Building a College Admissions Plan That Gives Student-Athletes an Edge

Webinar Transcription

2026-01-15 – Building a College Admissions Plan That Gives Student-Athletes an Edge

Anna:

Hello everyone. Good evening. Or afternoon or morning, whatever time it is from wherever in the world that you’re joining us. We’re so glad you’re here for our webinar on building a college admissions plan that gives student athletes an edge. My name is Anna Vande Velde, and I’ll be your moderator today.

I’m a senior advisor at CollegeAdvisor and have been with the company for about four and a half years. In addition to working with students one-on-one, I’m a co-captain on our essay review team. To orient everyone with a webinar timing, we’re gonna start off with a presentation. Then answer your questions in a live q and a.

On the sidebar, you can download our slides now, um, in the handouts tab, and you can start submitting questions in the q and a tab at any time. Please note that super specific questions that are about your exact grades and sport and colleges of interest. Those are great questions. This is not the best format for those ’cause Those tend to require back and forth and a dialogue.

We will talk later on about an opportunity to meet with us one-on-one to bring those questions. But for this format, as best you can, try and ask those questions that you think other students might be wondering as well. Uh, and we’ll get to as many of them as we can at the end. I think that’s all I have for housekeeping right now.

Oh, nope. There’s one more thing. Um, this is being recorded and it will be emailed to everyone who registered for the webinar. Um, so no need to take notes. If you don’t want, you can always re-watch. Okay. Now, um, it is my pleasure to introduce our presenter tonight, Bria Bourgeois. Bria, could you say a bit about yourself?

Bria: Hi everyone. My name is Bria. Um, I am a former college athlete at the George Washington University, which is also where I got my bachelor’s degree. Um, I’ve been working in admissions for about 10 years now, starting at the University of Southern California, where, um, I was working as an admissions counselor, also working as one of the liaisons with the athletic department.

Um, and now I’m working on the high school side, so serving high school students, working with their, um, working with them through their college process, serving as a college counselor and an athletic advisor as well.

Anna: So the perfect person to be here for this webinar. We’re really happy you’re here, Bria.

Um, I thought before you get started, it might be helpful to get a sense of who’s joining us. Absolutely. So folks, I’m gonna start this poll. Please let us know what grade you are in. Um, if you’re here as a coach, educator, guardian, select other. And while we wait for those results to come in. Uh, Bria, we had a question from someone who registered that I thought maybe you could answer now.

Bria: Yeah, absolutely.

Anna: Could you describe a day in the life of a college student athlete?

Bria: Yes, absolutely. So a typical day in the life of a college athlete, um, tends to start very early, right? It may range from, you know, you have an 8:00 AM class, then you head immediately to practice or lift or treatment if you have an ailment or an injury that you’re kind of nursing.

Um. Then you finish with, um, study hall, potentially, and, um, another class for that day. Um, and then ending your day with maybe a team activity or even just a team meal or just catching up on your homework. Um, I think it can vary based on, you know, the athlete, the sport, um, if you’re in season. That day in the life can look very different as well, right?

So you’re preparing for games. Um, you might have to leave two days before a game, so that requires you to con connect with your teachers to discuss any missing work that you may have. Um, so I think that it, it ranges depend on what time of the year it is and what, you know, whether you’re in the season or you’re not in season.

But, you know, usually your days are pretty laid out for you, which can be nice, but also can be demanding if you’re not on top of your time management skills.

Anna: Thank you. Really helpful. Looks like we have critical mass of the poll. Um, so just so you know, Bria with us, we have almost 40% in 11th grade.

Bria: Okay.

Anna: About 30% in 10th grade.

Bria: Mm-hmm.

Anna: And then 20% in eighth or ninth. Awesome. Um, we do have a few seniors with us and then the rest said others, so probably coaches, parents, educators, et cetera.

Bria: Awesome. Awesome. Everyone.

Anna: Yes, we’re happy you’re all here. I’m gonna close the poll and Bria, I’m gonna hand it over to you for the presentation.

Bria: Yeah, absolutely. So how this, um, style of presentation will work. Um, we have essentially these preset questions that, um, are either common or, you know, just have continued to come up. So I’m gonna start with the first one. What are the key differences between applying to college as a student athlete versus a non-athlete?

Um, and I would say that the main point of emphasis is the density of your college list, right? So a recruited athlete, um, could definitely have one school on their list, right? Say they’re division one or division two. There’s gonna be two things on your list. There’s gonna be your school, um, in the ncaa.

Those are go both gonna be people that, um, you want to have your transcript that you essentially have to make sure that you take care of as a, um, housekeeping note. Um. For a non-athlete, this is where we have the more traditional college list where we’re assessing your preferences, right? Um, we want to know where you wanna be regionally, what school are you aligned with academically, and that is in regards to your GPA and your SAT.

With a recruited athlete, sometimes there are some, um, parameters that, um, allow them to be accepted with a slightly lower academic profile if that’s necessary. Um. Even though there are a number of schools that also want you to meet that requirement of their school and get in on your own right. Um, while also participating in athletics.

Um, just definitely want to know that college athletes still go through the same application process. Um, they are not exempt from the application. You still have to do your due diligence and go through that process entirely, um, through the common app or directly to the institution.

The next question we have here is what is the general timeline for the recruiting process for student athletes? Um, so this can definitely vary based on sport. Um, but ideally we wanna start having these conversations as early as possible. Um, I think that, you know, with, with most of. Um, the students in the room being juniors or 40% of us, um, being juniors.

I think that if you have, you know, started that connection or started that communication with your coaches, um, in your junior year, and when I say with coaches, um, with college coaches, I think you’re in a really good spot. Um. Usually when you get to that junior year and whether we are, you know, hoping to be recruited or, um, that actually is our reality, that’s when we really just wanna start having those, those conversations of, okay, what does this look like in reality for me?

