<p>The Davidson track team did well this year and seems to be one of those programs where both academics and athletics are highly valued.. (And patient, you are right, the men's basketbball team went to the NCAA and was leading Ohio State at the half in the first round!)</p>
<p>sorry to bring this thread back again... but does anyone know how intense the track team is at princeton?</p>
<p>i'm certainly not nationally ranked in my event (hurdles)... i couldn't even make it to the meet of champs... but i'm decent (all-area second team) and i was thinking about running at princeton.</p>
<p>problem: i want to go to law school (meaning i have to keep up my grades!) and i would prefer that track did not dominate my life.</p>
<p>mam, CC has covered this topic many times over the past few years but never with as clear a voice as yours. Though you may have second thoughts about participating in Div I sports, your writing indicates a fine education somewhere.</p>
<p>Welcome!</p>
<p>PTonGirl- You should contact the coach, tell him/her your times, and see what the coach suggests. They may take a few walk-ons. The IVy League takes track pretty seriously, so it might not be for you. I am not as familiar with the girls' program at Princeton, but after Princeton running camp last summer the coach told my son and a kid with even faster times that he would not be able to support them for Early Decision. (This was actually quite courteous of him to let them know this.) My son is going to run for Penn and the other boy for Yale.........</p>
<p>Yay! Just found this thread!</p>
<p>Pton - Running DI means that track will dominate your life, but I'm sure that Princeton (as it is an Ivy League school) is pretty focused academically and wants to make sure you succeed there as well. As far as walk-ons, I'm not sure if there's a certain walk-on cutoff time or anything, but I remember the team being huge, and I guarantee not all of their athletes were recruited.</p>
<p>MoWC - I'm suprised that Princeton told your son that, Princeton's distance program isn't nearly as good as Penn's. With Penn bringing in all these great athletes, it almost makes me want to transfer :D (not to mention that two of my best friends from high school run there.) Yale is bringing in a pretty decent New England contingent, but I haven't heard much outside that.</p>
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BTW, and now COMPLETELY off topic, the "boys", when they travel by air, are required to wear suits and ties. You can imagine what a heady experience it is when 25 attractive young men in suits and ties (but with their backpacks ) walk onto the airplane with coaches, trainer, SID etc. in tow. Usually the crew makes an on-board announcement because everyone is wondering who these impressive young men are!
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<p>This is hands down the best part of being a collegiate athlete - the travel. I competed against so many great athletes (both collegiate and professional), met many famous track athletes of the past (probably helps that my coach is an Olympic gold medalist and one of the fastest men ever in the 400m), and met many new friends. Yes, my grades suffered a bit this past semester (got a 2.33 at the school I'm at now - I got a 3.5 at an Ivy League school when I wasn't competing in the fall) but I wouldn't trade it for the world.</p>
<p>My niece is at Princeton, playing basketball. All freshmen athletes were required to take a summer course to lighten the load during the regular school year. There were plenty of tutors in case the athletes needed extra help with their class work, and she did fine academically even though as she said, she's never studied so hard in her life. In her experience, her academics did not suffer due to basketball. However, she is spending more time on basketball than she expected. Challenging daily practice/work outs, and less time off over Xmas break/summer all made it more than intense than she anticipated. But she loves basketball. And she's thrilled by how strong and positive the academics side of the experience have been. I think you should check it out. There are many great schools out there. But not many of them better overall than Princeton!</p>
<p>Ecliptica, Was that your coach I saw on Letterman way back when? During the Olympics Dave quizzed randomly planted people in the audience about their personal experiences at the Olympics. One was the gold medal winner at Atlanta, actually in the 400m hurdles, coach at Columbia.</p>
<p>2 of New Jersey's best male distance runners are going to William and Mary.</p>
<p>It wasn't, but Derrick Adkins (the man you're speaking of) went to the same college as my coach (Georgia Tech) and both ran on that 4x400m team that won the NCAA title in the early '90s :)</p>
<p>This board was pretty helpful. My D is high level track athlete, but probably not DI recruiting standards and we are both thinking (it's her decision, but I will be paying so I get some input) that a good academic fit DIII program is a lot more important than trying to find the perfect fit for athletics. The pressure of DI athletics just doesn't seem worth it unless you are really a top athlete. If she goes to a DI, more likely to walk on and go there based on academic fit rather than athletics. Not to take anything away from a great athlete who goes to a DI on a full-ride - more power to them if that's what they want and have the ability.</p>
