What factors did you consider when choosing a college, and what factors do you wish you had considered?

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  • oh brother
    registered
    5 years ago 11/28/2014 11:21am CST
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    What factors did you consider when choosing a college, and what factors do you wish you had considered?

    For me I actively thought about:
    - D1 vs D3
    - School's academic reputation (i.e. prestige)
    - How comfortable I felt on my visit / how much I liked the guys & girls on the team
    - Urban vs rural campus

    Things I didn't really think about too much, but probably should have:
    - Coaches
    - Other recruits / team performance
    - School's academic philosophy (e.g. strict core requirements vs. loose requirements)
    - Overall school social scene (e.g. frats vs bars)

    In the end, I wound up choosing a school that made me really happy and set me up for a great career post-college. However, I certainly think I could have developed into a better runner at other schools and had more team success. Especially while I was still at school, I wondered whether I should have thought more about factors that I didn't.

    What factors did you consider?
  • Gerstere
    5 years ago 11/28/2014 11:28am CST
    re: oh brother
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    I chose the college that accepted me.
  • NESCACer
    5 years ago 11/28/2014 1:41pm CST
    re: oh brother
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    Wish I had considered:
    -Attractiveness of the female student body
  • formerly present
    registered
    5 years ago 11/28/2014 7:57pm CST
    re: oh brother
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    My choice was back in the day, and "clueless" describes it fairly well.

    I basically applied to schools/programs that I had heard of. [I only received unsolicited mail from *one* college, Michigan State--they had some kind of special scholarship that they mailed me info about. I didn't apply, mostly because I had little interest in going "Back East" for college.]

    Having lived in Washington State and then El Paso for some years, I applied to UW and UTEP; having grown up in the West and heard that Stanford, Caltech, and Deep Springs were good, I applied to those. My older sister had won some sort of national writing award, so she received info about a special six-year (UG+Grad) Ph.D. program that was hosted by an Ivy, and I applied there too, though I didn't think I'd get in.

    I was accepted pretty much everywhere--it was some years later before I learned that I would have been accepted by every college except women's schools and the military academies--didn't hear from the six-year thing so I deposited with Caltech (easy choice over Stanford, though I did get a great financial-aid offer from The Farm). Then on the last possible day I got a telegram about being accepted for the 6Y thing and, after a couple of agonizing days, decided to forfeit the Caltech deposit and ended up at the Ivy.

    In retrospect I think the deciding factor for me was just how difficult/exclusive admission to each college/program was. I really didn't have a clue to things like academic quality. For instance, I thought Penn State and Harvard were basically the same: two big Eastern schools that I'd heard about; and to me the Ivy League only meant a "locker loop" on the back of your shirt. Athletic programs were not a factor at all and economics played no significant role (I would have ended up with about the same bottom-line expense everywhere). So I basically joined the club that was most reluctant, or so it seemed, to have me as a member.

    BTW during the whole application process the only colleges (of those listed) that I'd actually seen were UW and UTEP. The first time I saw the Ivy was the day before classes began.
  • TAA
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    5 years ago 11/28/2014 8:06pm CST
    re: oh brother
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    - How highly they were ranked in my state in the major I wanted to do
    - Price

    Nothing else really mattered to me. Didn't really care about running in college. Out of state school was too expensive.
  • Love of Lactate
    5 years ago 11/28/2014 8:09pm CST
    re: oh brother
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    I wish I had considered what a complete and utter waste of time and money college is for most people
  • Here we go....
    5 years ago 11/28/2014 8:39pm CST
    re: Love of Lactate
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    College, a waste of time? Here we go again, another LetsRun thread about to be highjacked by the dark side...happens all the time.
  • wossamotta
    5 years ago 11/28/2014 9:00pm CST
    re: Here we go....
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    I had a chance to attend an Ivy League school and green was my favorite color.
  • adsgadsfds
    5 years ago 11/28/2014 10:56pm CST
    re: wossamotta
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    I applied to the top universities in the region that had a good science program. It was also important to me that it be a large university with a diverse student body where I could get a liberal arts education (not Caltech or Harvey Mudd or Carnegie Mellon).

    In retrospect I wish I had applied to schools further from home.