Um, just wanna note that students can be recruited from as young as middle school, right? Like college coaches can, can. Watch your games. They can find your film. Instagram and social media is very popular these days as a means of recruitment as well. So coaches can become familiar with you from a young age.

Um, but we just want to make sure that we are being, you know, realistic with these expectations as we enter high school. Um, and just being clear with our goals. And just a point of emphasis. Ideally, senior year is not the time to start this process, right? Um, you wanna have at least have started this process a little bit before, preferably, at least by the junior year.

Sophomore year is also very common. Alright? Next question is, what does having an edge, or excuse me, having an admissions edge mean for student athletes? How should athletes leverage this? I think this was a great question because I am a firm believer that having an edge in admissions means just having a backup plan.

Right? Um. If you find yourself to be an athlete, a student athlete that wants to be recruited and you have not gotten that engagement just yet, the one, the engagement, the recruitment engagement from coaches that we’re looking for, we don’t necessarily wanna put all of our eggs into the athletic basket.

We want to kind of give ourself an edge by leveraging. Maybe navigating both processes at the same time. So kind of wanna emphasize that it’s okay to navigate your recruitment while also having a side plan of maybe preparing a short list of schools that you’ll consider applying to, even just as a traditional non-athletic student.

Um, so this just kind of gives you the best opportunity to, one, not miss any deadlines. We don’t wanna wait until the end of your senior year, say for example, in February, um, to kind of make this decision. Because at that point we’ve missed a lot of those early action deadlines, which is crucial, um, to receiving potential merit, scholarship money, and just giving yourself the best opportunity to, um, gain admission to those schools.

Um, so if you’re at the senior year and you’ve reached the November point and you still haven’t gotten that recruitment, um, formalized from any coaches, go ahead and prepare a short list of schools, um, that you can apply to and that you’re considering applying to and that you would be happy to go to.

Just as a traditional student, you never know the opportunities that can come on later through club intramural and possibly even walking onto a varsity team. So, um. Say all that to say you just wanna keep all your options open, um, and not necessarily put all of your emphasis into one thing. Um, and one more thing, just knowing that this process is so unpredictable and having a backup plan is almost required at this point.

What factors should student athletes consider when choosing a college? This is also a great question, um, because it goes so much farther than just the athletic fit, which is obviously a key contributor, but first and foremost, academic fit. Does this school have your academic interest? It is. A fact that every student athlete eventually transitions into the work field and into their professional career.

You want to be able to position yourself in the best way possible, um, by making sure that you are aligned with the school academically, that you can perform here academically, that they have what you need academically, meaning, um, you know, do they have the major in the academic areas of interest, um, that you are called to, um, if they don’t.

That’s definitely something that you wanna pay close attention to. Um, athletic fit. Athletic fit is huge. That’s probably one, one of the most important things as you’re going through your recruitment process is athletic fit, right? So have we looked at, um, you know, the position and the roster consideration?

Are they super loaded in one position and that just so happens to be your position, right? Um, do you, are you gonna have to wait until your junior year to actually see the field of the court? Um, and then coaching, job security, as we know. Coaching is, it’s almost a merry-go-round in college athletics if you are not performing at a high level.

So if you are considering a a program that’s kind of been on the struggle and it’s been a couple years and the coach could possibly be on their way out, these are things that we wanna definitely consider. Um, and then last but not least, the personal needs and the preferences that you have, right? So distance from home.

Are you someone that is super close to your family and you wanna make sure that you can get home in a reasonable time? Meaning that I don’t wanna take a five hour flight to get home just to see my family on, on a holiday, right? Um, or if you just wanna be able to get home. For Sunday dinner, occasionally, maybe once a month.

That’s something that you wanna consider. Do you want it to be driving distance opposed to having to get on the, get on an airplane? Um, internship opportunities and career opportunities are huge. Kind of going back to my first point about your academic fit, you wanna make sure that this school is helping you align yourself, um, with your goals professionally as well, um, and making sure that you have opportunities to do that as well.

Because sometimes. Being a college athlete, there are certain demands, and there’s not always the most time in the day to be able to do an internship, but in my opinion, this should be a priority, especially with someone that is considering going right into the workforce right after college. Um, and then lastly, quality of life.

And that just means whatever that looks like for you, right? So for some people, some people can’t live without a Chick-fil-A or a Chipotle in walking distance, and that’s respectable. Um, so you just wanna kind of. Assess what it is that is the determining factors for your quality of life. What are things that are going to make the most sense for how you live on a day-to-day basis?

All right. Next question is, how do admission officers evaluate a student athlete’s schedule and grades compare with non-athletes? This is also a great question. Um, and I wanna start by saying everything varies by school. Okay. You have your, um, schools that might be a little bit lighter in the demands that they require of their athletes.

Um, and then you have the, the schools that are requiring that the athletes complete and are academically, um. Profound and, and are doing the same work that their non-athletes are doing. So they’re expecting their athletes to do kind of the same, the same work, and they’re, they’re held to the same expectations.

Um, however often, um, recruited athletes are not expected to participate in. The volume of, you know, kind of diverse set of extracurriculars that a non-athlete would. Um, a lot of times when, when you are a student athlete, that’s kind of what takes up all your time and you have minimal, um, opportunities to be able to do other things outside of your sport.

Um, and I think that that is. Generally understood in the admissions process, and especially for a student athlete, they’re not necessarily looking at, um, you’ve been super involved with your school, especially if you know you’re at that high, um, D one level, power four. They’re not, you know, necessarily considering that.

However, you have your schools, like, for example, Northwestern, USC, all of these really, really high performing Power four schools as well. Not that it makes, not that, that it makes or breaks your application, but they’re just looking at these things. They’re considering these things, they’re considering your writing.

Um, and obviously they want your grades to be way higher than the minimum 2.3 that the NCAA requires for, um, division one students. Um, while it’s impressive that you’re able to participate in things outside of your sport, is definitely common, um. And this, this point about division one versus highly selective division threes.

