Hello!
I have a (hopefully) quick question about Harvard’s athletic recruitment.
From gocrimson.com:
"If you are an individual who has begun classes for the 9th grade, or if you are a student enrolled at a preparatory school or a two-year college, then you are considered a “prospect.”
I am an international student graduating secondary education right now, essentially. Next year, I have applied for a couple of courses at a local university, though my participation is limited enough that I would, as far as I’ve understood it, still be eligible to apply to undergraduate admissions at Harvard. Would I still be considered an athletic prospect, however? I find it not entirely unlikely given that you are if you’re studying at a two-year college, though this might be due to misconceptions of the US School system on my part.
I’d be very thankful for any guidance.
Best Regards
VhbMuTs
If you take college courses after graduating from high school, you will likely be considered a transfer student when applying to US colleges.
You can still be recruited as an athlete as a transfer, but that is the decision of the coach. Have you been in contact with the coach of your sport?
As soon as you start any college, your NCAA time clock starts to run. You’d have five years (including the year you are taking 2 classes at community college) to play 4.
If you’re planning to apply this year for entry in fall 2021, you should be in contact with coaches now. In fact, now is a bit late in some sports. Fill out the recruiting form and contact the coach in your sport, then go from there. If there’s interest and the discussions progress, you can ask the coach about the consequences of taking courses elsewhere in the fall.
Please, please, when interpreting NCAA rules, do your own research. Don’t rely on posters on this site (or elsewhere).
With that warning in mind, I think you are mixing up concepts. You discussed when a person is a “prospect” or put differently a “prospective student athlete” according Harvard’s website. I think this is a reference to the age (or year in high school) at which the NCAA’s rules about communications from coaches to prospective student athletes are triggered. The clue is that later on the website says “[d]epending on what sport you play, coaches may call you at different points during your high school career. Please note that prospects can always initiate a phone call to a coach as long as the call is initiated by the prospect and is at the prospect’s expense.”
The point raised by @twoinanddone is distinct. It is whether taking classes at a university would make you a “transfer” student, meaning that you would have to spend a year in residence before competing for the school.
There is an exception. Under NCAA Bylaw 14.5.3.1 the exception is where “[t]he student has been enrolled in or attended classes only in a summer school, extension course or night school, unless the night school is considered by the institution to be a regular term (semester or quarter) the same as its day school, the student is enrolled
for a minimum full-time load in this regular night term, and the student is considered by the institution to be a regularly enrolled student.” You should probably consult the NCAA to determine whether this exception would apply to you.
If a student has graduated from high school and begins taking classes at a college the time clock starts to run. The student doesn’t have to sit out and is not a transfer for athletic purposes if he never participated in sports at the original school. Academically, the school may consider him a transfer but many schools do not consider a student who has only taken a few credits as a transfer. It’s up to the school. I’ve seen some schools allow up to 26 credits to still be a freshman and not a transfer.
I want to thank everyone for your responses!
Regarding whether I would need to apply as a transfer student from a purely academic standpoint I am under the impression that this matter is completely separate from how I am considered for athletic recruitment, and this seems to be confirmed in your responses. I did some research on this matter a while back and also believe that I would not be considered transfer by Harvard as of yet, as I don’t intend to study full time (from their website: “To be eligible to transfer, you must have completed at least one continuous academic year in a full-time degree program at one college and not more than two academic years”).
Just out of curiosity, though, is it common for Ivy-Leagues to accept undergrad applicants who have done something other than study for some years after high-school graduation (no consideration taken to their potential athletic interest from the school’s perspective)? My impression is that most students if they want a break from academics get accepted first (in High School) and then defer their entry.
As for contacting coaches, I’ll do that ASAP, I just wanted some quick feedback here first. So thank you again for taking your time 
Just to summarize and make sure that I’ve understood your responses correctly (please correct me otherwise); (Assuming that I am still considered undergrad by the admissions office) I’ll have five years that I could compete in the NCAA counting from when I first start taking courses at any university but could start to compete for Harvard immediately were I to be accepted, given that I don’t participate in an athletic activity at my previous college.
And just to clarify; Is there no definite age-cap in the NCAA? So, if we assume, just as a thought-experiment, that I don’t at any institution for tertiary education for ten years and then apply and get into Harvard and their sports team, I would still be eligible to compete for five years?
There are age limits in D1 for most sports. But rather than engage in thought experiments you should reach out to coaches. They know the rules and have compliance officers to consult if they don’t.
You also should reach out to a Harvard transfer admissions officer. I am not sure you are reading their info correctly (what you posted above is not the full context of what their transfer admissions page says), so why take the chance by enrolling in college level classes unless you know for sure what the application rules are?
Why do you need to take these classes after hs graduation? Are you thinking applying as a transfer is better than as a freshman? Are you considering being an athletic recruit and the bump that could give?
I think (but just my opinion) a coach would rather have a freshman without having to worry about having used eligibility or starting the NCAA clock.