<p>I am currently pulling my hair out trying to decide where to go to college. My grades are excellent, I am number one in my class, and have decent standardized test scores. It has come down to 2 schools: Middlebury and Colgate.</p>
<p>At Middlebury, I would most likely be able to play football. However, I want to be an orthopedic surgeon one day and not many football players can make it through pre-med without changing their major. </p>
<p>At Colgate, I would be in a familiar surrounding. My dad went there, and my sister is a senior there now. She too was pre med. I wouldnt play any varsity sports, but I think I would greatly enjoy myself at the 'gate. </p>
<p>Basically, I feel like if I go to Colgate, I’ll regret not being able to play football ever again and wish I had gone to Middlebury. If I go to Middlebury, I think I’ll feel like football wasn’t worth it and I’ll wish I had gone to Colgate.</p>
<p>D-III football is only a good experience if you are a starting player. Midd carries about 80 players and maybe 25 actually play on Saturday. The days are past that being on the varsity football team enhanced your collegiate experience socially. You are branded and isolated for the most part. My nephew enjoyed his relationship with teammates period. The coaches are remote and have little influence on your day to day affairs especially after they determine who those top 25 players are. School support at Middlebury is strong for ice hockey and perhaps lacrosse minimal for football. Everybody does his or her own thing other jocks are busy in their respective sports while the large alien population from far away places primarily the middle and far east could care less. Go to GATE and enjoy a far more satisfying social life. You can also concentrate on your pre-med courses more easily there. Midd’s academics are demanding to be sure but no more than Colgate’s in the final analysis. The skiing in Vermont is of course superior though the hockey is not nearly as strong despite all the touting you hear about the Panther successes. How many victories have they had over their Catamount rivals to the north of late?</p>
<p>Keep in mind that football at Midd and football at Colgate represent two entirely different levels of play.</p>
<p>Colgate is NCAA Division I FCS. Their regular season this year is 11 games, from September 5 to November 14 – and there is the potential for even more games, if they make the FCS playoffs. Last year, for example, Colgate did make the playoffs, so there was a 12th game on November 29. They lost, so the season ended after 12 games. If Colgate had won, they would played up to three more games, and the season could have run until mid-December.</p>
<p>In addition, the Colgate football year also includes spring practices in March and April, as well as preseason practice in August. </p>
<p>Middlebury, on the other hand, is only Division III – and furthermore, Midd plays in NESCAC, which has the most restrictive football rules in the NCAA. A NESCAC football season is ony 8 games, which this year are from September 26 to November 14. And that’s a firm cap, because NESCAC (like the Ivy League) does not allow football teams to participate in playoffs or bowl games.</p>
<p>NESCAC does not allow spring football practices at all, and I believe that August practices are restricted as well. With an 8-game schedule, you can conduct pre-season practice in September (this year, for example, Midd’s first game is not until 09/26). </p>
<p>So in general, the commitment required to play NESCAC football at Midd will be significantly lower than the commitment that you might associate with Colgate or other DI schools (of course, the quality of play will be lower as well). I don’t think that it would preclude pre-medical studies; NESCAC schools have high academic standards and expectations, even for athletes.</p>
<p>Oh I’m not good enough to play at Colgate… I’m fully aware of it. A big draw to Midd is that I would be able to there… which makes my decision very difficult.</p>
<p>The point is that not just that you can play football at a NESCAC school like Midd. </p>
<p>The point is that you can play football at a NESCAC school, and still pursue a rigorous course of pre-med study. That seemed to be your primary concern with Midd in the original post.</p>
<p>i don’t understand. you’re not at the point of having a decision yet, correct? apply to both schools and continue to explore and ask questions over the fall and winter. relax!</p>
<p>Although both are excellent schools, Middlebury is slightly more prestigious and may offer a more intimate learning experience. Colgate has more of a reputation as a party school than Middlebury, although as I said, both have similar academic strengths. Colgate has frats, Middlebury does not. As many others have said, you may not have a decision to make, so why agonize over it at this point? Are you applying ED?</p>