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GENERAL INFORMATION |
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Athletic Home |
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College Advisement Home |
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MKHS Home |
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| We write these next few pages for those at MKHS who are thinking about continuing with athletics in college or how it might factor in the admission process. If you are personally contacted by college coaches, on either the Division I level or the Division II level, you can feel fairly confident that you may have the ability to complete in college at some level. |
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| If you have not heard from any coaches, but hope to continue in college with a sport, we suggest the following: |
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Self-Assessment: Take the time to be honest with yourself about your abilities and potential. If you have never been a starter at MKHS in your sport, can you really play on the college level? How good is the program at the schools you are looking at? Do they welcome all to the program, with potential for development, or only those they recruit? What special recognition, special awards, state ranking have you earned?
Talk with others: Talk to your coach at MKHS, your counselors, or former MKHS students who were similar to you in ability. Ask for their help in aiding you in your self-assessment. |
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| If you feel that you might be of interest to some college coaches after completing these initial steps, we recommend you do the following: |
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Plan your strategy. Talk to your coach at MKHS and your advisor about the kinds of schools you are considering. Discuss other programs that might be of interest to you. Ask if he or she will contact these schools on your behalf. If you are in a sport where college coaches request videos or film of your play, start to discuss what you might send.
When communicating with the admission offices at these colleges, be sure to inform them that you are a varsity athlete and the sport(s) you play. They will often pass this information on to the respective coach.
Contact the college coaches directly. Let them know of your interest in applying to their school and your intention to participate in their program. You might want to consider sending an athletic resume (see sample) or setting up a visit to meet with the coach. |
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| Be realistic in your request. |
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Depending on your ability, you may be of interest to some college coaches and not to others. Do your best to be realistic in your self-assessment of your athletic talent and the teams for which you are most likely to play. Remember that, while you may be good enough to play on a particular college's team, your athletic talent may not be of a caliber to play a role in the admission committee's decision making. Coaches have varying ranges of ability to support you in the admission process, so it is important to understand their system. |
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| Be aware of coaches' tactics. Remember that your interests and a coach's interest don't always overlap to your advantage. A coach's goal is to build the best team possible. Typically, a coach is allowed to present to the admissions committee a list of his or her most desired candidates from among the applicant pool. There is no guarantee that the admissions committee will admit all candidates on a coach's list nor follow his order of preference; academic and personal factors have to be taken into consideration. For this reason, coaches often create their lists by striking a balance between applicant's athletic ability and academic credentials, while factoring in a student's enthusiasm (or lack of interest) in attending that college. |
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| Coaches' promises should almost always be taken with a heavy dose of skepticism. Coaches who guarantee your admission are probably overstepping their bounds. It is the admission committee that makes admissions decisions, not the coaches. A coach may lead you to believe that you will make his or her list, but there are no guarantees. You could be bumped from a list at the last minute if the coach finds a better athlete or an equivalent or even somewhat less talented athlete with stronger academic credentials who is more likely to make it through the admissions process. We have seen cases where a student is courted regularly, with weekly phone calls from the team, only to be bumped from the coach?s list in the final hours of the admission process. |
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| It is not unusual for a coach to ask you to state which college is your first choice. After all, in choosing which athletes to support in the admission process, a coach does not want to waste energy or a high position on his or her list on a candidate who is not likely to enroll. We do not want you to lie to coaches. Nor do we want your honesty to put you at a disadvantage in the admissions process. If coaches start asking you to commit, it is of critical important that you discuss this with your advisor before responding. |
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Indeed, it is important that you keep us posted throughout the process about all communications with college coaches. Our work as your advocate is strengthened if we know which college coaches seem most interested in you. If coaches make unfounded promises to you or ask you to commit when you are not ready to do so, we can often intervene to your advantage. With the experience on our staff, as well as that in the athletic department, there is no need to seek outside help in pursuing this process. In the rare case that an athletic scholarship is involved, we will be happy to work with you on how this varies from the financial need situation. |
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