Is running in college worth it for me?

Tough call, but from what you said, it sounds like you wouldn't have a great time at a school without a team. Have you done any campus tours and/or met the teams from any of the schools you've been considering?

You have some options. Reach out to NAIA coaches, there are some schools that literally give terrible runners athletic scholarships. They also combine them with academic ones so you could honestly save a lot of money doing so. This brings me to my point of not being afraid to go out of state for college. I went to a private D3 school and paid less than I would have for a state school because of academic scholarships (I wasn't even a great student, I just had above average SAT scores). Being a collegiate athlete on a team for four years was easily the best experience of my life. I have always said that I have lived more in those four years than I did in the 18 leading up to them, that's why I am know currently coaching at the collegiate level. You could also try to go to a judo for 2 years and run on a team to a point where you can improve enough to get a spot on one of those teams or another school that would make things more affordable. I could give more specific advice, but I'd need to know what major are you and what state are you in?

full send- I have visited one school and met the team and another one of the schools is very close by and I will likely visit the campus in a few weeks. The third one is in the same town as the one I originally visited I just didn't have the time to visit both campuses.

Hmmmmmm- I fear going to an NAIA institution because one of my coaches ran for a school that began to switch from NAIA to NCAA DII shortly after her joining the team and it severely limited her competition opportunities, though I will certainly reach out to any nearby schools that have my major and will give me an opportunity. I won't go JUCO route as I am currently a dually enrolled student at a nearby college and am already getting my basics out of the way, so I would likely just be wasting a couple of years taking courses which I don't necessarilly "need".

I would definitely appreciate any extra advice/insight you could give. My intended major is Mathematics with a focus in statistics and I currently live in Oklahoma, but would be open to options in any of the neighboring states.

Thanks!

Bump

To me, free school is the only way to go. Basically, you would be paying the 15k/year so you can be on a track team, with all others things equal between the schools. Is being on a team that important? It wouldn't be for me.

At the in-state schools ask about how to get a club running team started. You may find there is a large enough interest, but nobody has taken the initiative to get one started.

winnr1 wrote:

I am a very slow HS Junior male

What are your PRs?

how slow are you? wrote:

winnr1 wrote:

I am a very slow HS Junior male

What are your PRs?

18:43/10:37/4:54/2:18

B1G wrote:

To me, free school is the only way to go. Basically, you would be paying the 15k/year so you can be on a track team, with all others things equal between the schools. Is being on a team that important? It wouldn't be for me.

At the in-state schools ask about how to get a club running team started. You may find there is a large enough interest, but nobody has taken the initiative to get one started.

Sorry for the late response, I just forgot to respond for some reason here.

I always read through the NIRCA thread with a vague idea of what is going on and think that starting a team could be fun, but I don't know what the costs associated with this would be/if the schools would even support the idea/etc.

If I did go to one of the in-state schools I would for sure train solo for a few years in hope of becoming good enough to walk-on to the team, as improbable as it would be.

Sorry this is probably getting a bit annoying but i'll just bump this one last time, primarily for a response from "Hmmmmmmm," though anything is appreciated

Go to the in-state university for free and run on the club team. You'll save a ton of money, making your life more comfortable the next decade. Also you will still be able to race just the same, actually even more. I ran on a P5 conference team, had great friends. Dated a girl after college that was on a club team at a university, and it seemed she had just as many good friends from her club team as I did from my university team.

The slower people on teams don't get to travel to the good meets. So don't go to some school just because they'll allow you to walk-on.

Pick the in-state university assuming you don't completely hate it, and run on the club team.

You have a year to improve your running times. As soon as track ends, you should take a recovery week and then build to at least 70 mpw over the summer, which you should sustain for a year. Run before school if you have to. You should also read Daniels' Running Formula if you haven't done so. Get it at a library or buy it used on amazon or ebay.

Now this still won't get you fast enough to walk on a top team. You need to improve your sat/act so you get some grant/academic scholarship for these private schools you are looking at. You need to kill your admissions essays as well when you apply. Look at d3 and d2 out of your area. Pick a crazy major (but one that will pay off student loans) that makes going across the country make sense (eg if you want to be an aeronautical engineer, Embry Riddle is a great place to go, there are others out there, schools that specialize in specific fields while having other degree options). Get great grades senior year so that this is justified to your family.

What are your PRs?

18:43/10:37/4:54/2:18

Your 5k should be under 18 with those times.

Free school + run local 5ks or join/start a club team.

In 10 years you could be glad that you didn't have to pay back over $100k (includes interest) on loans and you'll still have college memories of running on a club team or starting a club team that is still going strong.

Or in 10 years you could be working towards finally paying off over $100k in loans and have some memories of being the slowest kid on your university's squad.

Sounds like an easy choice.

Take out as much student loans as possible. You wont have to pay it back where we are heading.

winnr1 wrote:

Bump

Best advice: skip college, learn a trade.