What factors did you consider when choosing a college, and what factors do you wish you had considered?

Any school that would take me. So the school that gave the best scholly package. Would have gone anywhere - even Alaska Anchorage.

Things I would have done differently: set my standards lower IN THE BEGINNING in terms of school and conference to contact. West Coast Conference instead of Pac 8. So much time wasted on unrealistic schools and conferences.

Don't go anywhere with a prestigious cross country program. Go where you can travel. Huge you set your athletic standards REALISTICALLY.

Any of this making sense?

Can we post conference (not necessarily the school) you ended up at.

Cheaper is better unless you pick a few certain degrees to pursue like business or law.

pepa pigg wrote:

Don't have time to read the thread at the moment but this is a easy one for me.

I chose the college I went to 100% based on running. That's all I cared about.

Now that I'm 20 years removed from college I think I should have used my running to get me scholarship money at a non top 10 running school. That and go to a highly rated school for, ya know....getting an education.

Loved my college experience but I was a 14:20 5k runner. Ran a 8:50 3000m in high school. In the mid 90's that was alot faster than in todays world. lol. Should've used the running to go to a great school. Instead, went to a average state school to run 14:20 5k's.

A 14:20 5k runner should not only care about running. Slow.

My two kids went to Harvard and Dartmouth. We spent about $450k for the undergraduate degrees. We were too wrapped up in keeping up with their high school classmates, some of whom wisely chose a state school and have an equivalent job to my kids. One of my two could have gone for free and the other had some nice discounts for running at many schools. We could have saved about $350k had we made different decisions. Imagine if we could have handed each of the two $175k instead of their high priced diploma that seems to actually turn some of their bosses off.

Wanted to go to my "flagship" state U and that's where I went.

Was a good student but an "Ivy" was a bit out of my reach and an expensive, fancy schmancy liberal arts college didn't make much sense to me so it was an easy choice.

Big Timer wrote:

My two kids went to Harvard and Dartmouth. We spent about $450k for the undergraduate degrees. We were too wrapped up in keeping up with their high school classmates, some of whom wisely chose a state school and have an equivalent job to my kids. One of my two could have gone for free and the other had some nice discounts for running at many schools. We could have saved about $350k had we made different decisions. Imagine if we could have handed each of the two $175k instead of their high priced diploma that seems to actually turn some of their bosses off.

It's hard for me to believe that somebody could have "buyers remorse" for getting a Harvard degree. Harvard and Yale are the top of the pyramid, you basically have to be a sorcerer to get into schools like that.

That will virtually open any door, not to mention the people you meet there will be the ones that eventually get to run the world, which might come in handy someday.

It all depends on your major.

If you want to be a doctor, lawyer, or Fortune 500 CEO then go Ivy.

If you want to be an engineer or pharmacist then go big state school.

If you want to be a teacher or nurse then go small state school.

If you want to learn a trade then go tech school.

Those who pay six figures to get a degree in philosophy from a “liberal arts” school are idiots. Thus why less men are going to liberal arts schools and throwing money away. The price of your school should meet what you project to make in your field.

Truck Stop wrote:

It all depends on your major.

If you want to be a doctor, lawyer, or Fortune 500 CEO then go Ivy.

If you want to be an engineer or pharmacist then go big state school.

If you want to be a teacher or nurse then go small state school.

If you want to learn a trade then go tech school.

Those who pay six figures to get a degree in philosophy from a “liberal arts” school are idiots. Thus why less men are going to liberal arts schools and throwing money away. The price of your school should meet what you project to make in your field.

Oh and if you don’t know what to major in then go to community college and figure it out first.

My only regret was not doing enough research. I thought the college I was joining had a great program (they seemed fast to me), but once I got there I realized they were actually pretty so-so, and the coach's training methods were much different than I was doing in high school. It ended up okay because it was still a strong academic institution and I learned about a different style of coaching which influences how I train now, but it took some getting used to and I think I would have performed much better at a different school.

I only considered cost.

I wish I had only considered the social situation.

This is your life. It also shapes your future forever. Go where you belong. Join ROTC or something if you cannot afford it.

Wow, zombie thread from seven years ago.

I'll stick to the above. My kids have since gone to and graduated from college.

One went to an out of state DII school that in the mainstream (e.g., letsrun snobs [read brojos]) is below the radar. Wanted to go into medicine and found that the school had good placement statistics, in particular to the school of choice. Got some in-state and out of state scholarships, plus exchange and got a pretty good rate. Great location and had an excellent college experience, academically and socially. Participated in a club sport all 4 years. Got accepted into several top programs and ended up at a top 10 med school. Came out with some debt but not bad, a fraction of the average for an MD.

Other one stayed in-state at a good science school (but also under the radar--letsrun Ivy snobs [read brojos] would hold it in complete scorn), got partial athletic scholarship and the rest was academic. Competed at NCAA D1 Nats, and got through with an BS and MS in five years. Now has a good FT job in the West.

Both chose really well for their paths.

Having been a pretty flakey h.s. student and being on the G. I. Bill I went to where they would take me in and I thought I could cut it. Junior College in Compton CA. Transferred to a j.C. in my home town and then to State College same town.

Lucked out in the sense that I got music work in that familiar area and managed to improve in school work the higher the level. Who knew?

Would not have done it any other way.

After price, personality fit is most important. Don’t go to a party school if you are mellow. Don’t go to a big university if you aren’t independent. Also, don’t go to the best school you can qualify for. Pick a school where you know you will succeed. It’s more important to have decent grades in solid classes than a degree in a crappy major from a higher ranked school. Remember college is for academics, sports are secondary.

I went to CU when it was possible to walk on, so I did. Graduated, have had quite a few jobs, retiring in a few years. Yeah, I was at CU a long time ago.

In retrospect, I should have gone DIII, in my state or the one next to it (not Colorado in this case).

I have not, in 30+ years, had to prove I even attended college to get a job, nor had to produce a diploma or transcripts for any job.

Did consider:

-Street cred of school name

-Existence of my desired field

-Size of student body

-Distance from home (wanted to go away...but not too far)

-Strength of XC/TF teams

-Vibe of the XC team

Should have considered, but didn't:

-Price

-Existence of pipelines to desirable graduate programs and employers

-My preparedness for college in general

On one hand, prioritizing running in college was dumb. I thought my performance mattered. It didn't matter. OTOH, that XC team was a great place for me to make friends, and some of those friends have been amazing, even many years later.

I attended the college my father wanted me to attend. The only thing I liked about it was getting to put the name of the school on my resume. I thought it was a crappy school in general. I wish I would have spoken up for myself and asked to visit more college, done more research instead of just doing what my dad said.

I know a good site on your topic. Check it out, guys!