<p>corunnerdad- Keep in touch with me and Ecliptica. We can give you all the info you need. :) My son also looked at, and was recruited by, a number of strong academic DIIIs. These included Williams, Tufts, Emory, NYU and Chicago. I would have been happy to have him at any one of these DIII schools (except NYU) but he really wanted DI and city school and chose Penn.</p>
<p>father05, it's funny what you mentioned about York... I went there, and we have these shirts.. They say York College Football on the front.. and undefeated since 1787 on the back (which is when York College was founded :) ), We didn't mind not having football.. we had plenty of other sports. Basketball went to the D3 final four two years ago, wrestling is always up there, and so is baseball.. we had several D3 all americans during my 4 years there.</p>
<p>Thanks for info and offer MomOfWildChild. My D is looking at both DI and DIII schools, so hopefully by September she'll have come up with a short list from about 11 or 12 schools that are on it right now.</p>
<p>Here's a question - She was very interested in Willamette, but coach has not been responsive. I sent something to my alma mater (Illinois Wesleyan) and the coach called her about 5 minutes later. I would think DIII coaches would tend to be more responsive since they aren't really offering money, so I am a little concerned when there is a lack of response - but it's summer and she hasn't started her senior year, so maybe that is not surprising. Curious what your experience might have been.</p>
<p>corunnerdad,</p>
<p>I noticed that D3 coaches are all over the map. Some barely recruit, some are very active. Some only recruit from their own region.</p>
<p>It helps to see how the specific school stacks up regionally and in its league. Schools that are vying to move up to become league champs, schools that are perennially in the running for regional champs, or schools that are nipping at the heels of top 25 national rankings tended to CARE about recruiting.</p>
<p>As for schools where you think your kid'll really have an edge because the team is weak and she is strong?-- be careful. Sometimes these schools have basically given up on excellence in the sport and nobody is really recruiting.</p>
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It helps to see how the specific school stacks up regionally and in its league. Schools that are vying to move up to become league champs, schools that are perennially in the running for regional champs, or schools that are nipping at the heels of top 25 national rankings tended to CARE about recruiting.</p>
<p>As for schools where you think your kid'll really have an edge because the team is weak and she is strong?-- be careful. Sometimes these schools have basically given up on excellence in the sport and nobody is really recruiting.
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<p>Which is strange because Willamette is, I believe, one of the better DIII track and field programs (I could be wrong about the women's program, though). I know this past year one of their runners ran 1:45.83 (the best time in the country in ANY division) and I thought their women's team did pretty well. I would think they would be active in recruiting.</p>
<p>Don't read too much into a lack of response until you know what's behind it. The coach may be working at another job during the summer, or not checking mail/email, or disorganized, or not interested, or other things. As an example-- In my son's case, he heard back from one D3 he contacted during the summer, and nothing from two others he contacted until something like December or January. As to one of those 2 colleges, he got a form letter that somehow ALL the letters from recruits had been misplaced and had just been found and it said to please write if he was still interested. The other coach was just not spending a lot of energy on the kids from the West Coast who he knew had other options. In both cases they ended up recruiting my son but not until February of his senior year. </p>
<p>If your daughter has the courage to persist by sending follow-up emails or phone calls, she may find any one of a number of answers--the least pleasant, but most helpful, I guess, would be that they were not interested--but that would help her to move on to other colleges (or to consider the college but not count on the sport). But it really may be a completely different explanation that has nothing to do with your daughter or their level of interest! Time will tell......</p>
<p>Agree that the lack of response is not necessarily a sign of no interest. Last summer the contact from my son's eventual first choice school was so non-existent that I was sure they weren't interested, and then all of a sudden letters started arriving advising him what he had to gather together (transcripts etc.) "as a recruit". Your daughter might want to make a strong effort to contact the Willamette coach in mid-August. There is nothing wrong with flat out asking if he is interested.</p>
<p>regarding d3's.........i think it would be helpful to make the list of schools. note for each school what the application deadline is........and whether or not the school offers EA or ED. then prioritize...........and contact the coaches at the EA/ED schools and set up unofficial visits for this summer and early fall. my d only made one visit during the summer and all other visits were in the fall and spring. it was very difficult to schedule visits once her senior year started and she was participating in multiple varsity sports. senior year is a busy time.....ap classes, activities, etc.
