D2 - Are any of them good schools?

Answer is Yes - sorf of

Colorado School of Mines is a highly recognized engineering school nationwide and any degree from there will get you traction but it is only engineering, hard sciences, some economics type stuff. They won't really look at a recruit unless the academic side is also there - you've got to be able to cut it in the classroom. It is a STATE SCHOOL. Academically that's all I know of in D2 and I'm sure there's more, but CSM is the standout for Academics, not to mention Top 5 national finishes in XC the past...8 years?

http://time.com/money/best-colleges/profile/colorado-school-of-mines/

so 1 school in all of D2?

I assume there's more. Are you a high school student looking at options? Or just shootin the sh1t?

I'm interested too and I guess we'll see if anybody pipes up - maybe unlikely considering I don't think the remaining schools that round out the top 10 in XC can claim national recognition for the majority of their degree programs - and this is a running site afterall.

But outside the Ivy league how many can claim their degree is good just cause of the school?

It just depends what you value. If you are going straight off the US news rankings then D2 schools are going to be hard to find - they tend to be 3rd tier state schools. However, there are still many great schools throughout D2. In addition to Colorado School of Mines noted above I'd also include Hillsdale, Bentley, Biola, Western Wash, and Truman State as great D2 options depending on your goals.

Thanks, Hillsdale was actually on my mind, but I don't really have anything to back that up. Heard of Truman State as well - a friend played basketball there and had no problem finding a job either -also and engineer.

Good overall schools? It depends on what you're looking for. I'd say a lot of D2 schools offer good programs depending on which schools you look at but a lot of them aren't amazing overall as a school.

If you're going to look at a D2 school, look at what you're going to do before you go there because quality options might not be abundant if you switch majors.

My D2 school was known for nursing, education, and different areas of business. In these areas, we rivaled a lot of the public D1 schools in the state. Our engineering program was just taking off but was not known for being anything amazing.

I agree that a lot of D2 schools aren't known outside of their region. I didn't know a lot about the school I ended up going to until late into my senior year of high school. From what I had heard about it, I didn't think it was a very good school and was already accepted into a large state university.

But then, I got in, did my business, had an opportunity to run, and now work at a top corporation in my state for education. So, it worked out for me.

With any public or private entity, trade/technical school, whatever level, the best option isn't to judge schools from a general standpoint but to know how well they do with what you're interested in.

runfasta wrote:

so 1 school in all of D2?

Besides those mentioned above, a few that stood out, academically speaking, include the following (non exhaustive, I didn't spend much time on this):

U Alaska Fairbanks

Simon Fraser (in BC)

Cal Poly Pomona

UC San Diego (Probably best on this list)

Morehouse

I have no idea how these schools stack up running-wise.

Ft. Lewis has some nationally-ranked programs

Adams State has good academic programs.

compressed wrote:

runfasta wrote:

so 1 school in all of D2?

https://blog.prepscholar.com/the-complete-list-of-division-2-colleges-by-state

Besides those mentioned above, a few that stood out, academically speaking, include the following (non exhaustive, I didn't spend much time on this):

U Alaska Fairbanks

Simon Fraser (in BC)

Cal Poly Pomona

UC San Diego (Probably best on this list)

Morehouse

I have no idea how these schools stack up running-wise.

As UCSD's enrollment has increased it has moved up the NCAA divisions. It's XC/distance programs have been good but not great (i.e. qualified for a lot of Nationals but generally finished in the 12th-15th range, and produced a couple of individual D3 5k champions) The students voted to move to D1 and the school will start that process next year. It will take 4 years to gain full D1 status.

GBTC wrote:

It just depends what you value. If you are going straight off the US news rankings then D2 schools are going to be hard to find - they tend to be 3rd tier state schools. However, there are still many great schools throughout D2. In addition to Colorado School of Mines noted above I'd also include Hillsdale, Bentley, Biola, Western Wash, and Truman State as great D2 options depending on your goals.

In addition to Hillsdale being filled with religious kooks, Biola is the same. One should only consider going to either of those schools if you are also a religious nut, and I don't just mean religious, I mean a full-on Conservative Christian takes the Bible literally freak.

Someone who knows wrote:

GBTC wrote:

It just depends what you value. If you are going straight off the US news rankings then D2 schools are going to be hard to find - they tend to be 3rd tier state schools. However, there are still many great schools throughout D2. In addition to Colorado School of Mines noted above I'd also include Hillsdale, Bentley, Biola, Western Wash, and Truman State as great D2 options depending on your goals.

In addition to Hillsdale being filled with religious kooks, Biola is the same. One should only consider going to either of those schools if you are also a religious nut, and I don't just mean religious, I mean a full-on Conservative Christian takes the Bible literally freak.

Nice open-minded analysis.

Someone who knows wrote:

Simply put wrote:

Thanks, Hillsdale was actually on my mind, but I don't really have anything to back that up. Heard of Truman State as well - a friend played basketball there and had no problem finding a job either -also and engineer.

Hillsdale is a radically conservative Christian college. If you want to be surrounded by people who think the Earth is 10,000 years old and believe that God is magic, then go there.

From what I understand, the only thing "radical" about Hillsdale is that they have a strong and unbroken tradition of teaching the truths of Western Civilization and not discriminating against student applicants based on race or sex, even when that means taking ZERO federal dollars. In addition, I did some research... their biology department doesn't teach young earth creationism, and they do not have any religious affiliation other than being founded on Judeo-Christian values.

This year Princeton Review ranked them as follows on a scale of 0-99:- 98 for Professor Accessibility

- 98 for Professor Accessibility

-99 for Interesting Professors

- 95 for Academics

- 90 for Quality of Life

Last time I checked, thats higher overall than any Ivy League school.

Dont listen to the liberal bullsh*t, they're just upset that Hillsdale is winning.

John Wick wrote:

Adams State has good academic programs.

This is a joke right?

I think he means Adams College.

Western Washington is well regarded but only in the state. It's not top tier by any means but a definite step up from D1 Washington State and most of the other schools in the state besides UW.

Outside of Washington though I bet people hear the geographic direction in the school name and assume it's a glorified community college.

whatcom wrote:

Western Washington is well regarded but only in the state. It's not top tier by any means but a definite step up from D1 Washington State and most of the other schools in the state besides UW.

Outside of Washington though I bet people hear the geographic direction in the school name and assume it's a glorified community college.

WWU is a great alternative to the University of Washington, which has become increasingly selective. Plus Bellingham has a lot of trails and easy access to a variety of outdoor activities. The university's sailing/rowing/kayak center on Lake Whatcom is especially cool. There's no football team, but I don't know how that affects the budget for xc/track.

ummmm...ever heard of Adams State?