Where can a 14:20 guy transfer?

Don’t know your academics or academic aspirations. You a significantly better than average STEM guy who has good study habits? MIT, MIT, or maybe even MIT. Other factors? Well, maybe we should hear about what you want.

Put your name in the portal and find out. You won't get much interest this late. You are at an odd spot in time. Power 5 teams won't really be interested and mud majors will bypass you thinking you will expect some money.

I’d say I’m a decent student(3.8 gpa at a state school) and in response to the other post, I wouldn’t be entering the portal this summer. I am just trying to gauge caliber of school for running/academics

Unless you're situation right now is really bad you'd be wise to get down to 14:0x/sub 14 before trying to transfer so you can actually get rewarded with some $$$.

You could join some decent teams as a walk on, but the schools worth going to aren't going to give you any money and the schools that will give you money aren't worth going to.

“Some decent teams as a walk on” gtfo any team in the country that is not routinely making nationals (so all but about 30-40 of the 360ish d1 schools and every non d1 school) would be happy to have a 14.20 kid walk on. Money, who knows… it will be hit or miss, some schools where you would be the best kid will still give you almost nothing since their funding is wack, top 5-10 regional teams in xc depending on the region will likely not give you money or not much… schools in the 5-20ish regional ranking will give you money ranging from books to I’m sure full tuition maybe more. Someone else mentioned 14.0x or sub 14 being a good goal, with that you could walk in most places and get a lot of money to some mid pack xc regional teams. But you will definitely need to do some leg work to find the right place.

That's my whole point -unless the current situation has significant problems and you need a better culture fit there's no point of transferring to a not top-40 team school for little to no money. I consider decent to be a top 50 school that at least makes nationals occasionally, not the assortment of hopeless regional mid-packers. You need to transfer to get a better team or better money.

MIT isn’t exactly the easiest place to transfer to, even if your grades are really good. Also I’m not sure a 14:20 guy would even make their top 7 these days.

Untrue. They would be happy to recruit a high schooler that fast but this guy said he is not ready yet. A 14:20 junior in college is not attractive. Coaches worry about culture. They worry about what the team will speculate about regarding scholarships. Name 5 guys who have transferred who have this PR. We will wait.

You can bag some groceries, maybe deliver Thai food.

Recapping w/ insight from previous posters + some additional insights I've got from being in a similar spot like 10 years ago.

Running & Scholarship: as some posters mentioned, you can probably go to less competitive schools for some money and more competitive schools for less to no money.

Academics & Future: as other posters mentioned, this is something that could be helpful long past your running career. Even if you don't rate academics super highly, you should at least make sure the program you are currently studying is offered at next school.

Personal Growth: this is a more nebulous inquiry. But you should definitely consider a number of factors when you're looking at a new college. Looking back, I'd mostly be thinking about the vibe of the team (are they as serious as you want to be/is it ok if they aren't), the campus (does it have the type of people you want to hang around with), the town it is in (does it have the type of things you want to be around), and what you are looking for post-college (jobs, friends, etc). Something people don't really tell you is that the town you are in for college can be a great place to find jobs after college.

Non-US Schools?:If you are extra adventurous, I'd also nominate looking at schools outside the US. I definitely would have tried to do a study abroad program or something similar now that I am thinking back on it.

Agreed. 14:20 is a nice time but OP said he isn't looking to transfer right now which means he would have only 2 season remaining. Nobody is searching the portal for a 14:20 guy with 2 seasons of eligibility. Good schools are looking for a 13:40 guy and bad schools aren't looking at all. Coaches are always leery about transfers unless they will make a huge impact because there is usually an unfavorable reason that people want to transfer.

You guys don’t think a mid major with a shot to win conference would throw a little money toward a 14:20 guy that will be top 3 for their team?

Redshirt everything and enter the portal. You'll want to save as much eligibility as you can for your future school. Once you're in the portal you'll get emails from schools and I'd recommend casting a wide net by emailing every school you'd consider running for.

Thanks all for the insight, sounds like I need to run sub 14 next year to consider transferring to a school that actually cares about running well.