College Sighning Desicion Help!!!

Good luck with your desicion!

I am not biased towards any of these schools but I would choose VA. Voted numerous years as the #1 public school in the country. The weather of all the schools you mentioned will be colder but not unbearable. Really though, you need to choose also based on how you meshed with the team. Those will be your "brothers/ family" for the next 4-5 years. Good luck my friend it sounds like you are very talented and will probably excell at any of those schools.

I call b.s. on this original post: if you are good enough to be recruited by Stanford, Duke and Virginia (among others) then you are most likely a F.L. finalist and have very impressive results and know enough about running that you do not need to seek advice from a bogus message board.

Find a juco (or maybe even a community college) that will help you learn things like how to spell "signing" and count like all the way to 5 since that is how many schools you listed, not three.

To avoid disappointment, pick a school with a low TOEFL score.

"Sighning" ???

You don't deserve to go to any college, let alone these good ones. Then again, the Brojos went to Cornell and they're nearly illiterate.

Wow and and I thought this was supposed to be a friendly message board, it was a typo... jeeeez! For your information, I have run at NXN the past three years (not FL) and am simply wondering if anyone else has had a personal experience at any of these schools that will help me choose!

Feedback Please.. wrote:

Wow and and I thought this was supposed to be a friendly message board, it was a typo... jeeeez! For your information, I have run at NXN the past three years (not FL) and am simply wondering if anyone else has had a personal experience at any of these schools that will help me choose!

Anyone want to put in the research of who has run at NXN for the last three years but not FL?

Anyone want to put in the research of who has run at NXN for the last three years but not FL?[/quote]

I'm on it!!

No boys from CA besides Elias Gedyon.. and he's already made his verbal

asd wrote:

Feedback Please.. wrote:

Wow and and I thought this was supposed to be a friendly message board, it was a typo... jeeeez! For your information, I have run at NXN the past three years (not FL) and am simply wondering if anyone else has had a personal experience at any of these schools that will help me choose!

Anyone want to put in the research of who has run at NXN for the last three years but not FL?

You mean five?

To the OP - these are all excellent schools. Academically at the undergrad level you can be assured of a great education at all of them. If you visited all of them, you should have some feel for qualitative differences. The UC schools are large public institutions, as is Virginia. Many of your lower level classes will be in large lecture halls with hundreds of others. You will have a big diversity of students, especially in state kids - despite admissions criteria, there will be quite a few lazy kids there with not much interest in academics. I was at Virginia 8 years, so I know it well. Virginia and Duke have huge frat scenes, a lot of undergrad drinking etc. Duke has a very preppy feel to it. Whether you like that or not depends on you. Stanford is an awesome school to attend and run for. If you really have a scholarship offer there you are very fortunate. My kid was a sub 9 3200 runner and a 2 time FL finalist and was pretty much given the cold shoulder for scholarship by them in the recent past. At a place like Stanford your future classmates will be leaders in business medicine government and high tech. If you're looking at a future career where friends in high places matters to you, a place like Stanford or the Ivys will get it for you.

I doubt anyone here will give you insider info on teams and coaches. You'd be better off talking to current team members, messaging on Facebook etc for that sort of thing. That's what visits are for, too.

Good luck.

faker wrote:

I call b.s. on this original post: if you are good enough to be recruited by Stanford, Duke and Virginia (among others) then you are most likely a F.L. finalist and have very impressive results and know enough about running that you do not need to seek advice from a bogus message board.

You're an idiot. How does running a fast 5k impart her (or him, but I'm guessing it's a girl since considering Duke) knowledge of the social scenes at schools 3000 miles away?

I got offered fellowships for phd programs at Virginia (which I attended) and Duke, and I'd say they both have pretty "active" social scenes, while at Duke you're probably gonna get a little more of the "privileged white southerner" demographic. I imagine California schools have a much different atmosphere with which you may find yourself a bit more comfortable, but I think it's often a good idea to go across the country for school, and sort of regret not doing so myself.

But Stanford has the best name, though they're all great schools, and honestly I would think hard about passing up a scholarship offer there.

One other point about the academics. You are not unique in feeling insecure about being admitted into elite schools because of your athletic achievements. My kid was 100% in the same boat. You most likely will do fine. Even at places like Harvard not every kid is a genius. There are a lot of legacy kids who are very average. I've met a few who would rank as dumb, and they get by. Take an easy class load first year. Ask for tutoring. Ask the coaches specifically whether help is available. Believe me, you will be just as smart as most of the ball players recruited at those schools. They aren't impossible. I'm guessing more individual help and advising would be available at the private schools but I don't know the UC schools well.

^^^Yes this poster is right. I attend an elite academic institution (Top 10 USNWR) and trust me, I would not have been admitted as a normal applicant. I was slightly concerned as well, but you will find that other guys on the team have faced similar challenges in the classroom and will help you out. I took a lighter load my FR year and thus far I've adjusted well to school. Yes there will be ball players and helmet-sport athletes that are dumber than you. Don't worry so much.

The Wrath of Ricky Rudd wrote:

Then again, the Brojos went to Cornell and they're nearly illiterate.

rojo=Princeton

wejo=Yale

Go to the school that you like best. If you do it right college will be the best time of your life. Unless you are going for some very specialized degree, 5 years after graduation it really won't matter which school you went to.

Make a pros/cons list for each school separated into categories: academics, location, campus atmosphere, how well you like the coach and team, training philosophy, program success, etc. Research all the schools until you can fill out the list completely for every school in every category.

I wouldn't make a decision based solely on a list, but it really helps to organize your thoughts.

Feedback Please.. wrote:

Hello everyone-

I'm a cross country runner in California and i am having serious issues choosing a college. I have been offered scholarships to Stanford, Duke, UCLA, UC Berkley, and University of Virginia. I have visited and met with the coaches of all three schools and I am torn. If anyone has any feedback about these programs and also the schools outside of running please let me know... and i'll list a few of my concerns:

1) My grades are good but definitely not good enough to get in to these schools if i was a regular person applying, will I be able to handle Stanford or Duke with xc and track?

2) coaching situation at UCLA

3) this might be a stupid question but which school has the best social scene in your opinion( the free time i do have, i would like to spend well)

ok mate well since youre from california im assuming youre a liberal so berkely would be cool for you (personally theres no way hell I would go there), Standford will set you up for life but theres not gonna be hot chics and not as much partying as there should be in college! duke's a good school, and fun. same as u of virginia and if you are a mid distance guy i think virginny is good at those distances but there will be alot of instaters if you dont mind broadening your horizons. UCLA good school, i hear its kinda hard and your not in a college town unfortunately, but in youre in LA so i dont know what you'd like more. good luck mate youre the man!