<p>Hi guys. My younger brother is applying to colleges next year, and he asked me a question that kind of stumped me. He's really into sports, but he's also a top notch student in the top 1% of his class (I didn't even crack the top 10%, so congrats to him). He wants to apply to a bunch of top-tier schools with good athletic and academic programs, mainly in D-I, but also a few from D-II and D-III. He's got a lot in D-I, such as Stanford, UCLA, Michigan, and Illinois, and a couple from D-III, such as Johns Hopkins and Wash U (I can't believe he's already begun preparing for this). The D-II portion is stumping him and me though. Even though I just finished my college application process a couple months ago (going to UC Davis!), I'm still not not very knowledgeable about college athletics (and, unlike him, I only watch sports). I can only think of UCSD in D-II that has good athletics and academics. Does anyone have any input as to another college in D-II that could provide him with sports and brains? Thanks!</p>
<p>Most DII schools really don’t have that good of academics and nothing near that of Stanford or WashU. Why does he specifically want a DII school, just to apply to one? Most DII schools are directional, lower tiered schools or small private schools with mediocre academic reputations.</p>
<p>Regardless the best DII schools would be: Bentley and Colorado School of Mines. I wouldn’t even look at DII schools if he is looking for athletics and academics. Lastly, UCSD is DI.</p>
<p>UCSD is DII for certain sports like basketball and baseball, but for water polo (I think) they’re DI. The only schools that come to my mind are Colorado School of Mines, South Dakota School of Mines, or Adelphi.</p>
<p>Might look at Holy Cross, Colgate, and Davidson.</p>
<p>Par72 - None of those schools are DII. Collegeamateur- Is your brother looking to be a recruited athlete in a particular sport? If so, he needs to go through the process for his sport - whether that is attending showcases or contacting coaches and sending film… It’s not just applying to schools. Even if he wants to apply and try to walk on to a team, he might still want to contact the coach. DII might be interesting because it is less competitive than DI and some DII schools might offer athletic scholarships (DIII would typically not). If he just wants to be a spectator, DI would offer the best sports teams. Some schools might be in different divisions for different sports. Union College (NY) is an interesting example. It is DIII in all sports except Men’s Hockey where it is DI. It just won the National Championship in Hockey at this year’s Frozen Four.</p>
<p>South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is D2. Football team was successful this past season; mens and womens basketball, not so much. This week a Mines senior is competing in the NCAA Track and Field championships for shot put and discus. By the way, Mines STEM academics are fairly tough.</p>
<p>UC San Diego. Top academics. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ncsasports.org/athletic-scholarships/athlete-recruiting-tool/power-rankings”>http://www.ncsasports.org/athletic-scholarships/athlete-recruiting-tool/power-rankings</a>
Hey, I found a website that I think could have answered the question. But thanks for all the tips beforehand!</p>
<p>If he wants big sports, he should stick with D1 and apply to:
Stanford
UCLA
USC
Duke
Vanderbilt
Miami
Michigan
UNC
UVA
Alabama (merit money)
Texas
Georgetown
Wake Forest</p>
<p>It’s not clear whether he wants “big sports” as a spectator or as a recruited athlete.</p>
<p>Yeah he wants “big sports” as an athlete.</p>
<p>Do Stanford, UCLA, Michigan, etc. coaches want him? </p>
<p>Huge difference between wanting to play a sport at Stanford compared to a DII/III.</p>
<p>If it helps, he wants to play baseball in college. He’s contacted coaches from several D-I schools such as those from Stanford, UC Berkeley, Vanderbilt, North Carolina, etc., and also Wash U, and based on what he’s told me they like him for baseball. He’s still trying to contact some other coaches, and of course there’s a lot more to joining the team than just a coach liking you, but honestly all the paperwork is his business (after all, he wants to play a darn sport in college, not me). And, honestly, the longer this thread goes on, as much as I love his intelligent mind, I don’t really understand why he isn’t doing more of the research himself (like why isn’t he the one on CC right now?). Maybe that’s why he wants some D-II and III schools to fall back onto because apparently it’s easier to join their sports teams, I don’t know.
BTW, I did tell him about Colorado and South Dakota Mines, but he didn’t seem to think they were strong enough academically (even though their engineering programs are like diabolical). So I guess it’s just UCSD for D-II. I think he’ll be fine, though. I think he’s smart enough to get into at least UCLA. And if he doesn’t get to play baseball, that’s really not my problem. I’ve got my own stuff to worry about in my preparations for going to UC Davis.</p>