Masters Programs

[umass]

In the same theme as the other college thread, I am getting ready to start looking at graduate programs for Strength and Conditioning and would appreciate some outside opinions. In addition to good graduate programs, what concentrations beside the obvious S&C would you all reccomend, if my end goal is too be able to work with an athletic population.
-Ned

[Jean-Paul]

I'm out of my league on this one, but I'll bump it nonetheless in hopes that one of our credentialed experts will chime in and advise you.

[dawong]

Exercise Physiology/Science.

Possibly Biomechanics.

-D

[bryanc]

So, I'll just dump in my 2 cents and leave the thread alone.

The mentality that university is a place to get "credentialed" as a means to a job is deteriorating the entire intellectual development of university students everywhere. And while universities have also contributed to this mentality in the undergraduate sense (i.e. tailoring their programs to be more content-driven by industry as opposed to knowledge and process transference), in the Master's sense, it is completely baffling; and exists only because _some_ industries require a Master's or a encourage a higher degree for gainful employment.

So, my short answer to people who are interested in an S+C Master's is, "You don't need it. Don't do it."

A Master's degree is not an industry degree. In some cases, it's an opportunity to explore the areas that are not given enough depth in your undergrad and a chance to gain almost-expert knowledge (i.e. the course-based Masters). In other cases, a Master's is an introductory research degree where you'll spend half of your time gaining another, more advanced base of knowledge, to prepare you to produce another piece of (hopefully) new knowledge. In either case, the exercise is in developing a thinking process--not on developing skills. In some programs you will have the opportunity to learn the principles of program design, and you will also have the opportunity to put them to use. However, you also have to be prepared for the fact that you will also have to put time to learn about all the other issues put in front of you, which may include a research thesis (that involves data collection).

So, if your goal is solely to get a Masters for the purpose of possibly gaining access to an elite athletic population, i.e. a college, or national team, (and I would contend that every prospective masters student ask themselves why they want to pursue a Masters), then I would say that there are definitely other ways to achieve that goal. The path to a Masters is not always an easy one and the energy you put into it may not yield the result you want, since generally, someone has to step out of a training role on a team before you step in. For instance, if you wanted Dos' job, Dos would generally need to vacate that spot before you could step into it, since it's unlikely you'd oust him from it.

If you're interested in pursuing _further_ education in kinesiology as a field (which includes S+C, but also health and wellness issues and biomechanics and ex. phys etc etc), then a Masters might be for you.

In terms of programs, I would look carefully at what their graduates are doing and if you're in an academic centre that houses a national team.

Calgary, for instance, houses the national ski teams (downhill, jumping, cross-country), speed skating, bobsled, luge, and some bits of the national swimming team. It also houses the university football, rugby, soccer, hockey, swim, volleyball, basketball teams (I'm sure I'm missing a sport in there); and a Junior A hockey team and an NHL hockey team and a CFL football team. As well as a semi-professional soccer team, and professional lacrosse team. Because of the Olympic legacy from the 1988 winter games, much of the training, while it doesn't take place at the University, goes through University consults. I do know three people who graduated with Masters degrees from the U of C who are now the S+C coaches for the national ski team and the national swim team; and likely hold your dream job.

Does an MSc or MKin from U of Calgary guarantee you an S+C spot? Absolutely not. Not even close. But it probably puts you in a pretty good position for one. Maybe.

If U of C is something you want to pursue as an S+C avenue, I would also discourage anyone from applying generally to the programs. a) It's not how things are done around here and b) you need to position yourself from the pre-application phase to get to where you want to go. I would suggest talking to the grads who are doing what you want to do to see how they got there, which, should be available through the program administrator.

[El_Animal]

Awesome post!

[umass]

Originally Posted by bryanc

So, I'll just dump in my 2 cents and leave the thread alone.

This was a very thoughtful post and gives me some good things to think about when considering what I want in a masters degree. I also think that the reality of a masters program is that it isn't just programing as you said but that is a important and fun part of the learning process, which I am aware of. Thanks for the input

[UConnJulie]

I'll put in another plug for UConn's Kinesiology program ... not sure how focused it is on strength and conditioning, but I do know that it is typically interdisciplinary with crossover using other related departments.

[umass]

So far I'm taking a close look at UConn, Springfield College, UW LaCrosse, and UMASS, but I don't know about going to the same school for undergrad and grad seems like a different school may offer more opportunity for learning new things.

