Critique my college choices

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Go to the school where you will be motivated to do your best. I would be separately mindful of the resulting total cost in dollars, which you seem to be.

For academics, I think only some people benefit from the common advice to go to the best school they can get into. Some people prefer going to a school that enthusiastically admits them, and has had many students much like them succeed. The same is true for running. Some do better if they walk on and are chasing state champions every day. Others do better if they are typical team members, scoring in meets in a less competitive conference, or division, etc.

One general piece of advice, more from the academic side. It is admirable to see that you are working on raising the D, and raising the SATs, but also consider doing more sooner, i.e. before the D arrives, before the test, before the week before the test, etc. I work in a highly competitive professional field. I have found that for a great many people who achieved success in college and beyond, it came from starting early, not depending on talent, or cramming for a test. It was the natural result of a plan well executed, not a feverish effort at the end, which comes with the risk of a late failure or late disappointment. Some of the highest scoring test takers, or admittees to the best schools never catch on that they start their important tasks too late to do them well. The start early people may never be brilliant, but they often end up with more success, over time, than the high school academic stars who never learned to buckle down early, because they never had to.

Go to the place where you will work the hardest to be what you can be. The rest will take care of itself.

Have fun, every week, after you have studied a lot. Be the first to study and the last to party. You will enjoy both more than the people who have it in reverse.

If you break 9 you are a hoss, go to a top running school and be the best you can be against the best you can compete against.

Chico? San Jose st? Horrible running programs, give me a break.

If your 2 mile remains in the mid 9s then DEFINITELY go to Chico and have the time of your life! Know that maybe only the guys who attend Florida State are having more fun than you... But that's about it.

You sound like the same student who was asking about Arizona colleges last night.

NAU seems like a good fit for you. I don't think you would have any problems with admission from an academic standpoint.

If you can bring your 3200 time down to sub 9:20, or even sub 9:10, you should be a very attractive candidate. You should try to run at Arcadia this spring - even though pretty early in the season, most guys get their PRs there.

Not all the NAU runners are sub 9 high school guys, although a bunch of them are. Alejandro Montano was their second scorer at their small home meet on Saturday, and he is a local Arizona kid who ran in the range of 9:10 and 4:16 in high school. I think he did make it to NXN nationals one year in cross - can't remember how he placed. You should definitely try and see how you can do qualifying either for FL or NXN.

Anyway, NAU is a great school to run for, and I think you would do fine there academically. You should send Coach Heins an email and let him know of your interest.

I don't know the California schools except by reputation. Berkeley may not take you for your grades, from what I understand. I think it is a hard core academic place, though I'm not sure what sort of priority athletes get.

You might get some idea of ASU and UofA running by looking at how many of our local Arizona stars they have been able to recruit recently. Virtually none of the top guys. NAU currently has Brian Shrader (left Oregon to go there), Alejandro Montano, and Tim Freriks. There's a reason these local guys are signing on there and not at the other schools.

Yes, I'm the same person who posted the "best Arizona colleges," thread. NAU is definitely among my top 3 choices overall (I would say #1 but I only first heard about it last Friday haha). It's reassuring that academically I might be able to get in, because I can see myself really being competitive in college and NAU sounds like a dream running school. I do plan on running Arcadia this year and have pretty big goals, which I'm confident are possible if all goes well. ASU just sounds interesting because it almost sounds like a safety school and it looks like they have a decent running program. U of Arizona may be crossed off my list because of the heat, mainly Kenyan team and cost.

Thanks Individual Focus, that sounds like sound advice. I plan on being fully committed to running and school in college. I don't feel like I would go to a lot of parties. Also, I will not cross a college off my list solely due to cost, but that is a factor I'm considering if the school is just ok in other areas. Academically, Boulder doesn't sound like it has alot I'm interested in, so the $50000 yearly cost makes it even less appealing. Scholarships should help a lot too though, so I'm considering that.

Yo MTV raps.... San Jose State doesn't even have track (they will next year I think) but is on the list because I am guaranteed admission. Chico is a top of the line D2 running program. Consistently top 3 or 4 at NCAA Nationals in Cross. 7 guys sub -4 in the 1500, 11 guys 14:22-14:57. They have depth and I've heard they can develop runners. That doesn't sound like a horrible running program. I would say they have more depth and are probably a better running program than UC Davis, from comparing the two teams results.

In regards to the cost of CU (or any other school that is expensive for non-residents)...If you really want to go but cost is a deterrent you can move to the state and gain residency before enrolling. In that year you can train, retake your SAT if necessary, work to save up money, etc.

Each state has different standards but most of them are something like this:

- Be a permanent resident of the state for 1 year

- Be financially independent of your parents

Documentation is the key and there are plenty of loopholes you can exploit. I only suggest this if you are mature enough to support yourself after high school.

Forget Cal with a 3.1. Every kid at Cal enters with a 4.0. plus Cal has no apartheid admimissions limiting East Asian and Central Asians to 20% of the Freshman class like USC, Stanford, Yale, and Princeton. So as a Freshman you are going up against 45% East/Central Asians. Coming in with only a 3.1 (HS rote learning) you are going to get clobbered at the 1st midterm exams.

