USA fans of the sport want to USA runners do well. Historically Distance runners who run well on the world stage go to top college programs. Sure anyone can go where they want but NAU has produced exactly one Women's Olympian.
It it normal for HS juniors commit to schools / athletic programs? It feels incredibly early... 2026 XC is like 20 months away.
No its not typical. And there is no reason to rush and verbally commit in junior year. That's why I laughed when someone wrote that BYU has an incredible recruiting year (100% true) and another replied "no they don't they don't have anyone for 2026"! Seriously? Who is even talking about 2026. And with kids, you never know if they will change their mind - plenty of time.
Then worry about how she's doing senior year of college, not junior year of HS. All these rationalizations and other psychological contortions in an attempt to justify obsessing where it historically isn't practical. You don't have to get a life, but you should find a way to relax a bit.
USA fans of the sport want to USA runners do well. Historically Distance runners who run well on the world stage go to top college programs. Sure anyone can go where they want but NAU has produced exactly one Women's Olympian.
Addy Wiley and Hobbs Kessler have shown that you can do well in the sport - what they do with their own lives otherwise is their own business - without going to a great school. But it comes across as rather petty the fake outrage that some people have the gall to go to schools others deem unacceptable. I know people that have left both Ivy schools and Stanford as they were not the right fit for them. This elitist mindset that if you don't go to these schools or you are somewhat inferior is both a dangerous and childish mindset - that far too many people in the country believe. Yet people can't understand why this country is so fractured, I wonder why? As some have pointed out - these days it is the post-grad education that is most important for the school, not the undergrad. That education is supposedly that different amongst Colleges anyway is a sad indictment of the educational spectrum in the country - whose fault is that?
USA fans of the sport want to USA runners do well. Historically Distance runners who run well on the world stage go to top college programs. Sure anyone can go where they want but NAU has produced exactly one Women's Olympian.
Addy Wiley and Hobbs Kessler have shown that you can do well in the sport - what they do with their own lives otherwise is their own business - without going to a great school. But it comes across as rather petty the fake outrage that some people have the gall to go to schools others deem unacceptable. I know people that have left both Ivy schools and Stanford as they were not the right fit for them. This elitist mindset that if you don't go to these schools or you are somewhat inferior is both a dangerous and childish mindset - that far too many people in the country believe. Yet people can't understand why this country is so fractured, I wonder why? As some have pointed out - these days it is the post-grad education that is most important for the school, not the undergrad. That education is supposedly that different amongst Colleges anyway is a sad indictment of the educational spectrum in the country - whose fault is that?
I can agree with just about everything you said except the last sentence. Part of your college education--at least in my opinion--is the other students. At places like Ivies/Stanford/Caltech/MIT you're just going to be dealing with a different kind of classmates, and I think your education will benefit.
That said: I agree that you can get an outstanding education at virtually any accredited US college or university. But you will have to seek it out more at some institutions than others.
Explain to me how taking a Calculus I class at NAU is different than taking a Calculus I class at Colorado? People just waste money on the name of the school on the diploma but there is no difference at all in education. The student gets out of it what he/she puts into it.
Calculus I at Stanford is likely harder.
For example, look at honors Algebra II and regular Algebra II in high school. Both cover the fundamentals of Algebra. But the honors class may go more in-depth on certain topics, have more work, have more time pressure on tests, and, critically, have more problems on tests that were not explicitly taught in class but rather require the student to figure out how to solve it in real time on the test.
That is likely the difference between NAU and Stanford Calculus. You will still learn the basics of Calculus, and for some people that is fine (and it may be fine of Addy R). But for others, the critical thinking skill development will be greater at a place like Stanford.
There was a woman whose husband taught engineering at Florida State and son was majoring in engineering in MIT. They could directly compare the curriculum of the same class at both schools. At MIT they went much faster, more in-depth, and had a crushing work load. The husband said that yes, some of his students were strong enough to handle the MIT course, but most were not. They would fail it. The husband could not attempt to teach that curriculum if he wanted the majority of the class to learn something about engineering.
High school valedictorians, kids scoring 1570 on their SATs, etc. routinely get rejected from Stanford. That's how competitive it is to get in, and that is the caliber of the average student that goes there. Thus the classes can be harder, because the caliber of student on average is higher. (Note I say average; there are exceptions at both institutions.)
oh belive me, I worry about her now. She compeats against my school in track. I wanna see a CO kid do well instead of flaming out at a sub-tier school.
