D3 - D2 program recommendations

Most MIAC Schools are great for Athletic and Academic. Check out Carleton College, St. Olaf, and Gustavus Adolphus College. They have really young and talented programs.

Grinnell

Case Western

Centre

North Central if you are fine with just ok academics and a great running environment

all the Wisconsin publics if you can get some kind of scholarship or don't mind out of state tuition (unless you live in WI)

Loras College would be perfect for you.

Really solid academics and you would get a lot of money off based on your GPA and ACT.

Athletics are only getting better. Girls track just won a trophy indoors (return almost everyone) and had a freshman all-american in cross country (xc also returns everyone). You would be a great addition to an already good team.

Bonus: the campus is a beautiful and Dubuque is a great town along the Mississippi.

tweener wrote:

would love to continue competing after high school

entering junior year 800m - 2:26.8 1500 - 5:01 5K - 19:15 (girl)

I have a 4.0 with a 31 ACT -

will people recommend some good Midwest D3 /D2 programs that have a good balance between athletics and high academics that I might be able to compete at

lots of good academic D3 schools but difficult knowing which are serious about track versus a more club mentality,

many average academic D2 schools -- trying to find a good fit

academics are important - I know of Wash U, Univ of Chicago, Carleton, etc but these would likely be a reach for admittance - realistically probably looking at next tier academic schools

thanks

My background info: Macalester grad and XC track athlete, brother Carleton grad, grew up in Iowa, SoCal transplant .

Your grades, test scores, and times could open the doors for you at many top tier D3s. I suggest you contact the coaches at those D3 schools, apply, and let them make the final decision. I had a lower GPA and ACT but upper tier extra extra curriculars.

D2 and “academics” is still an oxymoron. Your times suggest you’ll be a serious track and XC athlete but aren’t looking for a P5 and or DI experience. So academically Carleton, Wash U, Grinnell, and Macalester would be ideal fits. Each school has its strengths and weaknesses that you can research yourself. FYI, Macalester’s Phoebe Aguiar ran a 2:07.50 800m for the number two all time at the 2019 NCAA D3 Indoor Champs.

The MIAC schools, Grinnell, and Wash U are stronger academically and have more of an (inter)national footprint than the Iowa Intercollegiate Connference/American Rivers Conference or NCC but don’t let that deter you. “Successfull and happy” grads can come from any school and division. Also check out Occidental and the Claremont Consortium because of the academics, amazing weather, and facilities.

Best of luck.

Check out Marietta College in Southern Ohio. The coach they have there now is a great guy and knows his stuff. It's a growing program, but you'll contribute right away and get to do some extracurricular stuff as well.

tweener wrote:

would love to continue competing after high school

entering junior year 800m - 2:26.8 1500 - 5:01 5K - 19:15 (girl)

I have a 4.0 with a 31 ACT -

will people recommend some good Midwest D3 /D2 programs that have a good balance between athletics and high academics that I might be able to compete at

lots of good academic D3 schools but difficult knowing which are serious about track versus a more club mentality,

many average academic D2 schools -- trying to find a good fit

academics are important - I know of Wash U, Univ of Chicago, Carleton, etc but these would likely be a reach for admittance - realistically probably looking at next tier academic schools

thanks

Not everyone is giving you great advice here including yourself.

I know a young lady who contacted WashU and Coach Stiles was very interested in her. Her 800 and 1500 (1600) were a little faster than yours, but your 5000 was a little faster. She ended up going to another top D3 school. With D3 schools, you need to be very proactive and contact them. Coach Stiles is very thorough, and he will contact your coach to ask about you if you make first contact. You would be wise to contact him as soon as possible and then update him as your junior season progresses. If he is interested in you, you will get admitted there.

You are right that WashU, University of Chicago, and Carleton would be a reach for you, especially if you haven't taken many AP classes or your high school is a poor-performing one, but you can get in if those coaches want you. If you really want to go to one of them, contact the coaches now.

Of the other colleges people mentioned:

Loras is way too low academically for you to consider. Also, it's great if you are Catholic, but if you aren't, you might feel out of place there.

Otterbein is also not a top academic choice, and it's a pretty boring campus with a horrible indoor track.

Centre College in Kentucky is a great option that a couple people mentioned.

Wartburg isn't really that great academically. You should go there only if you love it for some reason.

You should stay away from all D2 schools except perhaps Colorado School of Mines if for some reason you want to go there. It is very hard to find a good academic D2 school.

Claremont McKenna is a good choice as is Pomona.

Kenyon is known for two things: Writing program and Swimming. If you are into either of those, go to Kenyon. I wouldn't pick that school for a distance runner. Great school though with a beautiful campus.

Wooster is a solid choice that is a tier down from WashU.

Grinnell is boring and in a boring place.

Colorado College is interesting with a former elite runner coach in Ted Castaneda. Great school. Decent running program. Great place to run. Students love it there. They have an interesting academic calendar called The Block Plan. Would be a great choice.

Marietta college is below you academically, and their teams aren't very good. I would not go there.

Case Western is a great school. If you are a STEM student you would enjoy it there. It is very urban, so know that. I think it's an ugly campus, but some like that kind of environment.

I will add Emory to the list. Great school. Good teams.