getting visits knocked out during the summer and early fall would have been the wisest thing to do:) in our case though........d did travel ball over the summer and that was time consuming and expensive.</p>
<p>A note on visits: my D hosts a lot of kids... Her coach always asks her overall opinion on the kids she hosts. This has nothing to do with their athletic ability-- it is about how they'd 'fit' with the team, their personalities, did the other players like them?, etc. It could be the coach is also trying to get a sense of how likely the recruit is to matriculate (if they had a great time & felt at home, they would more want to come.) </p>
<p>I am not sure if all coaches do this, but-- ability being roughly equal-- it makes sense to weed out grumps and primadonnnas if the goal is a cohesive team. It also makes sense to throw one's weight behind the most likely matriculants.</p>
<p>My D visited several schools in her current league as a recruit. Now, when her team plays those other schools, she still has 'friends' on the other teams who hosted her as a pre-frosh. :)</p>
<p>It is really interesting to see everyone's different experiences. So what happens? Just about as soon as I post this the Willamette coach calls! And then I get an email from the Providence College coach (another school we are going to visit and that is near the top of my D's short list) and he wants to have someone meet with her when she visits! Well, it figures. It's nice to know there is some interest and it's very helpful to see what other people have experienced. I think the point about fitting in with the team is critical - it's critical for both the student/recruit and the team. And, of course, fiiting in generally socially/academically, etc. Once this is down to 2 or 3 schools, that is probably going to be the final key element. I know - Patience, Patience, Patience.</p>
<p>Ivy League and Track families - an update. We visited Brown, Providence, Wheaton College, and Boston College. Willamette is still on Ds list, too. BC has not been responsive, so that is lowest on the list since it is also most expensive.</p>
<p>D loved Brown, but will have to retake ACT to improve a bit or get on coach's list. 800 meters in 2:22 wasn't cutting it and she needs to drop her 5k time in XC this fall. But we talked to the discus/shot put coach since distance coach wasn't in - Distance coach had gotten back to my D, so maybe she has a different opinion. Then she could get athletic department recommendation. Good fit for my daughter academically as she has diverse interests (Biology and History) and would do well in Open Curriculum. </p>
<p>Providence assistant track coach was extremely helpful - very encouraging, even though she likely wouldn't be a top recruit. He assured us there would be plenty of meets to run in and either he or the head coach would stay involved. But she'd have a shot at the honors program there and that would be nice. Not in the nicest area of Providence, though.</p>
<p>Campus at Wheaton is beautiful. Great school. Coach hasn't gotten back, though. But we're sure she would be very, very competitive athletically there.</p>
<p>Willamette coach called her, too, and really wants her to visit overnight. Not as pretty a campus, but a very good fit.</p>
<p>So the process goes on - Brown seems to have moved to a top choice, but don't want her to get abandoned in the track program even if she got in and walked on and getting in there will be tough, with or without a track recommendation. And an academic scholarship at Providence would make that extremely attractive.</p>