Student Athletes
How to Maximize The Athlete AdvantageThe Athlete AdvantageBeyond Athletic ScholarshipsBeyond Cultural LimitationsKnow the Race You Are Running
My older son was a 3-sport varsity athlete (lacrosse, football, and track and field), Black Belt in martial arts, and a gifted artist. While he was not a recruited athlete, his stellar record of academics, leadership, and community service resulted in his being offered admission to Amherst College, which at the time, was the country’s top ranked liberal arts college where he received a full need-based scholarship.Amherst College BA English
My younger son had a nearly identical academic record as my older son. While playing defensive end on his middle school football team, he suffered a dislocated foot, an injury that ended his football career. Entering high school, he refocused his attention on academics, music, and the ROTC program. A gifted vocalist, pianist, and guitarist, he developed such an exceptional record of academics, leadership, and community service that he received a full scholarship as a Gates Millennium Scholar.Gates Millennium Scholar
Chase was a high school varsity basketball player from Georgia who had aspirations of pursuing a career as a computer software engineer after college and viewed basketball as a pathway into one of the country’s top computer science programs. Caltech
Caleb was a high school varsity basketball player from Georgia who experienced an injury in his junior year and was no longer being recruited. However, as a straight-A student taking rigorous classes which included calculus and multivariable calculus in preparation for pursuing a career in computer engineering, he received a full merit scholarship to the North Carolina A&T State University Honors College as a Dowdy Scholar.North Carolina A and T
Cierra was a recruited athlete during middle school who received a full athletic scholarship to UNC - Chapel Hill. Cierra is now a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and the Founder/Coach at Crown Performance Training in Tampa, Florida.UNC - Chapel Hill BS Kinesiology and Exercise Science
Jada was a high school varsity track and field athlete from Georgia who was not a recruited athlete. However, as a top student, captain of her track team, and leader in multiple school clubs, she was offered a full need-based scholarship to Northeastern University and accepted a full merit scholarship to the North Carolina A&T Honors College as a Cheatham-White Scholar.North Carolina A and T
Josiah was a high school varsity track and field athlete from Florida who had aspirations of pursuing a career in business and professional speaking. His stellar record of academics, leadership, and service, while competing as a varsity athlete and working throughout high school resulted in his selection as a QuestBridge College Scholar, receiving an all-expenses paid opportunity to attend the Northeastern University Accelerate Experiential Entrepreneurship Summer Program, and being selected as a QuestBridge College Match Finalist. He was offered admission to the Northeastern University D’Amore-McKim College of Business, together with a full need-based scholarship.Northeastern University
Juliana was a high school varsity soccer player from South Carolina. As a soccer player, and graduating as her class valedictorian, she became the first student in the history of her Lake City, South Carolina high school to be offered admission to Williams College, a D-III school that is the country’s top ranked liberal arts college. She received a full need-based scholarship that provides over $15,000 beyond the cost of attendance to assist with personal experiences, healthcare, books, and travel between Williamstown, Massachusetts and her home in South Carolina. She is pursuing a degree in chemistry and preparing to apply to medical school.Williams College
Justin was a high school varsity basketball player in Georgia who was not a recruited athlete. However, as a top academic student who was actively involved in clubs and organizations at his high school, he received the MC Lyte Hip Hop Sisters Educate Our Men $50,000 scholarship and was offered a full academic scholarship to attend Dillard University. Justin was selected as Mr. Dillard and is profiled in, and a contributing author to, the HBCU Experience Movement Royal University Kings Edition.Dillard University BS Physics/Georgia Tech MS Electrical Engineering
Kyrah was a high school varsity soccer player from Georgia who was a recruited athlete, but was not interested in making the commitment required to play soccer in college. Consequently, throughout high school she committed to taking rigorous classes, earning top grades, and earning a top ACT score. These actions resulted in multiple merit scholarship offers. Her career aspirations centered around coding and computer programming. She accepted a full merit scholarship to attend Xavier University of Louisiana where she majored in computer science and was a member of the Xavier University of Louisiana coding team that took first place in 2018 at the Be Smart Hackathon competition beating out 15 other universities.Xavier University of Louisiana BS Computer Science
Lanier was a high school varsity volleyball player from Georgia who marketed herself to college coaches. In addition to playing on her high school varsity volleyball team, she played on a traveling volleyball team. She developed an athletic résumé that she emailed to college coaches inviting them to watch her play at tournaments near their schools. The Women’s Volleyball Coach at Brenau University in Georgia accepted Lanier’s invitation to watch her play. Following the tournament, she offered Lanier a scholarship on the spot. Lanier went on to play volleyball throughout college and earn a BS in Exercise Science & Kinesiology. Since receiving her college degree, Lanier has become a Junior Head Coach for 575 Volleyball in Georgia. Brenau University BS Kinesiology and Exercise Science
