No but one of my best friends is and I was going to identification camps and similar things until I realized I didn’t want to play in college.
@TrackField99, OK, but if you want schools to overlook grades a lot, your times have to be pretty good. Top of state, close to national, that type of thing.
What is the signing period for track? Is it a fall NLOI? If so, your grades next year will not matter for recruiting, although they may matter for admission and, ultimately, enrollment, depending upon how borderline you are for the school you sign with. THIS coming semester’s grades will be critical for you.
I mean I have a 3.6 UC GPA which makes me eligible. I’m just afraid that I’ll be rejected when I apply since I know that my GPA is way too low for a college like UCLA.
I did make state last year and I did get a top 15 finish in the 100m. Making state should help admissions right?
What admissions wants and what the coach may want could be two very different things. The coach will assess your talent and compare it to what he needs, who else is in his pipeline, and how likely it is that you could pass admissions. You would meet with admissions well in advance of applying, and you would find out in advance whether or not the school would accept you. Then, you application would be marked and walked through the process so that you would not be accidentally rejected. This all, of course, assumes that your talent and academic credentials are desired by the coach. But, if they are, you would not need to fear rejection when you actually apply.
That said, there have been instances where kids have signed NLOIs and ultimately not matriculated to the school because of grade drops or other violations of the NLOI.
Also, you have not mentioned test scores (ACT/SAT). These will be just as important to the coach as gpa.
You also need to realize that UCLA will cost you a fortune as an OOS student. Most track scholarships are NOT full, or even close to it. If you are an elite, top of the heap, almost ready to go to the Olympics, then your grades won’t matter as long as you are at the NCAA minimum. However, if you are only good, then grades will matter and so will finances. If your grades are lower, so will merit money be lower.
I would not count on merit money at a UC unless stats are very high, even for a top athlete. Also, I am under the impression that anyone less than a top athlete should not set their sights on UCLA, for any sport, period.
@twoinanddone
Yep I know, that’s why I have other schools as back ups such as USC and Pepperdine which are both privates. I want to go to UCLA for educational purposes as well.
My SAT score is 2040 but I plan on retaking it.
2040 is more than acceptable at any of those schools for a desired, recruited athlete. I personally know of athletes at two of those schools with lower scores.
So will a good sat score make up for my low GPA? I know people who had much better scores and GPA than me and still got rejected, but there weren’t athletes. I’m not sure how much of a boost with me being athlete will do since I’m not a basketball/football player.
I am unclear what your gpa is. 2.8? 3.6? Not sure how you are calculating it, etc.
In any event, this is not something anyone on this board can tell you. Getting recruited is a function of many things, not the least of which is top D1 talent. If the talent is very high, the gpa can be lower. As low as 2.8? That is a question for the coach, and no one else. And yes, the revenue sports make a difference. Yours is not a revenue sport. You need to discuss this with the coach.
My best advice to you would be to do whatever it takes to get top grades this semester, and continue to work on your sport.
UC GPA: 3.6
What I’m really worried about are colleges like USC that calculate Core GPA including freshmen year.
So yeah a bunch of C’s freshmen year and sophomore years caused my Core GPA to be a 2.8. However my SAT scores make me pass the NCAA Eligibility Clearing House.
NCAA Eligibility Clearing House is not necessarily the standard for good academic schools like UCLA, USC and Pepperdine. Remember, the coach needs to believe that you will have what it takes, academically, to stay eligible. He does not want to deal with someone constantly struggling. Different coaches will have different comfort zones on this issue.
That said, upward trending grades is good. However, you need to seal the deal with good grades this spring. I can’t emphasize that enough. The higher your gpa, the more opportunities will be open to you at all levels.
Yes I will try my best to ace all my classes this spring.
I do not think that the NLOI deadline is this fall for track, I think those are for football or basketball players. I’m currently a junior. The initial signing date for Track is April 15, 2015 and final is August 1, 2015. I’m pretty sure that is for seniors. So I have first semester senior year to prove myself and maybe even second semester.
http://www.nationalletter.org/
Though I wouldn’t mind be a walk-on for USC or Pepperdine if all else fails.
No, the signing period for track appears to be the window of 11/11/15 through 11/18/15.
http://www.nationalletter.org/signingDates/
There will be a later signing period in the spring, yes, but keep in mind that the major D1’s will wrap up their recruits in the fall signing period.
Do you have a coach who assists your team with college recruiting? I think it’s time for you to have a long conversation with that person.
@prospect1
No we don’t have a coach like that.
I had a conversation with the head track coach at school today about college recruiting. He said he doesn’t have the best knowledge about college recruiting in CA (I live in Ohio).
He did say that most athletes should be fine if they get A’s and B’s. He said getting below a 2.3 GPA will make you doomed. He gave me a booklet that includes the NCAA Clearing with whatever SAT score is needed for a GPA to stay eligible.
If you end up top 50 in the nation as a senior, you should be able to get a partial scholarship at minimum at UCLA. The smallest scholarship will only cover the cost of textbooks. A full scholarship would cover tuition, fees, room & board, and books. If you want a half scholarship, you probably need to be at least top 20. A 2.8 with APs and honors classes and a 2040 SAT should be enough to get you admitted, but you should work on improving your GPA. UCLA and USC compete at a higher level than Pepperdine does so it should be easier to get a bigger scholarship at Pepperdine.
I used to work in recruiting so I know a little about this stuff, but it’s better if you talk to the college coaches. Don’t wait until the camp. They’re already recruiting juniors now. You should e-mail them ASAP about your interest and personal details (contact info, height/weight, academics, track marks, etc.). Also, ask them any questions you might have. You can find e-mail addresses here for UCLA. http://www.uclabruins.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=208274706&DB_OEM_ID=30500&DB_OEM_ID=30500 They’ll probably send you a questionnaire for you to fill out with your information. If you improve on your marks during the upcoming track season, make sure you update the coaches with that information. Maybe your marks aren’t UCLA-level now, but don’t be afraid to start building that relationship.