<p>My freshmen year my gpa unweighted was 2.0 and sophomore year it was 1.82, meaning my current gpa is 1.9. I really want to get into college for track and my stats are pretty good just not my grades. Also, the required gpa for ncaa after 2016 is 2.3 and I'm a junior. I was wondering if I bucked down for the last two years and got a 3.5+ unweighted gpa in junior year and senior year (before applying) and got atleast a 2.4, would I be able to get into a D1 state college, specifically in Pennsylvania because I've heard colleges do like upwards trends.</p>
<p>Also when should I start contacting coaches, I don't want to at the moment because my grades are bad from the past two years and I know my track performance is going to dramatically increase this year.</p>
<p>I don’t think that’s necessarily the ultimate option. If I do get my grades up and test well I will be eligible and I’ve heard colleges like seeing an upwards trend especially if it’s as drastic as this one</p>
<p>Impossible to say without knowing your track performance. Compare current roster of whichever college you’re interested in to your current and projected performance.</p>
<p>Frosh and soph years are the easiest…what makes you think you can go from 2.0 and 1.8 to a 3.5? You need to make a realistic list…your academics are not going to get you into a D 1. </p>
<p>The NCAA gpa is not the same as your school gpa, so make sure you using the correct numbers. Once you qualify for NCAA eligibility, then the school has to accept you. Again, different standards and numbers. Many D-1 schools do accept athletes with the minimum NCAA grades/scores, while other D-1 schools (harvard, stanford) wouldn’t look at you no matter how much the coach begs.</p>
<p>See if you are NCAA D-1 eligible, and if not, look at D-2 or jr. college. If you want to bring up your gpa, make a plan with your guidance counselor, and it might include a lot of tutoring, retaking a class you failed, taking a class you don’t really like. Work, and lots of it.</p>
<p>Even at a 2.4 you would have to be REALLY fast for a coach to pull strings for you to get into a D! program. Most coaches know that being a student-athlete can be stressful and that even the most successful students sometimes have trouble keeping their grades up in college while participating in a sport. They don’t like to take chances on someone who had trouble in HS, knowing that the transition to college is already difficult. They are not usually interested in putting a lot of time and effort into someone who may end up being academically dismissed. If you are that fast, you should already have been recruited by a coach. Track and field has a lot of runners with top-notch academics so there is a lot of competition. My son ran with a kid who was recruited by a top-notch D1 program, but really had to struggle in HS to get his GPA up to the required 3.0 for admissions. He was able to and attended the program for one year before being dismissed for academics. We always felt like he had been set up for failure. It was obvious that he had a very hard time with academics and that, combined with the pressure of running in a D! program, was just too much. </p>
<p>There is absolutely nothing wrong with running track with a community college and then transferring after 2 years. You would have time to adjust to college classes, and if you are really fast you could be a standout that would attract attention of coaches for recruitment. There are some very good track programs at community colleges- you might start researching now to see if there are any in your area that stand out.</p>
<p>You asked a lot of good questions here,
but I think you also need to ask yourself some questions too,
and maybe those answers will guide you and how you might start to write letters to coaches.</p>
<p>2.0 and then 1.9 is low, and a downward trend. You can’t just write it off as freshmen behavior.
Why? Is there a story that can explain what happened? </p>
<p>2) What are you planning to do differently this year so that you have better grades?
What is your study plan?<br>
Have you spoken to your guidance counselor at school?
Have you spoken to past teachers about what they thought were your weakness and what you could have done better.
Have you gotten any help for this year?</p>
<p>Do you attend one of the top five high schools in the country? If not, college is going to be substantially harder.
3) Do you need to do remedial work to bring up your math and reading?
If yes, community college is not a bad idea, and then you can transfer.</p>
<p>Bottom line, coaches want to know that you can hang with the students at college ACADEMICALLY.
You need to bring your grades up to a 3.0</p>
<p>Also, you can’t run for a living, right? So, you need good academic skills to get a job when you graduate college.</p>