Am I on my way to getting a scholarship?

Question

I go to a private catholic school that we pay $10,000 to attend each year

my GPA this freshman year is 3.86

next year I'm taking alot of AP and honors classes

I play water polo and am on the swim team, planning to do both all 4 years

I'm in many clubs, like the Pink Ribbon club (breast cancer) and Autism Awareness club

I'm also planning to do a bunch of service hours, more than is required for my school

Assuming that I will get good grades through high school, do I at least have a chance at a scholarship?

Answer 1

Hopefully, you have sent letters of intrest to the head coaches at several colleges you are intrested in attending by the end of your junior year including a short video intoduction and game tape, not just highliights!. Hopefully a few of them have contacted by now and are eager to see your expliots in the pool this season where they would be contacting you during the appointed NCAA contact period for your sport.

You will need to make sure to register with the NCAA clearing house which tracks your elgibility based on SAT, ACT, and transcripts.

I suggest you talk with a coach of any sport that has expierience in helping kids get recruited, maybe the basketball coach. Also go to the NCAA website and download the flyer about getting recruited/scholarships. Send out letters in masses, and follow up. Many will just be returned with a form letter saying they have already made thier selections. This would be assuming you are seeking an athletic scholarship,for in your sport, you would need to be atleast the best at your sport in your school. Even better best in your area if your looking at a D1 or a D2 School, If your only "pretty good" you should consider a good D3 school. A D3 school cannot offer scholarships based on athletics so your looking at an academic scholarship but using your sport as an "in". Hope that makes sense. Wish I knew what area you were in. That would help.

I will also add that if your hoping to get an academic scholarship to a top division school, you will need about a 4.3 gpa , with atleast 200-300 hours of community service.

Answer 2

Sure, if you are realistic about what it takes. For merit scholarships you need to be a very top applicant at the schools you want them from. That means you will end up at a school much lower ranked than the best you could get into if you weren't looking for a scholarship. This is a tough realization for many kids.

The very top schools like the ivy leagues only give grants based on financial need.