maybe they're good schools for running, but they're terrible to start a career from
there are just about ~10-15 schools that place well into elite jobs
If you're interested in 1) going pro and 2) working in the running industry afterwards than you could argue there is no better school to go to than Oregon right now. Running at UO is essentially getting the best internship placement for the industry that there is. The facilities are also top-notch, and there are periodically world class athletes, NBC brass, Nike brass, USATF brass, etc. on campus for the dozen or so nationally televised meets that will be held there while he's in school. If it's a fit for the kid and he's ambitious, seems like a wonderful decision and I wish him well.
Smart kids only go to the 3rd one, or maybe H/P if they’re on the east coast. The ones you listed before are for average students.
The school snobbery on this site is pretty ridiculous. Lots of factors go into picking the school that is the best fit. Going to the highest ranked school you can get into is rarely the right choice for a specific kid. Besides, the choice of grad school is far important for top students. Undergrad just needs to be good enough to preserve the grad school options while keeping the debt down.
Bingo. Couldn’t have said it better. We had a daughter who was accepted to some “elite” universities, but, instead, she’s at a really solid, private school with a regional reputation at $55,000 per year less than these elites, all in with merit. Would’ve been a fool not to take this option. Already has a summer research gig lined up at the school too after frosh year. Will be fine being a big fish in a small pond going to med school or grad school with zero debt. School fit and opportunities with minimal financial outgo ARE the smart choices.
Also, good for this kid chasing the dream and getting school paid for. He’ll figure it out once running ends. Oregon likely won’t be the terminal degree anyway. I hope he gets the record.
trashing an elite runner for choosing OREGON(???) might be the single dumbest thing I've ever seen on this board, and there is a lot of competition to choose from.
Many here fail to recognize that graduate degrees are requisite in many areas nowadays, and the undergraduate degree just does not mean as much in the market as the terminal degree. Oregon may well be followed by a graduate year at Stanford.
As tremendous as Laros's accomplishment, note that U.S. high school runners, unlike Europeans, are not typically training with older runners and pros in clubs and typically have coaches being paid a couple thousand if anything to coach a sport.
Many here fail to recognize that graduate degrees are requisite in many areas nowadays, and the undergraduate degree just does not mean as much in the market as the terminal degree. Oregon may well be followed by a graduate year at Stanford.
Marty ran sub 4 as a senior in 1967, by '69, he was a College soph at Villanova. Marty ran , really only one remotely serious two mile that I know of in HS? 9:04 on cinders, I believe. And 12:20's on Vanny , when that was in no where the condition it is now.
Most kids go to schools that they can get into. Football players at Alabama are generally not smart kids and all think they are going to the NFL. Heidesch picked Duke. Burns picked Oregon.
*All* kids go to schools they can get into (duh). What they don't do is go to the *best* school they can get into. In our family, we had that discussion and skipped the best school in favor of the best school for the kid. Those things are not always the same.