5 Winning Admissions Strategies of Successful Student Athletes

5 Winning Admissions Strategies of Successful Student Athletes

On the surface, the equation to get recruited as a student athlete may seem simple:Play Well + Get Noticed = Get RecruitedWhile those are the basic ingredients for athletic recruitment, there are many components that go into getting noticed. In the United States alone, there are over 35,000 high schools for college coaches to dig through.Moreover, there are very specific rules that dictate how and when coaches recruit students. Imagine sorting through a gigantic haystack of high school talent to find the golden needle while handcuffed. Yikes!The good news is that you do not have to be a sitting duck and wait for coaches to be interested in you. As a prospective student athlete, you can play an active part in the recruitment process.Here are five tips that successful students have followed to win at athletic recruitment.

1) Know the Rules of the Game

Pop quiz! What are the definitions for the following terms?

• Formal Visit and Informal Visit
• Quiet Period and Dead Period
• Contact Period and Evaluation Period

If you knew their meaning, great work! If these terms are foreign to you, no need to worry; they are easy to learn. You can find the definitions here.These terms relate to the rules of recruitment set by the NCAA. The rules dictate when coaches can meet prospective student-athletes in person, visit their games, give them a call, and email them. Recruitment rules differ for Division I, II, and III teams, and though they are meant to ensure fair practices between colleges, they also create barriers for coaches in getting to know you.Because of this, students should learn the rules of recruitment in order to be proactive during the process. Coaches for Division I teams cannot contact prospective students-athletes until their junior year of high school, but there are no rules for when students can contact coaches. If you initiate a call, for example, coaches are allowed to converse with you.Know the rules, so you can win the game.Be sure to also check the policy of the athletic department of your top choice schools. They may have special regulations, in addition to the NCAA rules.

2) Document Your Wins

In addition to seeing you play in real time, keeping an accessible record of your wins will demonstrate your proficiency to coaches. Here are some recommendations for how to do this:

Create a Free NCAA Profile

Your profile will include information like your name, height, and game stats. Prospective student-athletes interested in Division I and Division II schools must get certified before creating their NCAA profile. Read more about their certification process here.

Make a Demo Reel of Your Best Plays

This will show coaches your potential and highlight the skills you can contribute to their team. Upload your reel to an online media site like YouTube or Vimeo to make it as accessible as possible.

Use Social Media to Your Advantage

Social media is a double-edged sword for prospective student-athletes. An offensive post can deter an otherwise interested coach, but posting short clips of you playing can draw positive attention. Show your best self on social media to rock the boat in your favor.

3) Fill Out Prospective Student Athlete Forms

Most colleges have a questionnaire form for prospective student-athletes. Filling them out is quick and easy, as most require basic information about your athletic and academic history. They’re an excellent way to demonstrate interest in a college.Here are examples of questionnaires:

• University of Southern California Football
• Syracuse University Field Women’s Hockey
• MIT Men’s Basketball
• UC San Diego Women’s Water Polo

You may have to dig to find the right questionnaire for your college of choice. When you search, you could use key words such as the college’s name, the sport you’re interested in, and prospective student. For example, you might Google: “Ohio State Women’s Soccer prospective student interest form.”There is no need to wait until your junior or senior year to submit these forms. Completing them early puts you on that college’s radar. Though most questionnaires cannot be edited after you submit them, you can update your information by emailing the coaches, which leads us to our fourth point.

4) Contact Coaches 

Entire staff directories of colleges’ athletic departments can be found through a quick Google search. Coaches welcome students to send them an email, especially if you are a promising candidate they are not allowed to contact yet.Effective emails are personalized, succinctly highlight your skills, and demonstrate you are up-to-date on the team’s latest news.Your email can start with congratulating the coach for her team’s recent win and go on to discuss your background information. This includes your name, high school, athletic profile, and academic history. You could also link your NCAA profile and demo reel in your email so coaches can quickly get to know you.Do not rush this process. Since coaches receive thousands of emails from prospective student-athletes, spend time researching the team and personalizing your emails. In addition to your athletic skills, whether you will commit to their college has a significant impact on whether they’ll give you an offer. If you are uncertain about how to begin drafting your emails, consider working with an admissions advisor. He can help you to demonstrate your best qualities to promising coaches.  

5) Better Your Craft

Playing well is fundamental to getting noticed. Work on developing your skills as an athlete and a student. In Malcolm Gladwell’s well-received book, Outliers, he discusses how 10,000 hours of deliberate practices makes you an expert of any field. Georgetown professor Cal Newport writes in So Good They Can’t Ignore You that hard work and sweat is what leads to eventual success.Work hard as a high school student to pursue your passion and improve your skillsets. Star athletes are meticulous in how they continue to work on refining individual skills that improve their overall game. Focusing on the fundamentals will not only make you a better athlete, it will demonstrate your coachability. Work with your varsity or club coach on a practice and workout routine to fine-tune your footwork or develop your body to contribute even more to the team.Likewise, train your mind in the classroom. The NCAA sets a minimum GPA requirement for students to be eligible for recruitment, and academic success shows coaches you can thrive on and off the field in college.Get started today! It’s never too early to start engaging in the recruitment process as a prospective student-athlete. The more proactive you are, the higher your chances of succeeding. If you are passionate about athletics, we encourage you to pursue it in college. The expert admissions consultants at Wise World Prep have helped hundreds of students maximize their potential of being admitted to their top choice colleges and universities. Over 20 years, we have successfully guided students through each stage of the application process – from choosing competitive high school courses to building an appropriate college list to drafting winning essays to writing persuasive update and appeals letters. We would be happy to answer your questions and partner with you to create a successful admissions roadmap.Ready to get started? Schedule a complimentary 20-minute conversation today!Want to stay informed? Subscribe to our newsletter.See what others are saying about us