Ok, so I am a tennis player and would like to apply for a tennis scholarship at 18, but I have to star doing something right now, right, okay so for example, I pick a certain university, and send them an email about me and a video? Is that allowed? Because I’ve read that in some universities it is forbidden to contact the coaches/trainers at some certain days or months. I am an American, but currently living/training/studying in Russia. I’m going to need to pass the SAT test, when is it best to do it, since I’m 16, but for a scholarship I have to do it 2 years earlier? See the thing is, that in USA, school in general is 12 years , but in Russia it’s 11. I’m currently in 10th grade, am I too late? Can I still send my application with my video, results and my SAT scores when I do the test and get the results?
Also, I wanted to know since most universities give 100% scholarships for tennis players for women, are there any requirements for this? How can I get this? Does it cover all the expenses need like for food, a place to live, books?
Those are some of my questions that I really need to know,will be very grateful for the answers!
First, you might be able to contact Education USA for advice. I know international students can use this resource.
http://www.educationusa.info/russianfederation
Which year are you planning to enter college? You should take the SAT this spring. You might have another chance too depending on when you are going to apply. In addition to the SAT, some colleges want SAT II subject tests too which will require a different sitting.
Sports recruiting is very specialized and I don’t know that much about it, especially for overseas students. There are different divisions with different rules. Not all schools will give sports scholarships. Some just give you extra attention in admissions. It is NOT true that most uni’s give full scholarships. Did you have any particular school in mind? You might read in this sports recruit forum.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/
Also
Most US students apply to college fall to winter of Senior year (year 12) for admission beginning fall (Sept) of the following year.
Most US students take the SAT spring of Jr year and/or fall of Sr year.
You should be able to reach out to potential coaches at any time and let your interest be known, and they can talk to you if you visit the campus…they just cannot initiate the communication until some NCAA deadline - which may vary by sport. You also may need to register at the NCAA Clearinghouse to ensure you are eligible to play a D1/D2 sport.
You could post your question in the recruited athletes forum. People there will know more about NCAA rules though I don’t know how much they will know about international recruiting even though you are a US Citizen. Are you highly ranked in Russia in tennis? Also, I don’t think most universities give 100% scholarships for women tennis players but I could be wrong.
–You are not too late to begin the process. You can still earn a scholarship, providing you are good enough and a college wants you. You would begin college in Fall of 2016.
–Start planning to take either the SAT or the ACT this spring. SAT dates are usually in May/June. ACT dates in Apr/June. You need to register about a month earlier. Try to study and do prep work for weeks/months before. You may have to travel a long distance to take the test. It all requires planning and organization.
–You used the phrase “pass the SAT test”. Don’t take that approach. It is not “Pass/Fail”. Try your best to score as high as possible because your options will improve with higher scores.
–If necessary, you could take the SAT/ACT test again in Oct or Nov. You might do this if a certain school is interested in you and your first test score was inadequate for that school.
–Research whether you need to take SAT Subject tests too. Coaches will confirm that, later on.
–You also said, “Can I still send my application with my video, results and my SAT scores when I do the test and get the results?” Slow down. You need to take one step at a time, but you can have your path planned out ahead of time. If you are interested in a scholarship, you won’t send an application until you contact a school to see if they have any interest in you. You won’t send your test results until then either.
–For a recruiting video, check online for examples and info for how it should be done. The quality of the video matters. Once you start contacting coaches, they would ask you to forward your video.
–You could think about which schools you want to contact right now, based on your ranking/results/ability. I assume you have an ITF Junior ranking. You won’t have a “star rating” on the Tennis Recruiting Network, so it will be hard for coaches to gauge your talent unless you have a good number of ITF matches on your profile. If you don’t, then your recruiting video and recommendations become more important. Just a guess, but if you moved to Russia to train, if you’re on-court for at least 2 hours a day, if you have an ITF ranking, then you are likely a “4 Star” recruit or better. If you are the equivalent of a “5 Star” or “Bluechip”, then schools would have potential scholarship interest in you, providing you have the academic qualifications (but it’s not easy to land a scholarship). So which schools to target depends a lot on your tennis ability, your academic qualifications, and which region of the USA you’d like to be in.
–If you have reason to believe that you are talented enough to play Division I tennis, on scholarship, then you can start putting together an email that you can send to coaches. Introduce yourself, provide your background, include your results and rankings, include your tennis and academic goals, academic information, etc. Don’t start asking coaches about “scholarships” and “money”. Present yourself as politely as possible in a well-thought-out email. The issue of a scholarship might come up later after they assess your qualifications.
