<p>First of all, I'm going to assume that colleges still recruit seniors from high school, even though it's spring and acceptance letters are out soon.</p>
<p>I should have thought about this a long time ago, but I think it'd be good for me if I play sports in college. The thing is, I've been going in and out of different sports throughout my HS career. I'm a pretty versatile athlete, so not extremely specialized in anything but more well rounded in everything. Right now, I'm trying to decide between track and tennis. They seem equally rewarding and fun. Except tennis will probably be less time consuming and more fun...</p>
<p>Anyways, the track coach said that I have running potential, even though it this is my senior year, and my first year hitting the track since 8th grade. But at the same time, I believe I have a lot potential in tennis as well. So which sport is less competitive and easier to be recruited?</p>
<p>I might get battered for thinking way over my head. Maybe I'm not nearly good enough for college level sports. Our school produces very few outstanding athletes who end up in big jock schools like Nebraska and Iowa State. But nevertheless, I'm going to try to be at least a walk-on.</p>
<p>I am in varsity sports...4 years. Many coaches are interested in my experience for their team next year but I am NOT a recruited athlete (too short for my sport for recruitment). I submitted all my NCAA material last fall. Have been in contact with coaches all year. I was looking at it from an acceptance to a reach school advantage. Guess what I'm trying to say is that most if not all coaches have pretty much finished recruiting. A couple of my friends that were recruited, went on visits hosted by coaches back in November. One, going to Yale had a committment before Christmas. Shoot for the walk on but don't be fooled, you still have to work hard at your chosen sport.</p>
<p>is it possible to earn a scholarship after you walk on? If so, then I'd rather do that than flip greasy burgers lol</p>
<p>well about divisions, it really depends on the colleges. I'm shooting for top notch private schools because my family can't afford out of state tuition at public schools. And those schools, except stanford and a few others, usually don't have very competitive athletic programs</p>
<p>tennis is difficult. Unless you're ranked in the nation and frequently attend national tournaments i doubt you have a chance of being recruited to a top school. I saw a list of the top 10 boys for college recruiting. 1 went to stanford, 1 went to princeton, the rest were signed to their state schools or some smaller private, including the #1,2,3. </p>
<p>However, I have heard some stories on these boards about people being recruited for track...haven't heard one about being recruited for tennis yet though.</p>
<p>To the OP ... we do not know you at all and I apologize if this comes across as harsh ... unless you're an unbelievable natural athlete please collect some data, think logically, and relook at your original post because it come across as incredibly naive or arrogant. Scholarships for minor sports like tennis and track are rare ... especially full scholarships ... to obtain one an athlete probably needs to be at least an all-state athlete and probably near all-american .... something like 1% of HS varsity atheltes receive college athletic scholarships. There are thousands of kids who have been pursuing tennis and track as their passion for years and fully commited to training for these sports for years ... and as a senior you plan on picking which of two sports to get serious about, pass the tens of thousands of kids across the US who have been pursuing the sport for years, and nab one of the scholarships about 1% of the kids in the sport will earn ... that's quite a plan. BTW, it could happen ... in HS I ran against a guy who started running as a senior and did earn a scholarship (he was all-state all 3 seasons of his senior year). I'd also add I'm a huge advocate of sports and lots of colleges encourage walk-ons in track (not sure about tennis) ... picking up a sport now and pursuing it in college is probably quite doable ... it's the scholarship part that is petty unlikely (unless you have incredible natural talent)</p>
<p>Many top-notch colleges have division 3 teams. Thus they don't give athletic scholarships. I wouldn't get your hopes to high on a scholarship even at division 1 schools, as it was previously said, you need to be ranked nationally to like even have a chance. Just go to any (top-notch) school's web-site and read the bio's of their tennis players. Seriously.</p>
<p>In the first place, it is probably way too late to be officially recruited. Secondly, in track they are going to be interested in your event(s) and your time(s). If you put up some great times during the winter indoor track season--did you qualify for the state meet? win or place well in an event at your state meet?--then it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to write to the track coach at schools and give them that information. Even if they aren't going to "recruit" you, they may let admissions know that you would be a potential asset to the track team. Or, of course, it would set the stage for participating as a walk-on in the fall.</p>
<p>You might also want to visit the websites of the colleges you are interested in and look up the results of some of their meets. You will quickly get an idea of whether your times are close to being in range.</p>
<p>I agree with 3togo-- you would have to have state championships, regional rankings, multiple (3-4) years of consistent wins in track to be considered. Official times from sanctioned races are also necessary. And the races need to be FAT--Fully Automated Timing, to be accepted wholly. Too many students with great times (handheld) from local meets are disappointed to learn coaches will add at least a half second on a sprint time which was hand timed (your 12.5 100 meter dash is suddenly a 13.00).</p>
<p>If you have a truly amazing spring track season with state championships in multiple events, email the coaches in June and hope to be a walk-on (but do not expect money).</p>
<p>I'm pretty much in agreement with the rest of the advice you've gotten here. It's a little too late, and you haven't shown the commitment required. </p>
<p>Tennis is a complete no go. You would have to have competed in regional/national tournaments so you could show a ranking that would mean something. </p>
<p>However, let's suppose you ARE a gifted runner. The best way to find out if there is a coach out there dying to hear from you is to look at what his current athletes are doing.</p>
<p>Let's say you're interested in Rice.</p>
<p>Go to their track website and look at the PRs of their current runners. Also, look at the results from recent meets. If you are faster than some of the current Rice athletes in your event, then click on the RECRUIT button, fill out the form, and start the conversation with the coach.</p>