Looking for colleges in the West.....

[ERSS]

I can't believe I am this old, but my oldest daughter is now a senior and we are in the process of getting her set up to attend a college in the fall. We always sort of took it for granted that she would be getting an athletic scholarship, but as of yet, no one is willing to pony up the cash. Anyway, here is the criteria:
1-small school
2-location in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Oregon, Washington and Colorado
3-Athletics - Track and soccer
4-Academics - first year or two won't matter (generals), but she thinks she wants a nursing degree

I know all the major schools (big and small ), and am looking for some sleepers out there that are below radar.

She will graduate with a 3.8 gpa and as a junior she was ranked 1st in the 4a 300 meter hurdles going into the state meet, as well as qualifiying for state in 2 other events. While playing basketball, we have still been taking her to indoor track meets this past month, and it looks like she should compete for the 4a state title in the 100 & 300 hurdles and long jump.

Looks like Eastern Oregon University in La Grande is at the top of our list at this point. Academically and athletically we have decided that it if she does not get a scholarship, it might be best to start at a smaller school

Anyone got any ideas?

 

[Oak]

Our local local state college (in Grand Junction, CO), Mesa State College, has about 6,000 students. It has a four year nursing program, with a 350-bed, level 2 trauma center that employs over 2,000 people only 5 blocks away, where nursing students complete their clinicals.

The college has all the major men's and women's sports, including soccer, track and field, cross country, softball, etc.

The city has about 50k people, with another 50k living in the surrounding county. The local airport has direct flights to Salt Lake, Denver, Phoenix and Dallas-Ft Worth. The valley has about the most mild climate on the west side of the mountains in Colorado. In 45 minutes you can be skiing at 10,000' or mountain biking in red rock desert.

http://www.mesastate.edu/



.

 

[Oak]

Oh yeah, the college mascot is "The Mavericks", so guess who came campaigning last fall.

 

[Muley Crazy]

2 words BOISE !!!!!!!!!!!!! STATE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BigHornRam]

I believe Berkeley Northwest has a good nursing program.......

 

[JoseCuervo]

2 words BOISE !!!!!!!!!!!!! STATE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boise State is a tough one for a local female to come run sprints at Track.

My guess is she could go play soccer at Eastern Oregon as the two girls I know that play for EOU were "average" 4A soccer players in Idaho and would not have been able to make it in 5A as anything other than "below average".

My daughter plays 5A soccer and is a Sophomore. She plays on the worst team in the State and yet most of the Seniors have gone on to play soccer in college if they wanted the last two years.. Right now there are two at Treasure Valley Community College (would NEVER send my kid there), a couple at Walla Walla CC. One at a school in Kansas, another at a school in Illinois. A couple at EOU, and a couple more in the Portland area.

College of Idaho and Northwest Nazerne University both have pretty good soccer coaches and I know they allow their kids to compete in multiple sports (soccer AND track).

Here is one way to look at it. If she could go to Eastern Oregon, then she could likely go to any other team in that conference. Here is the list.

Concordia 10 0 0 30 22 0 1
College of Idaho 7 1 2 23 12 6 2
Oregon Tech 7 2 1 22 8 9 2
Northwest 7 3 0 21 8 5 2
Southern Oregon 6 4 0 18 9 11 0
Corban 4 5 1 13 8 11 1
Evergreen State 4 6 0 12 5 11 1
Eastern Oregon 3 7 0 9 5 12 0
Warner Pacific 2 7 1 7 3 11 2
Northwest Christian 2 8 0 6 5 13 0
Cascade 0 9 1 1 1 14 2

Another good list would be the teams Northwest Nazerne competes with. It is D-II, so a bit difference list than the one above.

8/28/2008 Cal State University Stanislaus Stanislaus, CA L 2-9 Details
8/30/2008 Notre Dame de Namur University Chico, CA L 1-4 Details
9/1/2008 Cal State University Chico Chico, CA L 1-2 Details
9/5/2008 Eastern Oregon University Nampa, ID L 1-3 Details
9/11/2008 Carroll College Nampa, ID L 0-1 Details
9/17/2008 The College of Idaho Nampa, ID W 2-0 Details
9/20/2008 Grand Canyon University Phoenix, AZ T 0-0 Details
9/22/2008 BYU-Hawaii Phoenix, AZ L 2-5 Details
9/25/2008 Western Washington University Bellingham, WA L 1-4 Details
9/27/2008 Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA L 0-4 Details
10/2/2008 Western Oregon University Nampa, ID L 1-4 Details
10/4/2008 Saint Martins University Nampa, ID L 0-5 Details
10/11/2008 Western Washington University Nampa, ID L 0-5 Details
10/16/2008 Montana State University-Billings Billings, MT L 0-4 Details
10/18/2008 Seattle Pacific University Seattle, WA L 0-6 Details
10/23/2008 Saint Martins University Lacey, WA L 0-4 Details
10/25/2008 Western Oregon University Monmouth, OR L 0-3 Details
10/29/2008 Seattle Pacific Nampa, ID L 0-9 Details
11/6/2008 Montana State University-Billings Nampa, ID L 0-3 Details
11/8/2008 Central Washington University

 

[MarvB]

ERSS- THough I'm not a huge fan of the City itself, Univ. of Portland (The Pilots) also fits your bill. Smaller school (around 3500 I believe) good nursing program clear up to the masters level, good soccer and track programs.

Couple of small town local girlss from here went there and one was jsut selected #2 overall in the womens prof. soccer league.

