If you were a top HS distance runner, where would you commit?

Montana State hands down. Altitude. An 8:26 and 8:36 steepler. 3 guys under 13:46. 3:57 miler, 4:01 miler. And It's a young team. You'll see more out of this team in the next two years.

Envision the end of your running career and whether you’d be happy and productive at that place. nearly 100% chance you’ll be done running in four years or less. Pick a college that will work for you long term.

YO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you want me a doctor or lawyer then Stanford.

If you want to be park ranger or teacher then NAU.

Very very few end up as pro runners that actually make money. Even if you do it only lasts in your 20s and 30s. If you’re a capable student then it has to be Stanford to set yourself up for life.

This is a myth. Schools teach to the middle. Law schools and medical schools want top students, *not* top schools. The rankings I provided assume you aren't going to continue your education and that the prestige and on-campus recruiting are paramount (CS, banking, consulting).

If you want to be a doctor, Nick Symmonds had it 100% right. Go to a "random" regional school that lets in pretty much anyone but don't depend on international students who live in the library (Williamette's acceptance rate is >80%). I knew people who took this path, received full academic scholarships, had some fun with D3 sports, and by junior/senior year they were focusing on research, MCAT training, and tutoring their incompetent peers who were still getting battered by the curriculum.

For the excellent runner who wants to continue education, I actually think that going state school/SEC is the best move. Tons of idiots for you to conquer.

I don't have that many data points, but the one guy I knew who went to Stanford-tier on a full athletic scholarship changed his desired career from cardiologist to coach in a heartbeat once he got to campus.

Wake Forrest is being slept on and my second choice Texas, third Stanford.

That's because Stanford is equal to or better than Harvard on pretty much every dimension that matters for undergrad. Better weather, much better distance team, better access to tech companies for recruiting, on par with HYP for other career opportunities or grad school.

Rice. I got into it academically but am about 10-15 seconds too slow in my 1600 to walk on.

Wait, weren't you just on the thread about NC State injuries absolutely sh*tting on NC State and now they're somehow on your list? Get out of here and get a life

But the fact is that those state schools with big enrollments get lots of big brains, too. So just picking a state school with a higher enrollment rate than a Stanford, ND, Duke, doesn't mean that you will float to the top of the class. That that is even more true if you are trying to be a national class runner in college.

And it isn't as simple as saying that law schools are looking for top students not top undergrad schools. As someone who participated in review groups for the admissions staff in law school, I assure you that a top half of the class at Harvard gets more of a look that someone between top 10% and top 20% at University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh or Bowling Green State University.

Marist College!!

Assuming one could go anywhere based on performance and a full ride...

5 Things to consider:
-Academics
-Team Culture and 'Fit'
-Coaching Staff
-Location
-Program Amenities and Resources

As such, personally, I'd prioritize the following men's programs:
-Stanford
-Harvard
-Colorado
-NAU
-Wisconsin
-Michigan
-Oregon
-Washington
-Princeton
-Yale
-Wake Forest(?)

Note: I'm not a fan of running/living in big, busy cities, hence the priority placed on schools like CU, NAU, Wisconsin, and UM. Obviously I'd make exceptions for some schools based on academics and other criteria (Stanford, Harvard, Yale.) Culture and location do loom large though, and schools like CU, NAU, and Wisconsin are winners here in my book. Oregon's 'amenities' and history... 'nuff said. Washington and WF simply seem to check a lot of boxes...

1. Priorities: kids get caught up in the college lifestyle.. gotta go to every football game, sacrificing sleep and taking care of themselves

2. bigger schools have larger teams, throw all the eggs against the wall and see who sticks. Come on let’s not act like we don’t already know they. Matriculation. Kids can’t survive the training get injured and moved aside. No development. No care to individualize training and factor in training age and need to recovery.

it has nothing to do with the volume of students attending the university, you just focused in on that point. Distance runners typically do better in a program where they can develop. True some P5 programs figure it out but most are simply touting the talented High schools they recruited, which is much different than developing athletes throughout their 4-5 years.

I challenge you to pick 20 schools at random and list the size of the team and size of school. You are incorrect.

Definitely not NAU. It has a very good distance program but that's it. The rest of the track team isn't that good. In fact, the rest of their sports are just low hanging fruit in the world of the NCAA. On top of that, NAU isn't that great academically. Even U of A and ASU are much better. Since very few people can actually make a decent income from running you really need to concentrate on how good the school is academically. That is your future, not running a 28:30 10K that no one cares about 10 years later.

Melbourne Track Club. Or any other high level european club with a demonstrable pattern of consistent improvement to the elite level.