NCSA College Athletic Scholarships Blog

Everyone knows that recruiting is the life blood of every college team.  But, the key to a coach’s success is how he molds his high school recruits into successful four year scholarship players.  Obviously practice time is key part to that equation.  Potential recruits that can get extra practice time will continue to coveted by college coaches. 

How do you practice more?  By enrolling early and taking part in an extra semester of practice.  Even programs outside of the BCS like TCU are joining the trend by enrolling recruits early.  The Star-Telergram described the thought process behind incoming freshman quarterback Casey Pachal decision to enroll early.

Pachall said the decision to leave early was easy.

“My thinking was that coming out of high school, I wanted to prepare the best I could and get most acquainted with my teammates and also with the system I’d have here at TCU,” Pachall said. “One benefit is getting in shape because the workouts here are very tough. They’ll get you where you want to be.”

In addition to the extra time in the weight room and at workouts, enrolling in January is beneficial for academic reasons.

Pachall is taking 15 hours in his first semester. And the transition from high school to college should be easier because there are only about eight hours of football work a week instead of the 20 or so in the fall during football season.

His early enrollment clearly will be a boost to TCU, but potential recruits need to bear in mind that Pachal wouldn’t have even had the opportunity if he wasn’t an excellent high school student.  Recruiting smart students continues to pay off for college coaches across the country.

Reading comprehension is, for most students, the hardest section on the SAT and ACT.  Mastering the essential vocabulary for this section of the exams will raise your score.

So here’s a tip: starting as early as the 9th or 10th grade, learn 10 vocabulary words every week. By the time you’re in 11th or 12th grade, you’ll have memorized hundreds of new words necessary for success not only on the SAT and ACT but also in the classroom and, for that matter, in life. 

For an online course with lessons and exercises on 1,000 of the most frequently tested SAT and ACT vocabulary words, consider Academic Approach’s SAT/ACT Vocabulary Course at http://www.academicapproach.com/.

All NCSA members receive a discount on Academic Approach online programs, contact NCSA to retrieve the code. 

The College Admissions Process: What Is the Right Thing For A Parent To Do?

When they were high school seniors back in the seventies or eighties, most baby boomers walked into the SAT exam without any test preparation and sent off but a handful of applications. Now parents of high school students, those same boomers are discovering that, when it comes to their own children’s pursuit of the perfect-match college, things are not as simple as they were back in the day. Indeed, many parents of current high school students are realizing that the intense competition for coveted slots at the most sought after colleges rules out the casual approach that they took way back when.

As selective college admissions have become increasingly competitive due to the swelling number of students who hope to enroll at top-tier American colleges and universities, applicants have sought ways of boosting their odds of acceptance by seeking help in both standardized test preparation and the college application process. To be sure, many parents are discovering that out-of-school test prep tutoring and college counseling have become the norm in their children’s school communities.  Of course, these same parents are also discovering that an often-befuddling spectrum of test prep and college counseling services has emerged in recent decades.

A pair of recent articles in the Wall Street Journal draws attention to the dramatically altered landscape of college admissions and the challenges of wandering across it for the first time. One article, entitled “SAT Prep: Issac says no to outside help,” presents one family’s attempt to make sense out the new rules of the game. The article presents a father’s proud consternation that his son has said “no” to outside help of any kind despite his father’s assumption that precisely such help would be best for his college-bound child. The other, entitled “Families seek help with college,” discusses the brisk business that test prep companies and independent college consultants are currently enjoying, despite-or perhaps because of the troubled economy. What is the right thing for a parent to do?

Although the article about the student named Issac who refused any help implies that he chose the high road of  “personal responsibility and a touch of DIY ethics,” the other article makes the case that some families invest in such outside help in order to increase their children’s chances of gaining admission to one of  “the top-tier schools, many of which offer the most generous aid packages.” Reductive arguments about the ethics and socio-economics of seeking help in the college admissions process do not necessarily illuminate-and certainly do not exhaust-the issue. 

