(Steps that shouldn’t take, plus the steps you should)
Here is how it usually goes…… (and by it, I mean, an Australian’s guide to getting a us sports scholarship) I’ve said to my mom and dad, “Yep, I want to play soccer or basketball or swim or row or play tennis or volleyball in America. I want to go and get a scholarship. I’ve researched. It says I need to register for the NCAA to play and now I’m going to follow Education USA’s five steps”
“I don’t need to research because I know I want to go straight to California”
They told me……..
Research your options is step number one. Finance your studies is step number two. Complete your application is step number three. Apply for your student Visa, step number four. Prepare for your departure step number 5.
They break down each individual step a lot more on their website but those are the 5 steps. If I was going through this process by myself to start with, I would see those five steps and I would say, “Fantastic. Sounds pretty simple.”
I don’t need to research because I know I want to go straight to California, Florida and I want to go to New York. (The three big ones.) Done. My research is complete.
These five steps are helpful if you’re a general student, NOT A SPORTS SCHOLARSHIP ATHLETE…SIMPLE
As a Student Athlete It’s pretty different, Actually, It’s completely different.!
Obviously, there’s a bit more to it and they (websites and EducationUSA etc) do explain it a bit more but it’s not as straight forward and as easy as just the five basic steps. If you are looking for opportunities as a general student, chances are you’ll have your opportunities. As a Student Athlete It’s pretty different, It’s completely different!
There are so many more variables that you need to be taking into consideration before even starting step one. We believe it’s more than five steps. We believe it’s 12 steps as an athlete. You can get them from www.NSRAustralia.com.au 12 steps on how to find sports scholarships across the US.
Five steps isn’t enough for Athletes.
As an athlete, your told ……………
Step one as researching your options. Researching your options isn’t researching where I want to go. Research itself is probably a few steps. Researching, what is my ability? How do I compare? Your researching should actually start with comparing your ability, having a look at rosters, having a look at international students that they’ve already recruited, having a look at their times, have a look at what you’re swimming now, what you’re running now and have a look at how those times compared to different athletes. General research as well, different areas of the country, states, places you might be interested in.
“What is my ability? How do I compare? Your research should start with comparing your ability, having a look at rosters, having a look at the international students that they’ve already recruited”
The term research isn’t just research where I’d love to live. If you’re going it alone, it’s something that can take a lot of time. We recommend, if you’re going at this alone, anywhere between 18 months and above …Researching and understanding where you fit as a student athlete will take time.
Step number two, they say Financing your studies.
Financing your studies, like anything, we believe that the finance part of it should be first. You don’t go looking for houses and then find out if you’ve got the money to buy the house. You’re looking at maybe increasing your budget a little bit but you’ve gone on realestate.com with a specific amount of money that you have already, that you know you can spend and yes, you may be able to push the bank manager for a little bit of extra but you’re not going into realestate.com blind.
“Understanding your finances. You don’t want to be contacting schools and coaches and then find out that you can’t afford it”
You’ll save yourself a lot of time if understanding your finances and determining a budget is done at the beginning. Understanding; what is my financial capability? Now, there’s a great checklist that we’ve provided. It’s in the 12 step guide. It helps you understand your financial capabilities. It’ll break down your expenses and things like that, to give you a better understanding of what you can potentially afford and what you’re spending here in Australia or New Zealand on a yearly basis.
That’ll help you with step number one which, EducationUSA say is step number two.
Understanding your finances. You don’t want to be contacting schools and coaches and then find out that you can’t afford it. That school is going to be way too much, that research can be done earlier.
Step number three; EducationUSA say complete your application. Okay. Now, that sounds pretty easy. I’m at step three already. I can probably do step three in 30 minutes based on this. In our 12-step guide, Completing applications isn’t for us until step number nine (Chapter 9)
“Haven’t taken into consideration coach communication and correspondence”
It’s definitely not step three. It’s not; I’ve researched, I want to go to California. It’s not; I’ve got a bit of pocket money, I’ll go there and in step three, I’m completing my application. Even the term, “Complete your application,” is potentially even forward thinking too much. It’s apply. Find out if you can actually get in. It’s not complete your application.
As an athlete obviously, they haven’t taken into consideration coach communication and correspondence. The last two steps, which we just mentioned there, they’re a lot more difficult. They take a lot more time. You need to know exactly what you’re doing. We would advise anyone, before you register for NCAA eligibility center, before you complete or start any application, which applications aren’t free either. Certain schools across the US make a hell of a lot of money through their application process.
UCLA for example, would make billions. The school is very well sold. Everywhere around the world, which is why everybody wants to go to the US. Everyone knows about American institutions through films, through Hollywood, through sports teams. General American culture. It’s fantastic. That’s why you should go. It’s brilliant.
That then generates awareness for institutions and then, because of the wrong information or not enough information, you’ll go out and apply to schools without actually knowing whether or not you should be applying there or not. Some application fees are as cheap as $90.
“Don’t go through college applications”
Some of them are expensive as two or $300. Now, it doesn’t sound like a lot of money but you multiply that by billions of people around the world who are doing it, then it becomes a large chunk of money. No need to spend any money on Eligibility Centers.
- Don’t register for the NCAA just yet.
- Don’t go through college applications.
Don’t go through college applications. Again, the information we’re providing you is for student athletes, not just students. Understand your finances not finance your studies. Step number two would then be researching your options but researching your options is split into two steps. Research your options A, compare my ability. Research your options B is understand my social preferences.
Completing your application is step nine in our guide so you’re probably missing seven or eight steps in between research and completing your application.
We believe the EducationUSA seminars are fantastic, provide great information and from a general perspective, it provides you with some incredible resources and overall, we recommend that if you have the opportunity to attend one of these seminars, well then you should.
“We suggest just hold off”
You just need to be mindful with a few of the things that I mentioned. Obviously, we’ve spoken about the NCAA eligibility Center. We’ve spoken about the NCAA in general, I guess the actions that they’ll ask you to take after attending one of these information sessions.
We suggest just hold off.
Get a second opinion. Speak with someone else but hopefully, this has given you a bit of insight into Education USA and the sessions that they run across the country and the world obviously. Some great information as we’ve said multiple times. Attend one of the sessions if you can.
Don’t forget to grab your FREE 12 Step Guide on how to find Sports Scholarships in the USA – Click the image below to get yours