–In summary: study for and take the SAT/ACT, plan and shoot a recruiting video, make an initial list of schools to contact, draft an email for coaches.
–The priority for you right now (providing your tennis talent is there) is keeping your grades up, scoring as high as possible on the SAT/ACT, and producing a good video. You could start to contact coaches several weeks from now, after you learn more about the process and make a plan. You’d want to start contacting coaches as soon as possible, but the point is, don’t do it until you understand what you’re doing. If you start sending out poorly written emails right now, totally unprepared, then those coaches might lose interest in you immediately.
If you are interested in a tennis scholarship then you do need to start contacting coaches as soon as possible. You should research to come up with a list of schools that are a good fit for you both academically and financially. Keep in mind that Div. 1 & 2 schools can offer athletic scholarships while Div. 3 does not. While Div. 1 & 2 schools are allowed to offer a set number of full tuition scholarships by NCAA rules, it is up to the individual school how they allocate those scholarships. They may elect to split the money between several athletes so that each gets a partial tuition scholarship, they could give several players full tuition, or they can even elect not to fully fund their scholarship allocation. I don’t know much about tennis, but I don’t think it’s true that most women tennis players get full scholarships. Also, typically, scholarships may cover tuition, but not usually room and board. Regardless of where you are in applying to schools, once you come up with a list, you should look at the athletic stats of their current team to see if you are even competitive for that progam. You should come up with a video of your highlights, and start sending short emails with your video to coaches to get a feel for their interest. You are allowed to contact coaches at any time- they may not contact you until your junior year, however if they happen to answer the phone when you call, they can talk to you. I’m not sure how that will work since you are International. IN the meantime, do as well as possible with school, start scheduling your SAT test and maybe ACT tests. And start contacting coaches.
Tennis, for D-1 schools, is a ‘headcount’ sport (I assume you are a female by your user name). That means if you receive a scholarship, it will be a ‘full’ scholarship (tuition, room, board, books). This is D-1 ONLY. No need to discuss the amount of the scholarship with a coach. If the school is a D2 school, any scholarships the school offers can be split among many athletes. D-3 schools do not offer athletic scholarships, but you might get admission help and financial/merit aid.
You can call or email coaches, but they cannot initiate direct contact with you until July 1 of your senior year, so can’t call you back (you have to catch them). They can contact you through your coaches, club or high school or private so if you text or call and leave a message, leave info about your coaches. Most schools have a ‘recruit information’ form on their websites, and some coaches use these and others don’t. If you are going to be playing in any tournaments or showcases, you can send that information and some coaches will look for you. In some sports (don’t know about tennis), the videos are online and the coaches watch them so if yours are available, point them in the right direction. There is a lot of information on the NCAA website to help you.
Get all your numbers in order - gpa, SAT, tennis ranking- and start looking. Be realistic about your academic levels and your tennis levels. Don’t set your heart on Stanford if you realistically won’t be admitted. There are a few very small D-1 schools that still must give the full scholarship to just one tennis player (if that school fully funds the sport). Look in the southern part of the USA. Try Stetson, Presbyterian, Florida Atlantic, schools throughout North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida as there are a lot of tennis teams.
Good luck.
@TheFutureDiana, before you create a list of schools, I’d recommend trying to figure out what tennis level you are at relative to the NCAA – you might have the tennis ability to attract Top 50 Div 1 teams. Also, you will need to better understand your academic level.
For tennis level, have a look at your rankings, look at common opponents to cross-check your ability (see if you have played or are familiar with any of the American 2016s here: http://www.tennisrecruiting.net/list.asp?id=2165), get the opinions of your coaches, send some brief match footage (not necessarily your “recruiting video”) to any North American coach that can assess your level, etc.
You will also have to assess your approximate academic level in order to understand which schools will fit you. Look at the type of education you are receiving (virtual vs “regular”), the rigor of the coursework, your grades, how serious you are about academics, etc. When you take the SAT/ACT, you will understand more specifically where you fit, academically.
You will find a list of all Div 1-3 tennis teams here: http://www.tennisrecruiting.net/teams/directory.asp?division=4 If you click on each team, you can get a sense of their recruiting history for various years. This database will come in handy for creating a list of potential schools, after you assess your tennis level and your academic level.
Don’t panic. For now, just try to learn more about the whole process – especially the SAT/ACT and the recruiting video – and come up with a solid plan.