I don’t think there are any hidden gems here. The list starts with College of New Jersey, NJIT, SUNY Geneseo, and SUNY New Paltz. I’m probably missing someone, but it sounds like she’ll be in the top quartile at any D3 state school.
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AFAIK, SUNY Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, and Stony Brook are D1 soccer. I don’t have time to look it up, so someone correct me if I’m wrong,
Eastern Connecticut is regional by name, but it is designated as the public liberal arts college for the state.
Here’s a link to COPLAC, a council of public liberal arts college. It’s a national list:
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Of course you have to look at whether she’ll make the soccer team too. These aren’t all walk on teams. SUNY Cortland was in the final bracket in 2019 (#8?).
We were looking for a balance of academics, athletics, and finances for my daughter. We found it at a D2 school. She looked at D3 and D1 schools too, but either she wasn’t going to get any playing time or it was going to cost too much. She really didn’t like the small LAC type schools (going for engineering and didn’t want a 3+2 program).
She was able to get an athletic scholarship and a decent merit scholarship too.
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Thanks everyone. I’m passing all of this on to my daughter as info to think about. She is willing to look at d2’s, and initially that was her first choice. If she can find the right academic fit that might still be an option.
My experience is that schools with the best academics are either D3 or D1. You might find something at D2, but you’ll have to look harder for the level of academics that you want.
I also want to correct my earlier post which suggested NJIT. I forgot that they moved up to D1 a few years ago.
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Let me add one which is just a little south of your target geographic area. University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA, which has a very strong student body. Just an hour south of DC.
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If she’s top of her class academically (I’ll assume stellar weighted GPA), why not pursue schools that are test optional - such as Bates.
Bates ACTs of admitted students is 33-34 but of test optional students that were admitted is down to 27.
I don’t know your students overall credentials based on the generic response of top of her class - and you said you do have private schools - but was just thinking a little wider there.
I don’t know the academics - but here’s a list of schools you can look at. Google the school + niche and you’ll get a good sense of where they stand academically such as SUNY Geneseo + Niche.
List of NCAA Division III institutions - Wikipedia
Good luck
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We don’t know what her daughter wants as far as academics. Engineering? Colorado school of Mines is D2 (and has really really good soccer teams). Florida Tech, ERAU, the PA schools are D2. Nursing? There are quite a few D2 schools that have nursing. Art? Savanah Collage of Design.
There aren’t as many D2 schools, especially in the NE. A few are LeMoyne, St. Anselm, Stonehill.
Yes, that’s the problem. Those D2’s that have top academics aren’t in her desired geographic region (the Northeast), and those public D2’s in the Northeast that approach top academic levels are rare.
As for her potential major or interests, she hasn’t chosen to share that, so at this point, we can only reply to the question we’ve been asked.
It’s in response to Binghamton.
Thank you. She is a first in class, multi sport varsity athlete, student leadership roles type of kid. The challenge for us is finding a school that financially fits, academically fits, and fits for her sport. She would love a Bates type school but I’m not sure it’s affordable for us. We are weighing now how far we can stretch to help her find the right academic and athletic fit.
She is interested in a science/ medicine career and is looking to attend school after college.