Grad school walk-on

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11 years ago 04/27/2014 1:55pm EDT

I'm an Econ/Math undergraduate from Europe and am strongly considering attending graduate school (Econ) in the US, provided I can get into a Top 10 programme.

So far I've been able to combine my studies with competing on a pretty high level (think national level in a large middle European country) in the 800 and 1500 and since running has been a large part of my life for the past 15 years I'd like to continue running and competing in grad school.

I am aware that prelim hell awaits me, but as I have been able to combine a math undergrad with running, I still have a little bit of hope left that I can find one or two hours a day to run (and also vent off some steam).

I was wondering

a) how exactly does the collegiate/walk-on system work?

Where I come from you run for clubs and yourself, so noone forces you to run in any competitions, you only race what you think fits your season and shape best and don't have to bother with points for your college. How flexible would I be in choosing which races I compete in?

b) what exactly would the walk-on standards be for someone like me who is not looking for funding or anything, but just wants to run and compete primarily for the sake of it (and his team/school) at schools like Yale/Harvard/Berkeley/MIT/Stanford/Princeton/Chicago/NYU/Columbia...

c) any other comments and/or tips are appreciated.

Before people tell me that I can't take any admission for granted, due to locational preferences and the longer duration of US PhDs, I would only consider going to grad school in the US, if I could get an admission from one of the above (or similiar) and stay in Europe otherwise.

11 years ago 04/27/2014 2:06pm EDT

re: Yuro

I'm not sure if you're allowed to start your 4 years of eligibility from scratch in grad school. There might be a rule that you can only compete one or two years or something. But I don't know.

Once you narrow down your academic options a bit, you would be best off contacting the coaches of the schools via email. They can help you figure out the rules.

I would guess that you will probably not be able to compete in the Ivy League (includes Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia), because they have a 4-year rule and so grad students usually aren't allowed to compete. But if you haven't competed at all before, maybe it's possible.

11 years ago 04/27/2014 2:29pm EDT

re: Yuro

MIT and NYU are D3, so you definitely couldn't compete there as a grad student. Assuming you have a 4-year undergrad, you would have at most one year of eligibility at D1 schools, and you'd be ineligible if you've been accepting prize money in your "high level" competitions.

11 years ago 04/27/2014 4:36pm EDT

re: kartelite

There is essentially 0 prize money at our competitions.

If you're good enough to make finals at nationals you might get some sponsors who kit you out with a pair of shoes and gear and occasionally you might win something like 50$ at a track meet or a gift voucher at road races.

We have three year undergrad, but I will probably have to add a Masters before entering grad school. Luckily, some Masters here let you spend a year abroad in US where you are then expected to complete PhD coursework anyway..

So if I understand correctly, I don't have much eligibility, if any, left.

What are the alternatives?

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