Of course, when Issac said no to test prep help, Issac was making a decision that may well have been the best decision for him. Clearly, some students may be motivated enough to prepare on their own. Certainly, some might need the structure of a test prep class and others might be best served by a one-on-one tutoring program. A colleague who is a college counselor at a nearby prep school offers the analogy of how gym memberships are used by different people: some people are motivated enough to just go to the gym and workout on their own, some might need to enroll in a cardio-training class, and others would be best served by one-on-one sessions with a personal trainer. The question lingers: What is the right thing for a parent to do?

Pragmatically speaking, we recommend that parents approach the college admissions process by further informing themselves.  As concerns the specific issues raised in the two articles from the Wall Street Journal that we cited above, we advise:

1) that parents begin a conversation with their child’s college counselor at school no later than February of the junior year in order to develop as realistic a sense as possible of how their child’s broader profile (transcripts, test scores, co-curriculars, etc.) compares to the profiles of students admitted in recent years to the schools that their child wants to attend.

2) that parents use their child’s December PSAT results to assess if test prep might be wise and, if so, what type of prep would be best suited to their child’s individual needs: Is their child motivated like Issac? might an online course be effective? Would a classroom experience be more productive? Are there certain areas of weakness that need more work than others? Etc.

3) that parents be certain to carefully vet any test prep program that they are considering for their child in order to assure that it offers an approach to the tests that meets their child’s specific needs while also meeting best practices guidelines established by the National Association of College Admissions Counselors:

* Familiarity with test question format

* Familiarity with test administration procedures

* Alignment with skills necessary to master college preparatory coursework

* Instruction in basic study habits and skills

Courtney Federle, PhD from The University of California, Berkeley, has taught at The University of Chicago and is currently working as a teacher and curriculum developer at Academic Approach.

Last week the Atlanta Journal-Constitution released a study on the academic credentials of incoming athletes versus regular student.  Not surprisingly stereotypes held.

Nationwide, football players average 220 points lower on the SAT than their classmates – and men’s basketball players average seven points less than football players.

Those figures come from an Atlanta Journal-Constitution study of 54 public universities, including the members of the six major Bowl Championship Series conferences and other schools whose teams finished the 2007-08 season ranked among the football or men’s basketball top 25.

While it’s commonly known that admission standards are different for athletes, the AJC study quantifies how wide the gap is between athletes and the general student body at major universities.

NCAA President Myles Brand said the big question isn’t whether athletes are as qualified as other students when they enroll but whether, given help, they can obtain degrees. “What you are really looking for is whether the student-athletes who are being accepted have the capability of graduating from that institution with the academic support they have available,” Brand said.

The real take away for families going through the recruiting process is to remember that athletics can open the door to even the most elite colleges.  Athletes and families should contact as many schools as possible regardless of perceived or published reports on the typical grades of incoming freshman.  Universities make special exceptions for athletes because they are special people.  Their commitment to sport indicates their tremendous potential as people.  Athletes should use this fact as an advantage.

The College Board has adopted a Score Choice^TM policy for the SAT that, according to the College Board website, will give students the option to choose, by test date, which SAT scores that they will send to colleges and thereby “allow students to put their best foot forward on test day by giving them more flexibility and control over their scores.”

Articles in U.S. News and World Report and Newsweek covering the College Board’s new test-reporting option raise a number of questions about the motivation for and benefits of the policy. The Newsweek piece reports that the new policy may be less altruistic and more financially motivated than the College Board statement implies. It cites an internal e-mail sent by Laurence Bunin, general manager of the SAT, that refers to “less kids taking SAT,” thereby “threatening the viability of the program itself.” U.S. News and World Report quotes a critic who has done the math: “[I]f roughly 3 percent of the 1.5 million students who take the test annually took it just one additional time-so 50,000 tests at $45 apiece-that would mean an extra $2.25 million for the College Board.” College Board is losing market share to ACT, so the potential financial motivation behind its choice of Score Choice is obvious enough. 

Newsweek also reports that some colleges, Stanford, Cornell, Pomona, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California are named, have decided to opt out of the score choice policy and, instead, require applicants to submit all scores. The overzealous test-taker who sits for ten administrations of the SAT will be sorely disappointed to find that he must display all the fruits of his obsessive labors when applying to these schools.  Such a test-taker would more wisely spend all of those testing hours on intelligent, academic study that builds a better G.P.A. as well as better test scores? 

