Playing by the Rules in College Sports Recruiting

At Parros, we value academic goals, just as much as athletic ones, but we also know that colleges want to recruit a student that possesses both attributes. Navigating the two seemingly conflicting worlds of academics and athletics can be difficult and taking the right preparatory steps for both can be confusing. Parros College Planning is dedicated to helping student athletes hone their academic strengths and become college ready.

“For a high school athlete with the intention of playing at the college level, it is not uncommon to think that athletic performance is ultimately more important than academic performance in both college acceptance and securing scholarships”, says Timothy C. Parros, Parros College Planning LLC. Parros believes that this is the case in the majority of high school athletes, but they need to know that the A in ‘athletics’ also stands for ‘academics’.

“There are a lot of talented kids out there,” Parros says, “but you have to make yourself unique. This year we worked with a student who took many AP classes, had a 4.0, and scored a 35 on the ACT. He wasn’t quite Division I material for sports, but he received a full ride academic scholarship to a Division III school to play baseball, because of his stellar academic record. His unique value to the baseball team also had to do with his strong academics, and that balance was his ‘hook’ for his free ride.”
Here are just a few things to consider when you are navigating athletics and academics in college preparation:

1. It is important to position your child for athletic and academic scholarships from colleges, this takes knowledge.
2. If your child is not offered the scholarship to play sports, are you prepared to apply to college without it?
3. Is this school still a good fit if you’re not playing a sport?
4. What does it take to gain the edge on the competitive collegiate sports platform.
5. How the NCAA “APR” (Academic Progress Rate) affects coaches decisions on recruiting.
6. The college admissions team does review your athletic student with an eye towards success in academics in college.
7. The cost of private school can be more comparable to other non-private colleges.