Progressing as an athlete in the US college system

One of the biggest things that the US College system can give students and student athletes is progression. Students will go to one school, see how they do there, and then hopefully make it to the next level if they are lifting their grades and improving within their sport. Well, that progression is part of the junior college experience. You know that you’re going to progress from that two year school to something bigger. That might be division one, division two, division three, the NAIA, the National Christian College Athletic Association. That’s based on you and the effort that you put in both academically and athletically.

If you go straight into a four-year school, coaches aren’t looking from other four-year schools to recruit and poach athletes. That’s actually illegal. Let’s say that you’re at a university in your first year and you’re at an NCAA division three school and you play against an NCAA division two school and that coach says wants you to come and play for his school, it is illegal. So, if you want to then progress from a four-year school to a four year school, you have to do that off your own back. You have to be confident enough in what you’ve accomplished both academically and athletically to say you want to leave. You would need to request your release papers, before you even know where you can go or before you’re allowed to then speak to another program. It is a tough decision to make.

If you’re someone out there that has the idea that you want to see really how far you can take this, then by using a junior college system as a steppingstone, you’re going to have the chance to progress. Coaches at the biggest schools are literally recruiting out of junior college. They’re not recruiting out of four-year schools.

The bigger schools, four-year colleges and universities, are going to first look to junior college transfers before they look to first year internationals. You may have some great opportunities at four-year schools and universities right away as a first-year international heading over. But imagine what two years of full-time training and academics, a US grade point average can do for you. Imagine what that can do for you. The opportunities that you get as a junior college transfer may be a lot bigger than what you’re going to get as a first year international that’s coming straight out of high school.

If that isn’t an important aspect of this experience to you, to progress and really see what’s possible, then again, junior college may be a great option amongst the financial side, amongst the academic side, and the athletic side.

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