance and pedagogy. It was an hour and a half of her alone on a stage and she had to have every word and every note memorized--way harder to prepare for than writing the 30 page primary-sourced history paper I had to do for my culminating project (and she had to do a paper for that, too). While doing all that, she had to complete two other majors for a second degree and she did it all in 4.5 years including student teaching.

Not even close to a joke.

 

[berthesghost]

And was Tim Wood on break?

Note that in the article to which I linked, he is quoted as saying, "I spend at least four hours a day on school figures." School figures!

I look forward to receiving my Ferrero Rocher.

ok, you buy yourself some FR in my name and I’ll buy myself some 50% Lyndt chocolate Easter bunnies and we’ll call it a draw.

Nothing I said was untrue, but I was perhaps being over sensitive in feeling you were calling me a liar. And how crazy is it that he took 4hrs a day away from his studies to train figures, only to all but disappear from the sport for next 40 years!

Anywho, I still don’t think it’s a reason why Nathan can realistically do Yale full time, live as a media darling in today’s privacyless world, and train to do no less than 8 quads at the Olys.

 

[Japanfan]

Anywho, I still don’t think it’s a reason why Nathan can realistically do Yale full time, live as a media darling in today’s privacyless world, and train to do no less than 8 quads at the Olys.

I'm not American and don't know anything about the Ivies - but I think they would bend over backwards to make an educational program work for a high profile athlete.