What would you prefer in a college?

[PV2020]

There are many things to consider when deciding what college is best for you. Money is one of those things people consider but it usually reflects what you will have around you in the program (although not always). This is because most programs are not going to put multiple scholarships into the vault, so the more you get, the less your team mates are probably on.

The choice then becomes how important is the money to you and what you want out of a program. Do you want to go somewhere where you start off the best or do you want to go somewhere that you have older vaulters jumping higher around you. Then how important is the dollar amount of your scholarship. There is much more to consider when making this choice but this poll is just to reflect people's thinking when it comes to the importance of money.

But from experience I can say that most the time if you are offered a 'lower' amount and the team has other guys jumping really high, they were probably not on much more than you when they got there (although this varies from program to program) and were coached to that ability.

Also one thing that I think many people do not realize is this, no one can afford college! I see people all the time take the 25% scholarship because somewhere gave them an offer rather than walk onto the program that is consistently producing better pole vaulters. If you can not afford college and take a 25% scholarship and then the other 75% is student loans, is it that important to you to you to pay on the loan less or would live be more enjoyable taking out 100% on loans and liking the college you choose better?

I also used the comparison to your own PR instead of marks for the team mates. This is because some people have to think realistically. But an example would be a 16' guy who chooses to walk on at one of the top programs in the country that has a 18' jumper, 17'6 jumper, and 17' jumper. That in comparison to him taking 75% at another program who's best vaulter only jumps 16'.

[Split]

When I was a senior in HS I was recruited by 2 Division III schools and 1 Division II school. Both D-III schools were out of state, which meant financial aid would be pretty minimal. The first school also invited me to walk-on the cross country team in addition to being on the track team. We never really further discussed scholarships, but this lead me to believe that I would be getting some sort of aid. The second D-III school only offered about 50% in a merit scholarship, and with the financial aid I would receive would require about 10K in loans a year. The school itself was not entirely a successful school. I was being recruited for decathlon and would be the only person there.
In late April I received a call from a coach at a Division II school. It seemed terrific at first. Roughly 50% scholarship, merit scholarship for having a high GPA + SAT scores, scholarship for being from the West Coast (this was a midwest school), and a small government grant. By then I had already submitted my SIR to UCLA to be a full-time student. Despite the enticing offer, by then I had already come to terms with the end of my athletic goals and declined.