That’s kind of the point that I was getting at about, you know, having. On one side, you have a student that is participating in, you know, kind of all things, their sport. Um, and then you have another student that maybe has been able to participate in a few things. Um, and I think that at a Division one highly, you know, the, the Power fours that I was referencing there might be a little bit more lenient than the highly selective division, division three, when they’re gonna require that you are meeting those academic marks that you are involved in your community and you are making impactful, um, kind of writing statements.

All right. What non-athletic activities most strengthen an application? Um. I think that the most powerful activities that strengthen any application is gonna be activities that are related to your academic major, right? If you have an interest in business or if you have an interest in, um, let’s say communications or journalism or even like physical therapy or something like that, trying to get opportunities and shadow internship, even having jobs in those areas really, really helps from a reader’s perspective.

That you know, you have done the extra work to discover your academic interests and solidify them. Um, additionally, any leadership position, any leadership position that you are able to show those traits of, of a student athlete is an awesome opportunity. Um, part-time jobs are also op awesome opportunities.

Your parents will tell you that you will learn something. In any job. Um, so anything that you can learn, um, about yourself, about your character, about your work ethic, um, is an amazing opportunity as well. And then volunteering and impacting your community is always really, really impressive. All right. Um, when and how should a student start communicating with college coaches?

This is a great question. Um, and I think that, again, this does vary by sport. Um, I think it’s acceptable to start communicating with coaches if you have not heard anything from them. And this is a strong interest of yours as early as the sophomore year to inquire about opportunities for engagement. Um, and that just means, you know, a lot of times, um, schools will offer.

Offer camps or specific showcases or just opportunities to engage with, um, their school and their team. Um, and I think that these are awesome opportunities for you to engage with them in that way. Um, do not take it personal if a coach does not email you back, um, be persistent and follow up, um, without following up every day.

Right? There’s, there’s a, a, a thin line between, um, being. Um, proactive and being annoying. So we wanna make sure that we are on the side of proactivity and making sure that, you know, we’re following up, but we don’t have to email them every day. Um, you can email them, you can email them, or you can also use social media as a tool, as a means of communications.

Um. And if you have your email prepared, it’s a lot easier. Just kind of have like your template email that you’re sending out to coaches, um, whether that includes film, whether that includes a link to your Instagram or your social media. Um, whether that’s stats or times. Um, just include anything that you feel would be helpful.

Obviously your grades, um, if you have an unofficial transcript, that’s also helpful as well. Um, just realizing that. This email will be you in the early, early phases of your recruitment process with, um, this coach or this school. Um, and then lastly, also in informing of your upcoming games and tournaments and any events that you have coming up.

Um, especially if they are impressed with your film or impressed with, um, they go to your landing page on your Instagram or your, or your Twitter, um, and they’re impressed with what they see. They’re gonna wanna see like, okay, where’s this, where’s this kid next? I have to have to see them. Um, so make sure you’re not shy about informing them of what you have upcoming too, just in case there’s an opportunity there.

All right. Um, how should student athletes prepare for and handle recruiting visits in interviews with coaches? Um, first and foremost, be yourself. Um, not only are they recruiting you for your athletic ability, but they are recruiting you for you being a good person, you being a good teammate, um, you interacting with people on campus.

That’s huge. Um, so just know that everything is, is intentional and all the conversations that you have with, with, um, you know, people on campus, they’re all talking to each other, kind of assessing their interactions with you. And so I don’t want you to think that that’s extra pressure, but just know it all, it all, it all comes together.

Um. Treat every visit as a business meeting. While this is supposed to be. Um, you know, obviously when your coaches are recruiting you, they want it to be casual ’cause they want you to be comfortable. However, you just know that this is, this is a business, right? Um, we can be casual while also keeping our demeanor professional, um, and asking questions.

Try to have conversations with current players and students on visits. That is going to be the best indication of your experience potentially, is how the current players and the current students. Are on campus and how they’re enjoying being on the team? Or is it, is it a team environment? Do we just go to practice and leave each other and then I’ll see you tomorrow?

Or do we see each other, um, you know, in the evening? Do we hang out? What does that really look like on a day to day? Um, again, every question that they ask is intentional. So make sure that you’re always, you know, thinking before we’re responding. And, um, really just focusing on making sure that, um, we’re acting at with a professional demeanor.

Um, also come prepared with your own set of questions while you’re on your, your visit and they’re interviewing you, you’re interviewing them as well. So you wanna make sure that this is also, um, you know, somewhere that you’re gonna wanna spend the next four potential five years of your life. Um, and while the transfer portal is very hot and you know, you’re not set in stone to anywhere that you end up going initially.

Um. That’s ideal. We want to end up, you know, graduating where, you know, we fell in love with initially. That’s the ideal situation. So, um, come with your own set of questions and remember that you’re also doing some interviewing as well. All right. How should student athletes build an application strategy?

Um, so, like I said earlier, you can do both. You can navigate your recruitment and submit your applications. As a first year non-athletic student. It’s okay to do both. Um. If you get into all of the schools that you end up applying to just as a non-athletic traditional student, great. And you end up getting an offer and then, then it doesn’t even matter that you, that you got into all these schools, but at least you had the option and you didn’t leave yourself on an island of just waiting.

Um, before strategizing, consider your junior year progress. Like I said earlier, we wanna make sure that, you know, this is a realistic expectation. Um, and that there has been engagement with coaches at some point. Um. And then just making sure that we’re not, you know, just thinking in the right now. Um, no matter what, have a short list of schools.

Just prepare yourself. Have a couple schools in your back pocket to just make sure that you are not missing any deadlines, um, and that you’ll be happy to attend applying as a regular student.

Should students highlight athletics on a college application? And if so, what are the best ways to do so? This is a great question I find where, um, some students, um, tend to shy away from their athletics in their application just because it has been most of their identity. But I’m always the counselor that’s gonna say, lean into it, right?

