So what are the top “dream schools”? I’m thinking (in no particular order)
BC Princeton Penn Yale Stanford Duke Northwestern UNC
Second tier:
Virginia Michigan Penn State Hopkins Florida USC Maryland Hopkins Harvard Brown
To each her own, there are a lot of great schools with women's lacrosse programs. While it would be nice to go to the best school it is Best to go to the right school (best fit). Only a small percentage of Long Island girls will have the option of "choosing" their Dream School if that Dream School is a Top Tier Lacrosse School. There will be 20 - 25 girls (from Long Island) who receive offers from the Top 10 - 15 programs.
Top Tier Women's Lacrosse Programs (teams listed below seem to be Top 20 every year and Top 10 some/most years) (BC, UNC and MD most years on another level)
Boston College North Carolina Maryland Northwestern Syracuse Virginia Princeton Florida Penn Stony Brook
(Teams listed below are Top 20 most years... and have also been Top 10 from time to time, maybe they miss Top 20 every few years but I think they are top tier)
Notre Dame Duke James Madison Penn State Loyola
(For Top Tier Recruits looking to go to the West Coast)
Stanford USC
The large majority of Top Tier Recruits will choose one of the schools listed above which are considered by most to be Top Tier Lacrosse Programs.
Michigan has come on strong in recent years and will start picking up more talent in the years to come.
Colorado, Denver and Arizona St provide tremendous opportunity for girls who want to go to school in those areas.
Clemson should be interesting to watch... With the current environment, the transfer portal and the extra year of eligibility The Tigers could become competitive quickly. Only time will tell.
There are many more great schools with women's lacrosse programs to choose from but most have not been able to consistently compete with the Top Programs.
Good luck to all... try to make the journey fun and keep the stress to a minimum.