D3 College Recommendations for a Hurdler

Male or female?

Male

Why D3, you can go to an NAIA or D2 and get some money. D3 doesn't have any athletics money. Also if you find a school that has a decent hurdle coach, chances are it will be someone different when you get there.

Carnegie Mellon. That was easy.

Assuming the ACT is real, with your academics I would look either Patriot League D1 or something like UAA or NESCAC or MIT type D3s. Maybe Liberty League. The better D1 conferences including the Ivy League you might not make the team. D2 is weaker academics. IMO Patriot League has good schools but weaker track than most D1s where you might walk on as a 400H guy -- but you won't get a scholarship. The D3 conferences I named are all full of good academic schools top to bottom, NESCAC has like 3 CT schools of varying but high quality. D3 you'll still be better at intermediates than highs but you'd probably make the team everyplace as a general hurdler if you can run <60 400H.

Compared to something like distance running where the XC team supplies dime a dozen runners, hurdlers tend to be more limited in number, maybe enough to run 2 preliminary heats at a conference meet. So I'd be less worried about making the team and more worried about getting in. Maybe if your times went down significantly you might become someone a D3 coach goes to bat with admissions for.

Basic admissions advice, visit some campuses, think about what you want to do, pick the schools good in those fields, apply to several schools with some variety of admissions numbers and quality, throw mud against the wall, see what sticks.

In terms of the team, figure out if the coach is liked or a jerk, whether they have a track on campus or have to use someone else's, and note if everyone gets to travel or compete at conference.

Have you looked into the UAA conference?

It looks like the OP is focusing on academics and most D2s & NAIAs can't compete with D3s from an academic standpoint. I've never heard of someone with an ACT of 35 going the D2/NAIA route.

You did not mention an intended major. If you are preferring to stay in the NE, look at some of the NESCAC schools. Excellent academics and most have decent athletic programs. Williams, in particular, has a strong program.

Someone up in the thread mentioned the UAA conference. There are also great schools there but the only ones that are really close to the NE are Rochester, NYU, Brandeis, and CMU. CMU is in Pittsburgh so I say "close to the NE" rather loosely when referring to the geographic location.

RPI is also a good school and in the Liberty League. There are some other good school in that league.

nescac.com

New England Small College Athletic Conference

The official athletics website for New England Small College Athletic Conference

Link:nescac.com/

libertyleagueathletics.com

Liberty League

The official athletics website for Liberty League

Link:libertyleagueathletics.com/

I agree re majors to help frame your search. I kind of started tossing out good academic D3 conferences overall with at least some members in the NE. But depending what you want to chase some of them might not be very useful. If you want engineering, MIT, Chicago, RIT, etc. If you want arts or music, different set, only some of whom have NCAA sports. If you want liberal arts/business/pre-professional, most of the conferences suggested have abundant liberal arts type programs. If you want arts or music at a serious level, again, specific schools, and there the sports programs depend on the school, eg, RISD doesn't have NCAA, but Pratt does.

If you have multiple interests or aren't sure, you don't have to pick per se but you might look at schools that flexibly cover them all. I ended up with a different major than I started and in a field I chuckled at doing when asked about it as a frosh. (Side point but if you're taking difficult STEM classes in HS (say, Physics II or Calculus) and making a B or B+, your GPA will do well by it, but the A students are the future math and science majors/premeds IMO)

How about Tufts?

Seconded for tufts. I’d pick a d3 school with an indoor track facility so you won’t freeze your ass off in the winter

Haverford also comes to mind

in terms of the OP, if i was good i'd pick tufts in NESCAC. tons of hurdlers and several in each of the finals. if i am scared if i make the team or get in the school i'd go someplace that needs hurdlers, one of the schools with fewer people in the event. they might be so happy to have a hurdler interested they help you get in. but then if they have very few can they teach the event. i'd look for a happy medium. but this discussion to me is more like if i had applied and had choices which one to go with. i think tufts or other "strong hurdle" schools would be worth some in your application pile. but i'd have a mix.

i'd do this for both academics and the sports. pick some over your head and some safer, some in-state, some out, see what bites. if tufts and say wesleyan both want you, then you decide do i want to be the 5th best hurdler in each event, but perhaps with better coaching, or the only hurdler on the team that gets all the attention. that's both what does the school offer and what psychologically do you want in a school and from your track experience.

Would recommend Rowan for the hurdling part but academics wise Tufts or Haverford might do you well and a multitude of other schools mentioned here

I'm currently planning to do computer science. Either that or engineering but definitely something STEM related.

comp sci will be widely available at most colleges, even smaller liberal arts schools. but engineering is going to be more specific. a lot of liberal arts schools will only have physics and a 3+2 program. you can then play at the transfer school but personally i'd want one-stop shopping. it'd defeat some of the college point to make 3 years of fun and friends and track then uproot and have to do it over, and not graduate with your buddies.

a list of D3 engineering schools i saw had like NYU carnegie mellon case western rochester RIT washU (StL) swarthmore MIT CalTech harvey mudd UCSanta Cruz tufts

trinity college in CT is NESCAC and unusual in being a liberal arts with accredited engineering. they have 3 hurdlers, 1 guy who doubles and 1 guy each who just does 110s or intermediates, and the guy who doubles will graduate this year.

i am sure there are more engineering schools, but if you want that major it's gonna funnel your choices.

you'd need to make sure the program you want is ABET accredited. i think some of tufts' programs aren't but some are.