Full Ride at bad xc/track program or walk on at great xc/track program?
Full Ride at bad xc/track program or walk on at great xc/track program?
Full ride every time. Also, you will probably end up with similar memories and have a great time whether your team is good or bad. You might have more fun with the bad team.
The only downside is that you will pass up a higher profile college glory days, but it's just running. You can make your own personal glory days as fast as you want whenever you want to put in the effort.
The fundamental question is: How much are you willing to pay to be around better runners?
you decide wrote:
Full Ride at bad xc/track program or walk on at great xc/track program?
Full ride no question, unless you could pay off the debt within a few years of graduation.
The debt will affect your life for a very long time, and in many cases, forever, because even once it's paid there also all the forgone opportunities missed. You help buy a house, start a business, invest the difference in cost and doing either one directly out of school could easily/likely have life-altering capabilities.
Yes, college is a life-altering experience itself, but it's not going to matter how good your team is or even matter very much how well you run. The character of your teammates is going to matter more than their ability,as least in how much they affect your life long yet. You will either meet great teammates that are friends and allies for the rest of your life, or don't really make strong connection and they will be insignificant in 5-10 years. Either way, that can happen at a good program or a weak one.
All things being equal I'd choose the good program. But 100k+ of debt right out the gate is very far from being equal. College is about learning things and making significant friends and connections and determining your potential earning power/finances for the rest of your life. Unless you have pro aspirations, (and who really does in this sport) the quality of the amateur sports experience falls much further down the list.
It depends on this-
Why is the team bad? There’s usually a reason why bad teams are bad. Bad coaching, bad culture.
It might be worth it to be on a successful team with highly motivated individuals and coaches. You’ll make better long term connections.
Full ride bad team all the way. For starters graduating with debt is awful. From a non running standpoint you will have a huge amount of freedom and head start that your peers will not. You can run fast anywhere if put in the work. I was the best runner on a bad D1 team and I still got to experience most of the things kids on great teams got to do. I still raced at BU, I still raced at all the fast sections of other meets, and I still experienced some of the other big meets like Payton Jordon. Honestly had a great time and was worth it, even though I was good I knew I wasn't going to the Olympics, and I feel like my teammates were more career focused then running focused, so it helped me get some good internships. College is what you make of it, you can have a good time anywhere and sometimes its more fun being a big fish in a small pond.
What about the academics?
Full ride bad team unless
1) it has very shitty academics/networking opportunities as compared to the other school
2) doesn't have your intended major
3) you're willing to spend thousands and thousands of dollars so you can be on a team that won a conference meet (if you're good enough to be on the top 7)
Probably not going to be any xc this year, maybe not even track at the rate the us is going. How is the coach at the bad school, is he working to turn things around? If the coach is new, I'd go to the bad school if he seems to know what he is doing. Otherwise it's down to prs or money.
Full ride so long as the academics are solid. I had a choice between full ride at a D2 school with pretty terrible academics or partial academic ride at a respected school in my major at a D1 school. I stand by my decision to pay a little more for the better education. Ultimately, the education is what is going to be most important in your career. Track and Cross Country are mostly just for fun anyhow.
Given the importance of internships and work experience, I wonder if running track at all beyond a hobby level is such a good idea. Employers would rather see work experience. Going to a school in a thriving city-Boston, NY, Atlanta, etc. is now more important than ever since this is where a student gets internships. I am a managing director in my company so I rarely make out of college hiring decisions, but I am surprised at how our hiring managers simply look for decent grades and work experience-even with a "boutique major". I can’t beg them to look at a D1 athlete who spent a lot of time at sports and did not gather work experience. The world has changed. Companies willing to invest in new practical skils are the nil-the student must do it.
tlm1959 wrote:
Given the importance of internships and work experience, I wonder if running track at all beyond a hobby level is such a good idea. Employers would rather see work experience. Going to a school in a thriving city-Boston, NY, Atlanta, etc. is now more important than ever since this is where a student gets internships. I am a managing director in my company so I rarely make out of college hiring decisions, but I am surprised at how our hiring managers simply look for decent grades and work experience-even with a "boutique major". I can’t beg them to look at a D1 athlete who spent a lot of time at sports and did not gather work experience. The world has changed. Companies willing to invest in new practical skils are the nil-the student must do it.
D3 athletes can still compete at a high level while interning part time.
Get your cake up
1. How much debt?
2. How bad is the team, and more importantly, why?
I took the cheaper route and am unsure whether I would make the same choice again. Graduating with very little debt was a huge plus, but I definitely wasted my college years running for a coach that had no idea what he was doing.