I dunno. When someone has the ability to go to a 5 star restaurant and choses McDonalds. you gotta wonder. No one is saying she has to go Ivy but brah... NAU is not even an average school and the women's team (THAT EVERYONE IS FORGETTING) isn't even that good.
By the way, I would say the same thing if she went to West Virgina
I dunno. When someone has the ability to go to a 5 star restaurant and choses McDonalds. you gotta wonder. No one is saying she has to go Ivy but brah... NAU is not even an average school and the women's team (THAT EVERYONE IS FORGETTING) isn't even that good.
By the way, I would say the same thing if she went to West Virgina
NAU women at NCAA XC
2024 4th place
2023 2nd place
Who has beaten them?
NC St, BYU, West Virginia, Providence.
At NAU she is at altitude and can contribute to a team trying to win the elusive first team title.
That would be true in an ideal world, but signaling matters. The "brand" name on an Ivy League degree will open doors even if the actual graduate is a bit of a moron.
You are right about Ivy signaling.
...but undergrad at NAU with 3.7 gpa
then MBA at Tuck Business School at Dartmouth ...
gives you exactly the same signaling and the same salary track as undergrad from a top school.
But you probably don’t get placed out NAU into a two year feeder Wall Street, Fortune 500 consumer job, or consulting gig from NAU which is what Tuck will want to see/require to even get accepted/get in for graduate degree. They are not admitting you based on your 3.7 undergrad from NAU.
Here's just from 1 thread about Nico going to NAU (a shorter 4 page one):
Why????? wrote: Why would someone with so many available offers choose northern Arizona???? The degree from there is worthless.
Agree. Why would someone with so many options go there? It’s mind boggling. The degree will be worthless.
Why do you think? Like most HS elites, he wants a national championship and a stepping stone to eventually go pro. The fact that the degree there is not worth the paper it's written on is not even a factor. It's much akin to what the University of Arkansas once was: an athletic powerhouse with a trash education. Many of us have been there st one time, and the siren song of athletic glory is difficult to turn away from. Though, his 45 year old self may just well be wishing his degree had come from Stanford.
oh belive me, I worry about her now. She compeats against my school in track. I wanna see a CO kid do well instead of flaming out at a sub-tier school.
Like your parents, we worry about you now. Focus on what you control, she has her own decisions to make for her best life.
I dunno. When someone has the ability to go to a 5 star restaurant and choses McDonalds. you gotta wonder. No one is saying she has to go Ivy but brah... NAU is not even an average school and the women's team (THAT EVERYONE IS FORGETTING) isn't even that good.
By the way, I would say the same thing if she went to West Virgina
No offense, you're more ignorant than you first appeared.
gives you exactly the same signaling and the same salary track as undergrad from a top school.
But you probably don’t get placed out NAU into a two year feeder Wall Street, Fortune 500 consumer job, or consulting gig from NAU which is what Tuck will want to see/require to even get accepted/get in for graduate degree. They are not admitting you based on your 3.7 undergrad from NAU.
If your resume reads:
Pro runner 3 years
Gatorade HS xc runner of the year
NAU 3.75
GMAT 710
You may not get into Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, Sloan but you can get in to the others in top 10.
Of course these schools take consultants, Wall St guys etc, but they like to take people with odd experience too, to make an interesting class.
They also love for their famous meet the class of 2032 to be able to say 'our class included a sherpa from Nepal, a former sargent from Guam, a retired NFL player, a licensed nurse, an acrobatic pilot and a pro distance runner. (Sometimes the good story even gets you into Stanford & Harvard)
Read a list of where accepted applicants come from, if you don't believe.
Note: if candidate did not do any pro running, they would need 2-3 years of other job experience.
USA fans of the sport want to USA runners do well. Historically Distance runners who run well on the world stage go to top college programs. Sure anyone can go where they want but NAU has produced exactly one Women's Olympian.
Nobody outside of her family and coach and teammates (present and future) should care much about her college choice. Lotsa people are here to poke their nose where it doesn't belong, like a bunch of hens, and speculate wildly to feel important when they're not.
Except she posted it on her social media for all to see? I think some of these posts are annoying, but come on. It's public info.
Well yes. But she didn’t publically announce things like her GPA and what she wants to major / minor in
While the network you get from a top-tier school is impossible to replicate, kids that are smart and hard-working are going to do well, whatever school you they go to.
I went to a state school because it made sense financially, and I got opportunities to work with professors on research starting my sophomore year, presented at conferences, and published my senior honors thesis in an academic journal. At a top school I would have been one of many students just like me, and wouldn’t have had these opportunities that stood out on my resume when I applied for jobs after college.