Where to go to college

I had almost identical qualifications my senior year, except a bit faster on the track and a bit slower in cross country. i applied to many of those schools and got wait listed at every single one, so hopefully based on the law of averages you'll be able to get into at least one! Best of luck!

Save yourself $210 wrote:

Unless you have a SAT 2400 / ACT 36, a GPA of 4.0, took every AP class in the catalog, were on the USA team at Daegu 2011, or a USA world team in swimming, gymnastics, Tae Kwan Do, etc. and have had pefect attendance since kintergarten .... then save your $210 ($70x3) and don't ever even possibly try UCLA, UCSD, or Cal. Those schools get the most freshman applicants each year, nearly every one accepted has a 4.0GPA, 2400 SAT or 36 ACT, and they are forbidden by US DOE and US DOD contracts to set white quotas against the orientals.

Nty, not interested in going all the way across the COuntry (I live in the mid atlantic) just for a tier 3 school(by my standards). And they actually take a lot of less smart people. Thier 75th percentile for SAT scores was 680/720/700, I hit 760/740/780.

First off, thank you for sharing your info.

I know Ivies dont give athletic scholarships, but I am not looking for any money at all to run, I just want to be a part of a team. Also, their need based aid is insane and my tuition and room and board together will end up being less than any other school.

And what do you think about running for a team like Princeton? Theyre pretty damn good, but maybe they have larger teams because they're funded better? And do you know about Penn? I saw that theyre pretty slow.

Duke- Just how horrible is the program? I heard the womens was bad, but what about the men's program and coach? I really like the campus and it also has good academics.

William and Mary- Yeah I saw that the program seems to be decent at making decent guys pretty good. Do you know if they have made any runners very good though?

Georgetown- I'm guessing you're getting at the fact that the team is fairly good, right? Or is it that the team is kept small or both?

Chicago- The team is D3, I could potentially be their 2nd best 5k freshman ever because they never were that strong. Just looking for info about the program.

UNC- Sorry, I just didn't find it to be that good of a fit.

So you don't know what you want to major in and youre not as fast as you want to be.

How about this:

Wait a semester or a year before you go to college. This will allow you to get your fitness to the next level without wasting a year of eligibility. It will also give you time to figure out what you want to major in. It will also give you time to save up money. There is no rush to go to college immediately after high school ends.

Body parts are nice wrote:

So you don't know what you want to major in and youre not as fast as you want to be.

How about this:

Wait a semester or a year before you go to college. This will allow you to get your fitness to the next level without wasting a year of eligibility. It will also give you time to figure out what you want to major in. It will also give you time to save up money. There is no rush to go to college immediately after high school ends.

Money isn't that big of a problem because I can get a ton of need based aid from just about any of those schools based on my family's income bracket.

I feel like I shouldn't take a break before college because I want to go to college to take some classes and figure out what to major in.

To everyone:

Do you think I could do something like email/call the coaches fairly soon and say "If I manage to run a 9:10(or9:20 or whatever) in the spring would you be able to guarantee or most likely have a spot on the team for me?"

Or run some good times in the spring then call up the coaches of the schools I get into and ask if I would be able to walk on there with my times?

rcc wrote:

Some options:

1. Try Ivy, although your times will likely not provide you with the kind of admissions support you're looking for from the coaches

2. DIII: NESCAC or UAA...can't go wrong with Williams/Tufts/Amherst/WashU/UChicago/NYU academically and you will develop well athletically getting lots of opportunities to compete early on as a freshman.

3. Mediocre D1 school: academically weak, probably not what you're looking for

4. Walk-on to a high level academic big D1 state school

1.This is what I want to do. And yes, I recognize that T won't get admissions support, but would really liek to run for the team.

2. Most schools like that don't really seem my type. I don't like NYC, don't want a total liberal arts college, and idk about the others.