Chico-great coaching, great team atmosphere, great tradition, solid academics

UC Davis-good coaching, building tradition, very good academic school

San Jose State (guarenteed admission)- can't say much about this school other than that they haven't had a real strong tradition in recent years

UC Berkeley (will probably be removed from list soon)- no chance with your current gpa/test scores

Cal Poly SLO (will probably be removed from list soon)-great coaching, great tradition, great place to run, solid academics (unless you want to do engineering in which case it's very good)

NAU (my #1 choice from Arizona by far, and one of my top choices overall)- great tradition, great place to train, solid academics

ASU- HOT, some tradition, decent academics, lots of hot chicks

University of Arizona- also HOT, good tradition, good academics,

CU Boulder - great tradition, great coaching, great places to run, good/very good academics (depending on department), probably not worth out of state tuition though

CU Colorado Springs (the only reason I would go here would be if I could get a scholarship for triathlon, and anyways I doubt I will go here).- Decent coaching, great places to run, solid academics

University of Oregon (I run, it sort of matches.)

great coaching, great support, decent places to train, solid/good academics (depending on department)

Depending on where you are from I'd most likely stick with in state options unless you can get some/all of that out of state tuition taken care of. NONE of these schools (other than CAL maybe) are really worth paying huge amounts of tuition for an undergrad degree.

Cal Poly SLO , They graduate more to the work force than any of the schools you have on the list. Tough to get in though.

1st think I learned at Cal is to choose a CJKIPE tutor or hang out at a CKJIPE frat house. Otherwise you won't stand a chance of passing. What's a CJKIPE you might wonder ? Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Pakistani, Eyeranian.

Having a graduate degree from San Jose State, I would advise that you NOT go there. If you want to be a John Steinbeck scholar then go there, but otherwise, I'm certain you'll get a better education elsewhere. I went there out of convenience, but I wasn't too impressed with the professors as compared to the ones where I did my undergraduate work.

Seems that NAU might enjoy an athlete with your credentials, so if you can get in there and be able to run for them, then I'd do that. Also, it seems that you'd probably need to get under 9 or very close to it for Oregon to care. Arizona also seems good.

My order is:

1) NAU

2) Oregon (but only if you can run for them)

3) Arizona

4) ASU

I would not consider any of the others unless you don't get into any of them and you have to go to San Jose State.

Good luck.

UPDATE, maybe I can get some more recommendations on my choices... Thanks for all the responses so far. They have helped in deciding what schools I'm serious about.

Cross country is going very well, I'm expecting to win my section and place top 5 at state. Have been running a little more mileage which I'm excited about. Still am making up the D. I took the SAT this Saturday, don't know the results yet but did better than the first time so I know it's at least 1900+. Grades are good this semester. Should finish with all A's and 1 B (taking 3 AP classes).

I eliminated U of Arizona and the two Colorado schools from my list. My top 4 choices are, in no particular order at the moment, NAU, Chico, Cal Poly SLO,and Davis.

ASU is still on the list only as a backup school, plus they're ranked nationally so it's ok. The WUE program would help alot with out of state costs to NAU and ASU (does anyone know if Oregon offers WUE?) San Jose State is only on the list because it's local and I don't want to remove it just yet. And Berkeley is only still on the list because I want to hear from the coach and at least feel like I could have a chance of going there haha (I have a very close friend who goes there whom I visit once or twice a month there so I like Berkeley;not so much interested in their running program though). I know grade wise I couldn't make it in. I also added Sacramento State to the list for the time being, as they have a decent program and are sort of close as well.

Anyway, a few questions... how do you think I stand being accepted academically to the University of Oregon and Davis? I know it will be a stretch just academic wise to get into Cal Poly SLO. Could anyone rate and compare Chico, Davis' and Cal Poly's teams/typical training? Out of those 3 I would like to run for Chico the most probably. Any other comments on my choices? Like I said, I'm not planning on going to SJ State but it's still on the list for the time being because it's so close.

The LIST

Chico

UC Davis

Cal Poly SLO

Berkeley

Sacramento State

SJ State

NAU

ASU

University of Oregon

Your GPA is way too low for UC Davis. Even if your parents went there and you get into UCD by 'heredity' you will be killed by the Yellow Peril in your 1st quarter. UCD is part of the University of California which is tops in the world now. So don't even waste your money moving to Davis, California because with your lifestyle, academics is NOT the 1st priority you think of every day. I'm the same way so I know you, dude.

With around a 1900-2000 SAT and a good personal statement though do I have a chance academically? Also what about chances academically to Oregon?

I'm definitely going to be relying on my running to try to get into a few colleges. Academics are a priority, but granted I am more focused and dedicated to running. I feel like I would make it through college fine though because I am a good studyer/ test taker yet not so much on keeping up on written homework all the time, and have several friends in college at UC's and other top schools and know what it takes.

NAU (Flagstaff) is a great place to train, but be prepared for higher mileage if you go there. The majority of the good guys on the team put in the miles, and it is a program that thrives off of its long tempo and LT, and Tempo in Long Run workouts. 40 miles ain't gunna cut it there.

Also, the recruiting standards there for kids that they actively give a damn about are sub 9:10 and 4:15.

U of A- not a very good men's team dynamic, unless your African.

ASU- honestly, Louie Quintana is the best coach of all three big AZ schools. He values balance in his training, and is just an awesome guy. Coached a guy who became an Olympian this past year in the 3k Steeplechase in a STACKED field. He knows his stuff and he's a great person to boot.

Oregon- Go there if you can get on their team, but not if you actually want a good education.

Thats all I got for ya.

Are you flagpole? Same suggestions... I might be around 60 mpw by track season, that's better than what I was doing. I put in alot of time though with cross training too. I will be sub 9:10.

I'm not interested in U of A. ASU sounds good running wise from what you say, still not my top choice but that's good to hear.

Do you think I have a shot at making it in academically to Oregon? No one has answered that yet.

Have at it please wrote:

Do you think I have a shot at making it in academically to Oregon? No one has answered that yet.

No one's spoken to it because it's not a question. If you have a pulse and can spell your name correctly, you'll be admitted.

Get to work on that D, though. You want that all *done* and the grade changed before you turn in your applications, and you want to finish those apps not later than Thanksgiving break...

My advice is to narrow down your list to your top 5, visit each school and listen to your gut. Which school gives you the best feeling? That's the right choice for you!