Academically decent D2/NAIA schools?

Bentley, UC-San Diego, Colorado Mines

Mines. ROI is better than everywhere except the service academies, for obvious reasons. Excellent coaching, Golden is a cool little town, world class mountains 40 min away.

The average ACT at Truman is 27. If you are okay with that school, you are okay with most schools. Why not list your times?

Yeah, I was talking Bentley's coach and he seemed interested but kinda stopped responding after a few emails, weird...

I've only had one official track season (sophomore year, first year of running) but I'll list my times. I also know I have a lot of potential to give as I only have been running above 50 weekly since March.

5k XC: 17:33 (junior year)

5k track: 16:55 (solo time trial)

3200m: 10:30 (solo time trial)

1600m: 4:59 (sophomore year)

All I can say is Truman isn't even close to what they were 20-30 years ago athletically. If you aren't curious about how fast you can be while handling the rigor of a "Harvard of the Midwest" program, you'll fit in nicely. At that point, you are just approaching it as a club/fitness activity.

Otherwise, I'd be sure to get on any campus of your choice and do an overnight experience to gain insight to the culture. You can always look at how competitive a program has been online including their regular competition as well. Where do you have the best chance to grow in your career as well as your running.

UCSD is transitioning to D1.

What region are you looking at?

Based in the Southeast, willing to go pretty much anywhere. Ideally I would go to the east coast, midwest, southeast or south central, but if the fit is right I'll go far out west or up north.

You should be looking at the programs each school has available for your potential field of study. I went to a Midwestern D2 school which may not have been a great school academically overall, but had a fantastic setup for what I majored in.

Good idea. I'm usually looking for honors programs, but it's so hard to determine which programs are quality and which programs are just a named group at a bad school. I'm trying to study Business admin or economics if anyone knows good programs for that. Thanks for the advice.

U of Chicago is best school in the country for economics.

d2 is dumb wrote:

U of Chicago is best school in the country for economics.

U chicago is D3

I have looked into them, with my times I think I could sneak into the tail end of their large squad. It's not really my style of school and there's the whole money issue, but the weight of a UChicago degree is unmatched. Also don't know how I'd feel about myself benchriding to D3 nationals, but at the end of the day I'm there for an education.

D2 schools are pretty crappy. This kid is smart and not fast. It would be a waste to throw a lifetime away.

What is your financial situation? If average or below, U of Chicago or Wash U may be cheaper than the other options.

honestly for naia there’s loyola in new orleans, really there’s not too many options for VERY good academic schools NAIA and d2 but it’s about finding a place with a. good program for what you want

Next weekend is a great time for a visit to University Of Chicago. Nothing beats running along the lakefront in the Chicago summer.

You mentioned Truman ST. I went there before they changed names. Had great coaches, was in an extremely competitive conference, still competed against regional D1 schools regularly, had an Olympic Champion on my team and the business department was very strong and is still strong today. Maybe I would go there today for the business program but no way would I be a part of the track/cc program as it stands. Your HS team is probably more competitive.

As far as D2 not being strong academically ...that may be true to some extent but isn't a true indicator of a person's drive or future success. The name on the degree isn't always a factor to get started. It's what you continue to build on beyond that experience. I'm worth a million for every grade point I earned. I know someone worth 10 million for every grade point he earned. I learned a great deal more being in that running program than I did in any classroom.

Find the academic program that meets your needs first regardless of the D in front of the athletic program. Then find a running program that will give you an opportunity to be your best. There's plenty of D1 programs that suck. Finally, drop the sales pitch on your academic standing. There's a lot of smart people out there that can run fast too. You just need to find the right fit, get in with people who will push you to improve in all ways and enjoy that time of your life. What you will learn is truth about yourself. Don't listen to those that tell you that you are entitled. Nobody is coming to save you. Save yourself and start now!