Which for a daughter who is undecided regarding major & will play soccer ?
No question, Trinity. Trinity is in NESCAC which is a great, highly competitive and exciting conference of very selective new england schools. In some sports these schools are like division 1. The other two are in Centennial Conference which is like high school.
In addition to the quality of the soccer, these schools are in very different environments. If she wants a small town setting, Dickinson makes sense. If she wants a city, with access to Boston and New York, than it’s Trinity.
Trinity is the best athletics by far. Schools are similar in size. We found Trinity had a slightly higher percentage of private high school kids. Dickinson is in a cute town, Trinity is in Hartford. Dickinson really emphasizes international and global learning… Trinity seems more traditional with a focus on business… we loved both schools for different reasons… Cannt go wrong… mostly about “feel” for your child. Good luck.
As we have been looking at some of those schools for men’s soccer, the advice we have consistently gotten is: focus first on fit of the school overall, then look at soccer. While those three schools may add some merit aid, there are no athletic scholarships and they are each about the “scholar athlete.” So make sure the campus, the programs, the community feel right, as well as the coach, the teammates and the direction of the program.
That being said, there are a lot of similarities among those three schools – none leans super left, the way some other LACs can do, and each has Greek life on campus, with varying degrees of prominence. We have gotten the impression that the student body at each of those schools is fairly focused on career, more so at Trinity and F&M, Dickinson seems to have a little more change the world vibe among some students (a good thing in my mind, but I’m not the one going to college this time around). Trinity is in a city, and along the eastern seaboard, so easy to hop a train to Boston or NY, and has the state capital there as a resource for internships etc. Dickinson and F&M are not going to feel “in the center of things” though one can get from Lancaster to Philly in about an hour.
A quick look at the Bennett rankings suggest those soccer programs are not dramatically different – Dickinson is in the middle to top third of its conference whereas Trinity and F&M are in the bottom third of their conference.
Each of those schools would be good places for a student to figure out their next step – I would think the key differences then come down to soccer fit – how comfortable are you, and your daughter, with the coach, the program, and the team
Good luck to your daughter.
@Midwestmomofboys
The NESCAC Conference is by far a more competitive conference and the culture and rivalries are similar to the Ivy League. The Centential Conference is nothing like NESCAC.
@dadstressed – NESCAC is a great conference with a storied history, but it depends what an athlete is looking for (and though my name is midwest mom, I’m from the east coast and have college athletes in my family; I am very familiar with both Ivy League and D3 east coast sports.)
Trinity women had an 8-7-1 record last year, putting them 8th out of 11 teams; the team lost badly to the top teams in the conference (as in 0-5, 0-4), though had a couple of good wins as well. For some players, getting beaten badly and being in the lower half of a conference, without a chance to make the NCAA tournament or even your own conference playoffs, is not appetizing. Same would go for F&M, bottom of the conference, even worse record. Dickinson was 4th in its conference, an 11-5-1 record, and looks like a program which could improve. I don’t know anything about the women’s coaches at those three schools, maybe Trinity and F&M had a down year and will be on the upswing, maybe they have some great new talent that will affect their season. But depending on the student/athlete, there is a lot more to the decision about programs than just the reputation of the conference.
To many athletes, quality of the conference, history of the conference and rivalries are just as important as record.
It really is for the student to decide but most true athletes want to compete, win, lose or draw in a better conference.
The OP wanted feed back and that is mine.
Not necessary to suggest what most “true athletes” would want, that is more than a little patronizing. My player is talking to NESCAC schools as well as Liberty, Centennial etc, and there is much more to the conversation than the conference.
The OP would perhaps appreciate hearing about how great NESCAC rivalries are, how much fun it is for families to travel around the east coast to cheer on their players, how it is a special experience, and maybe insight into how the experience for the player and family might be different elsewhere. As for “better” conferences, NESCAC is ranked 3rd and Centennial 7th – one of the most dominant D3 soccer programs, on both the men’s and women’s side, is Messiah, which plays in MACC.
What if D1 Furman & D3 Conn College & Denison added ?
Throw in a D1 school, and then you really need to think about what are the goals for college. Furman is about the same size as the others, but the D1 training and competition experience will be very different from the D3 schools. Furman is no. 2 in its conference this past season, so is a strong team presumably looking to make a final push to win its conference.
Conn Coll is another NESCAC school, finished third in the NESCAC and ranked just around the top 20, depending on which ranking you look at. A very competitive program. Denison is an interesting possibility, we have visited and were very impressed with the campus, the students, the facilities and the coach and faculty that we spoke with. Denison women finished 2nd in the North Coast conference, presumably a team also looking to win its conference next year.
As between Trinity, Conn, F&M, Dickinson, and Denison, it would really come down to fit, both academically and athletically, and preferences about location etc. They are all terrific schools, and will offer your daughter wonderful academic opportunities. The core liberal arts departments at these schools will all be strong, with close relationships with faculty, smaller class, internship opportunities. Trinity and Conn are on the eastern seaboard, easily accessible by train to New York and Boston. Trinity has the reputation – which could be unfair – of having students who are generally more affluent and more politically conservative, more professionally focused, than some of the other LACs. Many Trinity kids go to NYC to do finance-related work. Take it with a grain of salt, since we haven’t been to F&M, but my sense is that F&M has a somewhat similar feel to Trinity, good kids, focused on career and future. F&M has Greek life, but administration has been working to control its influence on campus. Conn is more a blend of artistic and other kinds of kids, well known for their dance program and the arts generally, originally founded as a women’s college, been coed for a long time now. No Greek life at Conn Coll. Dickinson is known for its commitment to international experience and to sustainability; good kids, some Greek life but not overwhelming. Denison is not too far from Columbus, Ohio, a lovely campus at the top of a hill, a charming small town, Greek life but the fraternities and sororities are non-residential, so all students are still in regular campus housing. Student body was more obviously diverse than at some LACs we have visited.
Depending on where your daughter is in the recruiting cycle, she will have the opportunity to form more distinct impressions of the schools and teams on her visits. We have been advised to look at each school with an eye to, what if soccer were not in the picture, either for injury or otherwise, is it still the right place for the student? In talking with coaches, we have tried to listen for what matters to us as a family – what is the coach’s philosophy on player development, leadership, community, in addition to the obvious questions about recruitment, needs, admission etc.
It could be helpful to understand more about what year your daughter is in high school, and where she is in the recruiting cycle. There are different questions to ask, depending on whether a player has been told they are a top recruit or are just looking to see if a program might be interested.
Good luck to your daughter, it is an exciting time, and I know girls’ soccer recruiting happens earlier than boys, so that she could be much younger than my player.
My daughter was accepted at all of these schools & she is deciding between playing all 4 years at Dickinson & not playing much at Furman . I prefer DICKINSON as a school . She is on the wait list at Wake Forest ( with so many others ) & will go there despite limited soccer possibilities ( ? Practice ) if admitted . She had the same impression re Trinity & F&M that you expressed .
I’d imagine playing all 4 years would trump the opportunity of maybe playing?
Academically, Dickinson is as good as Furman, so is it because she’ll enjoy watching the D1 players play more than she’ll enjoy herself playing?
Personally, Dickinson is my favorite of those listed. It seems like a well-managed school, I like the focus on sustainability, good variety of students (F&M and Trinity struck me as more homogeneous). Agree with @midwestmomofboys that your daughter should focus on fit.