<p>^I think being a middle-class, male athlete actually works in his favor at Wesleyan. To Williams, he would be just one of five thousand other applicants with similar interests. At Wes he would stand out.</p>
<p>momrath</p>
<p>It’s an advantage to be a high achieving male at most LACs these days, even a white middle class one. I agree that the OP has a good shot at these schools, but we all know some (most) of them are reaches for anyone. If OP were my son I’d be helping him explore a few safer options.</p>
<p>If you can compete in Division I you could possibly excel in Division III. I would leverage this strength and shoot for the top. Look for teams laden with Seniors, who will have to be replaced. Hamilton while not in New England, is far enough north that it will sure feel like it. Hamilton is higher ranked by U.S. News than Colby, Bates or Holy Cross. Carleton, also in a Northern clime, is higher ranked than all but Williams and Amherst and does not get as many East Coast applicants.</p>
<p>An issue I have with a lot of these great LAC schools including Hamilton is that they are so far from a cosmopolitan city. At least with Holy Cross you are a 45 minute drive to Boston down the Mass Pike. The rest seem to be quite isolated which I definitely would not like. I don’t want to feel stranded in the boondocks. Even Wesleyan is almost 2 hours to NYC.</p>
<p>Tufts and Trinity are city schools that would allow you to compete in the NESCAC. Swarthmore and Haverford are also Top 10 LACs and are much closer to home. Pomona is the Amherst of the West. Also consider Macalester in St. Paul, MN and Lafayette within striking distance of N.Y.C. & Philly.</p>
<p>I agree with OP. For some strange reason, the very best LACs often seem to be way out in the boondocks. I visited a friend at Williams and it is very impressive but just could not see myself living so far out in the middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>Haverford was an automatic qualifier to the upcoming Division III x-country championships. Carleton, Trinity and Tufts were selected as three of sixteen at-large teams. Lafayette is in the Division I Patriot League.</p>
<p>I have been hearing a lot of good things about the Patriot League. Seems like a good combination of great academics and Division 1 athletics.</p>
<p>The Patriot League schools play many of the Ivy League schools in sports. For example this fall in football, Holy Cross played Harvard, Yale, Brown, and Dartmouth in addition to PL opponents. Lafayette played Penn, Princeton, Columbia, Harvard. etc, etc.</p>
<p>For the sixth straight year the Patriot League ranked first among all Division I conferences in student-athlete graduation rates according to the NCAA Graduation Rates report. [On</a> Campus - The Patriot League Official Athletic Site](<a href=“http://patriotleague.cstv.com/school-bio/patr-school-bio-aboutpl.html]On”>http://patriotleague.cstv.com/school-bio/patr-school-bio-aboutpl.html)</p>
<p>That is a very impressive statistic. Given that the Ivy League is also Division 1, it is amazing that the Patriot League has been the highest for 6 years in a row now.</p>
<p>What is the level of fan support for Division 1 Ivy League and Patriot league football and basketball games? I went to a Division III basketball game last year at Johns Hopkins and their basketball gym bleachers were smaller than my high school and they only had about 100 people in the stands. Very disappointing. Felt bad for the players.</p>
<p>It depends on the Ivy League or PL school. Remember, the student bodies are not large at all schools, e.g. 2,500 to 3,000 at Holy Cross, Colgate, Lafayette. The Ivy schools are much larger, up to 15,000+ at Cornell. In the Patriot League, Bucknell and Holy Cross will sell out their basketball arenas with 3,600+ at HC and 4500+ at Bucknell. Bucknell fans are fanatics. Princeton and Penn have rich basketball histories in the Ivies and draw good crowds. Holy Cross will draw 5,000 to 12,000 depending on football opponent. Yale and Harvard football draw okay-they’re bigger schools. This year Yale has an outstanding team that could beat many div 1-A teams. Some of these colleges draw good crowds for hockey as well: Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Colgate, Holy Cross. The level of play for these teams is dramatically better that Division-3 schools. Harvard, for example, has 3 players in the NFL now.</p>
<p>I think it is great for school spirit to have some good teams to root for and it is great to see that some of these Patriot/Ivy League players actually make it to the Pros! That game at Johns Hopkins really turned me off of Division III.</p>
<p>One thing I like is that these athletes on the Patriot and Ivy League teams are actuall academically qualified students and not just minor league professional athletes attached to the school. Holy Cross’s star quarterback from the 80s is now a surgeon and was highlighted recently in an alumini magazine. </p>
<p>An example of this: the University of Maryland graduates 0% of their basketball players. By comparison, Holy Cross graduates 100%.</p>
<p>Found this on Wikipedia: Unlike most Division I athletic conferences, the Ivy League prohibits the granting of athletic scholarships; all scholarships awarded are need-based. Ivy League teams out of league games are usually against the members of the Patriot League which have similar academic standards and athletic scholarship policies.
[Ivy</a> League - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_League]Ivy”>Ivy League - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Several years ago the Patriot League introduced basketball scholarships.</p>
<p>According to [Baseball</a> Almanac - The Official Baseball History Site](<a href=“http://www.baseball-almanac.com%5DBaseball”>http://www.baseball-almanac.com) Johns Hopkins has had 2 players make it to the pros. [Johns</a> Hopkins University Baseball Players Who Made it to a Major League Baseball Team](<a href=“http://www.baseball-almanac.com/college/johns_hopkins_university_baseball_players.shtml]Johns”>Johns Hopkins University Baseball Players Who Made it to a Major League Baseball Team | Baseball Almanac)</p>
<p>As a basis of comparison, Holy Cross of the Patriot League has had 76.
[College</a> of the Holy Cross Baseball Players Who Made it to a Major League Baseball Team](<a href=“http://www.baseball-almanac.com/college/college_of_the_holy_cross_baseball_players.shtml]College”>College of the Holy Cross Baseball Players Who Made it to a Major League Baseball Team | Baseball Almanac)</p>
<p>What is even more amazing is that if you sort by the number of players who have made it to the pros in baseball, Holy Cross is ranked 4th in the country, behind only USC, UT-Austin, U of Arizona, Obvious they are a baseball powerhouse.</p>
<p>here is the complete list sorted by number: [College</a> Baseball Players Who Made it to a Major League Baseball Team - Sorted by College Quantity](<a href=“http://www.baseball-almanac.com/college/colleges_sort_quantity.shtml]College”>College Baseball Players Who Made it to a Major League Baseball Team - Sorted by College Quantity | Baseball Almanac)</p>