<p>Hey
Would anyone have any ideas which university would be best to apply for an athletic scholarship for International Students?</p>
<p>A full scholarship to college based on soccer ability is extraordinarily rare. Each NCAA Division 1 mens college soccer team is only allowed to award a maximum of 9.9 scholarships total. These awards are evaluated in terms of partial scholarships, so a coach can award a 1/3 scholarship to three players that counts the same as if he awarded a full scholarship to one player. Since there are 11 players on the field at once, obviously zero colleges have teams comprised of a starting team that all received full scholarships. Furthermore, many coaches award smaller percentage scholarships to freshmen and enable upperclass players to earn a larger percentage by their on-field performance during the freshman and sophomore years. Also note that these are maximums. Since college soccer is often not a positive revenue producing sport, many colleges offer fewer than the maximum number of scholarships. Additionally, state schools with limited budgets may have difficulty awarding scholarships to out-of state students because the cost is prohibitive (i.e. high out-of-state tuition).</p>
<p>The primary financial benefit of playing soccer at a high level is that it makes it easier for an applicant with particular academic credentials (grades and SAT scores) to get accepted at excellent universities that may have better need-based financial aid than do other colleges. For example, Ivy League and similar schools that award generous need-based financial aid (meet 100 percent of need with no loans) will often accept excellent soccer players who have SAT scores that are 300 points (out of 1600) lower than their typical accepted students. This is for a soccer player who is comparable to a starter on a club team that is in the top 15 or so teams in the country (e.g. on <a href="http://www.nationalsoccerranking.com)%5B/url%5D">www.nationalsoccerranking.com)</a>. You should check into whether particular colleges that interest you offer need-based financial aid for international students.</p>
<p>If you are a truly premier soccer player (e.g. equivalent to one of the top 20 or so US soccer players playing at the U-17 or U-18 level), there is a chance but no guarantee that you can obtain a full scholarship, depending on a colleges need at your position. For example, if you are an All-American goalkeeper and a team already has a goalkeeper who received a full scholarship, you will certainly not be offered a full scholarship. If you think your soccer skills are among the best of the best, then you could try looking at a web site that lists the top-ranked Division 1 programs (e.g. Main</a> Page) - Soccer Ratings%5DMain">http://www.soccerratings.com/index.php/Main_Page)). There is definitely some correlation between team success and the number of scholarships offered, but many of these teams will not offer a full scholarship to an entering freshman unless you are the next Ronaldo.</p>
<p>Great answer pafather.</p>
<p>I was a competitive soccer player (until injuries), so I am partly familiar with this.</p>
<p>Women's D1 soccer is able to give more scholarships (12), primarily because Title IX aims for gender equality in athletics and men's budgets are spent primarily on football and basketball.</p>
<p>DII schools have 9 men's scholarships to give, so that can be an option.</p>
<p>Again, I'm not sure of your talent level. Don't be tricked into thinking there aren't thousands of very talented American players.</p>
<p>You can search for programs that have men's soccer and whether they offer scholarships at beRecruited.com:</a> Find-A-School Tool</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks alot for the answers guys appreciate them!
I am not very familiar with the Athletic system etc in the US ...but could i apply for a normal academic scholarship and still play for thier team for example if i wanted to play for UC Santa Barbara could i try n get an academic scholarship and play for their soccer team because i thought you could only play for thier soccer teams etc if you were invited or offered a scholarship.</p>
<p>Absolutely that's a possibility. In fact many people "walk-on" to teams, meaning they do not receive any athletic scholarship. </p>
<p>If you do go to a UCSB or wherever, sometimes the team will have an open tryout for any students who are interested in playing for the team. If you do have a set college or two in mind, then I would advise sending an e-mail to the coach or the athletic department stating your intention to play soccer. If you had a videotape of one of your matches or something, I'm sure they would take a look to decide whether they believe you are worth scholarship consideration.</p>
<p>And something that pafather alluded to is that often players walk-on their freshman year and earn athletic scholarships as incentive for good performance. So say you go to College X on a half academic scholarship your freshman year and then perform extremely well on the team. Then you will likely be rewarded an additional half athletic scholarship to cover your full costs.</p>
<p>If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Glad I can help you. Best of luck in whatever route you choose.</p>
<p>I see that you're an academy player for Newcastle. That would indicate that your talent level is probably highly sought after. </p>
<p>Since you're 16 at the moment, I assume you wouldn't plan on attending a US college until 2009, though I'm not sure.</p>
<p>I would recommend setting up a profile on a recruiting site such as beRecruited.com:</a> Free College Recruiting Service and NCAA Athletic Scholarships Network just to see what is out there.</p>
<p>notthatgood4<---thanks man for helping me out appreciate it!
I didnt say on my profile but im an ex-academy player only got released this year but it was because i wanted to finish my GCSEs in school.
Yeah il be looking out for a college in 09' but i just want to get started now because i know how hard it is to get accepted into top colleges in the US.
If they knew i had trials for clubs such as Charlton and Celtic and have represented Northern Ireland Under 16s would that also be an advantage for me?</p>
<p>No problem.</p>
<p>All I can say is that if I were a college soccer coach, I would be extremely interested.</p>
<p>If you are not doing this already, i would suggest you send emails to the soccer coaches at the universities you are interested in. Tell them about yourself. Also, look at the information on NCAA</a> - National Collegiate Athletic Association to learn more about the regulations on college sports and scholarships. </p>
<p>Typically, at least on the girls' side (I assume it would be the same for boys) If the coach is interested in you, they will try to help you put together a package which may include some need-based and some academic merit- based money in addition to a partial athletic scholarship. Some lucky few do end up with virtually a full ride, but very rarely in soccer is that all athletic money. It may be slightly more likely in your case because if your level of play and because some of the other sources of money may not be available to an international student. If you have the ability to pay part of your tuition, that will also help. But when you first email the coaches, you don't need to say anything about any of that, just talk about yourself as a student and an athlete, and maybe something about why you want to go to that school.</p>