3. Definately not. Academics is the main idea.

4."high level academic" and "big d1 state school" basically contradict each other. And I would probably have a tough time walking on there. And dislike super big schools.

If your HS is known and has been profiled over the years by UC Admissions then they will very lightly weigh GPA/SAT/ACT/AP numbers and will weigh extracurrilars very heavily in proportion. Sounds stupidly ridiculous I know but there's a reason the UC does this. It's because the numbers only reflect the ability of high schoobies to memorize facts and figures. UC's biggest funding are from US Govt contracts. Academic departments are impersonal factory mills with the sole mission of producing earth-shattering research. Thus they don't teach-to-the-test nor test-to-the-textbook like every other college does at the undergraduate level.

Right but you don't have to go to college to figure out what you want to major in. Here are some alternatives:

1) look at the syllabuses and textbooks for the classes you're interested in

2) look at the required courses for majors that you're interested in

3) look at live lectures and homework assignments on the Stanford and MIT websites (see if you can do the homework maybe)

4) ask friends about how they like their majors and what they want to do with their degrees

5) ask professionals about their professions. Maybe get a volunteering or employment position with then to see if that's what you want to do with your life

Just think if you could spend the next semester or two training to get your mile time down to 4:10. College coaches would be all over you and you'd still have all 4 eligible years.

1. Go ahead and apply to Ivies - a lot of people with lesser profiles get in, but people with more impressive ones get dinged all the time. It'll be a crapshoot for you.

2. William & Mary combines aspects of a liberal arts school with a larger school experience. And the city's great for running.

3. Try to learn how to spell "definitely" before writing your admissions essays.

4. UVA, UNC, Berkeley, and Michigan are "big d1 state schools" with high quality academics. I turned a fellowship at Duke to go to one of them.

I would apply to some of the Ivies, William & Mary, Duke, maybe UVA, and any other place you want to add.

Also, do you think I can use some times from indoor to talk to coaches? Or is it too late?

I run the mile and 3k.

I agree with the person who mentioned d3 should be an option. Plenty of very strong academic schools with good teams in the nescac and elsewhere. MIT and Tufts both seem like good fits(midsized schools with strong to elite academics, offer many different majors, deep teams with some very strong runners). Most of the nescac schools have strong academics depending on what you're looking to go into. Chances are if you go to an ivy or big d1 you're going to be buried on the roster and will not get the same opportunities to compete as you would at a good d3 program. If you care at all about your collegiate running career schools like georgetown and princeton really shouldn't be on your list.

I would say definitely not sleep on Wash U, UChicago, and Emory. All of them are midsized schools with great academics and in excellent locations. (WashU St. Louis, Emory Atlanta). They all have pretty great running programs as well.

First off, thank you for sharing your info.

I know Ivies dont give athletic scholarships, but I am not looking for any money at all to run, I just want to be a part of a team. Also, their need based aid is insane and my tuition and room and board together will end up being less than any other school.

And what do you think about running for a team like Princeton? Theyre pretty damn good, but maybe they have larger teams because they're funded better? And do you know about Penn? I saw that theyre pretty slow.

Duke- Just how horrible is the program? I heard the womens was bad, but what about the men's program and coach? I really like the campus and it also has good academics.

William and Mary- Yeah I saw that the program seems to be decent at making decent guys pretty good. Do you know if they have made any runners very good though?

Georgetown- I'm guessing you're getting at the fact that the team is fairly good, right? Or is it that the team is kept small or both?

Chicago- The team is D3, I could potentially be their 2nd best 5k freshman ever because they never were that strong. Just looking for info about the program.

UNC- Sorry, I just didn't find it to be that good of a fit.

OK - I'll leave UNC out of the discussion.

First, if you qualify for the need based aid, call every Ivy school on your list immediately. What is the hesitation in calling/writing the coach? Send them an email right now. All of them can be contacted using the info on the school websites. I have found that they will respond, they may tell you things you don't want to hear but will be honest. Most of them - more than half - will entertain your email and interest. I guarantee it.

