02-01-2024, 05:23 PM
Why offer it if it's not a big deal in reality?
That's easy. The course registration priority is a necessary recruiting tool. A recruit worried about travel obligations and NIL commitments might wonder if everything is possible if they don't at least get priority for course registration. At a lot of schools priority is a real benefit, but if one is not familiar with process they might think any school that doesn't offer that to athletes is immediately less desirable.
This is a benefit they probably will not really need at Stanford.
I really can't remember a time I could not enroll in a class. Even in classes close to capacity by week #2 a lot of the course shoppers would have dropped down from 20 credits to 16 credits and there would be loads of available seats. That's all from a Stanford perspective though. If I didn't know that I would assume that most schools have crazy course enrollment challenges like one might find at some UCs and all CSUs.
The other element here is that the ACC travel is not just a distance thing. When I think about college basketball on ESPN it seems as if there is always an ACC game on TV basically every weeknight. I guess there is some structure to their schedule, but I would think our student athletes will need priority so they can enroll in classes that have the most favorable remote learning content and policies.
FWIW - Those Tuesday night basketball games in Boston or North Carolina will be brutal for Stanford and Cal students. They almost certainly will miss classes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday each time they have one of those games Tuesday evening games. Athlete prioritization mitigates a potential issue for recruits, that is unlikely to actually impact Stanford students in reality.
FWIW2 - If I was a student on campus that prioritization for course enrollment would not be what I would see as unfair. The ridiculously delicious athlete meals, the extensive academic support and the near guaranteed NIL money would be the types of things that might get me to wonder about unfair or unequal treatment. Course prioritization for classes that are almost never full? Meh.
That's easy. The course registration priority is a necessary recruiting tool. A recruit worried about travel obligations and NIL commitments might wonder if everything is possible if they don't at least get priority for course registration. At a lot of schools priority is a real benefit, but if one is not familiar with process they might think any school that doesn't offer that to athletes is immediately less desirable.
This is a benefit they probably will not really need at Stanford.
I really can't remember a time I could not enroll in a class. Even in classes close to capacity by week #2 a lot of the course shoppers would have dropped down from 20 credits to 16 credits and there would be loads of available seats. That's all from a Stanford perspective though. If I didn't know that I would assume that most schools have crazy course enrollment challenges like one might find at some UCs and all CSUs.
The other element here is that the ACC travel is not just a distance thing. When I think about college basketball on ESPN it seems as if there is always an ACC game on TV basically every weeknight. I guess there is some structure to their schedule, but I would think our student athletes will need priority so they can enroll in classes that have the most favorable remote learning content and policies.
FWIW - Those Tuesday night basketball games in Boston or North Carolina will be brutal for Stanford and Cal students. They almost certainly will miss classes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday each time they have one of those games Tuesday evening games. Athlete prioritization mitigates a potential issue for recruits, that is unlikely to actually impact Stanford students in reality.
FWIW2 - If I was a student on campus that prioritization for course enrollment would not be what I would see as unfair. The ridiculously delicious athlete meals, the extensive academic support and the near guaranteed NIL money would be the types of things that might get me to wonder about unfair or unequal treatment. Course prioritization for classes that are almost never full? Meh.