Lean into your athletic identity. You have so many intersectionalities of who you are, however. Athletics has been a huge part of your journey, so don’t forget about it. It’s taught you so many valuable experiences like teamwork, leadership, time management. Discipline. I’m sure that you are far beyond some of your peers in some of those areas, so lean into that.

Um, college, um, or admissions counselors know that there are many valuable skills that come from being a student athlete, even if it does not translate to you playing at the college level, at the varsity level, still brag on yourself and lean into the athletic identity that you have. What scholarships are available for student athletes and how to increase chances of receiving them?

Um, so the most common scholarship for an athletic, for an athlete is the athletic scholarship, right? Um, this is not at the D three level. So this tends to be at the D one and the D two level where it explicitly is a athletic scholarship. Um, know that these scholarships can be as large as a full ride to as small as.

20%. Right? Um, and even lower in some cases. So just know that. Just because you are being recruited doesn’t mean that that’s necessarily associated with full ride. It can be a range from partial or full. Um, additionally merit scholarships as well. If you are a student that has performed high academically, right, um, expect to be rewarded for that, right?

Um, and you can stack athletic scholarship money with, um, merit aid if you receive it from that school. Um, also communicate with coaches to assess chances to receive athletic scholarship aid as well. Um, so I think that that is a totally fair question in your recruitment. Um, back to those questions that we were talking about, as you know, you take official beneficial visits.

Um, just being fully aware of what that looks like for you, I think is a totally fair question to inquire about, um, on your unofficial visit as you’re kind of navigating your recruitment. All right. Um, so just some points of final advice. Um, I think it is extremely important to have goals, but at the same time have very realistic expectations.

Um, academics is the most important piece of all of this, right? Um, without the. Academics. You can’t, that, that takes away the student of the athlete part, right? And student comes first. So at all levels, no matter whether it’s division one, division two, division three, there are requirements for your academic performance, both before you get there and while you’re there, right?

So this is always going to be a point of emphasis. It’s always going to be, um, kind of at the forefront of these conversations of just making sure that, um. Um, your academics are in line and it has to be in order for you to participate and compete. Um, be proactive, take initiative to connect with college coaches.

Um, I know that we are kind of ranging in age, however, if you are at the point where you have voiced that this is a real, um, goal of yours, um. Take it on as your own. Our parents are here as a resource. They are not here to do the work for us. Um, and our parents can also not want this more than we want it.

Okay. That’s also extremely important and that is a, a bit of advice for both the students and the parents. We cannot want this, um, more for. Our students than they want it for ourselves. So, um, definitely make sure that we are aligned in that talk about it often. Um, and I know students that could be a little hard sometimes just talking with our parents and, um, I guess kind of talking through the details of all these things, but just know, um, our parents are here to help and they’re here as a resource.

So definitely lean in. Um. And have these conversations early. Um, this is a very important one. Keep your coaches involved in your process and that is included, your high school coaches, your club, and a a u coaches. Keep them involved. And when I say involved, informed of your goals, right? So one, they’re a great source of being able to articulate what realistic expectations in that specific sport look like for you.

Right. Um, they’re able to have those honest conversations about what you need to improve on. If anything, well, we all have something to improve on. Um, but it, you know, they can be very specific about what it is that they need you to improve on in order to reach that goal. Right? And don’t forget. They are very, very well connected.

Um, they know a lot of people, um, and sometimes they will be advocating for you when you’re not even in the room. So it’s important that we share information with our coaches and just keep them informed of whatev whatever it is our goals are at that time. Um, and last but not least, um, just a friendly reminder.

You are not defined by this process. You all are. Taking on this process at the most competitive state that it’s ever been in, um, for a high school student, it has become, I don’t even know the math, but I’m sure it’s. It’s a lot more complicated to reach the level of college athletics than it’s ever been before due to the transfer portal, due to all the things, right?

So just know that, um, you’re not defined by this recruitment process and your recruitment status. Um, and in order for good things to happen, we have to stay positive. So I hope you all found this, um, information helpful. Um, and I’m gonna kick it back over to Anna.

Anna: Thanks so much Bria. So this is the end of the presentation part of our webinar.

We hope you found all of that helpful. Remember you can download the slides from the link in the handouts tab so you can look back at the content Bria shared. Um, and I’ll also say again that this is being recorded and it will be emailed to everyone who registered. We’re now gonna move on to the live q and a.

I’ve been reading through the questions you submitted, um, both now and the ones you submitted when you registered for this webinar. We’re gonna get to as, as many of them as we can for each one. I will read it out loud, then paste it in the public chat so everyone can both see and hear them. Before Bria responds, as a heads up, if your q and a tab isn’t letting you submit questions, just double check that you join the webinar through the custom link in your email and not from the webinar landing page.

All right, let’s. Dive right in Bria, uh, if you are a multi-sport athlete mm-hmm. Do you think it’s smart to focus on one sport for college admissions? Um, and how do you choose which sport should it be your strongest sport or maybe a less popular sport? Mm-hmm. Um, where you might have a, a higher chance of getting it?

Bria: Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s a great question. So if the question is regarding recruitment, um, and you know, which kind of sport you should lean into in order to be recruited, um, I think that that should definitely be your strongest sport, right? Whatever sport you have the most fun playing, whatever sport it is that you are the most naturally, um, you know, kind of drawn to.

Um, I think it is important to. Choose a sport, um, especially in the, in the recruitment process because it is a little bit more rare that students go and even have the opportunity to do both, right? Only, only the the greatest athletes do that. Um, so I think it is important to choose a sport as you consider being consi or you consider being recruited in that sport.

Um, and I think that that will make the process a little bit more straightforward.

Anna: Thank you.

Bria: Yeah.

Anna: And what about students who feel like they’re maybe a bit behind on connecting with college coaches?

Bria: Yeah.

Anna: How can they start reaching out? Maybe they’re not feeling so comfortable with that. What advice do you have for them?

