Running Club vs. Varsity XC/T&F in College

You should already know if you received an offer for an athletic scholarship for the D2 school. If you haven't heard anything about your aid package, you may not be receiving anything. Also your post doesn't make it clear whether you actually have a potential roster spot for the D2 school or if you'd have to walk on. Coaches don't really like walk ons too much and certainly won't give an athletic scholarship with non-existant money to a walk on after the fact. Without these details it is difficult to give you good advice. I ran club at a large public D1 school but the club team was better than the D1 team for a year or two during a coaching transition. I wish I had run for an official school team but I'm glad I had the opportunity to run in college at all (I couldn't afford to go to the small schools where the coaches wanted me). My younger sister is now running for an NAIA school and gets all the perks of being on the team though she is racking up a considerable debt that I avoided.

This sounds like a tough decision, but I would almost always say go with the better academic option in a situation like this. If it's not a huge financial difficulty I would go where you can succeed in everything you want to do. You will probably be a broke college kid at any place you go, -- might as well be at the better place.

You will have many more opportunities at an institution that has more resources. The most concrete example of this would be you ability to get internships or related experience while in school; these are plenty (grants, fellowships, assistantships) at resourced schools, whereas people I've known at smaller (usually DII) schools do not have these opportunities and work "regular jobs" during the summer/school year. What do you plan on studying?

Club vs NCAA: I ran club, but got interest from DII/III and low-level DI schools. I believe club is the better option for most people, for a few reasons:

1) Varsity sports have huge, often unneccessary time commitments.

2) Most "athletes" on varsity teams only know other athletes, being on a club team helps you meet people who are less "all-in", more grounded.

3) Being involved in a club can be more meaningful if you take a part in club leadership/coaching/&c... I ran pretty well in college but am way more proud of building up a competitive and fun club team than I am in my best races...

4) People always cheer for the underdog club/unattached athlete who takes down the DI stud

5) You'll be under more unneccessary pressure to perform on a varsity team.

All this said, if you go to the large school you should probably try to walk-on. Perks like free meals always sounded nice.

If you are a male, your times are nothing special for either D1 or D2, and you should plan on the running club.

Pick your college on academics, then try to fit in running (club, varsity team) around that. You should not feel pressure from your parents about this choice. Most HS seniors have their college plans in place by now. Talk to your HS counselor about college choices, then talk to your HS coach about running in college based on what others have done before you. Many people who were able to run in college benefited from the experience.

Do you even want to run in college or is it just your parents? Go where YOU want to go especially since it sounds like your parents are not helping with payments. Priorities change, you may become an NCAA champ or quit running 2 weeks into freshman year. Neither matters if you’re not happy where you are.
P.S. where you go for academics doesn’t matter unless it’s Ivy/MIT/Stanford, only your degree and even then only for your first job contrary to what boomers on this site say

Hey I was in a similar situation and ran club at a D1 school before transferring to another D1 school to walk on for their track program.

The club team is what you make of it, you will likely be one of the faster girls on the club team so you may have to run alone to really be able to push yourself to improve to running at the Big10 walk on level.

Honestly most D2 schools have at best a mediocre reputation for academics as well as athletics. I would avoid them, at least the ones that are around where I grew up.

What were your parents' times on the track?

the reason I transferred to walk on is because they cut the men's track program at my first college, otherwise I would have been one of the fastest guys on the team going into my junior year. I ran 2 years of club track

Go where you pay (money, time, effort) less for your educational bill. If you're taking out loans, let the final tab you'll face once you graduate be the bottom line. If its your parents' money and they're happy to part with it, the go where you feel inspired and money is no object. You should find a fun running space regardless of where this leads you.

Do you have a desire to see how far you can push your track career? Go DI.

Do you want to compete and be a functioning member of a team? Go DII.

Do you want to concentrate on academics and still enjoy the sport? Join the running club.

I am going to throw one more option, D3. D3 programs generally offer superior academic institutions compared to D2 programs, while still providing solid opportunities for varsity XC/TF teams and placing an emphasis on academics over athletics.

i got this....