![]() College is an excellent time for sports. Athletes are in their prime and excitement is high. Some schools are known for packing 90,000 people into a stadium, where the roar of the crowd simulates a rock concert. And while it is great to bleed your school colors, many colleges offer many levels at which to compete. The most widely known but least accessible is the competitive or national-level. This is NCAA/NAIA athletics, where recruited and sometimes scholarship athletes represent the school in competition. Less than 1% of high school athletes ultimately compete at this level, and competition for spots on teams can be high. Rules for eligibility and recruitment are complex and carry consequences. See below a presentation on collegiate-level athletics and a handout breaking down the differences. These rules can change yearly so it is best to keep up with the current trends and expectations at NCAA.org.
Student-Athlete's HS Eligibility Timeline
Recruiting Process Timeline 5 Hard Truths About Athletic Recruiting For a great look at the road to college sports, check out Get In The Game: Tips for Student-Athletes and Their Families from NACAC. While playing a varsity sport in college is not for everyone, there are still ways to get involved and most schools beyond just attending your team's games. One way is club-level sports. Competitive, these teams usually travel within the state or regionally to play teams of other colleges. Sometimes this is for sports that are not offered at the NCAA level, but other times they are for sports where the NCAA level is ultra competitive and the school wants other talented athletes to still participate. And finally, there is the intramural level of competition. Usually far more relaxed, teams are formed voluntarily, like at a dorm (ex. 4th floor East) or by a group of like-minded individuals (ex. Students of Veterinary Sciences). Students compete with each other on campus, more for fun and pride than reward. Costs and stakes are usually low. Whether you are a highly recruited athlete at one of the nation's top programs or simply putting on a tie-dyed t-shirt to toss a frisbee, there is likely a sport for you out there at the many colleges and universities in the US. Stay fit. Stay active. Stay involved.
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All too often a HS student gets rejected from a school and thinks, "What is it about me they didn't like?" This feeling only intensifies when other students from the same school get in, or get in at other comparable programs. The analysis begins with no possible positive end. So before you beat your head against a wall, consider these factors that help a college shape their student body. In most cases, a school taking a pass on you has actually nothing to do with you.
The Goal Colleges are striving to create a freshman class that they feel will enhance their student body, support the current programs on campus, and add a margin of diversity. We often think of diversity as race/ethnicity, and to some extent most schools will look to increase or maintain the number of Asian, Hispanic, African-American, etc. students, but it goes beyond that. The following are a set of "hooks" or factors that a school make consider and it sits behind closed doors and crafts its incoming freshman class. Geographic Diversity A school on the West coast with few applicants from the East coast may select students from under represented areas. A school may also want to increase their international numbers. However, if the school already has a large proportion of Chinese students, it may help to be from Jordan. Age Most college freshman are around 18 years old. But there are students enrolling well into their adult years. This adds diversity and life experience to a class conversation. Athletes/Special Talents Some schools place an emphasis on their athletics teams and may grant coaches ways to highlight student-athletes they would prefer during the application phase. The same is true of elite instrumentalists, actors, vocalists, programmers, or pretty much anything other talent the university can develop. Legacies Is it fair that a student gets special consideration because their father, mother, or grandparent went to school a particular institution? Maybe not to the first-generation college student fighting for a place, but it can matter to schools and their donors. Not all schools will give extra weight to a student with a parent that attended, but many will give consideration to the application, especially if that school works heavily with alumni donations. Donors Does this mean you can buy a spot to college? Before you bug mom and dad to whip out the old checkbook, understand what is at stake. All schools appreciate donations, and private schools may even work the hardest for these dollars; after all, they are not funded like the public schools are. But as much as a donation is nice, it is only going to help and the most prestigious places when it is significant (think 7 figures). And the promise of a donation (the parents may donate if the son gets in)? Means nothing to the schools I have talked to. Since most of us don't have a surname on the library of an Ivy league campus, this one isn't that much of a factor. While none of the above factors make you a shoe-in for a spot at a highly selective college, it can help, IF the college is looking for that particular characteristic in that student body. If you are an all-state quarterback you are applying for 700 spots at a school that gets 7500 applications. But you might only be competing for a place in the school against 5 other all-state QBs. That is, if the school needs a QB. If they already have an All-American freshman, your "leg up" won't matter. There is an incredible debate about the illegality of using special factors in admissions. Read more here. In most cases, you do not control these special factors. Where your are from, where your parents went to school, and how old you are are simply beyond your realm of influence. For most applicants, it is best to put aside this thinking and focus on the components of the application you can control. This is an older article that I had not published.
Colleges appear to now, more than ever, be aware of the need to program and serve students with disabilities (See article from Higher Education). But in this push to be more inclusive comes several responsibilities, and if you are a student with a disability, your college search process is a challenging one. Not only must you find the right school for you based on location, size, athletics, climate, activities, etc. like every other student, but you must also find one with a program that fits your needs, and you must see a match in that program's directors, students, and facilities as well. Students with disabilities must do their research to determine if a school and program is right for them. One of the first steps is asking detailed questions about what a program offers, what is included, and how a student might make use of the resources on and around campus. But where to start? While most schools have a disabilities access or student services building, the functions of these entities vary widely from place to place. Colleges must provide reasonable access to education under law; however, what is reasonable can be vastly different in some people's eyes, and this is left largely up to the universities. While some schools, like Landmark College in Vermont and Beacon College in Florida cater specifically to students with learning differences, some students may want a more diverse student body and be looking at universities with many other students that have support systems in place. Here are a couple of articles highlighting some of the programs offered at select institutions.
