Running in College - Is it for you?
I knew from a very early age that I wanted to run when I went to college. In fact, most of the schools I applied to during my HS career were schools that I had aspirations of running for - and not necessarily attending for academic reasons. As your coach, it's my sincere hope that your experience as a Phoenixville XC runner makes you a lifelong participant in the sport of running - whether that means it's something you do on your own every day just for fun and to stay fit - or perhaps it means training for races on an individual basis and still get better on your own time - or possibly making the jump to the collegiate ranks and continuing your formal competitive career. I want everyone to keep running and have the skills to do it well - whether it's on a team or not, competitively or not. But this page and the information that follows is more geared towards the prospect of you running in the collegiate ranks after your time at Phoenixville is over. Specifically, it tries to address 1) whether you should (or want to) run in college and 2) how the recruitment process works once you begin looking at schools.
Being recruited to run (or play any sport) is a very complicated process and I attempt to explain the general process and some tips and strategies in the sections that follow. However, before commencing on the recruitment aspect and all it entails, I think it's important to decide if you want to venture down the college-running road. Running in college is significantly different than running in HS - not saying it's better or worse - it's just different. And so I think there are a few things to ask yourself, a few things to consider, and a few things to realize before deciding if you want to go further.
1) Do you love running at a competitive level? It's the single most important question to ask yourself when deciding if you should continue on to run in college. Notice i didn't say "do you love to run?". As I mentioned above, I hope that being on this team makes that true for everyone. To run in college, you need to love and be passionate about the competitive side of running. The thought of measuring yourself against other teams and individuals needs to turn you on. If it doesn't, I might suggest college running isn't for you (though that doesn't mean you should stop running). 99% of colleges and their coaches are interested in one thing - being successful and winning. And they build teams around this competitive philosophy. If it's your thing, it's like you died and went to heaven...if it isn't, you might have a hard time finding reasons to justify some of the things you get put through in college...which brings me to the next thought...
2) Running in college is hard...And super competitive! I think the single most difficult thing for me when I went to college was realizing that I wasn't the best anymore - or even one of the top guys on the team. I was used to winning or at least being in the conversation of top guys in every race my junior and senior years - and then suddenly....not. In college, the talent level is just so high that it makes even the most successful HS runners feel somewhat ineffective initially. The training is also more difficult than HS - though it depends on your HS and your coach. I was fortunate to have a very distance-oriented coach for HS XC and was able to adapt to the increased mileage and workload almost instantly upon arriving to college. But there were many that had never done quite so much and had a hard time adjusting. I feel really good about your level of preparation for the next step if you so choose it...but realize that everyone goes through some initial transitions and difficulty and you need to be prepared to face that. You also have to be comfortable with the prospect of, in many cases (depending on the quality of your team), essentially starting over and working your way back up through the ranks. (On a personal note, I found this slightly refreshing my first season, but soon wanted to be the best once again...something that was a lot harder to do in college).
3) It's unlikely your college tuition will be funded via running - Unfortunately, running at the collegiate level is seriously underfunded. In most cases, college XC and Track coaches have only 1 to 2 full scholarships available in their budgets (and that's being generous). Most coaches, in the interest of recruiting many people, split these up piecemeal into many smaller portions and give a little to a bunch of guys - or to upperclassmen that have proven themselves worthy. It takes a rare talent to be offered a full scholarship to run and to be perfectly honest, there are probably only 10-15 guys in the nation each year that most coaches would deem worthy enough of being offered such a huge figure and making such a large investment in. If you want a lot of money, study really hard while you're at Phoenixville and use your passion for running to make you a more attractive selection by admissions boards. In many cases, coaches will talk to "academic" scholarship granting bodies at college and push for certain students who will likely run for them to get very attractive offers.
Being recruited to run (or play any sport) is a very complicated process and I attempt to explain the general process and some tips and strategies in the sections that follow. However, before commencing on the recruitment aspect and all it entails, I think it's important to decide if you want to venture down the college-running road. Running in college is significantly different than running in HS - not saying it's better or worse - it's just different. And so I think there are a few things to ask yourself, a few things to consider, and a few things to realize before deciding if you want to go further.
1) Do you love running at a competitive level? It's the single most important question to ask yourself when deciding if you should continue on to run in college. Notice i didn't say "do you love to run?". As I mentioned above, I hope that being on this team makes that true for everyone. To run in college, you need to love and be passionate about the competitive side of running. The thought of measuring yourself against other teams and individuals needs to turn you on. If it doesn't, I might suggest college running isn't for you (though that doesn't mean you should stop running). 99% of colleges and their coaches are interested in one thing - being successful and winning. And they build teams around this competitive philosophy. If it's your thing, it's like you died and went to heaven...if it isn't, you might have a hard time finding reasons to justify some of the things you get put through in college...which brings me to the next thought...
