What Are Some Lower D1 Schools?

[Unregistered]

What are some of the Division 1 soccer schools that are very good academically but not as good at soccer as the top tier schools such as BC, UNC or Duke?
My son got a very thorough evaluation by a college coach last week and the coach believes my son is best suited to play at a lower tier Division 1 school. Coach said he is able to play at a mid-to-top school but is unlikely, and unlikely to get much playing time.

We have been contemplating on settling for a D3 school, but he said he would be a lot happier at a D1 school because he still sees soccer in his future after college.

We all know Duke, Notre Dame, Boston College, and UNC are extremely good at soccer and at academics, but what some schools that are close to those schools academically but not as good soccer-wise?

[Unregistered]

Coach said he is able to play at a mid-to-top school but is unlikely, and unlikely to get much playing time.

He still sees soccer in his future after college.

Am I missing something? Coach feels is able to play at mid to top, bit unlikely to get much playing time. Huh? You can play but you won't play?

This is the point where either the parent sits his child down (unlikely) or a top coach sits him down and is brutally honest with the student-athlete.

Settle for Div III...I have seen DAP players settle for Div III and not see the field there first year.

Good luck.

[Unregistered]

What are some of the Division 1 soccer schools that are very good academically but not as good at soccer as the top tier schools such as BC, UNC or Duke?
My son got a very thorough evaluation by a college coach last week and the coach believes my son is best suited to play at a lower tier Division 1 school. Coach said he is able to play at a mid-to-top school but is unlikely, and unlikely to get much playing time.

We have been contemplating on settling for a D3 school, but he said he would be a lot happier at a D1 school because he still sees soccer in his future after college.

We all know Duke, Notre Dame, Boston College, and UNC are extremely good at soccer and at academics, but what some schools that are close to those schools academically but not as good soccer-wise?

Assuming this is even a moderately serious post (and why would you come here for answers?), one of the biggest contradictions in what you wrote is that he is unlikely to get much playing time at a mid-to-top D1 but "still sees soccer in his future after college." You don't have a future with soccer after college if you aren't at least an impact player at a top D1 or an All-American type player at a mid or higher D1.

In terms of your other question, look at Patriot League schools (Colgate, Bucknell, Lehigh, Holy Cross, etc), Ivies, and schools like Northeastern, UMass, UVM, UNH, Davidson, Elon, Wofford, High Point, Marist, Binghamton?, etc. But even at these schools, which in a given year could win a round or two in the NCAA tourney, rosters are filled with DAP players from all over the country as well as internationals. There are top-flight players from Mass at some of the above schools who are mostly sitting on the bench.

[Unregistered]

Assuming this is even a moderately serious post (and why would you come here for answers?), one of the biggest contradictions in what you wrote is that he is unlikely to get much playing time at a mid-to-top D1 but "still sees soccer in his future after college." You don't have a future with soccer after college if you aren't at least an impact player at a top D1 or an All-American type player at a mid or higher D1.

In terms of your other question, look at Patriot League schools (Colgate, Bucknell, Lehigh, Holy Cross, etc), Ivies, and schools like Northeastern, UMass, UVM, UNH, Davidson, Elon, Wofford, High Point, Marist, Binghamton?, etc. But even at these schools, which in a given year could win a round or two in the NCAA tourney, rosters are filled with DAP players from all over the country as well as internationals. There are top-flight players from Mass at some of the above schools who are mostly sitting on the bench.

Some of those schools you listed at the back half of the list are not strong academically.

[Unregistered]

Some of those schools you listed at the back half of the list are not strong academically.

Maybe not as strong, but they are all good schools, and some are very good. What schools do you recommend?

[Unregistered]

Assuming this is even a moderately serious post (and why would you come here for answers?), one of the biggest contradictions in what you wrote is that he is unlikely to get much playing time at a mid-to-top D1 but "still sees soccer in his future after college." You don't have a future with soccer after college if you aren't at least an impact player at a top D1 or an All-American type player at a mid or higher D1.

In terms of your other question, look at Patriot League schools (Colgate, Bucknell, Lehigh, Holy Cross, etc), Ivies, and schools like Northeastern, UMass, UVM, UNH, Davidson, Elon, Wofford, High Point, Marist, Binghamton?, etc. But even at these schools, which in a given year could win a round or two in the NCAA tourney, rosters are filled with DAP players from all over the country as well as internationals. There are top-flight players from Mass at some of the above schools who are mostly sitting on the bench.

