College Search Help

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am looking to go to a very good (academically) Division 3 college/university. I plan on playing varsity basketball here. I want to become a personal trainer, so an ideal major would be kinesiology and exercise science along with exercise physiology. However, not many D3 colleges offer this major so I would probably be doing a similar major or a combination of classes or something. Here are some schools that I plan on taking a closer look at:</p>

<p>Carroll College
Loras College
Washington University in St. Louis
Amherst College
Brandeis University
California Institute of Technology
Carnegie Mellon University
Case Western Reserve University
Concordia College at Moorhead
Emory University
Johns Hopkins University
Lawrence University
Macalester College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Middlebury College
Oberlin College
Pomona College
Swarthmore College
Tufts University
University of Chicago
Williams College
Ithaca College
New York University
St. Edward's University
Whitman College</p>

<p>If you have any opinions/info (good or bad) on any of these colleges or have other suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated. This includes general opinions and specific to my career path Thank you.</p>

2

<p>Are these all schools that you think you can play basketball at? Otherwise, I don’t really see anything common about them. I don’t think I’ve seen St. Ed’s and Cal Tech on the same list before. Do you have the grades to get into some place like Cal Tech? Also, since D3 schools don’t offer athletic scholarships and a lot on your list don’t offer merit awards, can you afford to go to these schools?</p>

3

<p>I was under the impression that all these schools were strong academically. I have a 4.0 unweighted, got a 35 on my ACT, am ranked 1st in my class, and have strong leadership credentials and decent community service. At this point, I am not considering cost in any way. That can come later.</p>

4

<p>We need to know more about your selection criteria: Div III basketball is just too diverse a category, especially if you don’t require a kinesiology major. </p>

<p>You realize, I’m sure, that only 10% of personal trainers earn more than $50k p.a. and that even that is likely to drop as the field is becoming more crowded and the barriers to entry are very low. You don’t even have to have a college degree to enter the field right now. That’s not a reason not to do it - but it might have an impact on how much debt you want to go into for your education.</p>

5

<p>nice spread of colleges. I do not know very much about sports or your future career goals.
I think maybe for what you are looking for auburn,clemson or u of albama may be a better fit??? of course those are div. 1 teams.</p>

6

<p>

Always start with cost. You don’t shop for a car by test-driving every new BMW and Mercedes and then checking your bank account to discover that you can only afford a used Mazda.</p>

<p>What state are you from?</p>

7

<p>@ M’s Mom Ok. I want great dorms and food. I would prefer to be near (within an hour) of a decent sized city (100,000+). I want a school that is strong in sciences and has a kinesiology major OR many classes that would help a future personal trainer. </p>

<p>I do realize the stats. However, a great personal trainer will have word spread quickly about the results his clients get. This raises the number of clients, allowing me to raise prices. That is where the college education helps a great deal vs a pretender who poisons the field of personal training.</p>

<p>I appreciate your help.</p>

8

<p>@ noimagination I am from Wisconsin. I’m an only child and my parents make a pretty good amount of money. (around $130,000/yr combined)</p>

9

<p>@zobroward yes those schools would probably be a little better fit but it is very important to me to play college basketball. And I still believe I could get a good education at the schools on the list. But thank you.</p>

10

<p>Minnesota State - Moorhead and UT-San Antonio are two I know of that have kinesiology majors.</p>

<p>EDIT: Make sure you check out UW-Madison (no D3 bball, I know). I think Oshkosh, Milwaukee, and La Crosse have kinesiology as well…maybe Eau Claire too.