2) Running in college is hard...And super competitive! I think the single most difficult thing for me when I went to college was realizing that I wasn't the best anymore - or even one of the top guys on the team. I was used to winning or at least being in the conversation of top guys in every race my junior and senior years - and then suddenly....not. In college, the talent level is just so high that it makes even the most successful HS runners feel somewhat ineffective initially. The training is also more difficult than HS - though it depends on your HS and your coach. I was fortunate to have a very distance-oriented coach for HS XC and was able to adapt to the increased mileage and workload almost instantly upon arriving to college. But there were many that had never done quite so much and had a hard time adjusting. I feel really good about your level of preparation for the next step if you so choose it...but realize that everyone goes through some initial transitions and difficulty and you need to be prepared to face that. You also have to be comfortable with the prospect of, in many cases (depending on the quality of your team), essentially starting over and working your way back up through the ranks. (On a personal note, I found this slightly refreshing my first season, but soon wanted to be the best once again...something that was a lot harder to do in college).
3) It's unlikely your college tuition will be funded via running - Unfortunately, running at the collegiate level is seriously underfunded. In most cases, college XC and Track coaches have only 1 to 2 full scholarships available in their budgets (and that's being generous). Most coaches, in the interest of recruiting many people, split these up piecemeal into many smaller portions and give a little to a bunch of guys - or to upperclassmen that have proven themselves worthy. It takes a rare talent to be offered a full scholarship to run and to be perfectly honest, there are probably only 10-15 guys in the nation each year that most coaches would deem worthy enough of being offered such a huge figure and making such a large investment in. If you want a lot of money, study really hard while you're at Phoenixville and use your passion for running to make you a more attractive selection by admissions boards. In many cases, coaches will talk to "academic" scholarship granting bodies at college and push for certain students who will likely run for them to get very attractive offers.
The Recruiting Process: A Guide
A Guide to the College Recruitment Process: Advice for high school runners on selecting and being selected
By Jon Clemens
As featured in the Web Only issue of Running Times Magazine
By Jon Clemens
As featured in the Web Only issue of Running Times Magazine
I know what college coaches are looking for when they’re recruiting high school runners. As a former track and cross country coach for Columbia University and a former collegiate runner, I’ve been through both sides of the recruitment process.
The college selection process for any high school student is quite challenging, considering factors such as cost, location and quality — add in the complications of being a recruited high school runner and you’ve got a recipe for confusion. Don’t fret. The key is to understand the process, both from the college coach’s side and your side; if you can identify your ideals and align them with what’s affordable and realistic, you’ll be well ahead of the rest of the future underclassmen.
A word of caution: You have to be prepared literally and figuratively before you begin this exhaustive process.
Colleges Start Early; You Should, Too
What you don’t know is that the recruiting process starts early. Performances posted during your junior year are what set you apart from your peers. That’s not meant to put added pressure on you to achieve, but it’s to inform you of the process most college coaches follow: They track performances in order to create a targeted list for sending out questionnaires, which are like greeting cards. (“Dear Jon Smith: We like what we see and might like to contact you later.”) Usually questionnaires are sent to high school guidance counselors or track coaches. If you are a high school guidance counselor or coach, don’t screen the questionnaires; let the family and athlete determine which schools they find interesting. If you’re the athlete in question, send replies to all of the schools you might consider — there are great institutions that might not be on your radar initially that could end up changing your life.
July 1 is D-Day — no, not the Normandy Invasion (which was on June 6, 1944) — but the onslaught of recruiting calls begins in early summer. College coaches will storm the beaches trying to secure the best athletes they can for their programs. They may call on the first day, they may not, but this date means it’s open season and that the process has begun. College coaches can call athletes once a week and may do so for months — some are relentless.
To prepare yourself, keep track of the programs to which you returned questionnaires and do a little research about the school and the program. Have an unofficial transcript handy at the end of your junior year, as well as copies of your test scores (ACT, SAT, subject tests or AP scores). It would behoove you to prepare for and take the SAT or ACT your junior year (you may need to take it more than once to achieve the score you desire) so you can get multiple shots at the process, if needed. It would also help to have a list of the classes you’ll be taking your senior year.