[UConnJulie]

Originally Posted by umass

So far I'm taking a close look at UConn, Springfield College, UW LaCrosse, and UMASS, but I don't know about going to the same school for undergrad and grad seems like a different school may offer more opportunity for learning new things.

I have been told that as well ... especially if it is within the same department as the philosophies will generally run the same even if you have different advisors.

[umass]

Originally Posted by UConnJulie

I have been told that as well ... especially if it is within the same department as the philosophies will generally run the same even if you have different advisors.

Exactly.

I think that UConn would be ideal in terms of both education and getting experience with higher level athletes, but I've heard it's also reletivley tough to get into.
Ned

[UConnJulie]

You can always ask Eric Cressey ...

[Eric Cressey]

In the year I was accepted, I was one of two master's degree students accepted. I believe the applicant pool (doctoral and master's) to work with Dr. Kraemer alone was about 350 that year.

Lots more schools to check out on top of the ones you mentioned above. Memphis has actually come a long way in a short amount of time - great place for research and S&C. Really depends on what your focus is. If you want S&C, go to a bigger D1 school with the programs to accomodate it. If you want research, look to where the funding is headed.

[Keith S.]

What's the other college thread?

[umass]

Originally Posted by Eric Cressey

In the year I was accepted, I was one of two master's degree students accepted. I believe the applicant pool (doctoral and master's) to work with Dr. Kraemer alone was about 350 that year.

Lots more schools to check out on top of the ones you mentioned above. Memphis has actually come a long way in a short amount of time - great place for research and S&C. Really depends on what your focus is. If you want S&C, go to a bigger D1 school with the programs to accomodate it. If you want research, look to where the funding is headed.

I was wondering how many spots they had, but it'll be a reach for me. Looks like I'll be checking out the bigger D1s.

Keith: there was a thread in the training forum where someone(I forget who) was looking for undergrad programs in an exercise science related field.

[bryanc]

I was courted by UMass Amherst when I graduated from my undergrad. I was definitely not impressed by their funding structure.

In my opinion, graduate students should be funded through their degrees if they're doing thesis-based degrees since they're contributing to the output of the university.

[umass]

Originally Posted by bryanc

I was courted by UMass Amherst when I graduated from my undergrad. I was definitely not impressed by their funding structure.

In my opinion, graduate students should be funded through their degrees if they're doing thesis-based degrees since they're contributing to the output of the university.

From what I've seen and heard the University as a whole is not well funded and thats why we have things like A&P lab on a computer.

[Mohr Results]

My fiance was co-director of the U of Louisville graduate program in ex science. When they were evaluating some things for the program at U of L, they were looking at some other programs and the recent rankings. Penn State and UCONN were tied for #1 (of course because I was there :-) ), UMASS, U of Georgia, U of Texas at Austin, were all up there as well.

NOW, with regards to S & C specifically, that is a bit different. I would of course investigate the faculty and coursework, but also look into the S & C coaches there whom you can potentially shadow, work with, etc. When I was at UMASS in nutrition, I didn't have any sports nutrition specific classes, but I was the sports nutritionist for their athletic department, so I got a lot of experience through there. And, while I have a PhD meaning I've spent a ton of time in the classroom, a huge part of my learning came from (and continues to come from) personal experience, seminars, conferences, and continual reading, reading, and more reading (both in and out of my field).

[weightworkout]

bryanc

So, if your goal is solely to get a Masters for the purpose of possibly gaining access to an elite athletic population, i.e. a college, or national team, (and I would contend that every prospective masters student ask themselves why they want to pursue a Masters), then I would say that there are definitely other ways to achieve that goal.

My goal is to work with the elite athletic population but I grew up and went to university in NS. As you may know Calgary is much different then Halifax in many ways, and one huge difference is sports and available facilities.

When I went to university I did not see a career is sports so I did not take any exercise science. I should have listeded to to those who say do what you love. Now a few years latter I have moved to Atlanta, much better weather and sports than in Halifax, and want to work with athletes and do not feel like returning to school fulltime but have found that without a degree in exercise science or related field is making my goal more difficult.


I do have CSCS, USAW, and USAT&F certifications but I am not sure where to go next. I have looked into volunteering with different sports and teams but even that has even been difficult. I would like to hear your thoughts as to the different avenues to reach and eventually work with elite athletes without a masters or science degree?
Thanks