Here's their webs:

http://www.portlandpilots.com/index.aspx?path=wsoc

http://nursing.up.edu/default.aspx?cid=3123&pid=206

 

[JoseCuervo]

Marv,

You are right about U of Portland being a good school. But you might be understating their soccer team. They are routinely a Top 10 school in the Nation, D-1 and have a National Championship or two in their trophy cabinets......

 

[Bwana]

Not too far away but Mary College in Bismarck, ND has a good nursing program from what I hear plus they have a good athletics program too.

 

[MarvB]

Gunner...just didn't want to name drop too much since I know the Rapinoe sisters from here in town

...but you're right, they do have a k-ass soccer squad!

 

[ERSS]

Thanks for the heads up on those schools.
We know Boise State well, and have talked with them. Mesa is a new one that looks promising ( Thanks Oak! ), and thanks for the insight on Eastern Oregon Jose.

Will check out the others online as well

 

[oleefish2]

ERSS for the past 6 years I having been working with high school students and their parents on preparing for college. It is a very challenging question and very individualistic. I would be willing to share some of our process, just send me a pm with a phone number and contact time. There are some key issues you and your daughter need to review. Also I then can send some possible ways to search info related to the schools and programs. My son played 4 years of college football and had several offers in division 2, and one division 1. His education goal was engineering and if he would have picked a school not highly recognized in that area of study he would not had the employment opportunities he was given before and after graduation. Enough said contact me if you think it will help, and good luck.

 

[schmalts]

Keep her out of Bozeman if she is under 19 years old or you may end up with Greenhorn for a son in-law. Send her to Havre, she wil be safe, waaaay too many sheep to distract the men there.

 

[ERSS]

Schmalts-
My wife went to MSU in Bozeman on a track scholarship, she would like my daughter to go there...But my daughter does not want to go ( sounds like a good thing )

Of course, according to my wife, there is no way in hell she is going to Missoula

Havre? I think I went through there once.....isn't it in Canada???? JK

 

[JoseCuervo]

ERSS,

You might be a bit past this part of the process..... And, it might be a bit too far from home for you to make it tomorrow night, but somebody from IdahoYouthSoccer is hosting a "College Night" with coaches from each level explaining the process and the opportunities in each division.

http://www.idahoyouthsoccer.org/frameset.php

Assignments for College Night


5 minutes per topic
Specific areas to be covered:

1. Athletic scholarships .......... All coaches (see below)
2. Academic aid and grants .......... Brian Smith
3. Combining academics with athletics .......... Niki Taylor
4. How to contact a school (Recruiting services) .......... Bob Gansler
5. What to consider when choosing a school .......... Coe Michaelson
6. The rules governing recruitment .......... Jamie Lindvall
7. Official and unofficial visits .......... Steve Lucas
8. Eligibility and transfer rules .......... Ryan Masingill



5 minutes maximum per speaker
Each coach will speak about the scholarship or lack of scholarship opportunities in their division

Division 1 Women .......... Steve Lucas, Head Women’s Coach, Boise State University
Division 1 Men .......... Bob Gansler, former Head Men’s Coach UW-Milwaukee, former Head Men’s Coach Marquette University
Division 2 Men .......... Coe Michaelson, Head Men’s Coach, Northwest Nazarene University
Division 2 Women .......... Jamie Lindvall, Head Women’s Coach, Northwest Nazarene
University
Division 3 Men & Women .......... Steve Adlard
NAIA Men .......... Brian Smith, Head Men’s Coach, College of Idaho
NAIA Women .......... Niki Taylor, Head Women’s Coach, College of Idaho
NJCAA Ryan Masingill, Head Men’s & Women’s Coach, Treasure Valley
Community College

These presentations will be followed by questions from the floor. Each person attending may write a question for any of the panel on a piece of paper. All the questions will be handed in to Steve Adlard who will decide which questions will be answered.

 

[HoofsUp]

Wou

Western Oregon University in Monmouth. Small town within 20 miles of Salem, Oregon.

 

[ERSS]

Sorry to drag up and old thread, but I am pretty proud of my daughter.
She finished out her senior year of athletics by qualifying and placing in 4 events at the state championships in track, and her team won thier 3rd straight state championship.
She had several colleges show interest, but the only ones with real offers were MSU Billings, Eastern Oregon University, Mesa State, and Idaho State University. She/we visited all except Mesa, and today she finally made her decision and signed the papers for Idaho State Univ. in Pocatello. ( made me happy, they offered the most $ ). They want her to be a heptathlete/pentathlete. Will be nice to have her just about an hour from home also.
Can't believe I am old enough to have a kid in college.....
Thanks for all the input on this thread

 

[JoseCuervo]

Sorry to drag up and old thread, but I am pretty proud of my daughter.
She finished out her senior year of athletics by qualifying and placing in 4 events at the state championships in track, and her team won thier 3rd straight state championship.
She had several colleges show interest, but the only ones with real offers were MSU Billings, Eastern Oregon University, Mesa State, and Idaho State University. She/we visited all except Mesa, and today she finally made her decision and signed the papers for Idaho State Univ. in Pocatello. ( made me happy, they offered the most $ ). They want her to be a heptathlete/pentathlete. Will be nice to have her just about an hour from home also.
Can't believe I am old enough to have a kid in college.....
Thanks for all the input on this thread

One of the guys who kills big chit on this board is married to a former Heptahalete from Idaho State.....

Congrats to your daughter, and congrats to you.

 

[Nut]

Congratulations to your daughter and am happy for you.