1. Narrowing your College Search February 25, 2012

2. How many colleges should I look at? ★ Identify 20 colleges initially (9th and 10th Grade) ★ During 11th grade will likely drop to around 10 ★ Early 12th Grade drop to 5-8 colleges ★ Decision time will come during Fall of senior year or very early in Spring semester

3. How do I identify 20 colleges? ★ Online Research ★ Consultation with coaches ★ Consultation with High School Counselor ★ Parental Guidance ★ Word of mouth recommendations from friends and family

4. What are your interests? What are you looking for in your college and collegiate experience?

5. Three main factors: ★ Academic ★ Athletic ★ Social

6. Academic Discipline What do you want to study? ★ Not all colleges have every degree program ★ Quality of the degree programs vary greatly from college to college ★ What school has the strongest program for you?

7. How do I find out the strength of a college’s degree program? What should I be looking for?

8. Resources ★ College websites ★ High School teacher and counselor ★ Word of mouth (Education and Employers) ★ Rankings, eg. US News and World

9. What am I looking for? Dependent on your chosen discipline

10. ★ School Facilities ★ Local Environment ★ Local Community ★ Internship opportunities ★ Post Graduation Placement Graduate School Professional Programs Employment

11. College Size ★ Small, eg. Trinity, TLU, Incarnate Word, St. Mary’s ★ Large: Texas, Texas A&M ★ Somewhere in between: Texas State, UT Tyler, West Texas A&M, UTSA, SMU, TCU

12. Geographical Location ★ In Texas, or out of state? ★ Close to home? ★ Big city or small town?

13. Doing your research Information is critical to finding your college match!

14. What Division suits your game? ★ Be realistic, get input from your coaches ★ NCAA Division 1 & 2 ★ NCAA Division 3 ★ NAIA ★ Club

15. Financial Considerations ★ Unlikely soccer will pay for entire education ★ Does your family have money set aside? ★ Will you qualify for Financial Aid?

16. College Environment ★ Academic Large vs Small class size Academic facilities Location of school with regard to major ★ Social Are large crowds intimidating? Are your interests available at the college and/or town? ★ Economic Is the college affordable to you? Is the town or city an expensive place to live? ★ Athletic What Division the school compete at? Are the facilities up to standard? what commitment level is required by the coaching staff and team?

17. Visit Campus ★ Visit as many colleges as possible on your list during 10th and early 11th grade Why visit so early? What should I do on the visit? ★ Athletic Visits Official Unofficial

18. Watch the team play and train ★ Do I fit their style/system? ★ Coaching style ★ Practice structure/content ★ Practice environment ★ Player attitude ★ What team needs me? Positional requirements Where would my strengths be best utilized