Fast American Girls- Why choose NC State over Ivy or Stanford?

NC State may not be as academically strong as Stanford or the Ivy League’s but most runners want a balanced college experience. An undergrad degree from any U.S. school don’t really differ much. Graduate programs carry more weight. NC State offers o good education and and excellent running program. Why wouldn’t runners want to go there?

This is accurate. My wife's Ph.D. is from Yale, but no Ivy Leaguers whom I've encountered would consider her to be one of them. Not so much a snob thing as a matter of definition.

But that's the thing: A ton of kids from solidly middle-class families qualify for full or nearly-full scholarships. For many families the bottom line at the Ivy is better than the bottom line with an athletic quarter- or half-scholarship at State U.

The coach sells them on it and its a good program right now. It wasn't that long ago when Duke and UNC trounced NC State in xc and Wake Forest men were terrible. Things change when schools get good coaches - and talent draws talent.

Good for you. Are you getting along well with the rich and entitled?

Cause the Ivys and the Cardinals reek of ultra rich white privileged bs

The coach sells them on a program that is great right now and is one of the most acclaimed programs in the history of the sport.

NCAA team finishes - (4) 1st place - (2) 2nd - (3) 3rd

(4) individual champions

(2) AIAW championships (pre-NCAA)

(2) AIAW individual champions

(30) conference titles

More NCAA finals appearances than ANY other program.

The Mt Rushmore of historically great Women's XC programs is Vilinova, NC State, BYU, Oregon.

I’d argue team camaraderie is probably higher in the Ivy League than almost any other conference in the nation. 1. You don’t have people transferring in and out 2. You have four years to compete - no redshirt first year etc so you are with your people all four years and brought right into the mix 3. Better turn out of spectators for Heps with alumni etc. 4. Not feeling that you are fighting for your literal roster spot due to roster cuts with your teammate(s) which can cause a toxic environment

I was talking to a buddy who graduated from Harvard. At reunion wene they come across those who are grad students who went to some BS undergrad like NC State, they move along and try to not get lowered into the dregs of their pretend Ivy degree friends at reunion..... He associated it with the Army and how there are OCS people who NOBODY who went through basic respects.

its funny because NC State has had quite a few ivy league grad transfers who wanted to pursue their grad degree at nc state

There's a reason for this too. Big State schools like NC State offer a ton of useful 1 yr master degrees in many fields. Entry also not competitive.

Most of the elite schools offer few 1 yr Masters programs, and entry into the serious programs is competitive and then the daily program is demanding, which battles running for time commitment.

So NC St offers nice combo of simple Masters degree and great running.

literally the first person i searched up Allie Hays who grad transferred to NC State from Columbia did a 2 year masters at NC State

Can confirm. Some Ivy (Heptagonal) championships have had more spectators than that year's D1 Nationals.

I learned to. I pretty much had to.

But fortunately there wasn't too much of that on the track team.

$$$$, woke, misery index (academics)- women cross country/ track view

stanford - all of the above, they’ll pick your major unless you’re brilliant, PTSD real, but it is beautiful

oregon - woke but could be fun, but only want international runners

nau - definitely will not feel misery index from the academics, probably easier than high school but you can train at altitude with good coaching

washington - woke also and a danger zone but great coaching team (need to find a safer home and great runners will come)

Ivy - all of the above, misery index high unless you create your own major at Brown, all the school are cold - better places to be from than at

colorado - takes woke to a new level - pot smell and homeless everywhere but like Oregon could be fun and get to train at altitude, and it’s beautiful

duke - all of the above, lost some appeal with Coach K retirement

northwestern - all of the above and cold but promising, rising coach

Notre dame - good fit, coaches care but misery index still a bit high and also cold

Florida - good fit and weather is good, but loading up on Kenyan runners

nc state - good fit, great coach but stay away from engineering or misery index goes up

byu - good fit, great coach and 2nd mom but leave vices at the door, and you train at altitude, and it’s beautiful - LDS not required but strong Christian values are

Just look at Henes hugging Tuohy after the NCAA's a few years ago.

Unconditional love - that is the secret sauce in Raleigh.

She may have had enough athletic eligibility left over from Columbia due COVID for a 2 yr program-free. I even think she wrote a Masters thesis.

Anyway, she is a good example of a runner using sports for education. First at Columbia, then NC State. I believe she is now on Wall St as an analyst. She also had that xc team title!

Allie Hays, Aubrey Myjer, Eli Moskowitz, Nell Crosby, Gavin Gaynor. All transferred from Ivies and all already wildly successful in their professional careers with their NC State degrees.

Shhhh 🤫 You’ll mess up the narrative about NC State not being a good school.