Bria: Yeah, absolutely. First, I would say that if. College athletics is something that you really want to pursue, right?

I think that it’s important to start with the schools that you feel are, are parallel to your athletic performance and capabilities, right? So if we are in, you know. Say for example, we’re playing basketball, right? And we are might not be getting that much playing time. Um, I don’t have that much film. Um, I’m a really, really good team player, but the performance and you know, me connecting with coaches just hasn’t formalized yet.

Right. Um, I think that it’s fair to. Have realistic conversation with your coaches, first of all, about what, what are potential landing spots for me and my athletic ability as it see as you see it right now? Right. Once they give you some schools, they give you some potential options. You go on that school’s website, you go to their athletic roster, most likely they’re gonna have a list of their coaches.

Um, in some sports they even have recruitment coordinators, and that is one of their main jobs is to be able to field emails and field, um. Uh, inquiries from potential student athletes and be able to point them in the right direction as far as what they should be doing right. Um, so I think that as far as, you know, reaching out, I think it’s one of those things where you just kinda have to rip the bandaid off and just send that first email.

And once you send that first email, trust me, it’s gonna feel a lot more comfortable by the time you send the next couple, um. But email I think is probably the best way to contact coaches. Um, rarely are they answering their office phones that are listed on, on the website. So I think email is, is probably the most consistent, um, form of form of communication that you know, we’ll, we’ll have to get you comfortable of, um, of using that.

Anna: Absolutely. And you’re going to need to email professors in college anyway, so just think of it as early practice.

Bria: Exactly.

Anna: Um, sort of a follow up to that. Is it okay to reach out to college coaches if you don’t have a highlight tape?

Bria: Yes, absolutely. Um, as long as you are able to provide something like whether that is, um, stats, right?

Whether that’s your averages, whether that’s a, a time of your most recent race, um, something that they can reference as, okay, this student is comparable to what are, what we’re looking for in the recruitment process. So if not a highlight tape, something that they can kind of hang their hat on as far as like statistics or, um, times would be helpful.

Anna: Thank you. Yeah. Can you speak a bit about the difference between D three and D one and how students should think about what is the right fit for them?

Bria: Yeah, absolutely. So athletically, um, you know, D one is going to obviously be, it’s the highest level, so it’s gonna be your highest performers, right? Um, usually D one, division one athletes, um, are getting recruited sooner than their senior year.

Right. So usually this, this is formalizing a lot sooner and most, most sports are gonna work a year in advance, right? Um, the D one schools, they tend to be, um, and there are definitely a large range of Division one schools, right? There are. The super large ones. These are our Power four schools, the SEC, ACC, Big 10, all of these, you know, um, larger ones that we see on like Saturday night or Saturday, you know, football game day.

Um, then you have your mid-majors. You have ones that are, you know, they’re a little bit smaller, but they’re still division one great institutions. They have small division ones, right? So the, so the sizes of the schools can, can vary depending on division one. I think the main difference is, um, your academic requirements.

Okay, so with division one, um, all division one athletes have to meet the NCAA core GPA requirement of at least a 2.3. However, that’s just the NCAA’s requirement. Uh, there are many division one schools that they don’t wanna recruit a student that has a 2.3, right? They want, they still want that 3.0 student.

’cause you have to be able to perform at their school. Right. Um, another key difference is division one is, um, athletic aid, right? So as a division one athlete, you can receive athletic aid to fund your, you know, your, your college experience. Um, for division three athletes, um, there are 10, they’re, they’re not NCAA sanctioned.

Um, and they also. Do not have that same academic requirement. It’s gonna be all dependent on schools. Um, so the school sets their own precedent for what the minimum, um, GPA would be or the minimum requirements academically would be for their students. And then lastly, um, D three schools do not issue athletic aid.

Now, they can issue merit aid that kind of acts as athletic aid because you’re an athlete, but they can’t call it athletic aid.

Anna: Really helpful. Thank you for walking through that.

Bria: Yeah, of course.

Anna: Do you know if a student goes to community college first and plays an as an athlete there?

Bria: Yeah.

Anna: Uh, can they still play for four years at a D one or D two College?

Bria: That’s a great question and yes, yes, you can. You still have all your eligibility, um, after participating at the community college.

Anna: Okay. Do you think students would have time to do both a sport and a sorority?

Bria: Yes. I had many teammates that that pledged a sorority, so yes, you can.

Anna: Sorry, I got stuck on mute. Um, do you have advice for international students? How can they get on coaches’ radars?

Bria: That’s a great question. So, um, I think using social media platforms is a really good way to connect. Um, also using those same emails like, uh, you know, just reaching out to coaches with those, that same information film, I don’t think that that approach changes as much.

Um, but definitely working with whether it is. Um, NCSA or any of these platforms that kind of bring all of the college coaches to one platform and allow you to communicate with them, I think those make it a little bit easier as well.

Anna: Do you know Bria, how the athletic process might differ at a military academy?

Bria: Not too much other than you have to meet the requirements of the actual military academy. Pass all of those physicals. Um. And you know, you still do have, you still are required to serve post, um, you know, post-graduation as any other student would be.

Anna: Um, thank you. We’re getting so many questions about how to reach out to coaches, what to say.

Yeah. Um, so I just wanna name that it makes sense if there’s anxiety there. Reaching out to people you don’t know is scary, especially when the stakes feel high. Yeah, absolutely. Bria, could you maybe speak, I know you already have, but speak a bit more to that anxiety and provide any tips on things you think they could say Yeah.

Uh, to help them stand out in those emails?

Bria: Yeah, absolutely. So first and foremost, I want to drive the point home that this does not have to be a super long email. Um. Um, I think it is, is totally fair to open up with. Hello, my name is Bria. I’m a basketball player at so and So High School. Um, I’m really interested in potentially playing at the next level, and I think I could be a great fit for your school.

