There's always an interest in the college recruiting and scholarship process by parents and kids alike. So I wanted to share my family's experience to help anyone considering the same path.
My daughter was so-so on the prospect of college running her first 2-yrs of high school. Her junior year was a modest breakout, qualifying for the state meet in the 3200. Certainly a viable D3 runner, but a B-level D1 prospect at best. Fast forward to senior year cross country, she continued her trajectory and finished all-state in XC, receiving multiple offers from mid-level D1 programs. Athletic scholarships ranged from 25-60%. Not bragging here, just laying out the landscape that she's good, but not amazing. This is an important point - you don't have to be a Foot Locker finalist or state champion to get serious consideration from solid collegiate programs. But you do need to play your cards right.
Here are some lessons learned along the way:
Do Your Homework and Know Your Likes/Dislikes
Take your ACT/SAT early and often to get the best score you can get. My daughter took her ACT 5 times her junior year to reach her goal score. By end of the year, she had a good idea what types of schools she could get into vs being too difficult/easy. Also, figure out your likes/dislikes types of school: big public, small private, religious oriented, whatever. Armed with test scores and school preference, create a list of Top 20 by end of junior year. Don’t let price be a determinant yet (more on this later).
Get Real
For your Top 20 schools, you need to be realistic on where you could ACTUALLY run. Use the TFRRS website to look up times per team. Are you close to a top 7 time for cross country? There's a HUGE range in times amongst schools in the same division/conference; Rutgers & Maryland are a far cry from Michigan though they’re all Big 10 schools. You need to find the "sweet spot" where you might realistically fit in athletically.
Summer Before Senior Year
With your somewhat narrowed list (based on scores/grades and likelihood of fitting in athletically), start doing outreach and tours with schools. We got our list down to Top 5. Visit websites, fill out info-request forms for campus tours and prospect athletes. Many college websites literally track the number of "digital footprints" you leave over time to help gauge a prospective student/athlete's seriousness. Actually taking an in-person tour (which of course you'd want to do anyway) is a great indicator of intent. After completing the online student/athlete questionnaire, it’s best to drop the coach an email letting them know you’ve done so and to request a possible phone conversation to learn more. Coaches vary in responsiveness big time - some a super digital savvy while many others defer to their younger assistants. Follow them on social media, but don’t be creepy.
Social Media
Instagram and Twitter were more instrumental in the recruiting process than I imagined. Kids follow cool college programs, but coaches start following high school athletes - learning about them through posts over time. Once we hit the date (mid summer?) when coaches can officially do outreach to athletes, my daughter’s Instagram direct messages blew up. Messages from schools I never knew existed came out of the woodwork. Yes, form letters continued in the mail, but Insta and Twitter messages seemed way more personal and effective. Lesson? Make sure your social media posts aren’t stupid because coaches are passively watching and judging you way more than you realize.
Times
In our experience, hitting certain goal times helps get conversations with coaches, but not necessarily scholarship offers. Unless you’re a superstar senior, you’re probably NOT going to be an impact athlete you freshman year of college. We learned that coaches are more interested in the trajectory of your times. Did you peak your sophomore year? Or did you continue to improve through your junior year and senior year so far? This is huge, especially for girls who mature earlier. Coaches are looking for potential 2-yrs down the road; they need to be sure athletes aren’t already tapped out. Also, be open to moving up in distance as this almost always happens. Run the 1600 now? Be open to the 5,000 in college.
Good - Not Great
In a weird twist, we learned that coaches aren’t always interested in the TOP girls at the state meet. In fact, places 15th - 50th were more the “target range” of obviously good athletes who aren’t already optimized at their peak. Face it, some high school programs are amazing and churn out stars; those kids are often maxed out by age 17 so the likelihood of improvement in college is lower. We also learned that the 15th - 50th place athletes weren’t in the spotlight as much and are more coachable; they’re not divas which is super important when joining a college team.
Fitting In
We learned that coaches don’t want a pain in the ass. They’re looking for athletes who will fit into their program socially, academically and athletically. If one of these is out of whack, they’ll take a pass. Having kids transfer or flunk out is a massive wasted opportunity for both sides. So when you’re doing your homework and visits, pay close attention to how you’d fit in. Coaches are realistic - if it’s a tough academic school, they’re going to pick kids with good grades vs. jocks who probably won’t last 4-yrs. Yes some schools will waive academic requirements for running superstars, but those are truly the minority; it’s just not worth the risk and hassle.
Scholarships
To some degree, coaching is a numbers game. How to get the most output/performance with a limited investment? They only have X-dollars for athletic scholarships, so coaches definitely work with the admissions teams to find any/all other academic offers. Full-ride athletic offers are super rare; you should probably forget about it. But full-tuition (not including room-and-board) offers comprised of athletic AND academic money are certainly possible. Totally depends on the school of course. Bottom line is you need to attack your search from both running AND grade perspectives. I can’t emphasize this enough.
Timing
This was a weird one. After the senior year XC state meet, some schools made offers with a 7-day deadline while others had no deadline or rush whatsoever. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND asking coaches during your recruiting process about their signing policy. See how their response feels compared to your family’s expectation and personality. It SEEMS like everyone signs their national letter of intent on Day 1 (mid-November), but that’s not the case. If that works out for you, great. But for most, the recruiting and signing process goes on for months later. Schools aren’t out of money in November. They’re interested in signing kids who will produce on the track AND the classroom. If it takes more time to ensure this mutual fit, so be it.
Overall
I think the common misconception is that college scholarships are far more clear cut than reality. There’s an “If I break 11:00 or 5:00, then I’ll get X or Y-scholarship.” It totally varies from school-to-school, not to mention each individual school’s situation. Some might’ve had a huge freshman class so all their money is tied up while others might be graduating a bunch of seniors freeing up cash. Recruiting and receiving scholarship offers is definitely an individual process in every regard. But the more homework you do, the more likely you’ll feel comfortable with your end result.
I’ve gone on long enough. If you have any more specific questions, please ask as I’m happy to answer.