Courtesy of www.thesportsource.com.
The key is to find one that will fit your academic, athletic, financial and geographic needs.
There are many factors when choosing a college. You should consider these primary factors when making your selection: Location, Size, public or private, academic difficulty, courses of study, cost availability of academic and/or athletic scholarships, and opportunities for need-based financial aid.
If you participate in a sport, you will need to consider other factors as well, including: level of play, competitiveness, the schedule, can you make the team and can you get along with the coach.
Once you have determined what your personal needs are, some additional research is required. Accessing college reference guides from your local library is a great place to start. Once you have identified prospective college and university programs that fit your needs, now you can begin the process of communication. Communication is essential when you are seeking a college or university that meets your needs. Your first step is written communication.
STEP I - Written Communication
Having identified 7-10 prospective colleges, you will need to prepare a resume and cover letter to send to each college. Remember, this is your future, not your parents'. That means write the letter yourself; colleges do not recruit parents, nor does the college coach.
Constructing a resume and cover letter will require some time on your part. Remember, the resume should be no more than one page and should present only pertinent information.
The resume should contain the following sections:
A personal section with high school name, address, phone number, date of birth, height, weight, social security number and high school graduation year.An academic section with high school name, address, phone number, grade point average and/or class rank, and standardized test information (SAT, PSAT, ACT scores). A section with highlights, achievements, volunteer and/or mentor programs you have participated in, and awards received.A reference section with the names of 3 or 4 people who can accurately gauge your character (in other words, those who are knowledgeable of you the person). Include the telephone number and address of those you have listed.If you participate in a sport and will be sending a letter to the coach, you will need to list all of the teams you have participated with, the position played, coach and team record. List any awards and honors that have been received in those sports.
STEP II - Telephone Contact
The key variable that separates a student-athlete from all other solicitation letters received by the admissions office or a college coach is regular follow up. Be sure to call once or twice each month after sending your cover letter and resume. The majority of correspondence received by coaches and admissions counselors are form letters mailed to numerous programs in hope that some interest will be generated. Make your letter specific and follow up with a personal call to show a sincere interest in their program.
If you are an athlete, you should have a specific purpose in calling; most often it is to update the coaching staff in key games, tournaments, or opportunities to see you compete. This is also an effective way to directly express interest in the program and to ask questions regarding the information not readily available from published sources such as their college brochures. Most coaches will be happy to answer questions that aid in the decision process, but may be less enthusiastic regarding information that is readily available from other sources. Examples of what you should have researched include, school size, degree programs and athletic conference.
As a note, NCAA rules permit high school athletes to call the coach without restrictions. However, be aware that a college coach may not call students, including returning calls, until after the completion of the junior year of high school.
To give you an idea of what a resume and cover letter should look like, we have provided the following samples:
Sample Resume
Sample Cover Letter
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt of The Sport Source Official Athletic College: Football.
The Sport Source has a mission "to provide the perfect link between a student-athlete, a specialized sports program and a well-rounded college education." Since their inception, The Sport Source has developed numerous strategic alliances with high schools and national/international youth sports organizations that have encouraged them to introduce new services and continue to help improve college guidance and scholarship opportunities for students.
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