What colleges would be a good fit for me and my running?

I've put thought into my schools. It's hard for me to decide what I want out of a school, I can't picture myself anywhere in particular. I don't know what I want to major in.

Right now I'm thinking (no specific order):

Washington University

Notre Dame

Grinnell

Oberlin

Marquette

Providence

Thoughts on the schools/running programs?

Still open to other suggestions too.

I really want a program that will develop me into a top peformer if thats possible. I know I have untapped potential and I want to do the best I can in college. Not just fizz out and not improve.

You should definitely take a look at Loyola University Chicago. Strong academic reputation, awesome location (Chicago), a new athletic director with a serious commitment to improving the student/athlete experience, and a very committed coaching staff. The team has finished 2nd place in the Horizon League conference (a lower tier mid major that has improved quite a bit in cross country/distance track over the years) 6 years in a row. Also, team chemistry is really solid, everybody looks out for each other and hangs out a lot outside of practice. This school might be the perfect fit for you with those times and grades.

I strongly recommend University of Chicago. Top notch academics and they seem to be on the rise

Go to an altitude school. SUU is an up and coming program that would love to have a 4:20/9:20 guy out of high school. Southern Utah has taken guys that calibre and made them superstars...

OP, Iowa State is a D1 program on the rise. Check them out.

Many of the NESCAC and UAA schools would be a perfect fit for you. I know some of them don't care much about the running, while others are at the same commitment level as D1 teams. Regardless, they are all superior in academics.

college searching wrote:Yet I want to make running part of my college experience, and the key thing for me is being able to run and enjoy my time away from practice, with my teammates. I am looking for team camaraderie. That's just important to me.

Also, I think I would enjoy D3 success. When you guys say podium, are you talking nationals or at your conference meet? I really want to love my team for four years, and I know winning isn't everything, but it is something. I'd like to be a contributing factor to a team right away, but not if I am a one hit wonder at the school.

Might want to look into Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Probably in your range academically, they are a team on the rise (at least relative to their recent past), and you would probably be able to step in right away and contribute.

If you are looking at Wash U you should check into some the D2 schools in Missouri. With academics as important as they are to you Truman and Maryville come to mind. Either one of those schools would be silly not to pick up on a runner like yourself. Lindenwood just went D2 but not not a great degree to get and not a good idea if you are trying to stay away from the partying schools.

Southern Indiana and lewis are good D2 programs, the teams are one of the strongest in the midwest year in and year out.

Start taking visits as soon as you can to some of the schools that you are interested in. It will help you figure out what you like and what you don't.

college running wrote:

Right now I'm thinking (no specific order):

Washington University

Notre Dame

Grinnell

Oberlin

Marquette

Providence

Thoughts on the schools/running programs?

Still open to other suggestions too.

I really want a program that will develop me into a top peformer if thats possible. I know I have untapped potential and I want to do the best I can in college. Not just fizz out and not improve.

I was not a good fit at Providence. Primarily because it is very Catholic and very homogeneous, think white suburban kids who couldn't get into BC. If you don't mind that atmosphere then great, just sharing my experience.

If I don't run around 9:20/4:20 type times until April/May am I screwed for most of these D3 schools? And D1's to a lesser extent? College deadlines are pretty much all February. I'm sure D3 can't pull strings to get athletes in as easily as D1. And also I'm sure they aren't TRYING to as much since academics takes precedent over athletics. The reason I ask is because I cannot apply to every single school. I have a substantial list, but I know I'll be leaving out options that could inevitably be good running options if I blast good times next spring. So...?

Also, any more D1 suggestions?

Portland

MSU-Billings,

got a really good D2 program that can get you full scholarship. check out our team at:

http://msubdistance.tumblr.com/post…

We are a great group of guys and should be better next year (Our 3&4 guys are redshirting). Only one senior is moving on. Also, we finished a couple of points behind Seattle Pacific at D2 PreNats, and they are ranked 10th in the region. This was with two incidences of food poisoning and a stress fracture making our 5-7 runners drop out.

