IndianaRunner

[XCspectator]

I seem to remember we went after XC during indoor track for visits. XC season is pretty busy for coaches, indoor more relaxed. But you may want to do unofficial visits during XC to gauge what a program is like. We made a decision between indoor and outdoor.

A lot may depend on how sought after you are by the schools you are interested in. We wrote resume type letters to programs we were interested in, endorsed by our HS coach. Most of the visits were unofficial but since they were within driving distance it was doable. We were able to set up academic and coach visits without a problem and were well received. Were able to meet with the head coach each time except with one school that was between coaches. Four D I and a DII powerhouse. All were interested, but we made a choice so I am not sure if all would have offered.

Scholarships are hard to come by in distance unless you are elite. In state is good, and Michigan offers in state tuition or a discount for B average students. PM me if you want more details.

[Cash]

If you decide to be a walk on, make sure your class schedule will allow you to attend practice. Find out when practice is for your events, and plan accordingly.

[Mongo]

To the best of my knowledge, D1 schools get 12 track and field scholarships. There is no such thing as a cross country scholarship, although they may use these to recruit distance runners. Quite often, this depends on the program. A school which has a jumps/throws minded coach or a sprints minded coach may tend to shy away from offering a high number of distance scholarships. Case in point, Purdue does not seem to give a large number of distance scholarships. IU on the other hand has been a little more distance minded.

Sorry, just noticed all of this was said numerous times. Durrr.

[bmehringer]

Anyone able to comment on the admissions and recruiting process for more selective universities. Can't imagine the coaches can wait an see if 1/5 of their recruits are able to get in...conversely, who wants to commit to school if you have to see if you can get admitted. Looking at Northwestern, Vanderbilt, etc. Runner who is academically competitive with the applicant pool. Thanks.

[Cash]

Anyone able to comment on the admi

ssions and recruiting process for more selective universities. Can't imagine the coaches can wait an see if 1/5 of their recruits are able to get in...conversely, who wants to commit to school if you have to see if you can get admitted. Looking at Northwestern, Vanderbilt, etc. Runner who is academically competitive with the applicant pool. Thanks.

Lve "athletic admission departments",and going through them will usually expedite the approval process.

I am going to tell you something, and I beg you...do not take this the wrong way, or twist it into something that it is not.
Some athletic programs are granted a certain number of exceptions for athletes that barely missed the cut for incoming freshmen through general admission. So if you are a track kid, you might still have a shot at that prestigious ACC school, even with a 3.8 gpa. But they willnot allow you to come into a university if they don't think you can cut it academically....Unless you're a blue chip football or basketball prospect.

By the way, do you realize that neither Vandy or Northwestern have track teams for men?

[bmehringer]

I did not, however, I have a daughter. I don't ever want to say scholarship money is a non-issue, because it goes into the equation when comparing schools. However, if a school "fits" better due to size and reputation, money will have an impact, but not primary. I've heard that most schools don't offer first year money very often, but progressively share scholarships as kids improve through each year. Coming out of a relatively low mileage program and being a junior in school, we are trying to size up our universe on the running side and compare it to the pure academic universe...she may not even want to run in two years. I know some schools do invited walk-on, but do they assist in the admissions process. Again, we aren't looking for big help, just the ability to have greater certainty. There are a lot of very good schools she would be an admission's slam dunk. Others, there are no slam dunks unless 4.2 out of 4.0 and 1550 SAT...unfortunately, (or fortunately) that is not her.

Does her being a girl impact your answer? Thanks in advance for your help...in uncharted territory and trying to lean as much as possible ahead of time.

[Cash]

The athletic admissions process does not differ between male and female athletes. And if you are walking on to the program, they will still process you through athletic admissions, and may even use an exception on a walk on if it is needed. And more schools will offer first year money to women simply because there are more scholarships on the girls side. But it usually isn't about a coach not wanting to scholarship incoming freshmen, it is usually about rewarding the kids that work hard and stick with the program. But if there is money left over, and it usually is...then it is used for freshmen. What collegiate track programs are good at is finding non athletic scholarships and grants for their athletes, as they try to free up as much athletic moneyas they can.

