I\'m a rising HS senior; 4:12 miler with solid SAT\'s/ grades; what are the top schools I should look at?

Harvard.

You have the talent and the brains to go to the top school in the world, why turn that opportunity down? People would kill to go there.

How has nobody mentioned UC Berkeley, the best public school in the nation?

They have a strong middle distance program, and if you look at their current recruiting class, that trend seems have continued.

Although some may argue that their xc isn't as good as it should be, that's mainly because they are a 8-5k school, with less focus on the 10k (although, they are trying to amend that, and got it done last year).

If you want great academics, great training partners (Michael Coe, Mark Matusak, Eric Lee, David Torrence, Kevin Davis who are all at or under 4:03 for the mile, to name a few), then this is a place you should seriously consider.

Also, if you are instate, then the price is considerably less.

go to CAL

Sandoval is a very good middle D coach IMHO

Dartmouth is your best choice.

You can go a lot of places I guess. The only way to find out what school is the right fit for you is to visit with the coaches and team and check out the school. The University of Texas seems like a good place to go right now for middle distance.

Notre Dame, Indiana, Oklahoma State, Southern Illinois, Alabama, Illinois State, Iona, Minnesota, Louisville

If you're coming from a quality school and have an ambitious disposition you should have no problem soliciting interest from college coaches with the times you noted and high academic marks. Finding the right school for you depends on more than running support and competition.

Some questions to consider:

-Do you want to be anywhere geographically specific? Some people train poorly in the harsh cold, so top running programs such as the Univ. of Wisconsin aren't ideal. If you like warmer weather w/o humidity, the west coast should pique your interest.

-What's more important to you -- going to a school where you're more likely to win a nat'l championship or going somewhere you could receive a better education? These may be different locations, or they may be the same location, but it sounds like you're considering the two together. You'll need to evaluate this as your college search continues.

-What you want to study? If it's something particular, e.g. forensic sciences, make sure you're looking at schools that offer this.

-What distances will you most likely specialize in? If you plan to specialize in the 800/1500 like you've done thus far, make sure you're talking to coaches who have developed talent in other 800/1500 athletes and be honest with the coaches about your goals and training. The last things you want is a coach who tries to fit you into a peg that you don't belong in, e.g. make an 800m runner a 10K runner, or a coaching staff that runs you into the ground without ultimate concern for your longterm running success.

-How good are the running locales of the schools you're visiting? For example, does the team run on pavement in a city, or do they run mostly on softer trails. Which do you prefer? CU-Boulder, Oregon, and Stanford are the most elite running programs I know of that have immediate access to fabulous trails and hills, though I'm sure there are more.

-What is the team chemistry like when you visit? Meet the runners if you have the chance and run with them. Can you imagine yourself fitting in with this group?

-What are the support services like to the runners? For example, do they have good trainers, physical therapists, tutors, and academic advisors?

If you want to start by looking at top notch D1 running programs and see which schools interest you from there, try these lists (they're not perfect, but they're fairly accurate and they provide overall rankings of each school):

best men's track programs

http://elite50.stack.com/Sport.aspx?SportID=32

best men's x-c programs

http://elite50.stack.com/Sport.aspx?SportID=36

Remember that there are many great academic and running schools that don't have the academic prestige of Ivy league schools. For example, UVA, Notre Dame, UNC, Texas, Georgetown, UC-Berkeley, Michigan and Arizona State have strong business programs; the Air Force Academy and Stanford have great engineering programs; Georgetown, Williams and Mary, and Duke have tremendous liberal arts programs; Kansas (of all places) and CU-Boulder have solid Spanish programs. Also, many universities have honors programs that offer smaller classes, individualized and prestigious resources, and good reputations. If you have any specific academic interest(s) I recommend you research these interests for your schools of interest.

Lastly, talk to the coaches and runners at each school openly and curiously, i.e. attain all the info from them you want and need to make your decision, considering academics, financial aid, academic support, athletic/physical training support, long-term goals of the program and coaches, etc.

Best of luck.

Georgetown, ND and Iona are nothing like that freak farm Liberty!!!!!!!

It's amazing how fast a great program that this kid would love has vanished so quickly, Wisconsin. It's weird looking at a post like this and not seeing Wisconsin mentioned.

jar wrote:

It's amazing how fast a great program that this kid would love has vanished so quickly, Wisconsin. It's weird looking at a post like this and not seeing Wisconsin mentioned.

true, but it's cold as shit

First of all, congrats on your hard work and success up until now and have a good senior year.

1. Do you have an idea as to what you think you want to major in? If so, you might want to check which schools have strong programs in the area you wish to study in college.

2. How important is Geography in making a decision for University? Sure, California is a great place for training year round but if you are a Midwesterner, would you feel ok making the move thousands of miles from home? People like to act as if they dont care how far from home they are but many times, they DO get homesick.

3. Have Coaches begun to contact you? If so, start asking them critical questions about their training philosophies. Try to look at the "big picture" and think about where you will be in 5 years after a degree from that school and what you want out of your running. Hopefully, you will find a coach that is looking to develop your running ability for beyond your college years as well as the 4 years you will be on his/her team.

4. Be your own person. Don't go by what is said on this Website or Dyestat as your only guidance. Be proactive in choosing your University.

- Philip Passen

New York City

UT Austin if you want to be a miler/800 specialist

Check out Columbia. Very solid Mid-d program, one of the top in the nation and a top 10 academic school. They have a great incoming freshman class too. And nothing is better than NYC.

check out U of Washington

Follow Fernandez and Lowe to Oklahoma State and have a realistic chance of being on a National Championship Cross Country team.....

Yay, another, "Where did/do you go to college?" threads!

Haverford - if the fit is right for you.

No frats, no deans list, no class rank, no biz major, no football team. It is an academic institution in the true sense of the word. 25% of grads go on to get Phds. Also has the highest med school acceptance rate in the country.

Running is strong there - Tom Donnelly has coached world class atheletes, and turned 11:00 2 milers into DIII All-Ams.

Running is not all there is in life. If you pick a DI program, it will be, possibly to the detriment of your academic career.

USC. great group of mid distance guys, top track team, la weather, awesome all around academics, amazing campus atmosphere.

If you are Asian the chances of getting into Stanford, USC, Ivy League, and other private schools are less than half that of the University of California due to the Asian Exclusion policy that those schools still have. The University of California system was forced by the courts to end Asian Exclusion policies decades ago.