He'll improve in college. I think that's what he's ultimately going for. His improvement in college may lead to a transfer to a tier 1 school and then maybe play professionally. We're not disillusioned either. I know where my son is able to play, and where he cannot. He is not a DAP player, but he attended tryouts for 3 DAP teams in the area where he made the cut for 2 out of 3. He ultimately decided that the travel/practices will take up too much time and decided that playing on his club team will lead to a more balanced soccer resume (good GPA, good SAT scores, good ECs, and pretty good exposure to college coaches considering it's a club team).

If nothing, he has safeties such as the NESCAC schools where he will have a 80%+ chance of getting in.

[Unregistered]

Hoping to develop into a pro-player while in college is like trying to locate the end of a rainbow. Realistically, if he does not really stand out now, his chance of playing pro is close to zero.

Good luck!

[Unregistered]

He'll improve in college. I think that's what he's ultimately going for. His improvement in college may lead to a transfer to a tier 1 school and then maybe play professionally. We're not disillusioned either. I know where my son is able to play, and where he cannot. He is not a DAP player, but he attended tryouts for 3 DAP teams in the area where he made the cut for 2 out of 3. He ultimately decided that the travel/practices will take up too much time and decided that playing on his club team will lead to a more balanced soccer resume (good GPA, good SAT scores, good ECs, and pretty good exposure to college coaches considering it's a club team).

If nothing, he has safeties such as the NESCAC schools where he will have a 80%+ chance of getting in.

You are disillusioned. That's what that coach was gently trying to tell you. And how many kids do you think move from a lower level D1 to a top-tier D1 and then play professionally? None. He won't even be playing for the Charleston Battery or the Richmond Kickers. NESCACs aren't safeties. Who told you he has an 80% chance? To Trinity or Williams? And NESCAC players don't transfer to be stars at Duke, UNC, or Akron. You've got a long senior year ahead of you, and I shudder to think of what you've done to your son.

He'll improve in college? What makes you think he'll improve more than all the other players? What prevented him from being good enough already? Sounds like the coach was being very candid with you about where your kid fits, probably overestimating because he knew it would be a blow to you, and you aren't accepting what he said.

[Unregistered]

Hoping to develop into a pro-player while in college is like trying to locate the end of a rainbow. Realistically, if he does not really stand out now, his chance of playing pro is close to zero.

Good luck!

He does stand out in Massachusetts.

[Unregistered]

He does stand out in Massachusetts.

My advice is you don't get any advice on TS. Your best bet is to ask your coaches both club and High School for some direction to your answers. Also, look at the college soccer D1 standings and back into it.

[Unregistered]

My advice is you don't get any advice on TS. Your best bet is to ask your coaches both club and High School for some direction to your answers. Also, look at the college soccer D1 standings and back into it.

I think the suggestion of "backing into it" is a very good one, because it offers a way to set realistic expectations for your son and you. Just as a starting point, is your son a dominant player on one of the following teams - Revs or Bolts DAP team? How about ODP? How about the STARS boys team that's done so well the last couple of years?

If your son can't answer "yes" to at least one of these, I think you have some work to do putting your son's talent in perspective and setting realistic expectations for college and beyond. The point isn't to crush dreams, but to recognize if one isn't at, or darn near the top, of the food chain in your local age group, it isn't going to get easier at the next level in college.

[Unregistered]

The problem that you're going to run into is there is a correlation between a school's academic level and the quality of its soccer teams. (This observation probably applies to non-revenue sports more generally instead of just soccer.) To illustrate, here's a list of D-1 colleges, sorted by their average RPIs over the last six seasons (excluding this year, since it's not yet complete), which is an imperfect, but nevertheless reasonable, proxy for the level of play at a given school. As you'll see, while there are still some excellent schools in the bottom part of this list (e.g., Columbia, Cornell and the service academies, although some of them had good years in 2011 and will be moving up), the further down you go on the list, the harder it is to find schools that are strong academically.

