<p>So I know that as a sophomore I can't be formally recruited, but colleges are allowed to send me questionnaires and such. I receive these about every month from various schools and I'm wondering if it's really important that I respond by sending them back. I mean, I have no idea where I want to go! I haven't been telling my parents and recently I got one from a good school and I kind of want to reply but I just don't know. Does responding now as a sophomore really going to make a difference later on?</p>
<p>Just want to hear some opinions, don't want to find out later that I was making a mistake :)</p>
<p>What my daughter did early on was make a list of about 30 schools she might be interested in attending based on location, reputation, our best guess at academic fit (including matches, fits, and safeties) and our best guess at athletic fit (researched team results and rosters). Then, if the school was on the list, she returned the questionnaire. If it wasn’t, the mailing went into the recycling bin unless there was something compelling about their letter or really appealing about their viewbook. We figured there was no point filling the house with paper from non-competitive schools she never heard of in far away states, nor in wasting the time and resources of a busy coach when there wasn’t a chance in heck she’d ever go there (for example, the school where the team practices at 6AM).</p>
<p>I would definitely send back the questionnaire for that school you’re interested in. It doesn’t obligate you in any way, if that’s what you’re worried about.</p>
<p>Thanks TheGFC! That actually sounds like a good idea to make a list. A lot of the schools are ones I would never go to but some are D1 that could potentially be on the list. Just as of now I haven’t thought about it. I guess my concern was more of if by ignoring the questionnaires now, would that affect me later on if I decided to contact those schools I didn’t respond to. I guess you really can’t help me out on that, huh?</p>
<p>@OldbatesieDoc Thanks for the info. @xAxBxC I run track and no, I have never contacted any school before in any way.</p>
<p>With track, if you have the best time, they will bump other prospects lower-provided you have acceptable grades and test scores. Read some of the other threads for more info on that topic.
It’s certainly fine to wait til you are a junior, but the GFG gives good advice. Saying that, my S didn’t do a thing til Spring of Junior year, and really only looked at 7 schools-but he wasn’t interested in D1 so no money at stake, and he got what he needed from the process.</p>