I would say go to a big, fun school that has a good distance program with strong academics...
You want to go somewhere you'll be happy if you break your leg if you can never run again. You can get a good education anywhere, but a school's academic reputation will certainly help your early career.
In no particular order: Virginia, Florida, Texas, UNC, Michigan, Wisconsin, UCLA (how is their distance program?)
Ik their academic’s isn’t top tier but my answer is Oregon. Full access to Hayward, a coach that made 3:50 milers, 13:0x 5k guys and a 1:45 800 runner, and NIL opportunities if ur actually good is up there with nike
If i had to consider academics as a bigger priority, a school like Texas would be up there
What do I want to study? i.e. If I wanted to be any sort of engineer, I would not pick an Oregon. (e.g. Ryan Crouser) Shelf life of an athlete is fairly short. I'd concentrate on the academics. If I had the brains and $$, probably an elite academi, small-medium size University somewhere in the New England/Mid Atlantic region. Perhaps Princeton?
This is a very loaded question b/c the answer as with most things in life is it depends.
1. What are your running goals and what is your level of talent and potential.
Do you want to try and be an individual NCAA champion and want the best facilities, coaching, and training opportunities? That might lend itself to Oregon, NAU, Stanford, Arkansas, BYU and most other SEC schools. For cross-country specifically I'd add Wisconsin to the list along with Notre Dame but there's many others who are at the same level and if you are more focused on individual success it opens up way more schools b/c Princeton, USC, and others have produced many individual NCAA champions in track and field but aren't as competitive on the team level.
The list would be smaller if you were more interested in competing for a program that has a chance at a team championship, i.e. you are fast but not fast enough that you have a reasonable expectation of individual championship but maybe some variation depending on whether you have more of a XC or track focus.
2. Is running more for fun and are you also wanting a great education i.e. you are pretty sure being a pro runner isn't in the cards (this is true for >99% of NCAA D1 runners. What degree are you considering. For overall excellent academics across disciplines and strong track programs Stanford is at the top but you also have to put Princeton in the mix along with Notre Dame and a few others schools. For XC Harvard would also be up there.
3. Do you want to be in a specific region i.e. warm weather, mountains, ocean, etc. University of California Santa Barbara has strong academics and has a beach on campus. UCLA has great academics and athletics and is a short drive to the beach and both have great weather year round. If you like the mountains Colorado is a great choice as is BYU (unless you want to party).
4. Do you want to party and be at a school with big-time sports like Basketball and FootbalL? Arizona, USC, Florida, LSU, Georgia, really anywhere in the SEC, Pac-12, what used to be the Big 10.
If you want more actionable advice, answer the above 4 questions. It then won't be too hard to narrow down to a half dozen schools or so.
For example if you want to study physics, run in a competitive D1 program and have great weather, UC Santa Barbara checks all the boxes as does Stanford, UC Sand Diego, USLA, and UT Austin. Of those UCSB and UCSD have the weaker track programs.
If you don't care about academics, want to run your ass off with a program that will be a contender for each of the next 4 years for XC championships go to NAU.
If you want to ski in the winter go to UC Colorado, Utah State, BYU, or University of Mexico.
Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc. Even a truly elite HSer doesn't have a very good shot of becoming an elite runner, school name brand is something to fall back on
I were an Athing Mu type talent I might actually think about going to a top DIII school and running workouts with the men, e.g. Williams or anywhere where there's a solid contingent of 1:52-1:56 guys
If i were a top hs distance recruit and bringing in a large amount of scholarship money I'd go somewhere where it's gaurenteed all four years, then slack off as much as possible at a big party school and have the time of my life.
That could be anywhere. Maybe some sec school like georgia or bama
I've been to CU-Boulder. It's absolutely gorgeous and definitely a school that I would have liked if I was good enough to run there.
I think that during the year I graduated high school...
I would have considered Colorado and Oregon the most. I've never been to Oregon so I can't really tell if I would have liked it there.
The thing is, around the time I graduated high school, Wetmore hadn't yet incorporated rest and recovery into his training and a lot of runners were coming in strong and coming out injured.
But yeah most likely those two. Also probably would have considered Villanova, Providence, Washington or UNC.
Running is not a career, it doesn't pay. "Pro runners" are folks that don't have a job and have a support structure (come from some money) that allows them to be a "Pro runner" especially during injuries, etc. Maybe a handful can manage otherwise but so unlikely that it can't be a primary career path. Pick a good school that also has a good team and can give you a full-ride scholarship if you are really that good. Don't go to a school just for the running program. Most good running programs are at good schools anyway but focus on what's important. With that said, I'm a runner who happens to be a professor to support my running! i.e. go to a good school and make sure you do well, ie. not just the running part.
This ^
Go DIII, get in the game day one instead of hanging around for years for your possible shot, get the degree that nobody cares about after a week anyway, kill the road race scene upon graduation, travel to XC nats and/or CIM and give it your all before you're 25, and regret nothing.
OP, are you running 4:10 and under 9 minutes? NAU and CU are a fairy tale to all but the .02 percent, and you need so much money to get into a Standford you might as well invest it for two weeks and never work a day in your life.
Something else to consider is what are your longer term goals. If you want to go to grad school attending Stanford or Princeton as an undergrad might not. be your best bet if you can get a full-ride somewhere else. I had a friend who really wanted to go to Princeton, didn't get in but got a full ride to Villanova and ran there for four years. She was very smart, graduated at the top of her class and got a full ride to Harvard Law. Going to Princeton would have been much more expensive and I do not think it would have improved her law school admission chances. Most elite schools like Stanford and the Ivies have tons of graduate students from state schools, top regional schools i.e. Whitman College in Washington or Fordham in New York, in addition to students from other Ivies etc.
Few physics departments can compete with UC Berkeley, UCSB all of which are widely regarded as being in the top 10 nationally. UCLA, Texas, and Colorado are considered top 20 physics programs, their students go onto to graduate school at MIT, Princeton, Stanford, U Chicago, etc. Georgia Tech, University of Washington, University of Texas all have top 10 computer science programs and their graduates have no problem getting high paying jobs at Amazon, Google, FB, etc.
Law school generally comes down to GPA and LSAT score not where you went to school. In fact getting all A's a less challenging university will likely be better than getting A's and B's at an Ivy or other top academic school assuming you have a decent LSAT. Ditto for Medical School. For STEM and other fields the strength of a schools program in that department is far more important than a schools overall reputation.
I would say go to a big, fun school that has a good distance program with strong academics...
You want to go somewhere you'll be happy if you break your leg if you can never run again. You can get a good education anywhere, but a school's academic reputation will certainly help your early career.
In no particular order: Virginia, Florida, Texas, UNC, Michigan, Wisconsin, UCLA (how is their distance program?)
Going to “big” school because it’s a big school is the dummest decision most runners make. They get broken and ruined and realize it’s not what they thought it would be. Academics is what’s important! Most runners will be better suited for smaller niche distance programs where they’ll get a solid foundation to develop. Promoting the big school is setting up many promising runners for failure.
Etc? Thise options arr complete opposites if you are elite because the Ivies will cost $300k while Dtanford woukd be free if you are the best. Only a moron woukd pay $300k rather than attend Stanford or ND or Michigan or Duke or Gtown or Etc. for free.
Etc? Thise options arr complete opposites if you are elite because the Ivies will cost $300k while Dtanford woukd be free if you are the best. Only a moron woukd pay $300k rather than attend Stanford or ND or Michigan or Duke or Gtown or Etc. for free.
Oh wow evidently you know nothing about the financial aid programs at the Ivy League Schools. Spreading incorrect information all while declaring others as morons, how regrettable.
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