What Colleges would look at me?

Just with the times you have now (particularly the 1600), you'd be able to walk on to a surprising number of teams, even some (weaker programs) at the DI level; but in terms of "GOOD running colleges," you'd need to stick to DIII--and show some reasonable improvement this spring.

Assuming you could get below 10:00 for 3200, and knock some seconds off the 1600, you would certainly get a look (at least) from some of the better DIII programs. Many of the UAA or NESCAC colleges--both conferences have several schools with strong programs--would be happy to hear from you.

Those times right now are as good as many of the runners on Haverford's all time top 10 list. I think any division 3 school would be happy to have a runner of this guy's caliber (not knowing anything else about the kid).

I'd bet that he'd be welcome to walk on to most division 2 teams without any improvement, and more than 1/2 of all division 1 teams if he can improve a typical amount between jr and sr year (and probably all but the top d1 schools if he gets those times down below the 1:55, 4:20 range).

Had Some Myself wrote:

Those times right now are as good as many of the runners on Haverford's all time top 10 list. I think any division 3 school would be happy to have a runner of this guy's caliber (not knowing anything else about the kid).

I'd bet that he'd be welcome to walk on to most division 2 teams without any improvement, and more than 1/2 of all division 1 teams if he can improve a typical amount between jr and sr year (and probably all but the top d1 schools if he gets those times down below the 1:55, 4:20 range).

Haverfords school records/top 10 are MUCH better than you imply

I am currently a redshirt freshman. I walked on to a top DI university last fall after a year of running with a NIRCA club team. My high school bests were: 2:00, 4:23, 9:43, 16:28 for 800m, 1600m, 3200m, and 5k XC respectively. I did improve a fair amount in my first year on the club team with a 15:00 5k on the track that year. I am not the worst person on my current team either, 8th or 9th of the 21 man cross roster last season. If you love running and being competitive, you will find a way.

A lot of Division 3 schools would love to have a guy like you. Also, you can try walking on at a number of D1 schools. Either way, you'll do fine. I would recommend Washington University in St. Louis. A guy from my high school team went there with times similar to yours and is doing very well. They were third at NCAA's in cross country I believe.

Thank you for the replies everyone, this is very encouraging. Umm, I'll try to provide some more background information. Just to show the trend of improvement:

Freshman PRs:

800-2:09

1600-5:06

Sophomore PRs:

200-26.xx

400-58.xx

800-2:02

1600-4:31 (Outdoor) 4:41 (Indoor)

3200-10:13 (Outdoor)

5000-17:19 (XC)

Junior PRs: Indoor Only (we are yet to run an Outdoor meet as it is early in the year, but I'm hoping to see continued improvement)

200-25.xx

400-55.xx

800-1:59

1600-4:28

3200-10:13

5000-16:20

The 1600 is my favorite event, although I enjoy the aspect of the team unity in XC. Given the choice I prefer the 800/1600 double over the 1600/3200 double.

Other possibly important facts or tidbits, I am a Junior as stated earlier. My GPA is approx. 4.2 now. Class rank is Top 15 out of about 650 kids. I've competed at the State level in Track and XC this year, but I haven't run at either Footlocker or NXN Regionals for XC.

Couple questions. Should I consider running FL or NXN next year? My goals, (and I know these are all hypothetical, but I'm interested to see where these would put me) are 1:56, 4:22 and 15:50 in the 5K before graduation. I don't generally run the 3200, but if I were to run it right now I think I could run in the upper 9:40s. Assuming I am able to achieve these goals, how limited would my options be? What sort of scholarship opportunities would be available?

The reason I've had all these questions is because I received my first college letter today. Harvard sent me a letter asking for my transcript and it got me wondering what sort of future I could have in running. Also, what should I interpret this letter as? Does this mean they could be seriously interested?

Again, thank you all for the help.

Beginning to Look at Colleges wrote:

Other possibly important facts or tidbits, I am a Junior as stated earlier. My GPA is approx. 4.2 now. Class rank is Top 15 out of about 650 kids. I've competed at the State level in Track and XC this year, but I haven't run at either Footlocker or NXN Regionals for XC.

. . .

The reason I've had all these questions is because I received my first college letter today. Harvard sent me a letter asking for my transcript and it got me wondering what sort of future I could have in running. Also, what should I interpret this letter as? Does this mean they could be seriously interested?

OP, thanks for providing more info. It's funny, because I was just about to chime back in and ask you about your academics--I used to coach in the Ivy League, and thought that with normal progress you might be "interesting" to some of those coaches.

Harvard pretty well "covers the map" in terms of recruiting, so you shouldn't read too much into this preliminary letter--EXCEPT that it's a very good indication that your competitive success (perhaps somewhat more than your times per se) IS being noticed.

I particularly mention the Ivy colleges because their financial aid packages nowadays are often superb. For lower-, mid-, and many upper-middle-income families, Ivy aid is often superior (in bottom-line terms) than what the expense would be to attend one's State school on a full-tuition athletic scholarship (and it's a rare male scholarship runner who gets more than full tuition--most get a lot less).

I'm sure you'll get more responses to your initial post; I'd also suggest that you bump this thread (or start a new one) at the end of outdoor season, when people will have a better idea of your progress and be able to make more specific suggestions.

Here's a piece you might want to peruse through. It should give you an idea of what it's like to be on a DI/II/III team and what kind of times you'd need to run to do so.

http://runningwritings.blogspot.com/2011/12/should-you-think-about-running-in.html

How seriously do you want to run in college? In hindsight, I just don't think its worth putting in crazy training if one is running div 3. You don't get any money and all that work for what? Your times are good but does not seem fast enough to get scholarships to div 1 schools. Maybe you can use your time to help you get into that THE school. Run track for fun when you get there. I guess my point is if you're going to put in 80 to 100 MPW, I would only do it in college if I can get a full ride.

"The reason I've had all these questions is because I received my first college letter today. Harvard sent me a letter asking for my transcript and it got me wondering what sort of future I could have in running. Also, what should I interpret this letter as? Does this mean they could be seriously interested?

Again, thank you all for the help."

I think they want your transcript to see if they can entice you with admission given you run track. If you're academic #s are slightly lacking, track will propel you into admission.

If Harvard offers you admission, I would take it. That degree is really worth all the money. It opens so many doors.

4:24 today in the 1600 in our first meet of the year. Rainy, but pretty warm. Overall nice race conditions. Is sub-4:20 possible this season?

I'm thinking I should run a 3200 in the coming weeks to get an updated time on it? Old time is from a year ago. What should my goal be? 9:40?

How much faster to have a viable shot at a DI scholarship?

hks321 wrote:

How seriously do you want to run in college? In hindsight, I just don't think its worth putting in crazy training if one is running div 3. You don't get any money and all that work for what? Your times are good but does not seem fast enough to get scholarships to div 1 schools. Maybe you can use your time to help you get into that THE school. Run track for fun when you get there. I guess my point is if you're going to put in 80 to 100 MPW, I would only do it in college if I can get a full ride.

You're right man, we all just run for the money. May as well pack it in.

UC Berekley will look at you.

4:25 for the 1600 is their cutoff.