College Choice

Dude, totally check out UT. Seriously though, a GPA of 98? That must be a lot of IB courses.

Did you make national merit? Dallas is free.

-It really depends what you're looking for from a college (running) experience...

With your grades alone you will be capable of attending just about any university in the country. In addition to being accepted, you will receive significant financial aid to MANY schools.

-Answer a few questions first...

1.) How important is it to be close to home? Make a radius of miles or hours away from DFW that you would be willing to be from home.

2.) What would you like to study?/What career/job would you like?

3.) Is it important for you to contribute immediately, or are you willing to train while patiently waiting for your chance to run top 7 in xc, and just make a travel squad during the track season?

4.) Are you seeking athletic scholarship?

-UT, as someone suggested, would be a good fit as an in-state student, however with your performances to date you may not make an immediate impact on UT's squad, which may limit the amount of athletic-aid you would receive.

-South Central Region(Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas):

1. Arkansas - Strong resources for Track/XC, unlikely to contribute, average academics, great network of alumni

2. Texas- Strong resources for Track/XC, unlikely to contribute immediately, strong academics, great network of alumni

3. Texas A&M- Strong resources for Track/XC, potential to contribute by year 2 with development, strong academics specifically in engineering fields, great network of alumni

4. Rice- Minimal resources for Track/XC, potential to contribute is higher but more likely by year 2, strong academics

5. North Texas- Minimal resources for Track/XC, potential to contribute is higher but more likely by year 2, average academics

Worth mentioning: TULANE has a high academic reputation though their team is very weak after the 2 international athletes, LAMAR is missing a #5 runner and could benefit from your times plus they have a strong reputation if you are interested in Petroleum Engineering, BAYLOR has a strong academic reputation and would be thrilled to have a runner of your ability, LOUISIANA TECH also has a good reputation in engineering fields and they finished just ahead of Baylor though you'd probably be their top runner, and finally HOUSTON has solid academics and Coach Magness has a cult following here on the message boards.

-Midwest Region(Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri)

3. Tulsa- Minimal resources for track/xc but a very strong reputation academically, you would probably be 1-2 years from contributing to their XC squad but they have a great history of developing and performing at a high level

Worth mentioning: BRADLEY in Peoria, IL qualified for NCAA with a second place finish small university with a solid academic reputation and a recent history of developing athletes of your ability level into high performers, SAINT LOUIS has a very high academic reputation and you could contribute immediately

-Mountain Region(W. Texas, New Mexico, N. Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, E. Idaho)

13. UTEP- Minimal resources for track/xc however they have arguably one of the most historic programs in NCAA history, if you'd like to run with the Kenyans and get an average education this would be the place

17. Texas Tech- Great resources for track/xc, average to above-average academic reputation with large network of alumni especially throughout the south/southwest, they were the last place team in the Mountain Region so you could make an immediate impact in XC, however making their travel squad in track would be difficult, on the plus side they host a slew of home meets that you could compete at

-Within close proximity of DFW:

North Texas mentioned above

UT-Arlington was 7th in the South Central Region, could make an immediate impact

TCU was 21st, solid academic reputation however they're distance program is virtually non-existent

Dallas Baptist is NCAA DII, but they are worth mentioning because they dominated their conference championship with 25:11 team average which is on par with UTA, and better than TCU.

-Across the nation that would be a great fit for your academic and athletic performances:

ANY of the Ivy League

College of William and Mary

Colorado School of Mines(D2)

The service academies- Army/West Point, Naval Academy, or Air Force Academy

Furman

Cal Berkley

UCLA

Michigan

Vanderbilt(XC Only)

Answer the questions above and you'll get a little bit better idea from me and other posters...

Go ahead and email all the power 5 Texas schools' distance coaches that have good academic programs in the field you wish to pursue

Also you can reach out to current athletes on social media

1. I'd be willing to go about 8 hours driving give or take 30 minutes for education

2. Psychology, poly sci

3. I'd be fine waiting to make an impact. I've been making an impact since freshman year in hs but I think getting adjusted that freshman year without having to make an impact could be nice.

4. It'd be nice to have athletic but my academic definitely should make the financial burden easier.

#1-3 PoliSci Programs in the Southwest are...

1. Texas

2. Texas A&M

3. Rice

Those are great starting points. Check that list out a lot of the previously mentioned schools rank high in the Southwest.

Mostly good info, but I have two caveats to add:

1) Vanderbilt -- They give no scholarships and as a result have a horrible team. Not really that fun.

2) Michigan -- His times aren't good enough for them to be interested. He is barely under their walk-on standard of 9:30 for 3200, so he should only go there if he REALLY just wants to go to the University of Michigan. No guarantee they will let him walk on...need to run 9:10 to get a "partial scholarship", according to their website.

You didn't answer the question regarding national merit. 34 ACT is about the level where kids start making the equivalent SAT cut for national merit. Alabama, UT Dallas, Oklahoma, OK State are all very attractive options then.

You'd make an impact right away at a school like Louisiana-Monroe (ULM), or Northwestern State (NSU). Not super far from home either. I know ULM has an out of state fee waiver, so they'd probably offer you money and get a tuition decrease.

I didn't make national merit but I think I was close

As of tonight, Texas has a TON of new recruits. Texas A&M hasn’t pulled any huge guys, or any at all that I’ve seen, so maybe that would be a viable option.

You had a 34 but don’t know what your psat score was or how close to semi finalist category you were? That doesn’t bode well for your IQ.

Honestly if he didn't actually take the psat that'd be better for him cause it's just a scam to take the test another time but not have it count for anything. Smart people just take the SAT their junior year the first and last time.

I have 2 sons who scored 35s on the ACT and are National Merit Scholars. One attends Alabama and one attends Kentucky. My bill of $0 for college doesn’t seem like a scam to me.

Small world seeing it mentioned on these boards, I'm a Louisiana Tech Alum. As an out-of-state student, I paid next to nothing with my 32 on the ACT and 3.90. Financially, it was an easy decision compared to the options I had in Arkansas. It looks like the standard has been bumped to 33+ since...

https://www.latech.edu/admissions/freshman-scholarships/

I didn't run for Tech, but based on the results I saw it'd be worth a phone call to the coach.

Look closely wrote:

As of tonight, Texas has a TON of new recruits. Texas A&M hasn’t pulled any huge guys, or any at all that I’ve seen, so maybe that would be a viable option.

A&M signed a 4:10 miler out of California, but that is about it.