Recruiting at D3 liberal arts colleges?

@Bewerbungssache, thx for the insight as yes she has does the hard work to date to be able to be considered for admission to schools like Amherst, Swarthmore and Williams, and yes she recognizes that this is just the first step in her academic journey and is very excited to see where it takes her - in particular, the Lang Center for Civil and Social Responsibility at Swarthmore immediately grabbed her attention as we sat in the admissions information session so she knows that a passion amongst several others.

As I previously mentioned, both Willams and Swarthmore are at the top of her list - my brother is a Swattie so it's has a special place in her heart. Any insight that you may have regarding how to best position herself as she moves into the application process next Fall would be very much appreciated.

DIII wrote:

One school I would really recommend is Washington and Lee in Va. It sits in the Shenandoah valley..Excellent academics and has a decent DIII team..

Also if its not too late ..Check out the following..

Dickenson College

Allegehany University

Bridgewater College

If the opinions of random people on the internet are being respected then I recommend Washington and Lee be given a look. The academics are great and campus is wonderful. The area has a lot of outdoorsy activities to do and great places to run while Brandon Spalding is doing well in his first few years coaching there.

While not as strong academically, Bridgewater College is in a better area and has better teams. They're not as fast as New York teams but winter is easier, there are hundreds of miles of trails and dirt roads to run, and academics are on par with all other D3 schools in VA, minus W&L. Brian Flynn has taken a lot of 5:5x girl milers and made them 5:0x milers in his time at BC which is something to consider if running is important to her. Don't overlook runner development at the schools your daughter is considering. Williams, Haverford, and the likes get fast kids from high school so the runners of your daughters caliber might get brushed to the side.

@Former Eagle, thx for the recommendation as W&L is a great LAC also. Yes, she would love the opportunity to work with coaches that are focused on development as while my daughter has only been running for two years she keeps getting faster so hopefully more to come for her.

This thread is the most suburban white thing I have ever seen. Is LAC seriously a commonly used abbreviation?

Ephs wrote:

Eph junior wrote:

I'm on the guys team but she sounds really passionate so she can stay in my room

This is fake, no one on the Williams men's team would post this.

Yea, they like wang

You want to maximize her chances of being able to run at her top choice (which sounds like Williams)? and you want to accomplish this by the Fall, so she can do ED?

Why make this so complicated? Look at their track roster and talk to the coach. Whatever their slowest girl is running for 1500 and 5000, and 3000m indoors is what she has to be able to run by the Fall.

Then she can be confident that she will be able to run BEFORE she even gets admitted early. If she cannot run this when she reports for school, then she cannot be confident that she will run at all.

Is it the 1500m equivalent of a 5:20 1600? Well, then she has her work cut out for her. Do they even have participation standards for D3? Because Title IX has a lot to do with parity of scholarships, maybe they don't even have standards? I have seen males running the indoor mile in over 5:00 in D3. I am thinking that you don't know if they have them or what they would be ... or you would not ask this question.

The plan or strategy to run "fast enough" for this school is the same as running the 4:00-mile or the 15:00 5k or the 2:30 marathon or running under 16:00 XC as a senior. Or improving at any kind of distance running.

Your daughter and her coach can work out how she can run faster, they together would know the most of anyone about that.

So- I guess you don't know that LACs have all kinds of majors, such as physical sciences, social sciences, math, engineering, computer science, etc.

They do.

Surprised you didn't know that.

coach d wrote:

Oh no, go wrote:

This thread is the most suburban white thing I have ever seen. Is LAC seriously a commonly used abbreviation?

Los Angeles Clippers?

This is the reality:

liberal arts === #5 on the Forbes list of "The Worst College Majors."

Why does anyone want to get into this garbage? Get a real degree and a real career, and do something useful on this planet, instead of becoming a leech with an ego problem.

Today I learned that liberal arts colleges only have one major.

nationsrd wrote:

Lots of expensive options listed here.

If you want something cheaper, consider SUNY Geneseo. It's NYS' public honors college, and certainly qualifies as a liberal arts college. The program is very strong - men were 3rd, women were 2nd at D3 XC Nats in 2015.