Rank College 2005-10 Average RPI
1 Maryland 5.2
2 Indiana 7.5
3 Wake Forest 8.2
4 North Carolina 10.3
5 Akron 12.2
6 Virginia 14.5
7 UCLA 14.7
8 Notre Dame 17.3
9 California 18.0
10 Connecticut 18.2
11 UC Santa Barbara 20.5
12 Ohio St. 20.8
13 Duke 21.7
14 Creighton 23.0
15 Brown 27.2
16 St. John's (NY) 27.5
17 Boston College 27.7
18 South Fla. 31.2
19 Michigan St. 32.5
20 Northwestern 32.8
21 SMU 33.3
22 Dartmouth 34.3
23 Michigan 35.5
24 Old Dominion 35.7
25 Tulsa 36.7
26 West Virginia 38.2
27 Providence 40.7
28 New Mexico 41.3
29 Penn St. 41.7
30 St. Louis 43.8
31 Harvard 44.5
32 UNC Greensboro 47.0
33 Washington 49.3
34 UC Irvine 50.5
35 Boston U. 50.7
36 South Carolina 51.2
37 Louisville 54.2
37 San Diego St. 54.2
39 North Carolina St. 57.3
40 Santa Clara 59.0
41 Northern Ill. 59.3
42 Monmouth 61.0
43 William & Mary 61.2
44 Wisconsin 61.5
45 Ill.-Chicago 64.2
46 Penn 64.7
47 Hofstra 65.0
48 Clemson 65.2
49 Col. of Charleston 66.0
50 Kentucky 66.2
51 Binghamton 66.5
52 Cincinnati 67.0
53 San Diego 67.3
53 Stanford 67.3
53 Charlotte 67.3
56 Towson 68.2
57 Drake 68.7
58 Virginia Tech 69.2
59 Georgetown 70.5
60 Cal St. Northridge 70.8
61 Green Bay 71.2
62 Princeton 71.8
63 Butler 72.0
64 UNC Wilmington 73.7
64 Bucknell 73.7
66 Loyola Marymount 74.0
67 Elon 74.8
68 Portland 76.3
69 Bradley 76.8
70 George Mason 77.5
71 Fairfield 77.8
72 Lehigh 79.5
73 New Hampshire 80.8
74 UAB 81.8
75 Yale 83.0
76 Rhode Island 83.8
76 James Madison 83.8
78 Villanova 84.2
79 Loyola (MD) 84.7
80 Cal Poly 85.3
81 Colgate 86.3
82 UC Davis 86.8
83 Lafayette 87.5
84 Furman 87.8
85 Fairleigh Dickinson 88.0
86 San Francisco 88.8
87 DePaul 89.7
88 Denver 90.5
89 Dayton 90.8
90 Seton Hall 91.0
91 Buffalo 92.0
92 Massachusetts 92.3
93 American 92.8
93 Vermont 92.8
95 Loyola (IL) 93.0
96 Missouri St. 93.3
97 Oregon St. 94.7
98 Hartwick 96.0
99 Oakland 96.2
100 Rutgers 97.8
101 Davidson 99.5
102 Coastal Caro. 101.2
103 Gonzaga 102.7
104 UMBC 103.0
105 VCU 103.3
106 St. Mary's (CA) 105.0
107 Campbell 105.5
107 Stony Brook 105.5
109 Northeastern 106.8
110 UCF 107.2
111 Syracuse 108.0
112 Appalachian St. 109.8
113 St. Peter's 110.2
114 FIU 111.2
115 Liberty 111.5
116 Evansville 111.7
117 Winthrop 112.5
118 Memphis 114.0
118 Sacramento St. 114.0
120 Fordham 116.2
121 Holy Cross 116.8
122 Hartford 118.0
123 Duquesne 118.3
124 Iona 119.2
125 SIU Edwardsville 119.3
126 Sacred Heart 120.2
127 Milwaukee 121.5
128 Stetson 121.7
129 St. Francis (PA) 121.8
130 Cal St. Bakersfield 122.3
131 San Jose St. 122.3
132 Cal St. Fullerton 128.8
133 East Tenn. St. 129.3
134 Marshall 129.7
135 George Washington 130.3
135 Quinnipiac 130.3
137 St. Bonaventure 131.3
138 Marquette 131.7
139 Central Conn. St. 132.2
140 Fla. Gulf Coast 132.3
141 Cornell 133.8
142 Western Ill. 134.2
143 Temple 134.8
144 Adelphi 135.3
145 Western Mich. 135.7
146 Seattle 136.0
147 Albany (NY) 136.3
147 Eastern Ill. 136.3
149 Niagara 136.5
150 Drexel 137.3
151 High Point 138.3
152 Jacksonville 138.7
153 Columbia 139.2
154 Cleveland St. 140.8
155 Valparaiso 141.5
156 Robert Morris 142.7
157 UMKC 143.5
157 Siena 143.5
159 Detroit 143.8
160 Navy 144.0
161 UC Riverside 145.5
162 Air Force 146.3
163 La Salle 146.8
164 Richmond 147.3
165 St. Francis (NY) 147.8
165 Fla. Atlantic 147.8
167 Wright St. 149.0
168 Alabama A&M 149.2
169 Radford 149.5
170 Xavier 151.2
170 Marist 151.2
172 Pittsburgh 153.0
173 Ga. Southern 153.7
174 Delaware 154.5
175 UNLV 159.2
176 Gardner-Webb 159.8
177 Georgia St. 161.5
178 Mercer 163.5
179 Lipscomb 163.7
179 Mt. St. Mary's 163.7
181 Wofford 164.0
182 Bowling Green 164.3
183 Oral Roberts 165.5
184 Longwood 166.5
184 Army 166.5
184 Long Island 166.5
187 IUPUI 167.3
188 Canisius 172.7
189 Belmont 174.0
189 UNC Asheville 174.0
191 Central Ark. 177.0
192 Rider 177.2
193 Bryant 180.0
194 Houston Baptist 181.5
195 North Florida 183.2
196 Presbyterian 185.3
197 St. Joseph's 187.2
198 NJIT 190.2
199 VMI 193.0
200 IPFW 193.2
201 Centenary (LA) 193.7
202 Howard 195.8
203 Manhattan 196.3
204 S.C. Upstate 198.8

