The fundamental fact of college softball recruiting is that you can't be recruited if the coach doesn't know that you exist. Gone are the days of a player being spotted at their local high school game.
Too many players worry about colleges finding them.
What they need to do is to find the colleges. But there are 1,600 colleges that offer softball programs.
How do you decide from over 1,600 colleges?
What you need to do is to create a general list of up to 500 acceptable colleges and then start narrowing it based on the specifics of the softball teams, contact with the coaches, and academic offerings.
To generate this list, you need to find out two sets of information about the colleges: what you really need to know and what you should know.
What you really need to know about colleges:
Does it fit your athletic abilities? Division Level and Conference indicates the general competitive level of the school. You can make a good first cut with this information. Three of the four final schools my son was considering were in the same conference (obviously not for softball).
Can you get in?
The SAT/ACT profile will give you an idea if it will be easier or harder for you to be admitted.
Can you afford it? Given that the biggest college division in the NCAA is the one that doesn't offer athletic scholarships, D3, more than likely you will be paying some, if not all, the tuition bill yourself. You need to know the Average Net Price so that you know what kind of bills you'll be looking at.
Will you get a degree?
Graduation Rates indicate your chances of graduating if you deciding to quit playing softball.
How many people will be competing for positions on the team?
At the most basic level, the bigger the school, the more competition exists to play on the team.
Will there be anything to do when you're not playing softball?
Are students generally involved with campus activities? In other words, will there be things to do on campus and people to do them with when you take a break from studying? The higher the percentage of students who are part-time and the lower the dorm availability, the more likely the college is a commuter campus with less student support and involvement. Such schools also tend to have lower graduation rates.
How much does the college care about softball?
Knowing how much a school spends on softball compared to other sports or other schools in its conference shows the relative importance of softball at the school.
Will your grades make you more competitive?
The lower the acceptance rate, the more your academic credentials can help you to narrow the competition. You only have to compete against other with similar gpas and test scores.
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