Hockey is life. Until college....

<p>So I have been a hockey player all my life and i really wanna continue doing it in college. However, I dont feel like playing on a club team rather than a team for the actual school itself would be as invigorating. So I've done some research and discovered there are about 5 or 6 major universities (I like big schools) with Ice hockey as one of their athletic programs. I believe it was Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan/Michigan state, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. So I looked at all of their websites and reviewed all of their stuff, understanding the fact that my family is not very wealthy so costs are a big deal, and the only school that was CLOSE to the price range i wanted to stay around was Minnesota. So i guess my questions for the forum would be:
1. for the more expensive schools on that list (Penn state at 45k and ohio state at i believe around 42k, etc etc.), is the cost of the school worth it academics wise and campus life wise? That would help alot
2. Does anyone go to/ know anything about the University of Minnesota? If so, id love to hear about it and i dont know much so anything would help.</p>

<p>Can you get an athletic scholarship?</p>

<p>It’s one of the most competive hockey schools in the country. I wouldn’t just assume you can walk on. </p>

<p>Well i dont live in a big hockey state in fact we lost our NHL team a couple years ago…but i mean i could definitely give it a shot at walking on. Idk how good coming from Georgia looks on a hockey scholarship</p>

<p>You will not walk on at any of those schools. I don’t think they even have open try outs, and if they do they have club teams with a bunch of kids who would like to move up. In fact, it is very unlikely you’d walk on at any school if you haven’t been playing tier hockey, jr pro, or at a hockey prep school. Even kids who have played at the most competitive high schools in the country (Minn, Mich) usually do a prep school or play jr. pro for a year. The average age of a freshman hockey player is 20, because he’s played jr. pro for a year or two.</p>

<p>If you are good, you’d have a better chance of playing on a Div III (no scholarships) school than you will at walking on at any Div I school. Several of the smaller schools in Wisconsin (Point, Eau Claire) have teams.</p>

<p>If you are a junior in high school, try to get recruited to a D-3 school. See if there are any camps this summer where coaches will be recruiting.</p>

<p>card: there are literally thousands of guys in different levels of serious Hockey that would give their left arm to play at NCAA level ice hockey such as PSU, UMich, OSU, etc. Do yourself a favor and have a reality check. Ask your coaches about what options you have at that level. And listen to them. Unless you’re a prodigy (you don’t seem to indicate that) and the best player in GA at your age, your odds are less than slim to play at the collegiate level that you indicated.</p>