And if your daughter is in a low mileage program, let the recruiter know that. That helps them evaluate the potential of an athlete.

I hope that helps. By the way, Northwestern does not offer exceptions for athletes. Our athletic academic advisor for track and field, Leslie Kelly, sits on the admissions board at Northwestern.

[bmehringer]

Thanks again for the help.

[bmwguy]

Every school we have contacted and they have an interest wants us to apply early. If she is going to run in college fill out and sign up for the NCAA clearing house. You can put your official transcript there for the coaches to see. We found a great recruiting tool was berecruited.com. My son has been contacted by multiple schools through this web site.
My recommendation is get the best grades possible because there is a lot more money available there than there is for running.
There are good sites on line to see if she can compete at that level. Look at TFRRS for track times for all schools in the country.

[XCadmin]

Pay attention to NAIA schools! http://naia.cstv.com/member-services/about/members.htm

LOTS of $$$S sitting there, and much easier to access than NCAA D1 & 2. Men running in the 17s often get 50% scholarships. These are smaller schools, but usually EXCELLENT academically. My son runs @ IUPUI, and I went through this whole experience with him. If his academic scholarship didn't pay the whole bill, or his major (physics) wasn't difficult to find @ Liberal Arts schools, he had many opportunities to run w/ full scholarship packages @ NAIA schools, and would have accepted one of those. We had two schools he never contacted call and offer him full rides, based on running honors/performance, published academic honors, and where he went to HS.

[sewardre]

This is a nice thread with many good questions/answers. Perhaps some of my questions are buried in here somewhere and I didn't see them. Here goes:
1. About when should a student start to search for colleges/teams? I've been given advice ranging from earlier is better to senior year....

2. There are sites on-line through NCAA and NCSI (perhaps others) that offer a way of networking talent. I'm not sure at what point lines get crossed. I've been warned not to "hire" anyone for those kind of services...but notice there is a $65 fee for the NCAA site!! Any recommendations on where to go?

3. Perhaps part of this is answered in #2 but what is the NCAA Clearinghouse? This was a question posed from a college questionaire....Are you registered in the NCAA Clearinghouse? If so what is your number? Simple google search led me to the NCAA recruitment site mentioned above. Is this necessary, worthwhile or counter-productive?

4. Lastly, on a side point.....we have in the off season run in races ranging from 5-20K as part of training. We see other teams, individuals, etc. from high school taking part. I've always told my own runners not to accept awards other than the race tee shirts/trophies/food/raffle items they win (in other words accept nothing of cash value....money, gift certificates, shoes, etc. given for their performance). I've been told that out of season this is the best approach and that in season all "road" races are off limits. I notice in the NCAA recruitment site questions are asked about such races and about cash awards given to "any runner". This leads me to question what races we should include as training races. Any advice on this would be helpful. I'm not looking for opinions about the "value" of off-season racing, but rather the legality when it comes to college eligibility and to a lesser degree high school eligibility.

[bmwguy]

First off I say the earlier the better to start. We listed my son on berecuited.com as a Soph and he started getting coaches looking that early. By his Senior year he had over 70 college coaches interested in everything from D1 to NAIA. The site was very easy to use and very inexpensive compared to other sites. A book I would recommend is Athletes Wanted. It answers a lot of the questions. NCSA is another site but it is very pricey if you want the whole deal with them.

You have to be registered with the NCAA clearing house if you want to run in the NCAA. NAIA also has their own site you have to register.

Summer races are fine but they can not accept any prize money.

My son had scholarship offers from multiple schools and he was not all state. He was good but I believe being proactive really helped his chances to run in college.

[Cash]

I added a link for Junior Colleges to my original post.
http://www.njcaa.org/colleges.cfm