Here’s a link to my Instagram so you can see some of my highlights. Here are some of my. Measurements. I’m five 10, I’m a shooting guard. Um, I average 15 points a game and six rebounds a game. I’m a starter. Um, I’ve been on varsity for three years. Um, and while I’m entering my senior year, I’m really interested in connecting with coaches and getting my name out there.

Um, I’ll be participating in the so and so tournament, um, in Maryland. In the next two weeks, I would love if you came out and checked out my game at three o’clock.

Anna: I think that’s really helpful. Thank you for being

Bria: absolutely

Anna: providing like a, a be a little nervous about that. Yeah. Um, what do you think about Reclassing?

And maybe if you don’t mind. Defining that for folks who might not know what that means. Yeah. And then, um, so define it, and then what should students consider when deciding if they should reclass?

Bria: Yeah. When considering your reclassification, um. Always consider all of your options first, um, and making sure that that makes sense for you.

And what Reclassing is, is say for example, you know, you start school with the original plan to graduate in 2026 and about midway through your high school. Experience, maybe you realize that either one, you are not, um, where you are, where you want to be athletically or academically. And students, students tend to essentially push their graduation out one year.

Um, and while it’s not as common now, I find that there are other. Means that, you know, kind of serve as transition, for example, in prep school, or even like someone mentioned earlier, going to a community college as a means of making that stop. Right. Um, so I think that the, the key things to consider are what?

Benefit are you gaining from Reclassing? Right. Because what we’re seeing now with Reclassing is because of the transfer portal, students aren’t necessarily making as much progress in that year that they reclass as they anticipate. And Stu and schools are still going to the transfer portal anyways. Um, so it’s essentially, um, you know, pushing your graduation out a year.

Hopefully with hopes that there will be a school, you know, that that reaches out to you and that your, your recruitment will pick up. What if it doesn’t? Right? Um, so I think personally that you should just go ahead and start making progress towards your degree, right? Like go to the juco, go play at that college level, um, and allow yourself to develop in a different way and not necessarily just keep trying to go with the same method that you’ve been going with, if that makes sense.

That’s just my personal opinion.

Anna: Thank you. Really helpful. We have a handful of questions about highlight reels, so I’m gonna try and combine them.

Bria: Yeah, of course.

Anna: Um. Do they need to be from only varsity games? Do they need to be from games at all? How can students go about making them? Do they need to be professionally done?

Bria: No, absolutely. They do not need to be professionally done. Even if you just have highlight, if you just have clips on your Instagram, that’s fine too. That’s kind of the same thing as a highlight reel. I’ve kind kind of. I’m kind of using the, um, terms interchangeably of like social media and highlight tape.

Um, I know that like the idea of a highlight tape is kind of dated, so I might be showing my age a little bit. Um, I had a highlight tape, but now students just send you to their Instagram, which is also totally fine, right? Like sometimes, um, maybe you had a really good. Game or you know, someone compiles, uh, just a whole bunch of clips back to back to back.

As long as the, the clip is clear enough to show who you are, I think is the most important part. Right. Sometimes you’re looking at game film, and if I’m watching football game film, I don’t know which one is you. When like, when the, the play really gets moving. Let me, let me have a better example. Soccer.

Because I think soccer moves a little bit, you know, faster and it’s a little bit farther away, right? So just making sure that who you are in that film is super clear, I think is the most important part of having a, a highlight reel or a social media landing page with all your highlights on it.

Anna: That makes sense.

Thank you.

Bria: Mm-hmm.

Anna: You mentioned, uh, in one of your answers the transfer portal.

Bria: Yes.

Anna: Do you mind explaining what that is?

Bria: Mm-hmm. So the transfer portal has, it has become. Some students best friends, some students worst nightmare. Right? Um, so this is, it’s always been, it, it’s always been present. But right now I think it’s been even more thrown around because there are transferring is, is such a hot topic and commodity right now.

The soon as a student is uncomfortable, they’re transferring. Right. Soon as a student changes their coaches, they’re transferring because students, especially after COVID, we’re giving so much additional eligibility. Excuse me. Um, I think that even more so, the transfer portal, which is essentially a portal of students who have left their current school and are looking for a new home.

Right? And so if you do your research. At the biggest programs that we see in March Madness and all this, these coaches are very vocal about being like, I’m not getting trans. I’m getting one freshman. Everyone else is coming from the transfer portal. If I could have a almost full blown adult that has participated in college athletics versus a high school student who has not.

It’s a no brainer, right? And so that’s why I say you all have it the hardest. It’s, it’s the, the hardest that it’s ever been, right? So give yourself grace through this process and know that you have things built into your process that are automatically obstacles for you. And the transfer portal historically, over the last couple years has been one of those things for students.

Anna: Thank you so much, Bria. You’ve been going strong for 45 minutes, so I’m gonna give you a little break so I can talk for a bit about CollegeAdvisor. For those in the room who are not already working with us, we know how overwhelming the admissions process can be and we know how adding athletics to it can just add to that complexity.

CollegeAdvisor has a team of over 300 former admissions officers and admissions experts. Like Bria, who are ready to help you and your family navigate the college admissions process and the athletics process in one-on-one advising sessions and essay editing through our digital platform, CollegeAdvisor has had 10,000 total lifetime clients, and we have a 4.8 out of five star rating on Trustpilot with over 750 reviews.

After analyzing our data from 2023 to 2025, we found that clients working with CollegeAdvisor who have a strong academic and testing record are 2.6 times more likely to get into an Ivy League school around three times more likely to get into a top 20 college and around five times more likely to get into Johns Hopkins, UCLA and NYU when compared to national acceptance rates.

So increase your odds and take the next step in your college admissions journey by signing up for a free 60 minute strategy session with an admission specialist on our team using the QR code on the screen. For whatever reason, you’re not able to scan it right now. Remember, you can download the slides and scan it at any point in the future.

