How Junior College Can Help you get that D1 Scholarship

In this weeks episode we talk about Junior College and how attending a junior college can help you secure larger scholarships at bigger schools. The Junior college system is a great stepping stone for international student athletes as it helps them adjust to the system, lift their grades, and compete straight away.

Firstly we will talk about using Junior College as a stepping stone to a larger institution. It’s a great pathway, and for internationals it’s a fantastic way to keep everything affordable for all four years. Junior colleges are a little cheaper than all large NCAA division 1 programs. Junior college costs range from 9 grand for everything to 20 grand for everything. Which is not bad at all as it includes classes, books, room and board, food, travel with the team etc..

Those larger schools can be anywhere from 25 grand per year for everything to 75, even 80 grand for the same thing. So, internationals, and even Americans, head to junior college first to save a bit of money.

Let’s now talk about transferring and getting a scholarship from a bigger school. If you were a coach of a big NCAA division 1 program or 2 program would you rather take on an international that has zero college experience or an international that has competed for two years at a junior college and has collegiate experience?

You would rather take on the athlete who has adjusted to the system, lifted their grades, understands how college sport works, can handle the travel, being away from the family etc. Also, if they have already been there for two years, there is a much larger chance of them staying for a further two. First year internationals, coaches are wary. Especially at the bigger schools. It costs more to attend, so they need to scholarship more and spend more on the athlete to make it affordable. Taking a larger chunk out of their budget. It can sometimes be a bit of a risk for them.

So back to the point, coaches at the larger schools would rather scholarship internationals that have proven themselves on US soil. It also gives them the chance to come see and meet you personally, it gives you the chance to go and meet them personally as well. Making things a lot easier and more comfortable for both parties.

So, if you would like to find out more on how you can get that scholarship at a D1 school, just Click the buttons below and listen to this Podcast Episode or read through the shownotes.