Hi! I’m a senior in high school trying to figure out where I want to go to college. I love everything about Skidmore except for the fact that there’s no cross country or track team. I’ve run cross country and track since 7th grade and I don’t know if it’s something I want to give up in college. I know that Skidmore has a running club, but that wouldn’t be the same as being on a team. Union and Dickinson both have cross country and track, but I have other concerns about them: Union has the reputation of a party school, and frats/sororities dominate the social scene. I don’t drink, and I don’t plan to in college, so hearing that Union social life revolves around drinking concerns me. I know drinking is prominent at most colleges, but it seems like Union really is a party school (my brother goes there and he’s told me about it). Also, Union is in Schenectady, which is not a very safe, or nice area, especially compared to Saratoga Springs (where Skidmore is). As far as Dickinson goes, I know they are strong in languages (I want to study Spanish, maybe Russian or German in college) and have cross country and track. They do have Greek life though, and Dickinson is an over 5 hour drive from where I live. I think I want to be closer to home than that (or at least my parents want me to). What do you think? Risk giving up cross country and track and apply ED to Skidmore, or reassess and go to a school that has Greek life so that I can run in college? I’m just looking for some advice.
I have a kid who went to Dickinson and was not involved in Greek life. She had a great experience, lots of friends, and got a very good job after graduating a few years ago. Don’t let the existence of Greek life put you off from a great school.
^Agreed. The simple existence of Greek life is not a problem; it’s the extent to which it dominates the social scene. At Union College between one-third and one-half of students join a Greek organization, and that’s quite a bit. At Dickinson, it’s less than a quarter. I went to a college with similar levels of Greek participation and it did not dominate the social life. In fact, being Greek was like a little separate world.
This is a question that only you can really answer, though, in that it matters how much cross country and track are really important to you. Are you afraid to ‘give it up’ because it’s something you’ve done for a really long time and it’s the idea of change that’s scary, or are you really committed to participating in it in college? Are you really okay with being 5 hours from home and it’s more apprehension that’s driving you there?
No XC at Skidmore? What’s up with that? Cross-country is like the absolute cheapest and easiest NCAA sport that a college can offer:
- No need to invest in expensive athletic facilities.
- No ongoing equipment costs.
- Popular with both men and women, so no Title IX issues.
- And runners tend to be smart, so they can be recruited without lowering academic standards!
How about Bard College? In the Liberty League with Skidmore and Union, not far away in Hudson Valley, has XC and track, but no frats. I think they get a lot of cross-applicants with Skidmore. So does Connecticut College, if it’s not too far away.
I checked four top small-college athletic leagues in the Northeast: Liberty League, Centennial Conference, NESCAC, and NEWMAC. That’s 44 schools total.
Of those, 42 of 44 (95.5 %) sponsored cross country. The only exceptions were Skidmore and Washington College. So there are a lot of other options to look at.
Have you been in communication with coaches about recruitment, and/or checked the times needed to run at the schools on your list? For example, Dickinson’s women’s xc team is very strong this year, which means that some pretty decent Div. III prospects could be shut out of the varsity squad their first year or two there.
We saw Union last spring and I was pleasantly surprised about the surrounding area. I had heard that Schenectady was awful, but it was a perfectly fine, residential neighborhood bordering the campus. I’m very picky about locations and I really thought it was very safe-looking with nice older homes on tree lined streets. The Union campus, itself was absolutely beautiful. We have been to Saratoga before and it’s a great town. It’s one of the nicest. Walked around Skidmore, and we really liked that campus too, but it had a different feel than Union’s. Union was more classically beautiful and stately and Skidmore felt very cozy and pleasant and the architecture was more contemporary. It all depends on what you want. Since you have a sib at Union, you should absolutely spend a weekend with him. That will tell you what you need to know.
Can you do an overnight at Dickinson?
@citymama9 Thanks so much for your input. Yes, Union has a very beautiful campus! Schenectady’s crime problem is unfortunate, but recently my brother has found some nice places to eat and he’s realizing it’s not all bad. I am actually doing a shadow day at Union this Friday, so that will be a great opportunity to get a better feel for the school.
@TheGFG That’s not something I had considered - thanks for bringing this to my attention. I was actually under the impression that at most D3 schools cross country and track were walk-on sports.
@Corbett Thanks for your help! I have no idea why Skidmore wouldn’t have cross country. You’re right, it is for sure the easiest sport for a college to have
@intparent You’re right. It’s more the distance from home I’m concerned about with Dickinson. I’m afraid I would regret going so far away … that being said, it’s a great school and if I decide I want to go to a coed school (instead of Mount Holyoke) I might end up there!