Uh, but whenever you do, please scan and sign up for that. Free hour long meeting with us in which you’ll receive a preliminary assessment of your academic profile along with some initial recommendations from us on what we think you could do to stand out in your applications. At the end, you’ll also learn more about the premium packages we offer that pair you with an expert who can support you in building your college list, editing your essays, and so much more.

We are here for the whole process and we’d love to go on that journey with you. So we’re gonna go back to your questions, but that QR code’s gonna stay on the screen, so do please give it a scan. If you haven’t signed up for that, uh, free as assessment meeting with us. We’d love to meet with you. All right.

Um, back to the questions. If a student is being actively recruited as a junior, what is their timeline for submitting applications?

Bria: So that’s a great question. So could happen to one or two ways. So if you are, say you’re committ and did you say committed?

Anna: No. Recruited.

Bria: Okay, gotcha. Yeah. Um, so if you’re recruiting in your junior year, most likely your, your process will still be the same as far as when you’re gonna be submitting these applications.

The only time that it, and when I say it’s still the same, usually in the early action process. Coaches want you to get this stuff done early. It can, you can also do regular decision at their direction, but a lot of times they’ll let you know when they want you to apply. Um, but I would just go ahead and do an early action that’s just kind of the easiest and get it outta your way.

Um, and that in early action period, sorry. Early action is usually in like October, November. Um, and so. That was somewhere I was going with that. In terms of, I’m sorry, can you repeat the question one more time? I was there with something I was gonna say, I can’t remember.

Anna: No worries. It’s about when they should apply.

Do they submit in the summer or in their senior fall?

Bria: Yes. And that’s, that’s what I was gonna mention is some coaches will want to do, want you to do a pre-read, which will require you to turn in your application a tad bit earlier, sometimes even in the summer. Um. Just so they can kind of do that initial read of your application, meaning like they’re gonna look at your transcript, that’s gonna be the most important part, um, of that pre-read application.

Um, but yes, most of the time the student athlete timeline tends to be the same. No matter when you’re getting recruited. They want you to apply early in your senior year.

Anna: Thank you.

Bria: Yeah.

Anna: And what do you think is the best approach for a student who had been chatting with a coach? They had a back and forth.

Bria: Mm-hmm.

Anna: And then the coach stopped responding.

Bria: Yeah. So if the, if a coach stops responding after some, you know. Consistent or inconsistent communication, um, follow up. You know, just say, Hey coach, just thinking about, you know, what we discussed, just wanna make sure that I’m still a fit for your program. I think that that is a totally fine response to just kind of check your engagement.

If they don’t respond, free it, let it go. Um, and don’t, and that’s that kind of line that I was talking about with like, you know, we can. Take a hint. If we follow up twice to a coach and they don’t respond, let’s take the hint and let’s move on. Um, and if they end up responding one day, it might’ve been a genuine mistake, but we won’t wait around to find out.

Right. We’ll go kind of move on. We’ll, we’ll turn our sights and pivot to, um, the next school or the next set of schools.

Anna: Yes. And I’ve just said I have so many students that really struggle with the idea of sending a follow-up email.

Bria: Yes.

Anna: You are gonna have to do that for as long as we have email.

Bria: Absolutely.

Anna: Everyone’s busy. Coaches are busy. Professors are busy. Yes. So the, the better, you cannot take it personally. Mm-hmm. Uh, the, the happier you’ll be in life. ’cause people are Yes. Going to frequently not respond to your email and

Bria: Absolutely.

Anna: And if it’s a mistake, they’re going to appreciate that you followed up.

Bria: Yes. And I will say the job that I have right now. I had to follow up with the hiring manager, like, Hey, I had a great interview. Like, um, just wanna make sure you’re still interested. And she’s like, yes, sorry. My bad. Like, here’s the paperwork, right? Like, if I would’ve never followed up, who knows what would’ve happened?

They might’ve moved on. Who knows? Um, so just make sure that you’re, um, you know, not taking it personal like Anna said. And do you do your due diligence. Follow up. Um, be consistent, but we’ll also take a hint.

Anna: It’s like you said earlier, be persistent but not annoying.

Bria: Yes, exactly.

Anna: Exactly. Um, if a student is getting messages from.

A D three school as a sophomore.

Bria: Yeah.

Anna: Do you think it’s still possible for them to be recruited D one?

Bria: Absolutely. Absolutely. Sophomore. You’re just, you’re just scratching the surface. Um, especially if you’re a sophomore now. I mean, you still have a hole and I’m not sure what’s. Sport, this is for right.

Not even sure if your season has hit yet. You still have a lot of development to do. So, um, if you’re already getting contacted by club coaches, or excuse me, by college coaches, hopefully whatever sport you’re doing, you’re participating in club as well. So you can get as much, um, club or a a u as much film and as much opportunity to exposure as possible.

Anna: Thank you. What advice do you have for students in single player sports?

Bria: Mm-hmm.

Anna: Like golf, tennis?

Bria: Yeah.

Anna: Um, anything that you think they should know or do differently than team sports students?

Bria: No, not necessarily. I think that, you know. Um, students that are playing golf and tennis and, um, you know, even swimming, right?

Like there are still metrics that you can provide, um, that, you know, represent your athletic ability. So, um, you know, for golf, what are your scores for tennis? You know, let’s talk a little bit more about, you know, your record and, um, any accolades that you have in your sport so far. And if none. Still being confident that like, you know, that’s on the way for you.

Um, and just making sure that you are, um, you know, just forward. You know, forward with what it is that you have going on. There’s no reason to. Um, you know, and I saw another question in the chat about, um, jv, sorry, I might be jumping, jumping the gun, but it kind of ties, ties in here as well, is it’s just like, you know, be proud of what you’ve done, right?

Um, if you haven’t made it to that varsity level, this is my goal and I plan to do this next year. Right? So that’s super impressive too, that you can, um, you know, have the confidence to reach out even when you’re not at your highest peak performance. And they might be honest with you and tell you like, Hey, come back when you make it to varsity, or Hey, come back when you get that time, this specific time that you know, we want our recruits to have, right?

