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College Recruiting
Timeline
Freshman/Sophomore
Year
Start searching
universities on the www.ncaa.org webpage
- Find schools that have the
major you want (your diploma will be more important than your
swimming times after graduation!)
- Find out about the
academic reputation of the school
- Check out the team
records, coach’s history with the program
Send the coaches of the
programs you’re interested in a cover letter, with an
athletic resume including: (send them updated letters/info
annually!)
- Your name, birthdate,
address, phone number, email
- GPA and test scores
- Training background
- How many workouts per
week, yardage, hours per workout
- If you’ve done
weights, running, medicine balls---all dryland
- How many years
you’ve been swimming
- Competition
background
- Send them a record of your
times/improvement
- Any/all other activities
you’re involved in
During your
freshman/sophomore years, the college coaches can send you a
questionnaire in response, and general team info, but no recruiting
materials.
Check Initial-Eligibility
Requirements. There are curtain courses you will need to take to be
eligible to swim as a Freshman in college.
Junior
Year
After you have begun your
junior year, the college coaches can begin sending you official
recruiting material.
You should be sending
updated information to them, and narrowing your list of
universities to select from.
Sign up NCAA
Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse. You can do it online at www.ncaaclearinghouse.net
It currently costs $50.
July 1 between your
Junior and Senior Years
College coaches can
officially begin calling you on this date. They may only speak with
you once per week, but may send unlimited mailings and
email.
Senior
Year
Once your senior school
year has begun, you may take 5 “official” visits (where
the university pays for any/all of your trip) to college campuses.
These 5 visits must be to different campuses. You may go to any
campus “unofficially” (where you pay for all your
expenses) as many times as you like, and at any point in the
selection process…during any year of school.
Be sure to take a copy of
the list of questions with you, to cover all your bases.
Keep a journal/notes of
your visits….write down your impressions of each
place….what you liked, didn’t like, etc. Put down as
many details as possible, so that you can compare the campuses
after you’ve visited a number of them. Remember, you are
choosing the place where you want to be happy for the next 4 years
of your life!
It’s very
“romantic” to be recruited….having college
coaches paying all this attention to you. Be sure to get your
questions answered, and keep your eyes and ears open to what is
best for you! If you decide you’re really not interested in a
particular school and the coach continues to call you, please tell
him/her you’re not interested. It’s a difficult thing
to do, but it will save both of you time in the long run. If the
coach gets mad or says mean things to you for not wanting to join
his/her program, then it probably confirms that you didn’t
want to swim for this person anyway!
There are two
“signing” periods for scholarships if you are offered
one…..early (November) and late (April). There are pros and
cons to both….if you take your visits early and are sure of
your decision, then by all means, sign early! It takes a load of
pressure off your shoulders in the spring semester! Some coaches
may say to wait….they may have more scholarship money
available in the spring semester to offer. This is a
gamble…..maybe they will, maybe they
won’t…..it’s not always a guarantee. Some
coaches may offer a full scholarship
(room/board/tuition/fees/books)…others may offer a partial
scholarship, which can include any of those segments. Division I
and II schools offer athletic scholarships, Division III only has
academic scholarships. If you are not sure, then do wait ‘til
the spring. Give yourself more time to think over the decision, and
make the one that’s right for you.
Your High School guidance
counselor can help you through this process,
too……s/he can help you with financial aid
information, getting your test scores, etc sent to places before
your official visits, and may also have resources to tell you about
the academic reputations of the schools you’re looking at.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions and get help! The more
informed you are, the more easily you’re going to make the
best decision for yourself!
Good luck!!!
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