Go the best academic school, especially if one is far superior to the other. Although undergrad degrees seem to mean less and less these days, they are still meaningful.
Go the best academic school, especially if one is far superior to the other. Although undergrad degrees seem to mean less and less these days, they are still meaningful.
If you know your major, you may know what you want your occupation to be after graduation. In that case, speak to some people in that field and ask them if a degree from University A or University B matters in terms of getting a job, going to grad school, future opportunities etc. The D1 school may not be worth the extra cost, or it may be very much worth the extra cost. No generic advice on his website will be able to figure that out for you — jobs and industries differ. I work in an industry that is almost impossible to get into unless you went to a certain school; for others, it might not matter at all and it would be better to save the money. You need to do the work and figure that out.
Then, only after you have analyzed this, consider the running angle as a secondary consideration that would only influence your decision at the margins. There are a number of good posts here to help you think through that.
Best of luck to you.
Dude - unless you are olympic caliber, take the full ride where ever you can get it. So, definitely go 2/3 scholarship at D2, especially if it is a better academic school than the D1.
Coffee Grind wrote:
You have the opportunity to get a full ride, graduate with zero debt, and you are seriously wondering what to do? Brother, the 60 grand of debt you will not have after graduation is well worth passing up D1.
This.
No doubt.
If you are walking on, its academics and your future. X C is the least important thing. You can run anywhere any time. A D1 walk on is likely going to spend his weekends at school. Unless you think you are an unheralded talent who will spend the next 10 years after school trying to make a living while living in your friend's or family's basement
Can you use running to get into an Ivy or a D3 NESCAC type school? That'd be my pick. Figure out what you might want to do after graduation and look at schools who have strong academic programs.
If you walk on to the D1 program and never get to race would you be ok with that? Sounds like you would for sure be a contributing runner on the D2 team.
As noted by several posters, the main question is if the degree from the D2 school will handicap you at all in getting a job in your field compared to the D1 school. That is very situational for the degree, schools in question, field you want to work in, and if you are staying local or not in your post school job search.
You could always split the difference and go to the D2 school for a couple of years and then transfer to the D1 after that. You could get the degree from the D1 school, but save a couple years of costs. This would also would give you time to develop as a runner and see if transferring would be worth it based on your development.
Depends on the school. If they are comparable academically then it's a hard choice. Either way you're going to college for pretty cheap and or for free
If the D1 college is a nationally known academic college I would go for the D1 school. If you're injured and have to stop running you still have the academic scholarship, unless your grades suck, while you are out of luck on the athletic money. Just be sure you're OK with only racing a couple of times per season and the coach wont be a jerk to you before you commit.
If running is important to you then factor it in to the equation. You'll likely get to compete more at the D2 and school will be paid. No debt after college would be a huge help to you after graduating. They kind of make it sound like you won't get hired or won't have a chance at a good job if you go D2. This is nonsense. The quality of your education will depend largely on the work you put into it. I went to a D2 school. Didn't prevent me from getting a job. I know former teammates that landed good jobs in engineering and business straight out of college. Others that went on to med school and law school. Others still that went on to grad school in social sciences that are employed in a wide array of jobs here and abroad. You just have to figure out what you want and work towards it. You're not going to be flipping burgers or homeless just because you went DII over DI for academics. I mean, if you really were worried about getting a job after school you could go to a community college and go to nursing school. Do well there, work hard and go back to school to be a PA.
That said, if you like the academics at the DI school and it's related to the job you want out of college, sounds like a good deal to me as well. You, like just about every other person that ran in college, will likely not go on to competing in the Olympics. I think you will probably get more opportunities to compete running wise at a DII school but who knows... Just know you can be successful after college career wise regardless of which school you choose. Either way, it's going to come to hard work.
Peronics wrote:
If running is important to you then factor it in to the equation. You'll likely get to compete more at the D2 and school will be paid. No debt after college would be a huge help to you after graduating. They kind of make it sound like you won't get hired or won't have a chance at a good job if you go D2. This is nonsense. The quality of your education will depend largely on the work you put into it. I went to a D2 school. Didn't prevent me from getting a job. I know former teammates that landed good jobs in engineering and business straight out of college. Others that went on to med school and law school. Others still that went on to grad school in social sciences that are employed in a wide array of jobs here and abroad. You just have to figure out what you want and work towards it. You're not going to be flipping burgers or homeless just because you went DII over DI for academics. I mean, if you really were worried about getting a job after school you could go to a community college and go to nursing school. Do well there, work hard and go back to school to be a PA.
That said, if you like the academics at the DI school and it's related to the job you want out of college, sounds like a good deal to me as well. You, like just about every other person that ran in college, will likely not go on to competing in the Olympics. I think you will probably get more opportunities to compete running wise at a DII school but who knows... Just know you can be successful after college career wise regardless of which school you choose. Either way, it's going to come to hard work.
This has been a nice thread to follow, brings back a lot of relatable memories. I'd just caution you to believe, just because you went to "X" school that you'll get a job or won't get a job. Maybe that used to be the case, but being a college grad in the last decade, the job market and some industries are pretty unpredictable. Sure, some universities carry more weight in conversation, but it doesn't always translate to obtaining that desired job. Pretty cliche advice here, but make sure you at the minimum talk to the coaches, get an understanding of the class coming in with you, how deep is the roster at your given distance, and ultimately, where do you fall in line? Visit the campus and take in the whole scene, it's a 4-5 year investment, and if done right, should be an epic experience. Mine like many others I am sure will never forget their time in college, just do your homework to ensure it's the right situation for you. Enjoy the ride, it goes too fast!