To sum up, WashU, Emory, and Colorado College seem like the best choices to me for you. You really need to contact the coaches soon at any of those schools if you are interested. If you want to stay in California, then Pomona or Claremont Mckenna. If you want to take a slight step down academically, then Centre College or Wooster are great choices. Good luck.

Michigan Tech. Women's team just made it to nationals in cross and they are a great school. Also we could use some more females.

SomeoneWhoKnows wrote:

[quote]tweener wrote:

Colleges people mentioned:

Loras is way too low academically for you to consider. Also, it's great if you are Catholic, but if you aren't, you might feel out of place there.

2 common misconceptions here:

1. The academic standards to get in are obviously lower than those like Wash U, but the actual classes are tough and the programs are top notch. The media studies program is by far the best in Iowa (numerous awards the past ten years) and one of the best in the midwest. Sports Management has beaten out plenty of D1 schools in competitions, the science program sends plenty of kids to top med schools every year, and they just opened a brand new business school. Loras also just recieved 5 mil from an alumni to start/continue many campus upgrades.

2. Loras is obviously a Catholic school, but plenty of students are not Catholic. If Catholicism, or religion in general, isn't your thing then don't worry, it isn't forced on you at all.

I would suggest getting in contact with the coach if you get a chance. Schultz is a great guy and one of the best in the business.

You are a shoe in for UW Superior, a powerhouse vortex of academics and athletic prowess

Loras is not top notch academically. It is a below average college and well below most of the other college that people mentioned. Also, I said she might feel out of place there if she weren't Catholic. There are still a lot of Catholics who go there, and as far as dating goes, you are just limiting yourself if you go to a college that has a decent percentage of people who go there who are of a different religion, especially if they might have chosen it for that reason.

OP, run, don't walk, away from advice to get you to go to a very average college when your GPA and ACT score says you should go elsewhere.

Loras accepted 95% of applicants last year. It has a middle 50% ACT range of 20-26. That means that 25% of the students there have an ACT lower than 20. I think you need to take off your rose-colored glasses.

So, OP, go read the advice I gave and the facts I gave and then read that this homer says Loras is tough academically and decide for yourself who is correct. Hint: it's me. Note my user name.

And don't fall the Wartburg talk either. It's pretty much on par with Loras academically,but in a town half the size. Some other good advice was listed up top for schools to consider. Really start searching based on what degree you want to pursue. Some schools that don't have great overall academic profiles may have top-notch programs in that area. But if you're undecided you're better off at a higher end school in case you bounce around.

I grew up in NE Iowa and have run at both campuses. Waverly is not half the size of Dubuque. It’s 1/5th. There’s a lot of opoid and meth abuse in the surrounding areas of these schools. A 32+ ACT would put you in the top 1% of students at Loras or Wartburg. TBH the only thing redeeming about both campuses is they are located in a smallllllll setting.

Liberal Arts Schools in the Midwest by rank:

1. Carleton

2. Wash U

3. Grinnell

4. Macalester

5. Oberlin

Wash U and Macalester are the top two if you desire a more urban setting. I ended up choosing Macalester based on 1. setting, 2. financial aid, 3. academics, and 4. sports between Carleton, Grinnell, Macalester, and Oberlin.

University of Chicago is the top ranked D3 school in the country and in a major city.

I recommend Grinnell. Will and Evelyn Freeman are great coaches (and former top athletes themselves, pole vault and high jump respectively) whom I have know for a long time- my son ran for Will more than 15 years ago. The college is certainly small-town, but academically is quite strong. You'll make an immediate impact there. I also like Loras, and Coach Schulz is a former York HS runner and one of many coaches who came from that program- as is Jim Akita at Elmhurst College. Carleton is also great- and close enough to Minneapolis to make it worthwhile- one of my other kids ran there.

Grinnell is a very strange school. It is almost unknown by Iowa residents but it is a very expensive, ultra liberal, highly selective school. I don't really see the draw over other highly selective schools that are better known. It does not typically have a top notch distance program either.

Any attempt to correlate athletic division and strength of academics shows ignorance; the two are completely independent of each other. In most cases, a college or university does not have an "overall academic strength" that is true across all departments and programs. Look at the strength of the program that you are interested in pursuing. Any graduate school or professionals you will be contacting for post graduate work will know which schools are strong in their respective field; don't pay any attention to the average person thinking one school is superior to others as a whole.

Waverly is not an "opoid" town. It's actually a pretty wealthy sleeper community for Waterloo/cedar falls. But what the hell does that have to do with college running anyway? U Chicago, Hopkins and wash u are located in our murder and drug capitals...still amazing schools. These boards are ridiculous.

Wartburg is in the next class academically than Loras. The stats will back that up. The burg is more similar to Augustana, Coe, St. Norbert, North Central, etc. Loras?? C'mon, bro.

Here is no difference. Loras and Wartburg have identical ACT score ranges of 20-26. In answering the other idiots assertion the divisions are the same, that is false. Loras, Wartburg, North Central, Lacrosse, Augustana, are all typical D3 schools with average ACTs around 23-24. University of Iowa sits one hour from Augustana, Loras, and Wartburg. Its average ACT score is 26 which is very typical of Division 1 schools. Adams State has an average ACT of 20 and Chico State is 21. Those are typical of D2 and NAIA schools. There a handful of outliers in each division but 90% fall into those broad categories. D1 26-28, D3 21-25, D2 20-23.