Take Scholarship from D2 or attempt to walk on at D1?

D2 is dumb wrote:

Most D2 schools are not good academically. I don't believe that you are actually getting an athletic scholarship with those times. They probably found something else that they are masquerading as an athletic scholarship to make you feel good.

Many D2 schools are very good academically though, I don't think you ought to make that much of a generalization. Especially when it comes to specific academic programs, they can be better than many many options unless you're getting into ND or and Ivy league or something

Prestigious wrote:

Sorry to disappoint you, but that us exactly what they are, a measure of prestige. All of the ivies, Stanford, Northwestern, Cal, MIT, U of Chicago, are there. 99% of the population views those as the prestigious colleges. D2 schools typically have average ACTs in the low 20s while most D1 schools have ACTs in the high 20s. Recruiters aren't going to go where the idiots are even if you believe the education is not bad.

You're out of your mind if you think the average for many D1s are in the high 20s. You telling me it takes a 28 ACT to get into Western Mich? Forget it

D3 is slow wrote:

Guess again. Check the schedules of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, Purdue, and Michigan. Only D1 at any of their meets.

Minnesotta had D3 teams at their home meet last year. Indiana has D2 and D3 teams at their home meet every year.

Iowa has a D2 team coming to their first meet per their schedule.

How about this Wisconsin meet from last year

Check out how many D3 and D1 teams are at Grand Valley State meets every year.

Every year at the Mt. Sac relays people get placed in heats based on their times and not on their division.

Good advice on checking those schedules though, thanks!

No there aren't. Colorado Mines is arguably the best D2 college and it is only ranked 84th. It is behind 83 D1 and D3 colleges.

TONS of D1 schools race meets with D2/D3 teams, especially their "B" teams which include runners who are definitely not slouches. I think the burden is to find teams that don't do this. Plus if you're a good enough D2/D3 runner, you can get into the big track invites like Stanford, etc. The line is fairly blurred once you get away from meets like Nuttycomb and Prenats as to who can compete.

Georgetown competed against John Hopkins which is d3 nice try

In the Army now wrote:

You should not mislead our youth into thinking that D2 schools are okay.

Whatever, it's always situational to the student and his background. The studies should be challenging but not a struggle. A lots of guys who are mediocre students in Ivies wouldn't transform into great students at most D2 schools. Then again, there are those who play down to the field.

OP is a girl, yes?

If you are not trolling and you really want to run on a college team, not a club team, then do not go D1. You are not very good as a runner, and you have no shot at any even slightly bad D1 team. If a D2 is offering you money as slow as you are and money is a big factor for you, take it.

D1 smarty wrote:

Please direct me to the website of a respectable D1 who competes agsinst D3 schools. You can't make things up these days.

Where is the respectable D1 team?

The first step is being realistic with your goals, and what you are looking to get out of college. Try to take an unbiased view of the schools. Look at them as academic institutions first and foremost - even if you get a small running scholarship at a D2 school, that consideration pales in comparison to how the school fits you academically. Athletically, the D1 school looks like it is probably reasonably competitive, especially if there is some depth around the top of their roster. The D2 school looks pretty weak, running-wise - those times aren't even really that good for D3.

Just looking at things on the surface, it looks like neither of these schools is really a great fit for your athletic talents. Assuming you are moderately trained, good goals for college would be maybe 1:56 in the 800 and 4:00 in the 1500. That would leave you without great training partners at the D2 school, and you would still pretty much be a scrub at the D1 school.

Maybe you are very undertrained - if that is the case, perhaps you could contribute to a D1 team in a couple years, if you can up your training AND stay healthy. I doubt you are overtrained, considering your weak distance times.

How does the club team look at the D1 school? Some club teams are considerably stronger than the D2 school you are looking at, and that could also be a good fit for you.

Can someone point out the D2 school giving out athletic scholarships for these times listed

D3 is slow wrote:

Guess again. Check the schedules of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, Purdue, and Michigan. Only D1 at any of their meets.

Those teams all run at the Drake Relays and mix with D2 and D3 schools. I ran against U of MN and Wisc athletes multiple times back in the day.

I now live in SoCal and see P5 and top west coast schools rub elbows all the time with their lower brethren.

You are not fast. Fast as in being competitive in D1

D2.....take the money....enjoy your college experience

You can't really go wrong. I would look at D2/3 schools if you're committed to running on a team in college. A d1 might not let you walk on without some serious improvement. Your 800 looks strongest so maybe you could get there for track after a year or two. I would focus on what you want to do long term. What school is the best fit? What school has strong academic programs for what you might want to major in? A lot of d3 schools are better academically than d2 and even d1 schools. If you really want to run I would say figure out what you want in a program/school and make some visits. A lot of athletes need to reach out to the schools they are interested in. A tough d3 type school could help you get through admissions. My advice would be to figure out what you want from your college experience. If the d1 school is a perfect fit academically maybe go there knowing you might never run for them. If you want to run, look at d2/3. Make visits. See if you vibe with the coaches and with potential new teammates.

Old D2 guy here, in my late 30s now. Here's my advice -

To be realistic, you're probably not going to make running a career, nor will you be competing for any D1 or even D2 titles. (Totally ok, by the way. You can run what you can run, don't feel bad about it.)

That means that running in college for you is mainly going to be about the experience of being on a team, and competing against yourself to become the best runner you can be. I was national runner up a couple of times, and I can tell you that my most treasured memories aren't necessarily winning/placing in the big races themselves. My best memories are the long Sunday runs or hard track sessions with the team, the road trips to random towns across America, battling through XC courses and track races, setting PRs, the parties in the off season, and the friends I made during that whole process. Some of the guys from the team are my best friends to this day and are like family. You don't need to run D1 to have that experience. In fact, you're more likely to have that experience at a smaller school (if the team culture takes running seriously) because you'll actually get to compete and be an important part of the team.

Don't forget that you've also got a lot of life left afterwards, and student debt is a real motherf***er. Also, from my experience, the name brand of the school wears off after a few years, and won't make much of a difference careerwise (unless you're planning to go on to business, law or med school, in which case, I'll be honest, it'll help). I went to a pretty academically unrenowned D2 school and I'm writing this from the desk of my 6 figure job in tech.

In short, I'd recommend going somewhere you'll be a real part of the team, can keep the debt to an absolute minimum, and can major in something you like. If you want to go on to a professional school, the name brand of a school will be more important. Good luck man and happy running.

D2 is getting dumber wrote:

No there aren't. Colorado Mines is arguably the best D2 college and it is only ranked 84th. It is behind 83 D1 and D3 colleges.

UC San Diego is arguably the best D2 college and it is ranked 37th and 10th for public universities. However this is its last year in D2 before moving to D1 and the Big West conference next year.

D2 is dumb wrote:

There are no D2 colleges that have any majors ranked so someone was selling you a ton of something. My crappy D3 college told us the same thing when I was there.

Still ranked today though no longer D2.