    I also got really lucky to run on the XC team, I was definitely not fast enough for DI when I started.
  • I Chose D2
    registered
    5 years ago 11/28/2014 11:17pm CST
    re: oh brother
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    I chose based on a lot of factors, some of them weighted much more heavily than others.

    overall prestige of the university
    do they have my major, is it an established program?
    coach
    location
    campus atmosphere/environment
    tradition of xc/track teams
    current state of xc/track teams
    athletic facilities
    quality of other athletic teams on campus
    administrative support of athletics
    athletic division/conference
    shoe/apparel company used by xc/track team
    school colors and mascot

    Like I said some of these carried a whole lot more weight than others, but they were all important factors in my decision, and I ended up with no regrets.
  • Guppy
    registered
    5 years ago 11/29/2014 1:30am CST
    re: oh brother
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    I really only thought about running and money when I chose a college. I thought that at the undergraduate level it wouldn't matter, which I still believe to some extent. What I didn't consider that I definitely would consider now is the type of students you're likely to be surrounded by. If you're a stellar student at a party school, be prepared to feel alienated and like you're surrounded by idiots most of the time. Even if you're able to still get a great education, you just won't be running into people you like very often. I feel like the school I went to for my undergrad was decent, but I still didn't really fit in with my peers until I got to grad school. I expect had I gone to an Ivy League or equivalent I would have had a better undergraduate experience. I DID come out of undergrad with zero debt though, so it's possible I made the right decision anyway.

    That brings me to something else: money. Do not under any circumstance go to an expensive school if you have a cheap alternative. Unless you're planning on becoming president of the United States, it's not worth paying tens of thousands of extra dollars for the name on your resume. There are tons of schools out there that nobody has heard of. Don't worry too much if you end up going to one.

    I guess for me, money is the number one factor. Even $30k difference total over four years is huge. It could take you a decade to pay that off depending on what you major in.
  • trossi
    registered
    5 years ago 11/29/2014 7:05am CST
    re: formerly present
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    I just graduated from my undergraduate school, a school that a transferred to after my freshman year because i disliked where I initially was. I was much happier at the second school. I think it really boiled down to:

    Initially decision was based on academic reputation and location, thats really it.

    Second decision was based much more around the student body and the overall atmosphere/culture of the school (influenced by the student body obviously).

    I say go somewhere that you enjoy the feel of. There are a lot of people at colleges so you can always find groups of friends, as I did at my first institution, but you still interact with the larger population regularly and it really helps to have a group of people you enjoy being around. For me diversity was a huge thing and the school I went to at first had very little in terms of diversity where as the second school was much more diverse and i think thats why i enjoyed it more.
  • Conundrum
    registered
    5 years ago 11/29/2014 7:41am CST
    re: oh brother
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    I was pretty clueless when I selected undergrad school. Issues were mostly money and stretching myself academically and location.

    When it came to grad school it came down to job placement percentage and starting salaries of graduates.
  • comdemiumious
    5 years ago 11/29/2014 7:48am CST
    re: Conundrum
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    I chose D2.
  • Spaceball Ricochet
    5 years ago 11/29/2014 7:49am CST
    re: Conundrum
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    Ratio of males to females.
    (Don't go to Iowa State!)
  • m runner
    5 years ago 11/29/2014 10:30am CST
    re: Spaceball Ricochet
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    Large public school
    In-state, but not in hometown
    Good business school
    Good sports teams, national following
    Didn't have to write an essay

    I'm fine with my choice. It's been almost 25 years since i made it.
  • joey from airplane
    5 years ago 11/29/2014 11:13am CST
    re: m runner
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    I considered cost and convenience: I went to a state university close to my hometown. If I had to do it all over again, I would consider...cost and convenience. I graduated debt free and remain thankful that I didn't have to start my working life in a financial hole.

    I ran on the cross country and track teams all four years, but I was never going to be an All-American, conference champion, or Olympic Trials qualifier, so really any team or coach would have done, so long as I got to run. What was a bad coach going to do, hinder my "development" as a hobby jogger?
  • Farmboy
    5 years ago 11/29/2014 12:29pm CST
    re: oh brother
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    TCU: Air Force ROTC program, School of Journalism, proximity to home, track program (no XC program when I applied.

    Ran a year of track as a walk on. Majored in Journalism/Sports Writing. Was able to get home on weekends if need be. Completed the four-year ROTC program and have been serving as an officer for 28+ years.

    Great school and I'm very happy with my choice back in '82.
  • reality czech
    5 years ago 11/29/2014 1:56pm CST
    re: Love of Lactate
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    Love of Lactate wrote:

    I wish I had considered what a complete and utter waste of time and money college is for most people

    Hey, a worthwhile post! Finally somebody dishing out good advice. Ignoring the existence of colleges is financially the smartest thing you can do. Frees you up from flushing your running skills down the toilet for the sake of some team, too.
    Myself, I did not consider college.
  • lol1
    5 years ago 11/29/2014 2:16pm CST
    re: oh brother
    Forum Index
    Then - I chose a school that had some majors I was interested in.
    Today- I wish I would have chose a school with a better female to male ratio