College Recruiting & Making Your Decision
STEP 1: EVALUATE YOUR GOALS AND PRIORITIES
What Are My Swimming Goals?
1. Participation
2. Level of Competition
3. Ability to Contribute & Travel
What Are My Education Goals?
1. Type of Education
2. Level of Education (Bachelors, Masters, Law, Doctorate)
3. What is the Priority (Swimming first? Education first? Balance?)
What Can I Afford?
1. Am I eligible for financial aid?
2. Can I get a scholarship?
Where Do I Want to Live?
1. Proximity to Home
2. Climate Preference
3. Life After Swimming/College
STEP 2: RESEARCH AND CORRESPONDENCE
Know the rules!
1. You can’t accept any gift from the school or anyone affiliated with it.
2. You can’t practice with them when you are visiting.
3. Read the NCAA Guide for College Bound Athletes.
4. What are the eligibility requirements to participate in a sport?
5. Coaches may not call you until July 1 after your Junior year. You can call or write to
them before.
Where Do I Think I Want to Go to College?
1. Use a broad search
2. Include schools that are “Challenging”
3. Include schools that are “Fun”
Do Your Homework:
1. Entrance Standards
2. Application Process & Deadlines
3. Team standards, history, records, etc.
Get In Touch With The Program
1. Write letters to any school you are interested in:
a. Include your best events and times
b. Include your grades
c. Explain why you are interested
2. Prior to July 1st of your junior year, correspond via letter and email
3. After July 1st of your junior year, give coaches a call
Communication Tips:
1. DO NOT wait for them to contact you—BE PROACTIVE!
2. Be honest about your training (and everything else).
3. Don’t let coaches tell you what you need.
4. If you are contacted and are not interested, let them know.
5. Have a list of questions ready before you call.
6. Ask about scholarships.
STEP 3: RECRUITING TRIPS
Official Recruiting Trips
1. You are allowed 5 official trips.
2. There are some who say take all 5 and others who say only take a few. You need to consider your own schedule of meets, training and school.
3. Don’t commit (verbally or otherwise) until you have taken all your trips.
4. Try to take a trip to at least one “long shot.”
5. Coaches and swimmers are evaluating you just as much as you are them.
Unofficial Trips
1. Unlimited opportunities to visit programs and colleges.
2. If you can, take a road trip to visit a few schools. Schedule meetings with the coaches, don’t just show up.
STEP 4: MAKING YOUR DECISION
Evaluation
1. At this point, you have done your homework, so evaluate and reflect.
2. Be aware of deadlines – applications, coaches, etc.
3. Seek input from those you trust – family, friends, coaches, etc.
4. Evaluate your offers.
5. Make it YOUR decision
Contact Colleges After Your Decision
1. Contact the coach of your “winner” first.
2. Circumstances can change, so make sure you understand what is being offered.
3. Call the coaches of your “losers” – don’t email or text. You will run into them in the future, so handle your selection with class.
Reflect On Your Decision
1. Trust your decision—it was the right one!
2. Don’t second guess yourself, but you can change your mind.
3. Understand consequences if you do change your mind.
College Recruiting Timeline
Freshman/Sophomore Year
1. Start searching universities on the www.ncaa.org webpage.
2. Find schools that have the major you want. Your diploma will be more important than your swimming times after
graduation!
3. Find out about the school's academic reputation. For the swimming program, check out the team records and
coach’s history with the program.
4. When you are interested in a program, send the coach a cover letter with an athletic resume. Include the following
information.
-Your name, birthdate, address, phone number, email
-GPA and test scores
-Training background
How many workouts per week, yardage, hours per workout
All dryland - weights, running, medicine balls, etc
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
Most teams have questionnaires posted online. Be sure to send them updated letters/info annually!
5. Check Initial Eligibility Requirements. There are curtain courses you will need to take to be eligible to swim as a
Freshman in college.
During your freshman/sophomore years, the college coaches can send you a questionnaire in response, and general
team info, but no recruiting materials.
Junior Year
Once you have started your Junior year of high school, college coaches are allowed to begin sending you official
recruiting material. Start narrowing your list of universities and make sure you are sending updated information to those
coaches. Sign up at the NCAA Eligibility Center. This can be done online by clicking here. It currently costs $50.
Beginning July 1st between your Junior and Senior Years
College coaches are allowed to 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 you have started your senior school year you may make official and unoffical visits to the schools you are interested
in. An official visit is one where the university pays for any/all of your expenses for the visit to the campus. An unofficial
visit is one where you pay all of your own expenses. You are allowed 5 official visits. Each of these visits must be to a
different campus. You are allowed an unlimited number of unofficial visits. These can happen at any point in your
selection process and during any year of school.
When you visit a campus be sure to take a list of questions with you to ensure you get all the information you need. Keep
a journal/notes of your visits. Write down your impressions of each school. Include what you liked, didn’t like, etc. Include
as many details as possible, so that you can compare 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 can be quite an ego boost.
However, 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, it is important to tell
him/her you are not interested. It is 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 you probably didn’t want to swim for this
person anyway!
There are two signing periods for scholarships if you are offered one. The early period in November and the late period in
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 lot of pressure off you in the spring semester! Some coaches may say to wait because they may have
more scholarship money available to offer in the spring semester. 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) while others may
offer a partial scholarship which can include any of those segments. Division I and II schools offer athletic scholarships,
while 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. He/she can help you with financial aid
information, getting your test scores and other information sent to schools 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!!!
