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Planning to Swim in
College?
This
information is intended to help CW swimmers prepare for college
level swimming.
The
CW Executive Head Coach and other coaches can work closely and
assist any CW high school swimmer during the college
decision-making process, recruiting, and scholarship opportunities.
All you have to do is let the coach know of your interest in
college swimming.
First, HS swimmers must register with the
NCAA by the end of Junior
year, or they will be ineligible for Div. I or II university
recruitment. All university coaches will first ask if you have
registered. If not, they cannot talk with
you.
There is often a misconception
in the college search process that if you are not actively
recruited or have not been offered a scholarship you must not be a
good enough swimmer to swim in college. That view is completely
false. The fact is that most colleges just do not have the finances
available to offer every good swimmer a scholarship. Another fact
is that most colleges do not find out a student-athlete is
interested in their program until that student has made "First
Contact."
Many families assume that colleges are going to call them first.
The reality is that most collegiate swimming programs do not have
the manpower to search for athletes. Most coaches rely on meet
results from large meets such as Sectionals or High School State,
prospective student questionnaires (usually available on a college
swim teams website), and through professional recruiters (not
sports agents) to whom a student-athlete pays a fee to have them
send information to schools about them. There are also some
websites available through which a student-athlete can also make
information about them self available to college coaches.
With the scholarship limits that are imposed by the NCAA, most
college coaches are going to be looking at a student’s
academic ability. The vast majority of swimming student athletes
receive financial aid through academic related scholarships, grants
and student loans, not through athletic scholarships.
National Letter of
Intent: The National Letter of Intent is administered by
the Collegiate Commissioners Association (not the NCAA). When you
sign the National Letter of Intent you agree to attend the
institution with which you signed for one academic year in exchange
for the institution awarding financial aid, including athletics
aid, for one academic year.
Athletic
Scholarship: An athletic scholarship is a one-year
contract between you and a Division I or Division II institution.
Division III schools do not offer athletic scholarships. A
school can reduce or cancel a scholarship if you become ineligible
for competition, fraudulently misrepresent yourself, quit the team
or engage in serious misconduct. During the contract year, a coach
cannot reduce or cancel your scholarship on the basis of your
athletic ability, performance, or injury. An institution may choose
to not renew a scholarship at the end of the academic term provided
they notify you in writing and provide you an opportunity for a
hearing.
Remember a coach cannot offer you a "four year full-ride
scholarship." They do not exist. Each student athlete award is
reviewed annually. It is important to ask current collegiate
swimmers if they are still on scholarship. Parents, it is not
uncommon for some college programs to offer and renew an athletic
scholarship for the first 2-3 years of college and then ask the
student to pay full tuition for the remainder of their college
career.
Helpful Articles and
Information
College Planning
Resources
General
College, Scholarship, and
Financial Aid Information
ACT, SAT, PSAT National
Merit Scholar Testing
Achievement Testing
Study and Preparation Links
Miscellaneous
Information
College
Search
Sites
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