If the objective of a standardized test is to assess whether students are college ready, that is, proficient in a vital set of academic skills, then the relevance of SAT Score Choice does indeed seem quite negligible. Our years of experience at Academic Approach, where we have helped thousands of students prepare for both standardized exams and high school core curriculum, has made obvious to us that repeated testing without intelligent assessment, analysis, and curriculum yields little or no measurable improvement.  Attempting to game the SAT by taking it ten times will look a bit desperate to admissions officers. At the same time, such repeated testing does not necessarily improve a student’s performance on the test or in the classroom.

Through our experience, we have developed our own best practices on standardized testing and test preparation-we teach in such a way that we are always simultaneously preparing our students in the fundamental skills that will be demanded of them not just on the standardized exams but also in their high school and college classrooms. Our practices accord with those of the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) as articulated in its recent study of the place of standardized testing in college admissions. In that report, NACAC stated that, “the best form of test preparation is focused on core knowledge content and on skills that will help prepare students for their academic future.”

What is the best way to achieve this effect?

• Take diagnostic tests to determine which test features your skills best-the SAT or ACT.
• Develop an academic, skill-building program around the test that is best for you, focusing in to save time and money.
• Take a maximum of three official SATs or ACTs (4 in extraordinary cases).

What really matters is early assessment, determining which test to take, designing an intelligent plan, and following up by moving through the appropriate course work.  Choosing such an approach is the best, most reasonable path towards success on standardized exams.

Courtney Federle, PhD from The University of California, Berkeley, currently working as an educator at Academic Approach. 

The NCAA Eligibility Center has recently adopted a new policy for high school student-athletes who have demonstrated a high level of academic achievement during their first six semesters of high school. Qualified student-athletes will receive an early certification waiver prior to high school graduation.

In order to qualify for an early certification waiver a student must meet the following criteria:

A minimum SAT (math and critical reading) score of 1000 or minimum sum score of 85 on the ACT;

For Division I:  Core-course GPA of 3.0 or higher in a minimum of 13 core courses:

• 3 English;
• 2 Math;
• 2 Science; and
• 6 additional core courses.

For Division II:  Core-course GPA of 3.0 or higher in a minimum of 12 core courses:

• 3 English;
• 2 Math;
• 2 Science; and
• 5 additional core courses.

During their senior year, the student-athlete will receive confirmation that he/she has met the academic certification requirements.

If you have any questions about early certification you may contact the NCAA Eligibility Center directly at 877-262-1492.

 I often write about insights I gain when I deliver NCSA’s College Recruiting 101. Last night, Wednesday Dec 3^rd, I spoke to athletes and their families from South Bend (IN) Schools. South Bend Dir. Of Athletics Kirby Whitacre has seen what it takes to become a college student athlete over the years. When he was the A.D. at Mishawaka High School he had great advice for the athletes that got Questionnaires from Colleges. Of course, he advised them to return the Questionnaires. He also encouraged them to attach a personal hand written note thanking the College coach for sending the Questionnaire.

Whitacre also suggested they create their own note. A funny high school athlete would write something funny. A serious athlete would put a motivational quote at the bottom of the card. College coaches like that kind of thing. One of his high school softball players created a card in the shape of a softball. One signed her note “from your new centerfielder.” That showed moxie, but College coaches like that fire within.

Whitacre also had some interesting insights on the SAT. He said for twenty years he had been debating with counselors on when recruitable athletes should take the SAT. Often, students are advised to take it late in the junior year. The reason being is that they have more math under their belt. Whitacre has argued that the recruitable athlete should take it early in the junior year for these reasons: First, if they do poorly, they can work on improving the score. He cited a 6-2, 200 pound girls softball pitcher they had who could throw bullets. She had several D1 offers but her SAT was not high enough. Her parents immediately got her into a SAT prep program. In three weeks she raised her score by 200 points and got a great package to pitch at the University of Illinois. Second, if they do well by taking it early in the Junior year, the pressure is off and they don’t have to take it again. Of course, they can do well and still take it again and improve it even more.