Remember, during the fall cross country season of your senior year, it gets pretty tough to fit in taking university entrance exams while training and thinking about graduating. There’s no getting around these preparations, so don’t be tempted to wait until the last minute. If you’re hoping to participate in DI or DII competition your freshman year of college, you’ll need to register and get certified by the NCAA Clearinghouse. Again, get your NCAA Clearinghouse done early and keep the number handy. Once you have all of this information completed — your test scores, transcript, list of classes you’ll take senior year and the NCAA Clearinghouse form, if applicable — you are ready to be recruited and make campus visits.
What to Expect From College Visits
There are two types of college visits: unofficial and official. During the summer before senior year, many students take trips to scope out possible college choices; these are unofficial visits because you will fund these trips yourself. Contact coaches prior to your visit to see if you can meet with them to talk about the program — they might even be nice enough to give you a tour. If they’re busy, don’t take it personally; they are running a business and have limited time. Use the opportunity to walk around the campus and get a feel for the town.
Official visits are a completely different beast. Each athlete is permitted five official visits that are fully paid for by each university and last for 48 hours. There is a mystique surrounding official visits, mostly from the recruit’s point of view. Too many times I’ve heard recruits tell me that they are going to use all five visits. Certainly this should be considered, but as fun as they seem, these visits will also be exhausting. In addition, there is the question of timing: With senior-year XC season under way, it’s tough to fit in visits without affecting training and racing. As the recruit, you will be “on edge” for 48 hours as you not only explore the intricacies of team dynamics but also the pros and cons of student life at the university in question. There is no doubt it’s “cool” to do visits, but I would highly recommend narrowing down your choices to three or four (maximum) and, if possible, try not to schedule them on back-to-back weekends. You need time to think about the positives and negatives of each school.
Narrowing the Field: Financial Advice
Obviously, there is a lot that goes into deciding what school to attend, but cost ultimately helps narrow the field. Scholarships, financial aid and academic aid are viable options to help support the cost of attending school; however, not every school offers all of these options. Division I and II and NAIA schools have scholarships, while Division III schools do not, but this doesn’t mean they lack funding options — make sure to read as much information as possible and ask the financial aid office questions. Ivy League universities only offer need-based aid, but there’s a lot of it to be handed out, so don’t close the door on the option. Need-based aid can be better than many scholarship offers. Full scholarships are tough to come by and are often reserved for the top recruits in the country. However, any amount of scholarship offered should never be scoffed at — it’s free money and every little bit helps. Coaches prescribe scholarships based on the funds they have available, meaning the more people on the team already on scholarship, the less money there is for new recruits. However, a word of caution to parents and athletes: Don’t play money games. Be honest about what you need because coaches talk.
If you need financial aid, some institutions will offer “pre-reads” performed by their financial aid departments. Generally, pre-reads require filling out paperwork and submitting it along with your parents' W-2 and most recent Federal Income Tax Return form. Make sure to apply for aid early (are you recognizing a theme yet?); once you know what’s available to you in terms of loans, grants and work study, then you can start to get a real estimate of what each school will cost you. Online calculators are also available for many institutions, but a word of advice — get everything in writing. If applicable, keep in mind that some Ivy League schools can and will match financial aid offers from other Ivies. Getting a realistic sense of what you can and can’t afford can help narrow down options before you spend the time and energy visiting different schools.
More Than Money: Tips for Making the Right Choice
When decision time comes, it's likely that you'll still have doubts. So, here are some pearls of wisdom that I think are key to helping you survive the process:
1. Be humble: If a coach is calling, they are offering an educative/athletic opportunity — all offers are worth thinking about when you consider that so many high school athletes are NOT being recruited.
2. Be realistic: Know what you’ve accomplished and continue to work hard, but don’t be surprised if you aren’t offered a full scholarship. You can always improve and potentially get a more generous offer in the future.
3. Compare your goals to what the school offers: Do you have confidence in the training that you’ll endure? What about the success of the coach? Who else is on the team? Do you want to be a contributor right away or work your way up because there are several talented athletes already on the team?
4. Be aware of the opportunities: In the end, the education you receive is the most important thing. Very few collegiate athletes become Olympians or professional distance runners. Be confident that the institution you choose will offer what you consider to be the best student-athlete experience.
5. Be happy: A wise friend/coach once said to me, “If you broke your leg and couldn’t run anymore, is this where you’d want to be?” You should be excited about your school, your team, your coaches and the road ahead. If you’re not, it will come out in your training and racing.
I don’t pretend to have all the answers to your college choices. Now that I’ve been on both sides of the process, I have a greater understanding of what both parties go through. I advise you to explore the opportunities, dream big and believe in yourself and your new coaches — it’s most likely the only thing that will set you apart.