Ryan was not a recruited athlete, but developed a stellar academic record and easily qualified for a full scholarship to Xavier University of Louisiana and Tuskegee University. After he and his parents visited both schools and met with the baseball coach at each school, Ryan and his parents liked the mechanical engineering program at Tuskegee and believed that he would have the best opportunity to walk on to the Tuskegee University Baseball Team to continue playing baseball while pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering.Tuskegee University
Sydnee accepted a full scholarship as a Dowdy Scholar to the North Carolina A&T State University Honors College where she engaged in research and co-published a paper on the effects of Calcium Deficiency on Hypertension in Division 1 Collegiate Athletes. She will receive a BS in Kinesiology with plans of attending graduate school to pursue a doctorate in physical therapy (DPT). North Carolina A and T BS Kinesiology
Tristyn accepted a full scholarship to the Claflin University Honors College where she will receive a BA in Elementary Education Claflin University BA Education
Omar was a high school varsity cross country athlete from Georgia who developed a top academic profile by taking the most rigorous classes available at his high school. He earned straight A’s throughout high school, was a leader in multiple clubs, and engaged in meaningful community service. He was offered admission to Brown University where he received a full need-based scholarship. He was also selected as a Jack Kent Cooke College Scholar.Brown University
Taylar holds a black belt in martial arts. Not only did she apply the commitment and self discipline learned from martial arts training in developing an exceptional academic record, she demonstrated exceptional leadership and service throughout high school across multiple clubs, activities, and the marching band. With aspirations of becoming a doctor, she was offered The Dovey Johnson Roundtree, Class of 38, Presidential Scholarship to Spelman College.Spelman College
Tuyen was a high school varsity cross country athlete from Florida with aspirations of pursuing a career in business and technology. She took the most rigorous course schedule offered in her high school and graduated as her class valedictorian. After visiting several colleges through their all-expenses paid fly-in programs, Tuyen applied to college through the QuestBridge College Match program. She chose Caltech as her top match school and was offered admission to Caltech, together with a full need-based scholarship. Beyond the $90,000 per year Caltech cost of attendance, her scholarship fully funds books, personal expenses, healthcare, attending conferences, study abroad, and travel between her home in St. Petersburg, Florida and Caltech, located in Pasadena, California.Caltech
Tyra was a 4-year starter on her Georgia high school girls basketball team. While she was not a recruited athlete, she developed such a stellar academic record throughout high school that she rose to the attention of Georgia Tech admissions officers through one of her college essays in which she shared her passion for entrepreneurship and a business she founded selling gently worn sneakers. The admissions officers believe her to be a good match to the A. James Clark Scholars Program.Georgia Tech
The “Athlete Advantage”
While both of our sons benefited from “The Athlete Advantage,” as profiled in the Harvard University article, our older son (pictured here) embraced our College Planning System in a way in which few students have. Despite his initial reluctance to take the most rigorous course schedule and compete in 3 varsity sports, he embraced developing all of his gifts and pursuing exceptionality in academics, athletics, and the arts.
He took the most rigorous course schedule offered at his Math, Science, Visual and Performing Arts Magnet High School. While not receiving his first ‘A’ until the second semester of the tenth grade (AP Computer Science), he challenged himself academically in the manner in which he challenged himself as a 200- and 400-meter sprinter; football cornerback; lacrosse defenseman ; and as a martial arts black belt.
When our son graduated from high school in 2006 and was offered admission to the one college to which he applied—Amherst College, the term “athletic advantage” was not as prominently known as it is today. Yet, the college-bound strategy through which we guided both of our sons has changed very little. Consequently, athletes participating in our college planning cohort program are guided similarly to all other students in our program. Whether students are using their gifts in music, art, dance, theatre, academics, or athletics to tip the college admissions scales in their favor, they all need a college-bound plan that presents a comprehensive set of strategies to expand their college and scholarship pathways.
Tyra (pictured here), a participant in our Atlanta-area cohort, was a 2-sport varsity athlete on the Collins Hill (GA) basketball and track and field teams. While varsity sports tipped the admissions scales in her favor, it was her grades and course taking that resulted in a full scholarship to Georgia Tech as a Clark Scholar where she is majoring in biomedical engineering.
What is unique to athletes is that many colleges value athletic talent above all others. While such schools do not set aside seats in each year’s freshman class for artists, musicians, dancers, or actors, they do for athletes—and as many as 10 percent. Harvard students, Delano Franklin and Devin Srivastava, in their 2019 article for the Harvard Crimson, “The Athlete Advantage,” provide insight into how athletes are advantaged in the admissions process at elite colleges and universities:
- Recruited athletes receive “likely letters” long prior to other applicants being notified of their admissions decision.