Okay…</p>

11

<p>@noimagination Okay I’ll look closer at those two. I know Ithaca has a bit of a specialty in the personal training field even though they aren’t known as a GREAT academic school. Thank you.</p>

<p>I visited UW-Madison and that will probably be where I go if my bball plans drastically change.</p>

12

<p>Jason, have you spent any time interviewing personal trainers? Might be a good use of your time this summer if you haven’t - just to learn the business side of the field. As a personal trainer, you will be a small business owner and you might want to think about combining your kinesiology with a business degree so you understand the economics. Coming up with a viable business model is key - some classes in strategic planning, revenue cycle mgt., marketing, and communications would be good additions to the physiology and kinesiology.</p>

<p>Also, I’m no expert, but most schools that are big enough to offer highly regarded kinesiology majors also tend to have Div I sports teams: UC Davis and University of MD for example.</p>

13

<p>@M’s Mom I was actually planning on minoring in business but great tip nonetheless! I agree I do need to interview or shadow a highly regarded trainer.</p>

<p>I realize that most kinesiology and exercise science majors are found at large schools. However, the idea of my search here is to hopefully find that one small school where I can meet all my goals both education and athletic.</p>

<p>I appreciate your help and would love to hear any further opinions you have regarding any of my college plans/ideas.</p>

14

<p>any other thoughts? much appreciated.</p>

15

<p>bump. Any other opinions would be a big help.</p>

16

<p>If you’re serious about playing basketball, you’re going to need a large list of schools to start with. Start by looking at the D3 schools with a minimum test score for the 75th%. Then look at the possibilities for the major. Then see if the coaches are even interested. I don’t know what sort of stats/video basketball coaches require, but get those together and start sending it to the coaches. Fill out the online forms. Even with 50 schools that meet your basic academic requirements, you’ll find the list can get pretty small pretty quickly.</p>

17

<p>At this point, I am not considering cost in any way. That can come later.</p>

<p>First, since you are a WI student, you should apply to some of your in-state publics as financial and academic safeties. UW-Milwaukee offers majors in athletic training and kinesiology. UW-La Crosse offer majors in athletic training and exercise and sport science (with concentrations in fitness, physical education, and strength and conditioning, should you want those). UW-Oshkosh has a major in athletic training and one in kinesiology (with emphases in exercise and fitness and strength and conditioning). UW-Eau Claire has a major in kinesiology. All of those schools have Division III basketball, so you have some potentially good and affordable options in your home state.</p>

<p>Here are some other schools with majors in either athletic training, kinesiology, exercise science/physiology, and with Division III basketball that are nearby urban areas:</p>

<p>-Montclair State University (Montclair, NJ, which is nearby NYC)
-Rowan University (Glassboro, NJ - close to Philadelphia and also not too far from NYC)
-Depauw University (one hour from Indianapolis)
-Lasell College (outside of Boston)
-Guilford College (Greensboro, NC)
-Greensboro College (Greensboro, NC)
-Huntingdon College (Montgomery, AL)
-Linfield College (McMinnfield, OR - about an hour away from Portland)
-SUNY Brockport (30 minutes from Rochester)
-Coe College (Cedar Rapids, IA - which is a city over 100,000 folks, but is also 100 miles east of Des Moines)
-Berry College (1.5 hours to Chattanooga and Atlanta)
-CUNY Brooklyn (in Brooklyn…lol)
-Gettysburg College (1.5 hours to Baltimore, 2 hours to DC, 2.5 hours to Philadelphia, 3.5 hours to Pittsburgh)
-Whittier College (right outside of Los Angeles)
-University of Scranton (2.5 hours to New York and Philadelphia)
-St. Olaf College (an hour to Minneapolis)
-Occidental College (in Los Angeles)
-Skidmore College (about one hour to Albany, NY, </p>

<p>Here are others in small towns, but that have the majors you want:</p>

<p>Hope College (Holland, Michigan)
Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY)
Emory & Henry College (in rural Virginia)</p>

18

<p>@sadilly
@juillet</p>

<p>Wow thank you both for the help. The list of schools is very very helpful. Any other thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated.</p>

19

<p>Of the schools listed by juillet, are there any good business schools in there (for a minor or double major)? Any any others to add to the list?</p>