Which colleges sound good for me?

College Search & Lists
1

Hi!
I am going into my junior year of high school and I figured there is no time like right now to start figuring out which colleges I should look into, especially because I would like to be recruited for swimming. The utmost priority is that the college I attend has a strong men’s swimming program — I am hoping to be able to swim in college, and I know that my times are very good/competitive.

I am hoping to major in either exercise science/chemistry, though I am unsure of which exactly at the moment. I’m really interested in both, so possible even double majoring in the two. I don’t exactly know what I want to do with them, so after undergraduate plans are a bit nebulous.

I know that I do not want a school in New York City/in New Jersey (where I’m from), though I do not something in the middle of absolute nowhere — my brother transferred out of Vassar (in Poughkeepsie) because of how miserable he was, since it was so desolate and boring.

I am someone who focuses on swimming and not much else besides my coursework, so extracurriculars aren’t really important to me. I’m not very religious, but I wouldn’t mind if I went to a religious affiliated school — just as long as it wasn’t shoving Christianity down my throat. I’m also not very political, so I wouldn’t even consider somewhere like Vassar.

Cost/financial aid is not something that has to be taken into account; I would also love to be able to receive a scholarship for swimming, though it’s not necessarily required.

States that I definitely would go to college in: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington DC
States that I would tentatively go to college in: Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Vermont, North Carolina
**All states that haven’t been mentioned are places that I wouldn’t go to college in.

Additionally, I would prefer the school either be D1 or very strong D3 — no D2.

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Currently, I already have the following schools on my list, though these are just from suggestions through my parents’ friends/siblings/etc. If any of them seem out of place with what I said, please let me know too:

Boston University
College of the Holy Cross
Lafayette College
University of Michigan
Bates College
Connecticut College
Swarthmore College
Wesleyan University
Villanova University

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Please help me find a good school! Thank you in advance.

2

D20 toured Connecticut College and our tour guide was a swimmer. She was the youngest in her family and her siblings all swam D1. She knew she didn’t want the demands of that kind of training or travel schedule and wanted to focus on academics so she chose a D3 program. I would suggest looking up the times of swimmers in your events at the schools you are interested in as well as the conferences they compete in and look at what some of their meet schedules look like. D has a friend doing a D1 sport and it requires her to miss a day and a half of classes a week for travel.

3

Great post ! Love that you have ruled out 38 states & all schools in Division II athletics.

Want a competitive men’s swimming program, cost is not an issue, no rural schools, and plan to major in exercise science and/or chemistry.

Because you would like to get a swimming scholarship, but are just entering your junior year of high school, it may be a bit early as your times might improve significantly and thereby making you scholarship eligible while now you may not be time qualified.

How are your grades ?

Any standardized test scores ?

4

Nobody can help you with a college list without your academics/ and EC’s.
Your screen name is @SummerSwimmer, do you swim for a club team or only a summer league?

5

@Publisher No standardized test scores yet, I’m planning on taking my first ACT in December — hopefully by that point COVID-19 will have been extinguished. My grades are good, I’m on average an A- student. I have taken 2/3 Honors courses every year. I’m not able to see my past grades/specific classes right now because my school shut down the online site where we view grades/report cards for the summer.

@CottonTales Lol…the screen name isn’t indicative of anything besides that it is currently summer and I swim. I’m on a club team year-round as well as my high school’s swim team. I’m also ranked within the top 50 swimmers my age in the state. I’ve done Chinese Club since freshman year in which I’ve consistently held a leadership position and I also was just inducted to the World Language National Honor Society for Chinese. I also actively participate in Key Club. Besides that, I don’t really take partake in anything else because swimming is a huge commitment in itself.

6

I know Wisconsin is not in a state that you said you would be interested in, but Univeristy of Wisconsin-Madison might be worth looking into!

7

@SummerSwimmer, gotcha. Just keep in mind that you have several reach schools for anybody on your list, and they won’t be forgiving of your lack of EC’s. I know how much time club swimming takes up, but that won’t make up or excuse your lack of EC’s.

8

Go to collegeswimming.com and input your times. You can search by state and D1 or D3 and where your times fit into the team. Be aware several teams have shut down their men’s swimming including University of Connecticut and University of Massachusetts Amherst.