Where should I run in college? (Looking to transfer)

coaches can get you in june if they want u as a transfer dont worry run fast in april or may

I would suggest remaining at a D1 school.. you have the talent and work ethic necessary and will have the best chance to improve. I would suggest looking at schools a little further, maybe Montana State or Montana. Washington State maybe too. That region is fairly similar to the Midwest. And definitely transfer ASAP.. if you wait a year who knows how much you'll improve if at all training on your own and it is more difficult to stay motivated.

If you want to stay in the Midwest and stay Division I, you might look at the more competitive MVC, OVC and Sunbelt schools. EIU, SEMO, Carbondale, Illinois State, Bradley, etc are all in the general area of you and might be places you can flourish. Most of them are pretty affordable too. I ran for one of them and ran against the rest pretty regularly. Not top 50 schools, but top 100 of of the 300 something DI's.

Good suggestions but the majority of those schools aren't competitive on a national level and aren't too strong academically. Not knocking them, fine places and they definitely serve their purpose for the local students who make up their majority. I'd say OP should take a look but might not be the best fits. Also I know several of those schools party often. Sounds like you would like to make an impact on the D3 level.

I think UAA would be great for you. You'd be competitive and the schools are top notch. Unfortunately they're expensive and hard to transfer into. Same with NESCAC, although not as diverse and all east coast. Still, the tough transfer rate and expensive tuition play a factor in that conference too.

Look up the schools that competed at D3 Nationals, and look up US News and World Reports rankings of all those schools. You'll find many great schools that you can probably thrive at, and come out with a great education too. Just email the coaches and find out if you can run there.

Thanks I am doing that right now. All the ones I'd like to go to seem to be too tough to get into or too expensive like someone stated earlier.

I just don't want to go to a school that not many have heard of or has lower academic reputation than my current school solely to run. To be honest I haven't found too many schools yet that I think would fit me well, but I know I'm being really picky and just feel so unsure of what to do right now.

I do appreciate all the suggested schools given so far. I also am looking at the MVC's but I'm not too keen on staying D1. Perhaps Carbondale if I would pick any of those, but not that interested. Strong team but I think I would enjoy making more of an impact than just being towards the back end of bigger races (D3 vs. D1 scenario). I'm always up for a challenge, but personally I think I'll enjoy it more if I am feeling like a factor and can make it to nationals. In D1 it would be a stretch for me to ever make it.

UAA schools look amazing - sadly I don't think it's realistic for me anymore.

Happy Holidays

You need to go to LANE COMMUNITY! ELLIAS GEDYON IS THERE!!!

op what u decide to do?

I didn't decide yet, still weighing my options. Having a difficult time finding a school and making up my mind with not much time as to if I want to transfer for next Fall. Looking everything over right now

I am a junior at a California school and I have been in a similar predicament as you my Freshman year. However, I stayed and things actually got much better. Being a Freshman is a really tough adjustment, especially if you had a different High School experience from those on your current team. I would suggest you hang in there another season and see if things improve. Things usually get better with time and people grow more accepting.

If you do transfer, I do know some California schools that you could probably get into easily...

D1:

San Jose State - Injury-stricken squad, but rising up. Great college atmosphere and very affordable.

University of San Diego - Usually solid times, but very expensive.

Fresno State - 6th in Mountain West Conference, your times should qualify.

Cal. State Northridge - Big West Competitor, You would probably be their #1, but the school is affordable, very close to LA and diverse. Great track and field atmosphere.

D2:

Cal Poly Pomona - CCAA Competitor (One of the Best Conferences of the West Region) usually place in the middle of the conference. Great coaching.

Cal State East Bay - CCAA Competitor, last place. Cheap school. Program on the rise. Lots of diversity.

Cal State Monterey Bay - CCAA Competitor, 7th place. Strong individual frontrunner, not too much depth after though. Program on the rise as well. Beautiful location and trails, very affordable as well. Lots of diversity.

Cal. State Stanislaus - CCAA Competitor, 6th place. Good coaching and an older, mature team. Affordably priced and sent an individual to nationals this year.

Humboldt State - CCAA Competitor, 2nd place, 16th nationally. Stunning campus and great coaching. Should be even stronger in the future. Campus has a reputation of pot, but definitely one to look at. May be a little pricey though.however.

D3:

UC Santa Cruz - One of the cheaper UC's, they have been rising up the last few years and remained ranked in the West Region for a while. Pretty new program with a good coach, so you can be a part of building something. Campus has diversity, good academics, and looks out of a movie.

NAIA:

Cal. State San Marcos - AII Conference Champs, 3rd Nationally in NAIA. Beautiful campus with lots of diversity. The coach is legendary Steve Scott! Affordable and a good fit.

Master's College - GSAC 4x Champions, usually in NAIA Nationals and fare well. They have great coaching and their #1 won major invites against some of the best runners in D1 (i.e. Stanford Invitational) However, it is a very Christian-based team and they are dedicated to their faith, so if you are not religious it may not be the choice for you.

I know you want to stay Midwest, but just a little something to think about.

Thanks for the great advice and info on California schools. I don't think I want to make such a big move to a school in Cali but I certainly appreciate you giving some insight on the teams!

And with my current feelings for the team I'm on plus the fact I have a study abroad coming up, the coach already knows I'm not competing next semester, and my trip is set already so I'm not backing out of that. And I don't want to of course, it should be fun and a cool experience.

I'm going to give north central a look I suppose. Seems like a really big team. If I went there that would be a pretty big move for running, not too sure if it would be the best academic switch from my current school.

Side note, I ran a time trial with my old high school team and went 9:37 for 3200 which was fun. Nice to know I'm in good shape off the light training I've been doing.

Still looking at schools, thinking about when to transfer, and open to more suggestions

If anyone was interested in an update it looks like I'm just not going to compete next year. I haven't connected with any coaches. My study abroad is a BLAST and I am just enjoying exploring a new part of the world on my own. I've gotten in touch with myself more. I've probably isolated myself too much but it's nice to be away from the US and just see new things and learn somewhere else. That being said I haven't trained in quite awhile. When I return beginning of March I am going to start running with no goal in mind. Most college transfer dates are march so it's too late for me to get things together.

I may look into transferring my junior year although that will depend on a lot of things. I'm sad I've kind of ruined my collegiate running career but my current mood since I'm abroad isn't dragging me down too much. I hope I will find a program to run for in the future. Ill be running without a team my sophomore year which will probably be boring. Thanks everyone for the help. I will continue to weigh my options when I return to the states and try to find a potential team to enjoy my last 2 years..

Hey I hate to bring up an old thread but OP did you pick a school, or decide what you're going to do?

I'm in a similar situation to you, and really appreciated reading opinions in this thread and the school suggestions.

If you have only use your Freshman eligibility; Richard Bland College in Virginia is in need of Distance runners for their first year in NJCAA. They had great transfer agreements with all the Virginia universities.