I am also adding a summary of submissions from the students of the UCLA Extension course who researched and compiled additional schools and programs for the sake of a resource. Were you pretty excited when the Turning the Tide article came out? If, like me, you felt pumped up, rejuvenated, and hopeful again, you eagerly anticipated sweeping reform in the world of admissions. Other people started weighing in, looking for new solutions (example: Mind/Shift article on how the college process can be improved.) . We were at the feet of a revolution.
Now, as you sit at your desk and prep junior meetings for the next batch of applicants, do you ever pause to say, "What has changed?" While we know the world of admissions is a moving target, pulsating and morphing around institutional priorities, we remain hopeful that these domains of higher education feel some responsibility for the greater good and the best interests of those who call their campuses home. If you haven't read Turning the Tide, I encourage you to do so. But action is needed. Audits and reflection on this practice is needed. "Be the change..." Every year, rankings for more than 1000 colleges are released, causing a flurry of activity in the media, obsession by parents, and it only narrows the field of applications from students. While there is certainly nothing wrong with applying to a prestigious institution, few people understand the rationale behind the rankings, yet the significance of how they shape the application season is extreme. This is most evident when, despite the option of nearly 4000 institutions of higher education in the USA, a tremendous focus goes into just the top 100. What is US News & World Report? When a parent walks into my office with a copy of the latest rankings, I equate this to someone abandoning their retirement plans and buying property in Nicaragua because TripAdvisor called it the #1 place to retire. US News is a magazine, and one that ceased print production in 2010, though they have continued large following online with their annual rankings system. In fact, US News still will revitalize their print production once a year to make these rankings even more accessible. What Goes into the Rankings System? It would be great if there was some way to really say, "So and So school delivers the best education in the country," but that isn't realistic, is it? Many schools deliver an excellent education and what constitutes the best is really in the eye of the beholder. So how does one organization, independent from higher education, determine these elite rankings? While the criteria changes slightly from year to year, these rankings are based on the following criteria: assessment by administrators at peer institutions, retention of students, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving, graduation rate performance and, for National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges only, high school counselor ratings of colleges. As you review each one, ask yourself, "Is this really a big factor in my education?" Second, much of this data is self-reported. Is it any wonder in the frenzy of competition for the nation's best students we see a bit of misrepresentation in the data? Perhaps the one that gives me the most grief is Assessment by Administrators at Peer Institutions. A dean of admissions is asked to rate the schools he thinks are "good." What does he do? Well, he looks at schools in his area, schools he loses applicants to. How is a university president of a small liberal arts college in rural Massachusetts supposed to objectively comment on the vast schools in southern California? The same is true of high school counselor ratings. I have known a lot of HS counselors, and I am willing to wager some are not the best source of information. We often know where our students have gone, and in many areas of the US, students go to what is close and affordable to them. Financial resources is another example. Sure, it is nice for a school to have money, but what does this really mean for you? For example, Princeton University's endowment is smaller than Stanford University's, yet Princeton University's endowment per student figure is twice as large as Stanford University's. How much is enough? My alma mater's endowment is 2.5 billion dollars, higher than all but a select few institutions in the country, and yet it is a large public university. The University of Michigan has nearly 9 billion dollars and a tour of their athletic facilities would suggest that it spends a significant amount on its sports programs, whereas smaller schools have nowhere near the same resources. Retention rate is another factor that draws skepticism. At first glance, a school that keeps its students from beginning to end has stability and commitment, which is presumably a good thing. But does that really make it better? Schools with lower retention rates many have students leaving for reasons that would jeopardize its image: poor teaching, violence/safety on campus, disengaged or unwelcoming student body, etc. However, many schools suffer retention rates for reasons beyond their control. For example, a public school may enroll more first generation students or students of lower income because its rates are cheaper. It may also accept immigrant or migrant students if located in a region where these students are plentiful. When people need to drop out to work for tuition or to provide for a family, it says nothing about the institution and its education. Selectivity - A simple examination reveals a disturbing coincidence: there is a direct correlation between a college's rank and its selectivity (admission rate). The highest ranked schools, for the most part, have the lowest admissions rates. The same is generally true of yield (the amount of students accepted who enroll). What is a quick way to move up in the rankings? Accept less students. Schools have moved up the rankings in other ways. A school that accepted 68% of its students from the top 10% of their graduating class increased that to 95% in a future year. Up went their rank. Is their school better off? Consider this example: School A takes 68% of students from the top 10%. The remainder fall outside of that; however, those students come from competitive prep schools, average 1400 (of 1600) on the SAT and have a GPA of 3.8. School B takes 95% of students from the top 10% of their class; however, those schools do not offer rigorous HS programs, students are not involved in anything outside of school, and have test scores far below those at neighboring competitive schools. Which would you rank higher? It isn't all about the numbers. In sum, these rankings, which on the surface can be argued as being derived from a set of relevant criteria, actually mean very little to a vast majority of applicants. Should we be referring to these as the "best" colleges? No. None of these factors take into account why a college is best FOR YOU, which is all that really matters. Article: Do Rankings Really Matter? Article: Saving Juniors from College Rankings
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AuthorOlder blog posts were for the UCLA Ext course "Using the Internet for College Counseling" Archives
February 2023
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