Helpful Links for College Hopefuls

Splash Online Extra: The College Recruiting Process  (4/25/2007)

http://ope.ed.gov/athletics/Search.asp  Begin your college search 

Guide For the College Bound Athlete from NCAA website. You can order a paper copy of this guide by calling 1-800-638-3731

Picking the Right College  From Speedo Tip of the Week Archives, USA Swimming

http://www.macswim.com/college.htm  This is A High School Game Plan for the College-bound Athlete - Mecklenburg's advice for the college-bound swimmer.  Contains NCAA eligibility regulations, sample initial letters of interest and athletic profiles, things you wish you knew, do's and don'ts of recruiting, questions to ask the recruiting coach, etc.

http://www.collegeswimming.com/index.php

News, meet results, top times, recruiting information, team search, message boards

http://hcs.harvard.edu/~swim/links/college.html  This is a good place to start.

This site contains direct links to almost all the major college swim teams.

As you visit each team, check their freshman records and all time top 10 to see where you would fit in. Check last year's conference results as well.  That will also help you get an idea of where you would fit into their program.  Remember, most conferences have limits on the number of swimmers and divers that a team can take to the conference meet (typically 16-18 swimmers for each men's and women's teams).  Thus, if the team is quite large, find out about the conference limits unless swimming at a conference meet is not a concern for you.  From the conference meet, most colleges go to one of the NCAA Swimming Championships (Division I, II, or III), the NAIA Championships, or the National Junior College Championships. 
 

http://www.ncaasports.com/swimming/mens or http://www.ncaasports.com/swimming/womens

NCAA Championship meet information and results

http://www.globalcomputing.com/universy.html

Find colleges and universities by geographical region.  Click on a State and then visit all the colleges from that state.  At each college, look around for Athletics and see if they have a swim program.  These general university and college sites might also help you get an idea of admissions requirements and scholarship opportunities.  Division I and II, schools can offer scholarships for swimming but the total amount of scholarship money available is limited to approximately nine (9) full-time out-of-state scholarships for each school.  This money is often distributed among many swimmers. 

http://www2.ncaa.org/index_students_parents.php

NCAA on-line:

Find answers to many of your questions regarding academic eligibility, financial aid, recruiting, and graduation rates, just to name a few.  

Other articles you may find worth reading:

( from Missouri Valley Swimming)

• The Big Trip:  Tips for taking official visits to colleges.
   
• What Coaches Want:  Traits most coaches look for in a swimmer.
   
• Narrowing the List:  Going from many potential colleges to just a few.
   
• Marketing Yourself:  How to standout from the competition.
   
• Tips for Choosing the Right College:  Finding the right fit for you.
   
• A Coaches Perspective:  An interview with the Head Coach of American University

Ask a lot of questions!

See what the graduation rate of the athletics programs and the athletes in your sport are at the colleges in which you are interested.  Ask what academic support services are available and how academic progress is tracked.