Recs?--Athletic Training/Sports Medicine/Exercise Science [3.88 GPA, 1430 SAT, <$50k]

College Search & Lists
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DD is in the process of making/narrowing her list, but has stuck to colleges that my wife and I initially recommended that she look at and hasn’t added any herself (she has eliminated some of our recommendations). While she is excited about the colleges on her list, my wife and I don’t want out biases to have limited her choices and make her miss a diamond out there that we just don’t know about or dismissed. So we wanted to throw it out to the group to see if there were any colleges out there we missed. Some of the criteria are:

Cost: Our contribution will be around $50,000/year
Location: She would like a college town, but not a city. Does not do well in excessive heat. We live in the Northeast, but willing to look anywhere
Size: Small to Medium. (Visited two state flagships around 17,000 and they were too big)
Prefers no religious affiliation, though not a deal breaker

Major: Athletic Training/Exercise Science/Sports Medicine/Kinesiology etc.
Academics: Looking for a hands on experience with labs and internship opportunities. Would like to be a student trainer for an athletic team

HS Record:
Current Junior
GPA: 3.88UW 5.72W (College Prep=4/Accelerated=5/Honors & AP=6)–11 APs by graduation
Max Rigor in 4/5 core subjects (1 Accelerated class)
SAT: 1430
Rank: HS does not rank, but lists the top 10%–She is in top 10%

Extracurriculars: Solid, but nothing that is “OMG Amazing”–Has been an athletic trainer during one season and an athlete the other two all three years (prefers to be a trainer as opposed to an athlete in college). Some club leadership, NHS, about 300 hours in community service. Full time job over summer.

Some of the colleges we have looked at:

Vermont, Connecticut, Skidmore, Colgate, Ithaca, Gettysburg, Villanova, Delaware, William & Mary, Richmond, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest & Furman. (Yes, we realize some of these don’t fit the criteria above, but the visits helped her to get to what she is looking for).

Please let us know if you need any other information. TIA!

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Look at JMU. It’s bigger than your limit, but feels smaller.

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My son was interested in sports science programs he was putting together his list, and he also wanted a small school, which limited things somewhat. He graduated last year from Denison University with a double major in Psychology and Health, Exercise and Sports Science (HESS) and had a terrific experience with the HESS department. We also looked at Occidental in Los Angeles, which has a kinesiology major, although maybe the LA climate would put her off.

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Mt daughter graduated UDel honors with a degree in exercise science, she’s currently at Boston university for her DPT. Excellent program and facilities. My friend’s son graduated athletic training and did his grad school somewhere in CA. Great college town, good merit. My daughter got into Villanova honors but the price? No merit there.

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I suspect that with the schools on your current list that the prices will either be way over $50k or way under $50k, with a couple potentially come in right around budget.

In terms of looking at other options, these are some without any religious affiliation that your D might want to consider:

  • Baldwin Wallace (OH): About 2700 undergrads

  • DePauw (IN): About 1800 undergrads

  • Drake (IA): About 2800 undergrads in Des Moines, which also has a lot of minor league teams if she wants to move on from college athletic training to professional athletic training

  • Elon (NC): About 6300 undergrads

  • Endicott (MA): About 3100 undergrads

  • Indiana U. of Pennsylvania: About 7k undergrads

  • Marist (NY): About 5500 undergrads

  • Quinnipiac (CT): About 6100 undergrads

  • Salisbury (MD): About 6400 undergrads

  • Truman State (MO): About 3600 undergrads

  • U. of Puget Sound (WA): About 1700 undergrads

  • Ursinus (PA ): About 1500 undergrads

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Suny Cortland would be a safety.
Seconding Skidmore, Denison and Marist.
UVA, UMichigan and Georgia Tech would be reaches – run the NPC to make sure they’re within budget (GTech is supposed to be about 50k but UVA/UM are 72k AFAIK so only mentioning it in case budget is flexible or the NPC shows an okay number).

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SUNY Cortland is known for sports management and athletic training. It’s a good one to add to the list. It’s a safety with a strong program.

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St Olaf (match)? Uscranton (safety)?
Both offer a lot of merit.

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Maybe this list will help.

U of Pacific

GVSU - a bit big - but some schools may seem smaller depending on overall campus size.

Quinnipiac

Slippery Rock

W Florida

Good luck

2024 Best Athletic Training Schools (collegefactual.com)

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Thanks everyone. Looking in to some of these now. Appreciate the help.

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Elon has an accelerated D.PT program if rhat is of interest

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