Princeton? I'd start somewhere else because they get a solid group of kids every year.

GTown - there are a host of reasons but I'd leave it off. Duke as well.

William and Mary is a great choice for you. Send the coach an email.

At this point, I would say you've spent enough time thinking about this. Send out some emails tonight. The responses you get may surprise you. Don't ask them 'what if I run 9:10, etc' If you run that, they will ALL want you. Just tell them who you are, what you've run, and ask them if they may have a slot on their team for someone with your credentials. They will be honest. Remember, you're free to the Ivy League schools. They have zero money available for athletics. If you qualify for need based aid, great.

Just FYI - this year, I have one Senior. He is slightly faster than you are but I've contacted 15 schools thus far. He has a 32 ACT and I've found several schools interested. They aren't the top schools but he'll easily run for a good school. I would not suggest the d3 school where you'd be one of the top kids. Unless you don't want/expect to progress as an athlete.

first off, im not nearly as smart as you and i got into cornell. my HS PRs were almost identical, just slightly faster by a couple seconds in the mile and 5k. it would be tough to make some of the teams that you mentioned, particularly duke, harvard, etc. but you might be able to make it with some work and if you bust a couple big times in track. if you go D3 you will certainly be in a better position athletically, you will get more attention.

You sound pretty snobby to me.

But you said you'll get a ton of income based need so I don't know what to think.

And, you don't have to take classes to figure out what you want to do.

I lived my life, heck of a lot of fun the past 3 years, and now I'm here at a major university finally, 20k students. However me being here has no connection tome figuring out exactly what I want to do with my life.

Although, it's no biggie you don't know what you want to major in, as most people will change their major 2-3 times anyways.

I started out Graphic Design, switched to advertising, now to exercise science.

bigger isn't better wrote:

I agree with the person who mentioned d3 should be an option. Plenty of very strong academic schools with good teams in the nescac and elsewhere. MIT and Tufts both seem like good fits(midsized schools with strong to elite academics, offer many different majors, deep teams with some very strong runners). Most of the nescac schools have strong academics depending on what you're looking to go into. Chances are if you go to an ivy or big d1 you're going to be buried on the roster and will not get the same opportunities to compete as you would at a good d3 program. If you care at all about your collegiate running career schools like georgetown and princeton really shouldn't be on your list.

Nty to MIT, I despise math, but like I told someone else, I may check out a few other d3 schools, but I visited a lot of schools already and know about them and don't know about going to a different one.

And I kinda want the feeling of being a part of a team where you have to work to be a part of it. On my team I'm 1:30 ahead of the next kid. And I really want to be pushed.

And if i go to an ivy ill be buried on the roster? Maybe at some, but what about the bad ones?

And what's bad about princeton?

Princeton sucks. Come to WashU the majority of our team is better than you and we party HARD.

Lip Kitton wrote:

You sound pretty snobby to me.

But you said you'll get a ton of income based need so I don't know what to think.

And, you don't have to take classes to figure out what you want to do.

I lived my life, heck of a lot of fun the past 3 years, and now I'm here at a major university finally, 20k students. However me being here has no connection tome figuring out exactly what I want to do with my life.

Although, it's no biggie you don't know what you want to major in, as most people will change their major 2-3 times anyways.

I started out Graphic Design, switched to advertising, now to exercise science.

How do I sound snobby? I'll lay it all out there:

Looks: barely above average

social skills: i think theyre getting all right

upper body strength: doesn't look that great

running:mediocre

school: sorta slacked off, trying harder to bring up my GPA, 98th% for the SAT

gold: never tried

income:hurting a little, but not horribly.

lol, basically I'm above average in soemthing, average in others, below average in others. I do believe I am above average in most skills colleges are looking for, if that's what you mean.

anyways, the reason i wanna go is to sample the fields of study.