shootpost wrote:
If he is that academically inclined please please please don't go to a NAIA or D2 school just to get an opportunity to run.
They are not good academic opportunities. He will regret it forever.
Go to the best academic school you can and if you can run there, awesome.
Yeah, some truth to that, but just to play devil's advocate: we all know people who went to sub-par universities, and yet they are successful in life. One of the most successful people I know went to a non-prestigious university, Northern Illinois. She even took 7-and-a-half years to graduate because she kept taking time off - she didn't know what she wanted to do with her life, or even major in (no shame in that. unfortunately, you don't have that luxury as an athlete, which is too bad, but you have to go straight through went you start university, or lose your eligibility). Another person I know went to Eastern Illinois and is doing incredibly well financially: maybe they're smarter than the average person who goes there, and they just went to these schools to save $$, idk.
Another guy I know is incredibly intelligent (book smart and people smart, actually!) he went to community college the first two years!! He lives in the state of California where college is $$ if your parents are decently successful, but even so...school is expensive everywhere now, lol; years ago, it wasn't (obviously). When college was less expensive, there was more of a stigma attached to community college - not anymore, IMO. My friend probably has a genius-level IQ; he wanted to go to community college so he wasn't a financial burden on his folks. He went to community college to save money. nothing wrong with that in the United States (or anywhere?) in this day and age, a degree's a degree.
TL: DR; It's 50/50: going to a sub-par university CAN BE overcome. 10 years after graduation, it's not going to matter where you went to school; your accomplishments after will be more important. When I was in university I learned in a psychology class: studies show a person's success in life is not dependent on where they went to university because there are other factors that are more important. (One could ask, "what about Harvard?" Well, Harvard picks good people, and the students there could be successful no matter where they went) One of my classmates from high school went to Ivy League school (arguably, it was Cornell, /s), got a B.S. in one of the sciences. Then went on to get her M.S. in the same science at U of I.
People, that was all wasted tuition money. She does absolutely nothing in that field & could've just gone to community college to do her job now. I mean, I think she had fun at Cornell, but for what she does now (computer programmer), she's all self taught. Arguably, she is a math whiz. Furthermore, an acquaintance of mine who makes six figures and works in IT said, "you could take about 3 classes at a community college and do what I do." I imagine that's some hyperbole & one would also need to show interest and aptitude in the IT field, but he is another example of how there are many paths to success, so you do you. & I'll step down from my soapbox now, lol.