Don't buy into this "Geneseo is the ivy league of state schools" crap they try to sell you. Their acceptance rate is relatively low because everyone and their mother tries to apply here so they can party but end up at Buff State or Brockport when they don't get accepted.

Geneseo has a strong running program, especially with Coach Moore taking over now. But don't let them fool you they are academically elite. I know a handful of athletes that had to stay 5th years cause they weren't on track to graduate on time.

I went to a perennial top academic 20 school, with rankings ranging from about 10 to 30 over the past 25 years. They also have a solid running program. The OP and daughter seem way too hoidy toidy for such a place, so we shall keep it unnamed and unmentioned here.

The Va schools are up and coming especially in running..most of the talent in both CNU and Bridgewater are Freshman / Sophmore talent..which means they will have a strong foundation for the next several years and If Im not mistaken I believe both just won their conferences this past weekend ..Im also a big fan of W&L ..great academics, beautiful campus..really worth consideration..Their running program isnt as strong but the schools academic reputation speaks for itself..Bridgewater has an outstanding coach as mentioned earlier in this thread in Brian Flynn..He is a young enthusiastic coach who in the short time hes been coaching has already produced many championships to the schools name..I believe he was Coach of the Year for the ODAC... Yes Williams is outstanding but I bet it has an outstanding price tag as does W&L..If price comes into play you may want to check out the schools above..Really, good luck with your decision...

just send her to cmu and be done with it.

unless you want her to have some crappy job, then send her to some of other schools listed here. cnu? loooool

A bitter letsrunner, sounds like a great school and a great collegiate running experience - exactly what she is looking for, thx

DIII, great feedback - thx so much

Contains multitudes wrote:

So- I guess you don't know that LACs have all kinds of majors, such as physical sciences, social sciences, math, engineering, computer science, etc.

They do.

Surprised you didn't know that.

Physical and life sciences = have to go to grad school

Plus at a liberal arts college you won't have faculty doing research so good luck getting any experience in your field or publishing.

Math likely is the same as above. Seriously, why go to a school where the professor's aren't actively engaged in their field? It is just stupid.

Ex. My girlfriend was a history major at a large public university. She worked and did research in the law school's archives learning how to take care of old documents. Now she works as an archivist. Some Podunk liberal arts college just won't have those kinds of resources.

No employer is going to think that your engineering degree at a liberal arts college is rigorous and they probably don't even recruit at whatever liberal arts college.

Computer science same as engineering. No one views the liberal arts school as rigorous. Plus the school wont have any industry connections. Google comes to my public university and gives out free food, t-shirts etc trying to get comp sci kids excited about trying to work at Google.

Hi biodad - it sounds like you and your DD know as much about any of the schools as anyone on the thread. It also sounds like she has a plan and wants to go to Williams

What exactly are you looking for here?

I ran at Haverford - good school, but expensive, and thay kills me every month when i shell out my loan payments. Great running programs, especially the coaches.

@Class of 1833, there are lots of great colleges that she would be thrilled to study at and compete for, and yes Haveford is definitely in that group - she toured two weeks ago and liked it alot.

Simply looking for feedback from those who have had similar experiences as to the best path a dedicated student and developing runner should take to continue to pursue her goal of being a collegiate student athlete at a DIII liberal arts college. Thx so much.

Class of 1833 wrote:

Hi biodad - it sounds like you and your DD know as much about any of the schools as anyone on the thread. It also sounds like she has a plan and wants to go to Williams

What exactly are you looking for here?

I ran at Haverford - good school, but expensive, and thay kills me every month when i shell out my loan payments. Great running programs, especially the coaches.

Yup, been watching this thread, and you got it.

You really are way off base on this. At the colleges mentioned here, the professors often are engaged in their fields and doing research. And the idea that these highly selective colleges are not rigorous, and that employers don't recruit there- no offense, but you are showing that you really don't know this topic. I'm glad the choices of you and your girlfriend worked out, and of course there are great things about large universities- but you are misinformed about the "LACs" mentioned in this thread.