In an article in Dec. 4th’s Wall Street Journal, Harvard’s endowment has been hit by losses of 22% in the 4 months between July 1st and October 31st.  That’s 8 Billion dollars!  More than the total endowments of all but 6 universities.  Income from Harvard’s endowment funds 35% of its budget.  That includes athletics.  As mentioned in the article, all other college endowments have suffered a similar fate.  State schools, who don’t have large endowments, must cut back because of reduced tax receipts. 

So what does that mean to student athletes and their parents?  First, recruiting budgets for college coaches are going to be reduced.  That means less travel for coaches.  They will be relying more on video than ever before to evaluate talent.  Second, college coaches are going to be more careful in their selections.  So those high school students they’ve known the longest (starting freshman year) will be more likely to score the scholarship.  Third, colleges will be reducing the financial aid awarded for academics.  A smaller percentage of elite students will receive the top awards.  A student athlete who wants to compete will need better grades and test scores than ever.  She/he better be working on that starting freshman year!  Fourth, large state institutions will be cutting costs.  That means larger class sizes for required courses.   If your student-athlete doesn’t do well in class sizes of 300 or more, then they need to find a better fit.  Finally, student-athletes will be competing harder than ever for the existing scholarship dollars.  That competition will be in the work out room, in the class room, in preparing for college entrance exams, and finally in knowing the rules of the recruiting game.   How can you gain a significant competitive advantage over others and win the recruiting game?  Start here.

NCSA is pleased to announce our newest partner, Academic Approach.  Through the partnership, Academic Approach will provide NCSA student-athletes with highly effective online SAT and ACT courses that will assist them in scoring higher.  These courses will help assess a student-athlete’s academic gaps and virtually spot-treat these gaps by teaching them the solid content they need.  Academic Approach calls this approach “Teaching Beyond the Test.”  They don’t teach games or gimmicks, but the academic content found within the test itself.  CEO Matthew Pietrefetta will lead bi-monthly conference calls with groups of student-athletes to speak with them about the nuances and strategies of getting into competitive colleges.

“We’re thrilled to provide SAT and ACT education to NCSA’s student-athletes and help provide the necessary academic skills to take their game to the next level,” says Matthew Pietrafetta, founder and CEO of Academic Approach. 

“Working alongside NCSA, we will be able to have a positive impact in the lives of thousands of student-athletes to not only improve test scores but also to build lasting confidence, motivation, and abilities that will extend beyond their college careers,” says Pietrafetta. 

Every year around the second week of December 11^th graders receive their PSAT (Preliminary SAT) scores.   And, like clockwork, they anxiously ask the same set of questions:

“If my score is low, does this ruin my chances of getting into college?”

N0. PSAT scores are NOT sent to colleges nor are they necessary for college admissions.  It’s the full-length SAT you send when applying to colleges, not the PSAT.

“If I don’t get a National Merit honor, does that hurt my chances of getting into college?”

No. We have students admitted to Harvard and Yale without ever earning any National Merit honors.  The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) honors students who post a PSAT composite typically at or above 217 out of 240 (the sum of their 80-point scaled scores in Critical Reading, Math, and Writing). Yet only 50,000 of the 1.4 million 11^th graders who take the PSAT ever score this well and qualify-that’s only 3.5% of PSAT test takers. 

Whether you’re part of this 3.5% or more likely part of the other 96.5%, there’s a much better question you should be asking:

“How do I use the PSAT to improve my chances of doing well on the SAT, which could truly influence my admission to college?”

In December, The College Board sends home each student’s score report, test booklet, and answer sheet.  Sit down with these reports and answer these questions:

• What was my lowest subsection–Critical Reading, Math, or Writing?

• Was there a particular question type within a subsection that challenged me?

• Was it the sentence completions on Critical Reading? (If so, specific emphasis on SAT vocabulary is called for.)
• Was it the Identifying Sentence Errors on the Writing? (If so, a review of SAT Grammar is in order.)
• Or was it the student-produced responses in the Math? (If so, a healthy review of the most common SAT math problems is necessary.)

In short, the best use the PSAT is as a diagnostic tool: to reveal your individual needs and to direct the best teaching plan to address those needs. Make it a familiar affair.  Sit down. Analyze. Plan.

-AcademicApproach.com