For student-athletes, the process of choosing and applying to colleges requires a bit more effort.  Meaning, there are more hoops to jump through, so to speak, than is required for an average student applying to college.  Some of these are as follows:

•    Know which division you realistically can play – if you are looking to play a Division I sport, make sure you can compete at this level.  Speak with your coach to find out whether this may be an option for you. If not, there are plenty of other colleges, both at Division II and III levels, where you can achieve your college athletic goals, that may be a better fit.

•    Attend a summer sports camp at a college of interest – many colleges allow camps to rent out their athletic facilities during the summer.  This may be an ideal way for you to get on a coach’s radar, and get a better feel for the campus and its facilities.

•    Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center – student-athletes considering NCAA Division I or II colleges must register for this.  All others are not required to take this step. 

•    Contact coaches and send out letters of interest – in your sophomore and junior years of high school, you definitely should be sending out letters of interest to colleges. You should also send letters to coaches, via email and sometimes physical mail, to get coaches more familiar with you and your skills.  

•    Prepare a student-athlete profile – this should not only have your name and contact information, but also your academic and sports statistics that begin in 9th grade.

•    Submit a video of your skills to coaches – when you send college coaches your profile link include skills videos of you.  Ideally, if you have a video for each year of high school it can show your progress as an athlete.  Having at least one video is better than none.

•    Know your code – if an athletic department is interested in you, make sure that you use a special application with a code supplied by the college’s athletic department.  Ask each college you intend on applying to whether they handle student-athlete portfolios this way.