I am in a unique position to answer this question because my daughter was a member of a Division II team for two years and then transfered to a Division I school. I have watched a lot of teams from all three divisions over the past few years. To answer your specific questions:
Q: What skills/ or level are most division 3 college gymnasts?
A: Level 9 and 10.
Q: I know colleges like Florida and Georgia want level 10/elites, but are there any colleges that accept level 9's?
A: There are even some Division I schools who will take level 9s, but not many. Last year, there were new Level 9s at Air Force, Centenary, Illinois-Chicago, Northern Illinois, San Jose State, Sacramento State, Temple, and Western Michigan.
There are 5 Division II schools and 15 Division III schools.
Of the five Division II schools, West Chester University is the most likely to recruit Level 9s because its gymnastics program was killed in 2003 and reinstated by a court order. They have been rebuilding ever since. Also, Lindenwood University will join Division II in the 2012-13 season with a brand new gymnastics program. In contrast, the top teams, University of Bridgeport and Texas Womens University will only recruit Level 10s although they may take the occasional Level 9 walk-on. As you probably already know, Division II schools only offer partial scholarships and Bridgeport and TWU beat most of the Division I schools they go up against. Southern Connecticut State University and Seattle Pacific University did have new Level 9s on their roster this year, although they also prefer Level 10s.
Division III schools offer no athletic scholarships and have the greatest variability. Every year, there will be Division III gymnasts who will qualify for the same NCAA Regionals that Florida, Georgia, UCLA, Utah, Alabama and Stanford attend. On the other hand, some Division III schools actually have tryouts for their teams, for example Rhode Island College. In theory, you could have NO USAG JO background and still make the team. You can actually watch Rhode Island College meets on their archived video:
RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE ATHLETICS
It's hard to give a definite answer to your question because it really varies with each particular school. The better teams have some Level 10s. The teams at the bottom don't have any Level 10s.
The bottom line is that coaches look at start level and not USAG Level. If you have a 10.0 start level in anything, especially bars and vault, you will be an attractive recruit, whether you are Level 9 or 10.
Good luck!
