March 20, 2012

Understand College Perspective: College Majors

“Our son/ daughter doesn’t know what they want to study. How could they know?”

We’ve heard it thousands of times. Is that going to be you? Not knowing comes to you at a substantial cost. Not knowing only serves to delay the inevitable task of finding out. How many times is it alright for your child to change their major while in college? Does your answer differ if you know the average cost to changing a major is $30,000 plus 6 months lost time in the workplace. How many times is acceptable for your child to change their major?

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Grades and Study
March 19, 2012

Understand College Perspective: On-time Graduation

Here you sit thinking of your son or daughter’s college ahead. You know the stakes are large and the cost is significant. You are considering college studies and remain hopeful for athletic opportunities. But do you have a college plan to graduate on-time with a meaningful degree? We do, and it begins with understanding the perspective of the college.

College is big business. Colleges are in the business of selling education. In fact, you make up their target market. As such, you are in the market of purchasing a college education. You are a customer to a college, a big one. Did you ever think of it this way? You’re not looking at buying a color tv here, it’s a college education and it comes with a big price tag. But it might turn out bigger than you think, more than you want, beyond what you budget.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Grades and Study, Recruiting
March 12, 2012

March Madness

March Madness begins, and I’m not talking about basketball. Sure, the NCAA tournament begins this week and it attracts a great deal of interest and excitement. It captures the essence of college competition where young athletes have opportunities to compete on a big stage. But what about you? Would you like to compete one day on the college stage?

When it comes to college sports, my version of March Madness describes the feeling that 2 1/2 million families of senior high school athletes are beginning to feel each month of March as they sense the long-time plan to play college sports slip away. It’s March, and it’s maddening! Why? Because in many cases, it was avoidable. You feel that you relied on others, you thought it worked differently, you found out otherwise and waited too late to take action. The fact is most families don’t pursue this with a credible plan. Rather, most people adopt the hope, wait, and wish strategy. In doing so, they go down the same beaten path as millions preceding them.

The solution: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Strategy
March 8, 2012

Back-End Recruiting, Seniors, part 1 of 2

High School seniors, don’t despair, but don’t give up either. You can still land a college roster position. How? We call it Back-end Recruiting. It’s our strategy designed to find high school seniors college roster spots during the spring of their senior year. Here’s how it works:

You’ve submitted applications and where possible, submit a handful more. They are a small price to pay for creating options. Now you’re thinking… application deadlines are past. And while posted deadlines are past, a quick call to the Admissions Office, and perhaps the athletic coach, may get you an exemption. Every school is different. The key here is to create additional options. If you already have 6 or more, then that may be enough, but another few is always a good thing.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Recruiting, Strategy
March 5, 2012

Understanding Perspective of Colleges and Their Coaches

It’s March. Seniors are making their college choice this month. You have visited several colleges and met with many college coaches. You qualified for admissions. You secured a college roster position, or did you? You received a top financial award as well, or did you? In making your decision, do you really know what the coach has in mind for you. Do you know what the college plan is for you? Seniors, these matters will prove vital to a successful college career and experience. Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, consider these factors now as you begin your college search.

This is Part 1 of 10 in our upcoming series- Understanding Perspective of Colleges and Their Coaches. Today, we will map out several of the issues. Then we will discuss each one in detail as we move through the month. For starters:

What is the coaches top priority each morning as they arrive on campus?

What drives the college business model?

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Finances, Grades and Study
February 12, 2012

Decide Upon Your Goal and Launch It

You play high school sports, you join travel teams, you attend showcases and camps, you have a personal trainer, and you love sports. But what’s your goal? College sports? ”Decide upon your goal and launch it”- UCLA Legendary Coach John Wooden.

So you’ve decided, your goal is to play college sports. Beginning your push towards securing a college roster spot, and perhaps a scholarship, is like the kick-off to a football game, the first pitch to a baseball game, the tip-off to a basketball game, the face-off to a hockey game. Every game has to have a beginning. The recruiting game is no exception.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Strategy
February 9, 2012

College Recruiting, and the 3 A’s to maximizing your scholarship

Do you want to pay the most you can for college? Of course not, but most will. Why? Because most families don’t know how to maximize their scholarship award.

While we specialize in athletic-based awards, the one scholarship award that athletes control best is the academic-based merit award.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Grades and Study
February 7, 2012

Understand an Often Overlooked Detail in College Scholarship Offers

Last week was a very big week for college football recruits. It was the National Signing Week. Signing week is an intense week, for both the recruits and the coaches. It is a short one-week window of opportunity for a college to commit athletic-based scholarship money to their recruits and for the recruits to “sign” representing their commitment to the college. And a commitment it is. The National Letter of Intent is a very legal and binding contract between the college and the athlete.

A couple of notes pertaining to the National Letter of Intent. It comes with a one-year term, not four years. It represents only the athletic portion of a scholarship award. Once signed, an athlete would need to be “released” by the school if they were to change their mind. Getting a release is anything but automatic, so be sure to understand the obligation and commitment to the college as you “sign” for your athletic scholarship.

Filed Under: Strategy
February 6, 2012

Are SAT scores really important to college recruiting?

How important are SAT”s? To college applicants, they are very important for admissions. But to the  colleges, how important are they? This New York Times has a great article about what some colleges are doing to improve their college  ranking. Since this article  was released, other schools have been found guilty of misrepresenting  their scores as well. We will watch how it all shakes out in the coming  months.

Filed Under: Grades and Study
February 6, 2012

Football Fans…

It was quite a week in the world of football. Most everyone is aware the NY Giants won the SuperBowl in a thrilling match-up with the New England Patriots. The game featured two of the best NFL coaches along with two of the premier NFL quarterbacks and was a rematch of the 2008 SuperBowl. The game came down to the wire and the Giants prevailed, as they did in 2008. Both games were won with a late 4th quarter drive resulting in a Giants touchdown and a come-from-behind victory.

But two months ago, it did not appear that the Giants would make the playoffs. They were a mere 6-6 and not much of a contender. Then, they strung together some key wins and made the playoffs, to then knock off Atlanta, Green Bay (15-1 record),  San Francisco (14-3 record), then the Patriots (15-3 record). It was an amazing run and just proves that anything can happen when you combine passion and desire. Kudos to the Giants.

On the college front, last week was a very big week for college football recruits. It was the National Signing Week. Signing week is an intense week, for both the recruits and the coaches. It is a short one-week window of opportunity for a college to commit athletic-based scholarship money to their recruits and for the recruits to “sign” representing their commitment to the college. And a commitment it is. The National Letter of Intent is a very legal and binding contract between the college and the athlete.

A couple of notes pertaining to the National Letter of Intent. It comes with a one-year term, not four years. It represents only the athletic portion of a scholarship award. Once signed, an athlete would need to be “released” by the school if they were to change their mind. Getting a release is anything but automatic, so be sure to understand the obligation and commitment to the college as you “sign” for your athletic scholarship.

 

 

Filed Under: Recruiting News
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