I apologize if I missed this in an earlier post, but would you mind posting what times you have ACTUALLY run?

I see you've indicated 4:20/9:20 goals for yourself. I think many people are basing their recommendations off of these projections. However, assuming you are a senior this year, schools will be more inclined to look at what times you produced your junior year in track.

It would be helpful for us to evaluate just how "realistic" those goals are. Certainly not doubting you, but are you a 4:35/9:55 guy who is simply quoting goals which might be a reach? Aim high, but know that schools will base recruiting decisions off of your actual results...not what you say you will run.

college running wrote:

I've put thought into my schools. It's hard for me to decide what I want out of a school, I can't picture myself anywhere in particular. I don't know what I want to major in.

Right now I'm thinking (no specific order):

Washington University

Notre Dame

Grinnell

Oberlin

Marquette

Providence

Thoughts on the schools/running programs?

With that list you may want to have a look at Davidson. Top notch academics, strong financial aid program- it does not do loans but grants- and is a DI program.

I have run 15:31 for 5k this cross country season. My 2 mile PR is 9:46

Why not look at some D2 schools in the Midwest, just look at the rankings of teams in the central and midwest regions of cross and see some good schools. Central region is stacked in cross with six teams able to qualify for nationals, so it is a very competitive region and it almost doubles every other region but the west in the number of berths. I don't think they are great academically but that doesn't mean there aren't good academic schools or aren't good academic programs at these schools. Just do some searching. I would suggest getting in contact with the coaches at the schools too ASAP.

Good luck with it all.

Come to Oberlin.

If you are looking for a tight-knit team, it's a great place to be.

The coach (who ran a 13:29 5K in 2000), is a really cool guy, and he coaches the guys and the girls so both teams are interwoven socially. Almost every meal you can find 1-2 tables full of runners from the team, but at the same time, if you want to get away, there is no pressure to join in on every team-oriented activity.

The coach is very flexible with mileage. If you want to do higher mileage, I believe there were a couple runners running around 90 miles/week at the end of summer, but at the same time there were several runners who worked their way bit by bit up to 50ish miles a week, starting out at 20 or less miles the first couple weeks back after track.

The girls were national qualifiers last year and the guys are not bad either. It would be the kind of team where you have really good runners to run with, but you should definitely be able to step in and help right away.

As far as partying, yeah there are team parties, but there is absolutely no pressure to drink. In all honesty, I don't like partying, so I usually never show up, and I still love the team. Partying here for the XC team goes in cycles, and the main party planners on the team are seniors/juniors. I wouldn't be surprised if in a couple years the party stigma is greatly changed. There are a lot of dedicated runners and the coach strongly discourages partying.

Besides, you can always come hang out with me. But seriously, there are a lot of other things to do on the weekend.

In short, tight-knit team, dedicated runners, awesome coach. Great school academically. Pretty quirky in general, which can be good or bad, but nothing that pervades your life if you don't want it too. The team is definitely different than your stereotypical Obie, but still with enough of the Oberlin character to make 'em unique.

The other possibility is to go the club route. Its a completely different ball game (i.e. you have to pay to travel and the schedule isn't quite as nice), but the commitment with regards to hours is less, the tuition is significantly less, the individual attention you will get is significantly greater, and you have fewer distractions during the season.

Our team in particular has a "track" record of major improvement. See below. We normally find graduate students who just love the sport to coach and its paid major dividends thus far (including myself).

If you don't think you can be a good runner on a club team, here our some of our performers from last year:

Aaron Silver: 3:52 1500 (was a 4:24 guy)

Pathik Ghandi: 3:57 1500 (after one year, missing XC and running 4:20 in HS)

Michael Frigo: 14:19 5000 (barely 7th man on York's team)

Michael Spillone: 14:24 5000 (another 15:xx 3 miler from Illinois

www.illinoistrackclub.com

Send me an email or a phone call if you are interested in talking.

Best,

Michael Brothers

Head Coach

Illinois Track Club

(484) 620-0412