10th grader Scholarship chances w/1:57/4:23 by 12th grade

There are 12 scholarships at D1 colleges. Coaches use the logic that each point at the conference meet is equal to .1 scholarship so that a win is worth a scholarship. Look up the times run to place at the conference meets. Even look deeper though because sometimes the mile is a tactical race so you really need to look up the PR of the 8th place finisher to see what time it takes for .1 scholarship. Many colleges publish standards on their websites also. If your son wants to sign Nov his senior year, it will be Jr times that are important. 4:15 will get him a nibble at most schools and 4:10 Jr year will probably get .25. Ivys have no scholarships and top running schools like Oregon or Stanford will give nothing. Top sprint schools probably give nothing for a miler either.

Scholar Expert wrote:

There are 12 scholarships at D1 colleges. Coaches use the logic that each point at the conference meet is equal to .1 scholarship so that a win is worth a scholarship.

Your formula doesn't work for all conferences. I was a walk-on and placed 3rd in my conference 1500 as a sophomore and 3rd in the steeple my junior year. Also placed 14th in the conference cc meet as a junior. Never got a dime of scholarship. D1 school, too.

In Florida here, my son went 9:37 for 3200m last year and got a full ride (100% athletic), Division I to an in-state program (not one of the big schools) that has pretty much been rebuilding the program. His teammate ran those times and got a ride to UFlorida.

Don’t confuse athletics and academics. 9:37 gets 0 at even the worst running schools. Look at the previous poster’s experience getting nothing even though he was placing. The formula that I provided is what is used by most coaches. It results in 126 points at the conference meet which wins most conferences. I am curious about the previous poster’s HS times. I am guessing that placing 3rd at conference was due to improvement. Coaches promise scholarships later but rarely follow through because they want to use those to entice new kids.

I just clicked on Florida State at random. Their target recruit standards are 1:49 and 4:05. That means you need to hit those times Jr year to earn a substantial scholarship. Their beginning standards are 1:51 and 4:09. That means in a Normal recruiting year, those times get you .1.

Scholar Expert wrote:

I am curious about the previous poster’s HS times. I am guessing that placing 3rd at conference was due to improvement. Coaches promise scholarships later but rarely follow through because they want to use those to entice new kids.

Sub 2 min 800m in HS, but only 16:56 for 5k cc. Dropped to 4:02 1500 & 15:30 on the track as a freshman. Continued to improve, but not at that pace. Like I said, I was a walk-on, and I received some academic scholarship, which tied the hands of the coach a bit. The way the NCAA views scholarship is all or nothing. If I received $5,000 of academic scholarship and $1 of athletic, the NCAA would charge $5,001 to the program as athletic money. So, I was caught in the middle. I qualified by team standards for some money, but never received it because I already had academic money. It sucks, really, because I feel like I never received what I earned: both academic and athletic money.

They misled you. If you maintain a 3.0, normal academic aid available to the normal student does not count as athletic aid. If you drop below 3.0, then your example would be true.

Scholar Expert wrote:

They misled you. If you maintain a 3.0, normal academic aid available to the normal student does not count as athletic aid. If you drop below 3.0, then your example would be true.

Agreed. There is some standard above which academic aid is not counted against athletics. The bottom line is there to prevent schools from giving out extra money to dumb athletes.

A 4:10 in hs really means nothing if you have to run 70-80 mpw to do it. Those times will get you onto a d1 team, but you'll be so worn out by the time you get to college you wont make much progress and will likely end up hurt, cut, or quitting.

My advice:

1. Keep your volume low (40-45 mpw tops) and wait to make the real progress in college where someone who knows what they're doing can add volume and intensity. Coaches are way more interested in POTENTIAL than a worn-out 4:1x miler whose done 70 mpw since they were 14 y.o.

2. Don't go D1 for the sake of saying you run D1. Choose the school that is appropriate for your educational wants and with a team you feel you would be happy on. Too many small school state champs think they're D1 material when they'd be much better suited and happier placing well and winning in D2 or D3.

4. Practically no one gives full rides for distance runners. Don't rule out D3 and D2, cause even without scholarships these schools are often much cheaper than a D1 on scholarship and still have excellent track programs.

Progress his mileage up to 50 mpw by sr year. This gives him 45ish for his junior year when times matter. Then, have him study really hard for the ACT/SAT. He will get more money that way then through running.

Scholar Expert wrote:

I just clicked on Florida State at random. Their target recruit standards are 1:49 and 4:05. That means you need to hit those times Jr year to earn a substantial scholarship. Their beginning standards are 1:51 and 4:09. That means in a Normal recruiting year, those times get you .1.

How many high school juniors run 1:49 any given year? 1 or 2? Theyrr basically saying "we wont give you distance runners money unless you're a high chance of being a national champion."

This makes sense, since theyre a sprint school primarily. They're willing to basically ignore distance and let it be whatever it is based on who goes there for academics. But if a potentially elite level runner falls into their lap, theyll throw a bit of money their way just to make sure they stick around.

Agreed. Look at conference results and calculate .1 scholarship for each point scored. That results in about 120 points which would win almost conferences. Don’t assume that many freshmen get anything because there are not many freshmen hitting teams’ standards. Coaches give scholarships to known scorers so if you aren’t there yet, you will be walking on and maybe getting something later if you improve greatly.