Where do you live now? My kid would hop a train in Harrisburg sometimes to get to places on the east coast. My kids both went a lot further from home – Dickinson was about 800 miles from our home for D1, and D2 went almost 2,000 miles away. You can still go home for Thanksgiving, spring break, etc. pretty easily from 5 hours away. That said, I do like Mount Holyoke. 
Both my kids applied and were accepted, D2 with a nice merit scholarship. For various reasons they picked other schools (D1 picked Dickinson, as I have said – she liked it as well as her other acceptances, and got merit aid at Dickinson but not MHC).
@juillet very true, thanks for bringing that to my attention about the greek life at Union vs Dickinson. I’m more scared to give it up than anything else; it’s been a part of my identity for over 6 years (cross country/track) and pretty much my only friends are on the cross country team. I think if I gave up running in college, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself … too much free time, getting bored. It would be a good experience I’m sure. I’m actually highly considering going to Mount Holyoke college if I get in - they have cross country and track. Only thing I feel “eh” about is that it’s an all women’s school. Regarding being far from home, I’ve decided that if I can avoid it (by getting into schools closer to home) I don’t want to go to Dickinson or schools that far away.
You know that you should contact the coaches at these schools, right? They can give their preferred athletes an admissions “tip” if they want to. But they have a limited number of athletes to do this with. At a minimum you could get an idea of whether you are qualified to run for them even without preferred admission. I’m going to guess that it is easier to run for MHC than Dickinson when it comes down to that.
I think that is actually correct. However, a D3 school may be limited in the number of participants that they can put on the varsity team. In that case, the remaining participants still get to be on the team, but as “junior varsity”. TheGFG’s post appears to be referring to this possibility:
That scenario wouldn’t preclude participation on the JV squad. In fact, I wouldn’t count on making the varsity team as a freshman at any school (though it may be possible in some cases, depending on your times and the strength of the team).
@nordietrackie , When you visit Union, would it be possible to stay overnight and see what you think of the “scene”? I know that Union doesn’t offer official overnight visits, but perhaps you could stay with your brother. Generally, that’s not a problem. Also, you should see if you can meet the XC/track coach(es) while you’re there. You can find out whether your times are competitive, and if so, what the path would be for you to “get support” for admissions if you wanted to go that route or simply to try for a walk-on position if you are accepted. The situation for walk-ons varies by school and by sport, but in our experience, there are quite a few coaches who are delighted to get a good player without having to use one of their recruiting spaces on them. And it IS possible to go straight to varsity that way although in reality, coaches will destroy their future recruiting efforts by benching recruited players in favor of walk-ons, so one of the questions to ask is “how many new runners do you expect to need next year because of graduation and people being abroad, and will you fill those through recruitment or open try-outs?” Most D3 coaches have a few more uniforms to fill each year than they are allowed in recruiting tips. And in a sport like XC, it’s much less complicated than in a sport where the coach is worried about position players. DS really liked Union and found the kids there to be very friendly… He also liked the academic calendar.
Oddly, one of the other schools that made it into his final few was Dickinson. It is definitely a little more “Midwestern” in demeanor – a little more mellow, very very friendly and open. The town is great. The town of Carlisle is pretty much everything that Schenectady is not – safe, charming, nicely integrated into the campus, etc. I would strongly advise, though, that if you feel like it is too far that you refocus on schools that are closer to you. There’s no point in worrying yourself about whether a school has what you want if fundamentally, you don’t want to go that far. If you are open to going further, though, I think you might really like it.
If you don’t want to drink, look for schools that have substance free (or wellness) housing as this will allow you to find your people. Most do! Bard has a very different vibe than either of those other two but isn’t a big party school. You might like Connecticut College as well. Also a school with no Greek life.
@gardenstategal Thanks so much! This was very helpful. I might be able to stay overnight with my brother, but he has a roommate so I’m not sure. Should I get in touch with the coaches ahead of time, before my shadow day, to plan a meeting?
Ah I just can’t decide now if I’m willing to go 5 hours away for a college. It would be hard not being able to see my family as much, but Dickinson is a great school. I’m also really interested in Mount Holyoke, which is only 2 hours from me. I love everything about Mount Holyoke, but the social scene (or lack thereof) concerns me (I’ve read that there is almost no social scene for straight women). Ahhg. I will look into Bard and Connecticut college! Where did your son end up?
Any particular reason why you need to ED? It sounds as if you’re sufficiently undecided that RD might be a better choice.
@nordietrackie , Since XC is a fall sport, the coach may have some obligations during the day, so it might be a good idea to send an e-mail asking when it might be a good time for you to stop by and chat briefly about the program. We did a number of “we’re here!” visits with coaches. Some were very gracious (others less so!) but in general, if you’re not on their radar, you need to be prepared to make a case for yourself, so have your times ready, any big races you’ve won, etc. so that they know that you’re serious.