<p>Hi guys :)
I'm a HS junior in the process of pretty intense college-searching. I've been looking for and asking others the following question, but I can't get a straightforward answer:
** Are there academic differences between NCAA division (DI/DII/DIII) schools, or are these rankings purely athletic? **
I want to row (women's); I don't think I want DI because of its intensity, but I do want a DI education, if that makes sense or whatever.
What do you guys suggest? It makes me so nervous! :eek:
Thanks!</p>
<p>There are many DIII schools that are excellent academically- such as Williams, Amherst, UChicago, Emory, WashU… The Ivy schools are D1 but generally have less athletic intensity than schools in other major athletic conferences such as SEC and Big 10. You don’t want a “D1 education”- you want an excellent education, and that can be found at many D1 or D3 schools. I am not as familiar with D2. D3 does not offer athletic scholarships and there are some D1 schools that also do not offer scholarships (Ivy, most Patriot League…)</p>
<p>DI, DII, and DIII are ONLY designations of NCAA rules a school wants to follow in regards to it’s sports teams … it has nothing to do with the quality of the education at the schools. There are terrific academic schools in all NCAA levels and there are crappy academic schools at all NCAA levels.</p>
<p>Okay, so what are a few DIII colleges (other than what was listed) that are academically up-there, especially in the biological field? Maybe a few with academic scholarships to ‘make up’ for the lack of rowing-related scholarships?</p>
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<p>Oh my gosh, is this so not true.
If anything, if I had to choose, I’d say women’s rowing is more intense at the Ivies than in the SEC.</p>
<p>For example, the highest ranked Women’s team in the country is Princeton at No. 4.
There are no SEC teams at all in the entire Top 20.</p>
<p>Dear O/P,</p>
<p>Welcome to the wonderful world of interest in College Women’s Crew.
If you search back here you’ll find a lot of very useful information.
Good luck!</p>
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<p>Dear stripedshirt,</p>
<p>Here is a list of all the collegiate rowing teams in the country …</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.narowing.org/pdf/College_Directory_USROWING.pdf[/url]”>http://www.narowing.org/pdf/College_Directory_USROWING.pdf</a></p>
<p>… and go from there.</p>
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<p>Well, it’s not a question of what “rules a school wants to follow.”
There are issues of size, scope, mission and money that come into play.</p>
<p>As Tevye says: “A bird may love a fish, but where would they build a home together?”</p>
<p>Young Harris College or Marymount University may very well want to have a Division I sports program. But it’s unlikely to happen. At least in my lifetime. ;)</p>
<p>And, depending on how we’re measuring such things, there is … somewhat … of an academic correlation. But that is beyond the scope of this discussion.</p>
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<p>MIT, Caltech, Claremont colleges.</p>
<p>GolfFather- I said “generally” and wasn’t referring to rowing specifically. The major sports and many of the non-major sports like track/cross country have less demands at D3 than at D1 schools. Of course there are exceptions. I have a kid who was recruited by a number of D1 and D3 schools, so I’m not talking out of my *****.</p>
<p>By the way, if I am not mistaken, the school with the overall greatest ratio of participation in intercollegiate sports among the student body, and with a significant budget for intermurals as well, is Harvard. Of course, Harvard’s revenue from sports can’t match that of “big time” NCAA football.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of this!
GolfFather, thanks for the list of teams–I’d never seen that before!</p>
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<p>Don’t quite have the SAT math scores for MIT, and if I want some tuition help from my parents, I can’t move from over here near the East Coast to the West, thouch UCSD or one of the Claremonts would be a dream come true.</p>
<p>this is a list of DIII basketball schools by conference … [2012-13</a> men’s basketball standings: D3hoops.com](<a href=“http://d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2012-13/index]2012-13”>2012-13 men's basketball standings - D3hoops) . In the east at least a lot of the better academic schools tend to be grouped into conferences … the NESCAC conference, for example. I have no idea which schools have rowing but this might help you find pods of strong academic schools.</p>
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<p>See post # 6.</p>
<p>Rowing is popular in the western colleges/universities as well. Univ. of Southern California has a D-1 rowing team for women. These are recruited athletes who are on athletic scholarships.
The women just participated in the Head of America Regatta in Sacramento along with Univ. of Washington and other western universities. Most of the USC women rowers are from eastern states.</p>
<p>More information and photos of the team members can be found on the athletic website: [University</a> of Southern California Official Athletic Site](<a href=“http://www.usctrojans.com%5DUniversity”>http://www.usctrojans.com) .</p>