- Highly academically qualified athletes are offered admission at a rate of 83 percent, while equally qualified academic non-athletes are offered admission at a rate of less than 16 percent.
- Contact between athletes and coaches begins as early as when a student enters high school.
- A coach’s athletic recommendation influences admissions decisions in favor of athletes.
- The annual budget for athletic recruitment exceeds $1 million with coaches traveling throughout the world looking for athletes for Harvard’s 42 D-I teams; over 58 club sports; and over 32 Intramural sports.
- Runners, jumpers, and throwers do not even need to make a recruiting visit, but simply send coaches their race times or distances.
- Coaches have considerable power over the admissions prospects of recruited athletes and advise athletes during the admissions process, with one coach advising an athlete not to talk about track in his essays as the admissions office already knew that he was a recruited athlete.
Now that you know this information, what are you going to do with it? Each action that a student-athlete takes in grades 9 – 12 can either increase their advantage in the college applicant pool or disadvantage them. The classes taken, grades earned, leadership roles assumed, community service engaged in, and character revealed on the field and in the classroom, can all provide further advantages to student-athletes and expand their scholarship opportunities.
As noted in the , “Beyond Sports — A Student-Athlete’s Game Plan:”
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), there are over 8.4 million high school athletes in the United States. The NCAA reports that only 520,000 high school athletes will have the opportunity of competing in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III.
Whether or not you become one of the NCAA’s 520,000 student- athletes or are among the 7.5 million other U.S. high school athletes (who will need an alternative college pathway), you will need a game plan.
Whether you are a recruited athlete or not, this book will show you how student-athletes developed game plans that leveraged their sports participation into full college scholarships, and on to pathways into richly rewarding careers.
If you are committed to competing at the collegiate level, over 2,100 colleges, community colleges, junior colleges, and technical schools offer intercollegiate athletics.
Beyond Sports is a must-read for every high school athlete and those supporting them.
The game plan you create never has to compromise your dreams of playing college or professional sports. The right game plan means expanding your college, scholarship, and career options beyond sports.
For students with aspirations of attending college, being a high school athlete can provide advantages during the college admissions process and expand a student’s scholarship opportunities. If you are a good athlete, but not a recruited athlete, you can still have many opportunities to attend great colleges in preparation for entering into a sports-related or non-sports-related career. Leveraging sports to maximize such opportunities will require more than meeting the minimum academic requirements for competing in college at an NCAA D-I or D-II school. While coaches and athletic recruiters talk to athletes about the importance of academics, many athletes fail to view academics as an essential component of their game plan. However, with less than 2 percent of high school athletes receiving an athletic scholarship, and less than 1 percent of high school athletes being offered a full-ride scholarship, leveraging sports into opportunities beyond sports should be part of every high school athlete’s game plan.
How We Can Help
Student-athletes can register for our program and benefit from our college planning system through their participation in our year-long College Planning Cohort program as was the case of the Brothers’ triplets pictured below. While they each benefitted from the athletic advantage, their accomplishments in academics, course taking, leadership, music, theatre, and community service resulted in each of them being offered admission to a college in which they were offered a full scholarship (Claflin University Honors College; North Carolina A&T State University; and Wesleyan University).
Need for 1-on-1 Guidance
Student-athletes unable to commit to our college planning cohort program have the additional options of either participating in one of our middle school or high school college planning boot camps offered during the summer, or receiving 1-on-1 guidance. Whatever approach is best for you, in the manner in which a coach develops a game plan, you must develop a college-bound plan in which your participation in competitive athletics is a component of a much more comprehensive plan.
A comprehensive college-bound plan for a student-athlete focuses on ensuring that you meet the eligibility requirements to register with the NCAA Clearinghouse, AND, that you meet the admissions standards at those D-I, D-II, and D-III schools offering athletic, merit-, and need-based scholarships. A comprehensive plan will include many more components than merely planning a sport and being proficient at a position. In essence, any student-athlete who wants to pursue a full college scholarship and avoid student loan debt should think bigger and reach higher.
Form a Cohort
Athletes, coaches, or booster clubs can create a cohort of 5 or more students. Students work through our grade-level appropriate online college planning curriculum, focusing on those units matching their college, career, and athletic aspirations. Through our curriculum and monthly discussion groups, students learn how to align their body of work with their college and scholarship aspirations. D-I, D-II, or D-III? In-state public university, out-of-state private college, or full scholarship pathway wherever that leads? Small HBCU or large PWI, every athlete who is as vested in his or her college planning as he or she is in practicing and preparing to compete can have great college and scholarship opportunities.
Email us for more information: cpc@collegeplanningcohort.com
Click here to download The NCAA Guide For The College-Bound Student-Athlete