Going to College



Going to College

Things you need to know

1. Start early (sophomore year going into your junior year you need to be looking at schools and exploring academic major options)

2. If you plan on playing sports, make a connection with the coaching staff your junior season

a. The best way to do this is expressing your interest by filling out a recruiting form (see visual #1) or finding the coaches e-mail/phone (see visual #2)

Visual #1

[pic]

Visual #2

[pic]

3. No matter what option you choose, make sure you film high school and travel games.

a. Coaches would typically prefer watching a full game or parts of games as opposed to a highlight tape

b. Highlight tapes are nice for your family, but a college coach wants to know how you can help their program and they want to draw their own conclusions on your strengths and weaknesses.

c. Don’t send a coach your best film only, send multiple films, especially a film in which you played against top competition.

i. Remember, games you play against bad competition and score a ton of points in are not always the best examples of how your game is going to translate to the next level.

4. Schedule the following your junior year

a. Take the ACT/SAT at the beginning of your junior year.

i. Take the ACT at least two times

ii. SAT is typically for anyone interested in out-of-state schools

b. Take challenging courses

i. Many would argue that you want your grade point average high, but most institutions are going to look at how much you challenged yourself over you taking three gym courses and earning 4.0’s

c. Look into taking college level courses, ask your guidance counselor how you can earn college credit your junior/senior year

d. College visits

i. Visit between 3-5 schools your junior year, even if they are not official visits

ii. Get a feel for the campus, attend sporting events or talk to current students about the school

iii. Do your research on majors, remember, just because the school is close to home or you have a friend there does not mean it’s the best school for you and your future

5. Schedule the following your senior year

a. Narrow your school choices down to three by January 1st of your senior year

b. Take official visits to the schools you are most interested in

c. Apply for financial aid (fafsa.) January 1st of your senior year (Visual #3)

Visual #3

[pic]

d. Stay overnight before making a decision

i. It’s best to make two overnight visits

e. Before making a decision, make sure you have your financial situation finalized and your 100% confident in where you will be attending school

i. Contact the school to inform them of your decision

ii. Each school has a preference on steps you must take to finalize the decision, most requiring you to make a deposit

6. Stay in touch with the coaching staff/players

a. If you commit to a school, build relationships

i. The most difficult part for most student-athletes leaving home is leaving their comfort zone

ii. Connect with other incoming freshmen

7. Sign up for orientation

a. Many coaches may not assist with this, take it upon yourself to be organized

b. Stay away from signing up for classes that will not count for college credit

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download