Um, it is honorable for you to reach out to a coach. I want to emphasize that point, that it’s honorable, that they, they, they like when you reach out, what they don’t like is your parents reaching out on your behalf, right? So you want to take this process on as your own, um, and take full onus of, of, of what it is that, um, is in front of us.

Anna: That’s a really helpful perspective. Thank you.

Bria: Of course.

Anna: And please feel free if you see questions coming that you wanna address, just just go for it.

Bria: Yeah, of course. Um, well, colleges consider an athlete who is injured is a, is a very interesting question. And I think it depends on what level of injury you’re kind of facing, right?

Um, if it’s your. Junior year, and unfortunately we’ve missed your season and it’s an ACL injury and we don’t have any recruitment thus far, that might be a little challenging. Right. Um, however, if it’s something that like, I, I sprained my finger, um, and I’ve missed half of my season. However, I’m a sophomore, so I still have time.

You can definitely still create that, um, you know, communication. ’cause you still have that time, right? It’s, that’s still a realistic timeline to overcome an injury and then also still perform.

Anna: Thank you. Um, how, what advice do you have for students when it comes to balancing their studies with all their practices and games and the travel and all that?

Yes.

Bria: Oh goodness. That’s a. Great question. Um, so kind of back to my point about being that student first. Um, understanding that, um, when you are at that college level, slipping on your studies is not an option. So making sure that you are prioritizing your, um, academic performance is gonna be extremely important.

Um, your transcript is your key to success. In any part of the college application process, especially athletics. Um, so making sure that you are performing to the best of your ability. And while you also have demands from practice, you also have to get that project done. And you also have to make sure you’re turning your homework in on time.

Um, because I think that sometimes times we use the athletic thing as an excuse, you know, I’ll be the first to say, as athletes, sometimes we’re super privileged, you know, we’re super like. Um, thinking that things may have to conform to us versus us conforming to how to deadlines and other things of like how things work, you know?

Um, so just make sure that you’re holding yourself to that same academic standard as your non-athletic classmates. Um, and I think that that creates less room for imposter syndrome when you are in college, in these classes that you have to go to just with every other student.

Anna: Um. Thank you. Do you think it’s okay for sophomores to contact coaches even though coaches aren’t supposed to contact them?

Bria: Yes. It is okay for you to contact coaches, um, even though they cannot contact you. That is completely okay.

Anna: And then I think this is coming from a parent ’cause it says, do, do we need to get our child an NCAA number? And what are the benefits?

Bria: That is a great question, mom or dad. Um, so we. If you are already getting that interest of the D one or the D two level, yes.

You definitely wanna go ahead and get registered with the NCAA um, eligibility center. Um. Which you can do if you literally just, I don’t, I don’t know if there’s a way I can drop in the chat, but if you literally just Google like NCAA eligibility center, um, you’re gonna go ahead and click that register button.

And if you’re recruited for D one, you wanna go ahead and select that option one that requires you to pay $110 and with the benefit is if, say for example, a school sees you at a game and they’re like, Hey. Um, really liked what you had, you know, to show out there was really impressed. What’s your NCAA ID number?

And in that case, they will be able to go on and look at, you know, kind of your demographics as it relates to your sport, and then also have access to your transcripts so they can kind of do that pre-read that I was referencing earlier, to make sure that you are academically qualified and aligned with their school.

Anna: Thank you. And I did just put, um, the NCAA link in the public chat. Oh, absolutely.

Bria: Um, so

Anna: you can check out their website.

Bria: Lovely.

Anna: If a student gets an offer their junior year

Bria: mm-hmm.

Anna: What are the rules? Say they accept that offer, but then change their mind later?

Bria: Mm-hmm. It’s okay. It is all right. They call that flipping.

Um, so you’ve committed to a school, but then you get a better offer. I’m going to respectfully, you know, let that coach know that I’ve already committed to that. I’m going to be flipping, um, my decision to this other school. And a verbal commitment is just a verbal commitment. And that goes both ways, right?

So your verbal commitment is, you know, until you sign, you can turn and, and flip anywhere. Same thing for them. If you verbal commit and you haven’t signed yet, they have the full right to be like, Hey, we are moving in a different direction. Um, and that is definitely something that happens and that’s just the reality of the business.

Anna: Thank you. We are getting close to time, but hopefully we could get in one or two more.

Bria: Yeah, of course. What if

Anna: you don’t make your school team but you make. The a a u team,

Bria: that’s okay. I think that a, a u, to be honest, is gonna give you the most exposure. Um, so I’m a high school basketball coach as well.

Not many times do we see college coaches in our stands, right? Because you gotta remember, they’re in season two. When we’re in high school season. Um. In the summer when you’re playing a a u, that is their recruitment season. So you can definitely still get exposure, you can still get opportunities without playing on your high school team.

Um, now may your que may, your coaches may have questions about like, Hey, why aren’t you playing on your high school team? And that’s up to you to disclose on for whatever reason that is. Um, but you definitely still have the opportunity to be, um, recruited at exposure events through a a u for sure.

Anna: Thank you.

Okay, let’s try and do one more quick one. How important are summer showcases?

Bria: I think that they’re important, especially if they are opportunities for exposure. Every opportunity for exposure is a good one.

Anna: Great. Love it. Sweet. Short and sweet. Thank you so much everyone for joining us. Um, we tried to get to as many questions as we could.

Reminder, though you can schedule that free session with us to ask any questions we didn’t get to.

Bria: Yeah.

Anna: And Bria, thank you so much for your expertise. You really were the perfect person to have here for this

Bria: thank

Anna: you webinar. So we’re happy you could make it.

Bria: Yes, thank you for having me.

Anna: Of course. Best of luck everyone.

Thank you for coming and take good care.

Bria: See ya.