College sports in the U.S has always been a major aspect of athlete’s progression to professional sports . There are various colleges in the U.S well scattered all over the country. Colleges of different sizes, colleges that offer different types of degrees, and the length of stay also differ all depending on which one chooses to enroll. Athletes in these colleges are to combine their sports programs with academic activities. In this article we shall see What Does D1 D2 D3 Mean In Colleges?
Divisions
D1, D2, D3, simply stretched out is Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, respectively. These divisions are sports induced, and is orchestrated and controlled by the NCAA. Division 1 as its name suggests is the best and biggest division. The divisions come in very handy in NCAA championships which is a periodic event. For some sports their championship tournament is fixed every year. It is these divisions that help out in fixing matchups and setting up tournament calendars. Each division having different level of players, with the division 1 having the best players/athletes in the country and likewise the division 2 having much better players/athletes than the division 3.
The division 1 and division 2 have athletes on scholarships, same cannot be said of the athletes in division 3. The division was meant to differentiate amongst colleges the ones with the best sports programs in the country, and raise the competitive level in college sports as it was the last stage in the formative process of an athlete before he/she turns pro. So, there are chances of a college changing division as their sports programs improve increasingly and has passed some level of scrutiny. Division 1 colleges have the biggest sports budgets which is aided by various sponsorships these colleges have been able to attract. Division 3 colleges tend to be more community involved however.
College Sports
College sports is one major aspect of college life, not everyone would care about it for sure but for some it is everything for them. These college sports are vastly popular both regionally and national wide. They even compete with actual professional sports in terms of broadcast numbers as it attracts a large amount of viewership. The NCAA have signed huge broadcasting deal for its national championship events. The stadiums that host these colleges sports are of high-quality standard, some of them having the capacity of over 100,000.
Basketball seems to be the most popular and the biggest college sports. It is no surprise that the United States are easily the no.1 country inn the world when it comes to basketball. A lot of the success surrounding Americans biggest sports can be traced back to how competitive and organized the college level is, the NFL is a unicorn sports and it has been able to thrive even though it lacks international involvement. Most of players in the NFL made it straight from their college football teams. Football is a major sport in college and its popularity in the U.S is quite terrifying. In 2016, a college football game attracted a massive crowd of 156,990 to watch the game between Virginia tech and Tennessee.
Why worry about which division one gets admitted to?
It really depends on what your target is, obviously as an athlete, securing a division 1 college will do a lot of good to your individual ranking and chances of even being drafted on draft day. Nevertheless, sports is not the only thing one attends college for. So, one can imagine that there are other things to explore. In terms of scholarship opportunities, only Division 1 and Division 2 have the chances of getting one, so being in Division 3 puts one in a difficult spot. One will have to rely on grants and if possible, student loans.
A student that is not interested in sports would not have much to worry about in terms of which division he gets admitted into, as all colleges are fit enough to grant any degree possible. All that matters is that one picks a college that best suits the program of his choice, and one he can easily fit in.
For instance, one who is interested in engineering programs will have to consider :
- Stanford University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- University of California
- Berkeley or even California Institute of Technology and many more.
Conclusion
It comes as no surprise that most intending students hope to get admitted into a Division 1 school, most especially the athletic students. The level of competitiveness to get in is on a whole different level. Being an athlete at least gives one a fighting chance and hopefully even get a sports scholarship. However, it should not be taken that the Division 2 and Division 3 colleges are not worth it. That would be utter delusion, as these divisions have produced some of the bests in different fields of life, most especially in sports.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can one attend a division 1 college without a scholarship?
Yes, though some division 1 students are on scholarships, it is not all the students that have been fortunate enough to secure a scholarship. It is mostly the athletes that have been in great position to get scholarships in these colleges.
- What is the NCAA?
The NCAA fully known as the National Collegiate Athletics Association, happens to be a non-profit organization that handle college sports in the U.S. This association organizes annual competitive tournaments for college sports.
- Can a division 2 team compete against a Division 1 team?
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Yes, but it depends on the sports. More often than not it is possible to see a division 2 team play against a division 1 team. Matchup however are between teams with their division