[Unregistered]

My advice is you don't get any advice on TS. Your best bet is to ask your coaches both club and High School for some direction to your answers. Also, look at the college soccer D1 standings and back into it.

Agree. Take everything you hear here with a huge grain of salt. Rely on professionals who know your player.

[Unregistered]

He'll improve in college. I think that's what he's ultimately going for. His improvement in college may lead to a transfer to a tier 1 school and then maybe play professionally. We're not disillusioned either. I know where my son is able to play, and where he cannot. He is not a DAP player, but he attended tryouts for 3 DAP teams in the area where he made the cut for 2 out of 3. He ultimately decided that the travel/practices will take up too much time and decided that playing on his club team will lead to a more balanced soccer resume (good GPA, good SAT scores, good ECs, and pretty good exposure to college coaches considering it's a club team).

If nothing, he has safeties such as the NESCAC schools where he will have a 80%+ chance of getting in.

Hopefully this post is satirical. Otherwise, it is a train wreck.

And don't forget to tell the lower tier, great academic D1 who is going to start your kid right away and make him a star freshmen year that you'd like to parlay that wished for treatment by the coach into a transfer to a stronger soccer school because you always knew professional soccer was on the horizon. That coach will be more than happy to facilitate the transfer.....as soon as he can remember your kid's name and find him at the end of the bench with the other practice squad players. And remember to have your kid share this fantasy with the NESCAC interviewers. I'm sure they will be bowled over and his chances will go up from 80% to 95%.

[Unregistered]

He'll improve in college. I think that's what he's ultimately going for. His improvement in college may lead to a transfer to a tier 1 school and then maybe play professionally. We're not disillusioned either. I know where my son is able to play, and where he cannot. He is not a DAP player, but he attended tryouts for 3 DAP teams in the area where he made the cut for 2 out of 3. He ultimately decided that the travel/practices will take up too much time and decided that playing on his club team will lead to a more balanced soccer resume (good GPA, good SAT scores, good ECs, and pretty good exposure to college coaches considering it's a club team).

If nothing, he has safeties such as the NESCAC schools where he will have a 80%+ chance of getting in.

Don't listen to the know nothing dopes in this forum. He will improve as he enters college, but the question is, will he improve enough to reach his goal? He has to be willing to work hard, very hard, but perseverence is a huge part of who makes it and who doesn't. Good luck.