If you were a top high recruit who had good offers from every school, where would you choose?

Honestly, I think I would probably go to Cornell (again). I turned down Stanford (and Caltech) for it before. Strong programs in my academic interests and a great running environment, and their team seems to be on the upswing. NYC and many career options conveniently close.

NOTE: A "good offer" from Cornell and the other Ivies would not be an athletic scholarship--the Ivy League colleges don't have athletic or merit scholarships. But my family economic situation was such that nowadays I would receive something like a full ride in need-based aid from any Ivy.

I’d pick one of the two Cambridge colleges again. They’re both competitive in XC and have great academics, prestige, and job placement. I also enjoyed my time there

Obviously USC, UCLA, Pepperdine, LMU, in Hollywood for the sun, surf, chicks (or guys) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. USC is in the gentrified DTLA. USC put the 1st man on the moon, USC is the only school awarded the main host of the Summer Olympic Games, and they have three times 1932, 1894, and 2028. Pepperdine and LMU make you take 3 religion classes to graduate, a negative. Each year UCLA has the most freshman college applications in the world. UCLA invented the internet,

Notre Dame

The first sentence has me convinced. But he answer is all about investment to me? Still Stanford, Cornell, Princeton, Michigan....

Harvard. steadily building a really good program. Academics and reputation speak for themselves. East coast.

Stanford. Competes at the highest level in distance running consistently. Incredible academics. West Coast.

I am of the opinion you should use running to get into the most elite academic school you can.

If you are truly talented enough to be a pro and make a living, you will get there regardless.

If not, you have an elite education and network. I don't care what anyone says, the oppurtunities afforded at elite elite schools (Ivys, Stanford, etc.) are hard to match. My buddy played football at an Ivy got some unrelated degree and first job was on wall street purely through connections.

I regret going to a better running school (D1 state school) instead of Johns Hopkins (got in only because of running).

LMU is in Marina Deal Rey with the NFL Labs, Fox Sports, ESPN Sports, Tik Tok Labs, Snap Chat Labs. UCLA is in WLA with Amazon Studios, Netflix Studios, Google Studios, NBC/IOC Olympics Studios. Pepperdine is in Malibu withe the largest population of Russian Oligarchs, Ukranian Oligarchs, and retired Middle East Dictators in the world. USC is in South Central know as the Cop Killer Capital of the World.

The school that is the best academic and social fit you can graduate from debt free. Student loan debt makes more sense for grad school.

That will depend on the kid’s interests, the grant and scholarship situation, and parents’ wealth.

Criteria

1 Living/Training outdoors in a T-Shirt year around

2 Academics Top 10 the the World

Families can still make quite a bit of money and get very generous offers from the Ivies. If a kid can get admitted to an Ivy, and if they qualify on the academic index and get a likely letter it is a bit easier, choosing a good Ivy would seem to be a pretty easy decision. A graduate of an Ivy can often have less debt on graduation than many attending an in-state state school.

I would second Cornell. It's a great school with a great atmosphere. Ithica winters can be brutal but that is what Libe Slope is for.

Others I would consider, and they're not all D1, would be Harvard, Michigan, U of Chicago, WashU of St. Louis, Williams, Carnegie Mellon, the 5Cs, Duke, Emory, and Virginia.

You made good points, but there is one thing I have to point out. They’re located in a very bad area.

I was strongly considering Chicago, but the location is a major turn-off. Three students were killed last year. If it were located where Northwestern is, I probably would have ED’d there.

This discussion frustrates me every time. About 50% of Ivy League students pay full price. That's $320k. Distance runners on average more affluent. Now if you ae Grant Fisher or Leo Young, why would they pay $320k to attend Harvard when they can attend Stanford for free? How about Roison Willis or Sofia Dudek?

The place with the best fishing close by.

Notice how nobody said NC State or NAU? Funny how the fanboys go nuts when people point out how dumb it was for top recruits to choose those schools unless they are dumb. And they are either dumb which caused them not to be eligible for Stanford or they were dumb for not choosing Stanford.

Cornell is a weird place- with its strict college system, massive size and grad focus. it's more like Rochester or Syracuse than other ivies. Just a massive place.

If I could design a college it would look something like Princeton. Undergrad focus (massively important), small-mid size, obvious academic reputation, near to NYC and DC, beauty, good running, wealthy school, tradition.

The east coast snobbery thing is its main drawback but hey live with it. I'd go there.

I don't see why so many people want to go to places that focus on graduate education. Go someplace focused on undergrads.

MIT hands down.

The other IVys, Stanford, Caltech and a few others obv good too.

You have all jumped to academics without considering athletic or price. Are you all saying that Tuohy should have chosen MIT or Cornell or Harvard? How about Nico? The schools that you are listing cost $320k for 50% of the students. It would be a dumb decision for an elite runner to pass on a free Stanford education in favor of a MIT education at $320k.