How do high school athletes choose their college?

12 comments

1. You’re asking why a person who runs track wants to go a school where he can run track?

2. 1. Scholarships/price tag
   2. Family or support system is in Arizona
   3. The track program might not be good at Princeton
   4. Arizona might have the academic program they want

   >and that degree from stanford will probably do u better in life?

   Lol. I know someone with a PhD from Georgetown that is back home working for a landscaping company because they can’t find a job but has lots and lots of debt

3. 1) If your goal is to go to the Olympics or just excel in your sport, that’s your operative concern.

   2) The value of a degree from an elite school is diminishing rapidly.

   3) An elite school is going to have much more stringent academic requirements. If you’re just there to run track and get the credential, going to an elite school makes no sense.

4. Depends on the person. A lot of things go into deciding on a college – proximity to home, cost, academic programs available, sports available, perks, campus life, resident city, etc. A person might choose a less prestigious university because it’s less expensive or offers a specific academic program that others don’t or it might be higher ranked in a specific program, despite being less prestigious. Maybe it has a better sports program or offered the person in question better perks to lure them in.

5. I assume this person has Olympic aspirations, given those facts. He would do better where he chose than at Harvard/Stanford. He may genuinely be sacrificing an outstanding opportunity in his life after he is done with athletics. But the dream of competing at the highest of levels in athletics for as long as you can is sometimes worth it for the athlete. I might personally make a different decision, but I was never a good athlete to begin with. I see the drive and desire and understand that chasing that dream might be worth it for someone, even if it’s not worth it for me

6. This is going to vary from person to person. If the high school athlete is truly 100% committed to being an athlete. They will always choose what their career path is, being an athlete. The school with the better track program is going to be recognized more and have a better chance of being in the olympics, world games, etc.

   But if the athlete realizes as good as they are, there is another whole level of better athletes over themselves. Maybe they should be realistic and pick a college that won’t be the best for their athletic career, but would be nice to start a regular career path away from being an athlete.

7. A lot of the other comments here pointed out the varying factors that go into choosing one school over another. As a student at NAU I can tell you that the environment at the school and the city is top notch for athletes in track and cross country. It is a school that emphasizes heavily on running due to how high the city is located which makes it perfect for conditioning. Combined with the fact that the school is pumping lots of money into athletic programs and buildings makes it more enticing. If a person wants to invest in a running career, they want to go to a school that invests in a future for them.

8. Two reasons generally:

   1. It’s possible Stanford didn’t provide as good an education in the subject they wanted to study. Stanford may not offer that field whatsoever. Our schools differ by more ways than just level of prestige
   2. Stanford (and Princeton) is _expensive_. Tuition is nearly double that of NAU, housing is significantly less, cost of living is much lower, etc. Also, they may have gotten a scholarship to NAU and not Stanford, reducing the costs even further. If they are already an Arizona resident, it’ll be cheaper too.

   Other reasons might include location (closer to family; these schools are far enough away that living near one would mean having to fly home from the others to visit family ), campus life, and NAU could be where their friends are going. Where their high school girlfriend/boyfriend is going plays a part in this far more often than people want to admit as well.

9. I suspect that there are two reasons: 1) the chosen school is better for his elite sport, and 2) he got a better scholarship from NAU. Stanford and Princeton are very expensive, and if he’s planning on an athletic career, he won’t want to be saddled with huge student debt.

10. It’s an individual decision.

    It could be as simple as the coaching and the relationship they have with the staff at school A. Maybe they are infatuated with the Grand Canyon. Maybe they have a friend there.

    Yes, the opportunity presented by attending a very prestigious university matters, a lot in many cases.

    There isn’t a single pathway for everyone, you’d have to ask the person.

11. I assume you’re talking about one of the twins from Newbury Park… NAU has the best program in the county these days and those twins are two of the best high school distance runners in the sport’s history.

    They may have connected better with the coaching staff at NAU and they will probably be able to get a shoe contract and be a full-time pro after college, so it makes sense to go where they have the best athletic prospects.

    EDIT: I picked the third best of the six schools I got into because of their XC and track program and the school’s social scene. Granted, the schools were all in roughly the second highest tier of liberal arts college, ranked somewhere between 15-40 in the country at the time, so I was splitting hairs, but I think the point stands.

    Also- these guys are not trying to be professors or doctors or engineers right away, and they may very well want to coach XC and track later in life. Running under the NAU staff will help them achieve that goal too.

12. 1- where you apply to and get in

    2- scholarship money offered

    3- how the program is run (figuratively) and opportunities

    4- what you want to study

    5- overall vibe