I have a tough decision regaring where I should apply early decision. I am being recruited for track from Wash U and am essentially and auto admit if I were to apply becuase of the track recruitment. My other choice is taking my chances at a early decsion at my state school UVA (with no help of recruitment). The reason I favor UVA is becuase I want my college expiernce to be fun and social. I feel that UVA would do this best. My major is data science. Aditionally regarding cost, Wash U would actually be a 10k cheaper per year becuase of financial aid. Any advice?
What academic areas are of the greatest interest to you? Have you visited both campuses?
What makes you believe that Washington University will be less fun and social than University of Virginia?
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Definitely not the right question to be asking when comparing these two schools.
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Do you want track to be a big part of your college experience or not? Participating in college athletics is a big time commitment.
Do you feel you have a shot at an early decision at UVA? Is there a walk-on opportunity? Maybe take your shot there and ask the WashU coach if he’ll still support your application for ED2 or even RD.
But you need to decide if you really want to be a college athlete or not.
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Would WashU be on your list as an ED contender if you weren’t being recruited?
Are you being recruited at any school that offers an experience closer to that of UVA?
How important is it for you to participate in varsity track in college? Might a club team suffice (assuming you wouldn’t be able to walk on on a varsity team at UVA’s level?)
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I agree with others.
My S24 is at WashU and I think it is proving to be a fun and social school. That said, I do think the nature of the fun can sometimes different from what it would be like at a UVA-type school. Like, sports is important for players at WashU, with a big social component. But as a spectator? Eh, not like a serious D1 would be.
So holding aside cost (although $40K is a serious amount of money), I would think that might be the focus of your choice–which in the end only you can make.
On the one hand, if you really love the idea of being on a varsity team, for the fun of representing your school in competitions, meeting people and socializing, and so on, then I don’t think WashU is going to fail to deliver on that sort of fun.
On the other, if you would really love the excitement of attending big games with lots of other students, then UVA might be the better choice.
That said, this is going off just what you have said. There are other distinctions too. In the end, though, there will still be no right or wrong, and you could rationally prefer either depending on your own priorities.
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That’s a good question, and in fact it appears to me UVA has a running club that travels to interscholastic meets:
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I can’t say for your particular scenario. But my elder one is a 4th year at UVA doing engineering and is loving every moment of it. Maybe you can refer to both of their common data set to decide which of the two will give you a better chance for ED.
They will both give you a great education
The First question you need to ask yourself is am I ok giving up being a Competitive Track and Field athlete
You spent years training will you be ok with intramural or club.
Granted being an athlete is a serious extra time commitment on top of schoolwork
but most schools have very good support systems which may include early class registration, tutors, etc
Location St. Louis or Charlottesville… Urban vs College Town Do you have a preference
and as far as worrying about Wash U being social and fun even though it is smaller than UVA 15000+ undergrads it still has over 8000+ undergraduate students , plus you will be a recruited athlete so I wouldn’t worry.
Being a Athlete how important is going to a school that is in Division one ACC for UVA even if you are not competing
It’s possible that the UVA club track team is stronger than WashU’s varsity team…something for OP to research. This is not uncommon, some D1 club teams, especially at Power 4/5 schools, can be stronger than even the top D3 teams.
One other potential issue with club teams is that the expense can be substantially or even 100% on the athletes…and this can add up depending on how often/far the team travels, if they have to pay for facility time, uniforms, etc.
Absolutely. In fact that club website says:
The club attends more than half a dozen cross country and track meets throughout the year, including NIRCA Regional and National Championships. We have the opportunity to compete against a variety of Division III and club teams from across the country, and the Hoos represent well at almost every meet.
I know absolutely nothing about competitive track or how to judge the quality of a team, so I won’t try to opine on that, but I assume there are results and such that would give you an idea. I also assume there could be differences in the number of meets, available championships (like, I think WashU is in the UAA for track), and so on. So looking into all that could be illuminating.
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Tough call.
Do you want almost certain admission, ability to be on track team, and $10,000 per year lower cost ?
Or do you prefer to stay closer to home and enjoy 4 years of fun while facing the uncertainty of admission ?
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