In March of 2018, the NCAA issued a Recruiting Fact Sheet, NCAA RECRUITING FACTS, in which they lay out an overview of athletics and academics in the three levels of NCAA designated competition: Division I, II & III. The data included should serve as a reality check for all student-athletes and their families about the percentage of high school athletes who get the opportunity to play their sport into college and ultimately into a professional league.
You may be asking “Why are you telling me this?”. The answer is most high school athletes who go to college don’t play college sports. If you face this fact early in your high school career, you can open your mind to the other opportunities beyond a full athletic scholarship that exist in the NCAA to continue playing the sport you love at the next level.
In this guide, we will look into a few subjects that relate to playing either on a partial athletic scholarship, partial academic scholarship or in some cases full academic scholarship. Let’s begin!
AREN’T THERE GREAT ACADEMIC SCHOOLS IN ALL CONFERENCES?
Yes, of course there are and even more so within each school you will have different degree choices based on your long-term career goals. If you are fortunate enough to be recruited at the highest level of your sport and you put academics on an equal or higher plane, you will want to consider the commitment of time and energy that comes with playing at a Division I level vs Division III as an example. There is a significant difference and what’s important is that you invest the time researching and understanding those differences to help you make the best decision possible that balances your academic and athletic goals.
BEING RECRUITED BY THE IVY LEAGUE
Are you a student-athlete hoping to play for an Ivy League school? Then you’re probably curious about the recruiting process. How do Ivy League schools recruit student-athletes? And how can you increase your odds of getting into an Ivy League school as a student-athlete?
Read on to learn about Ivy League recruiting. After we’ll go over the basic academic requisites you must have to get into the Ivy League and show you what the typical Ivy League recruiting timeline looks like.
HOW DOES IVY LEAGUE RECRUITING WORK?
For the most part, the Ivy League recruiting process is very similar to the process described above. Like other schools, Ivy League schools take time to reach out to skilled high school athletes and evaluate their abilities in their respective sports. After, students offer a verbal commitment to attend the school before submitting their actual application for review.
While there are some similarities, I want to take the time to discuss a few key differences important for you to know if attending an Ivy League school as a student-athlete is your goal.
The differences fall into four subjects:
- No Athletic Scholarships, Only Needs-Based Scholarships
- The use of “Likely Letters”
- Academic Index Calculator
- The Academics & Athletics Balance
For deeper reading on Ivy League Admissions for Athletics please read Prospective Athlete Information. Let’s touch on a few key points.
NO ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIPS
Unlike other NCAA colleges, the Ivy League schools do not give out athletic scholarships to prospective student-athletes. Rather, they offer needs-based financial aid. This needs-based approach is similar for non-athletes as well in the admissions process to Ivy League schools.
Here’s what the Ivy League itself says about this policy:
“Ivy League schools provide financial aid to students, including athletes, only on the basis of financial need as determined by each institution’s Financial Aid Office. There are no academic or athletic scholarships in the Ivy League. A coach may assist a prospective student-athlete to obtain an estimated financial aid award, however only the Financial Aid Office has the authority to determine financial aid awards and to notify students officially of their actual or estimated awards.”
If you are being recruited by an Ivy League school, they will often give you an early estimate or guidance on the type of financial aid package you can expect if you ultimately pick that school Once that estimate is in hand, you can compare the level of financial support with other offers that may include a mix of academic & athletic scholarship money or those offers that are fully athletic.
Our advice is not to get hung up on where the money is coming from (academic or athletic) but consider the amount in total and what is covered by the dollars being offered. Working through this process will allow you to consider multiple offers and different scholarship types.
Read the full e-book here: High Academic Recruiting