PSU Vs UBC

Living in Vancouver is also hella beautiful.

Living in Portland right now with incompetent leaders running the city is hella gross and ugly.

PSU is Penn State University. Sounds like you are pretty far from Penn State, so you'd have to consider whether you are willing to move across the country to go to school. Pretty strong mid-d squad historically, but not great in the longer distances or XC.

I would say you should choose the school based on which school you enjoy better… I would prob pick UBC, I haven’t been there but BC is cool and I don’t love PSU area/vibe.

As far a travel and races in the past for track UBC usually races as some big college races on the west coast, pretty similar to PSU… it’s also important to know where you will be competitive wise… you will likely have more championship options at UBC.

Easy choice: UBC

A beautiful campus in one of the world's most scenic cities. Canadians are some of the nicest and most polite people on Earth. From what I hear, the academics at UBC are top notch .

Portland State is a mostly commuter college with homeless encampments butting up against the campus property. The campus is very blah and seemingly always under renovation. Housing is expensive anywhere in the area (on par with Vancouver, BC) and commuting from a slightly cheaper place in the suburbs will just add costs of time, gas, and parking. Academics are so-so.

Are you going to be an Olympian, NCAA title contender, or plan to be a paid pro? Neither school will get you to that level and that is assuming that you have the talent to begin with. If the costs are nearly the same, then go to Canada. Added bonus, if the United States takes a turn towards chaos and totalitarian rule, then you are already in a safe place and your age plus Canadian college degree make you a prime candidate for fast track immigration.

UBC seems to have a well organized and coached program. Academics rankings don't mean as much in Canada as all the schools are pretty good, but UBC is definitely in the top 3 in Canada and well regarded everywhere. Campus is beautiful and BC is an awesome, although expensive, place to live. I considered going there but ultimately chose to stay at home. I would definitely recommend over portland st. all things being equal, but of course that's never the case! Some things to consider:

How fast are your right now ? If you aren't realistically going to run 13:25 (M)/15:20 (W) in the next 4 years, I wouldn't really make the divison that the school competes in a top priority... You'll have people to compete against in Canada/NAIA otherwise. And UBC does go down to UW to race at Dempsey.

U Sports XC is weaker than the NCAA obviously, but it could be better for your development as you'll actually get to race at conference and nationals, and you'll race/travel a bit less in XC which can help avoid injuries/burnout.

UBC also differs from other Canadian schools as they get to race outdoors in the NAIA, which again is weaker than D1 but carries some benefits. I'm not sure what you'd be studying, but lots of travel/racing every 2 weeks all fall and winter isn't necessarily a good thing , especially if you're in a program with a heavy course load/lots of lab work. Also consider how being away from home would affect you, do you have a partner that you really want to be with ? Or are you ok with doing long distance and possibly breaking up ... Same thing with family, do you want to be close or are you ok with only seeming them a couple times a year (apart from the summer)

Overall, I'd write down what you want to get out of college in terms of running/academics/experience/career opportunities ... and be honest with yourself!!

What do you want to study? Academically, UBC blows Portland State away.

Portland State is an awful University.

There’s no real campus, they have poor facilities, don’t have their own track.

I think the staff there has done a decent job, although you’d hope you’re decent if you go all in with distance, but I don’t understand why anyone would want to compete as a student-athlete at that school or even be a student if you want a true college experience.

Go to UBC.

Do your research. I would stay put if I were you. Grass not greener up north.