At what point is it too late to be recruited by colleges?

Advice? wrote:

Wondering about this question because I will be a senior and feel like I still have not hit the times I am capable of. The schools I am thinking about going to are still a ways away from the times I have already ran.

Look at different schools or forget about running.

Bump

Advice? wrote:

Wondering about this question because I will be a senior and feel like I still have not hit the times I am capable of. The schools I am thinking about going to are still a ways away from the times I have already ran.

There are plenty of colleges that recruit right through August (for a school year that starts the following month). A runner who puts up a scintillating (and *legit*) performance during senior spring, or even the summer after senior year, still has a solid shot at finding a college "home," and maybe even some scholarship money. (But you'd have to spread a very wide net at that point, looking for a program that maybe lost a recruit that it had thought was locked up.)

More usually, the last window for stimulating major-college interest is senior season of cross-country (or occasionally indoor track season). If you're more of a track person, then you're probably going to have accept your current PRs and parlay them as best you can. You might be surprised by the level of interest you'd find, even with your current times. Scholarship $$$ might not be there (yet), but you still might get a boost with admissions.

One tip, and this is not snarky but sincere: Have all of your college applications, and even your emails to coaches, proofread by one or (preferably) two knowledgeable people. The coaches at better academic schools don't want to spend time recruiting (or even corresponding with) someone who's not likely to be admitted, and a locution like "I have already ran"--instead of the correct "I have already run"--could be a red flag to them.

Good luck.