Many high school teenagers from lower to middle class families depend on a scholarship to get into college. But, each year, the competition to get into college increases, making it difficult for some of these teens to get in anywhere. Teens need to become more well-rounded, joining many activities, in order to be noticed by college recruitment. And, they also have to worry about their college entrance exam scores, prom, homework, high school grades and GPA, and other teenage angst in their daily lives.

  Nevertheless, teenagers need to start planning early. Their first step is to create a recruiting profile in order to market their high school accomplishments. Consider recruiting sites, such as Rivals.com, for marketing purposes. Teens can then later email the link to college recruiters. But, they need to research colleges in order to pick the right college that most fits their needs, interests and future goals. Such needs and interests may include possible college major, a location that they like, the ambiance of the college, housing, and affordability. There should also be a professional highlight video of the teen athlete, performing his/her sport, on the profile page. During the research process, the teen will need to call college campuses in order to make appointments, visit campuses, take campus tours, talk with college advisers about a possible college major, and do lots of Internet research. It is advisable to visit college campuses during the Fall Term because some colleges give out free tickets to attend a college game. It gives the teen an opportunity to meet the coaches and college athletes, check out their game and their strategy, and get a feel of how the athletes and coaches work together on the court or field. Then, when teens have enough quality data and statistics on their profile page, usually by their junior and senior year, they will start emailing links to coaches of the colleges that most matches their needs. Furthermore, they can also create a website that has their school activities, school work, grades, statistics and video. Then, the teen will have two links to send out to college coaches.

  In addition, a high school coach can play an important role in getting the teen athlete noticed by college coaches. High school coaches play an active role in the recruiting process because they have the abilities, knowledge and connections to do something positive for their athletes and help them get into the college of their choice. Therefore, teens should work hard with their coaches to be in “All State” by their Sophomore or Junior year. When college recruitment starts looking at the All State lists on the Internet, the teen will be there, waiting to be noticed and hopefully get picked for a college’s recruiting database. It is vital that college coaches get the links to the profile pages and websites so that they can see the teen in action, playing a sport at an actual game. These links provide athletic teenagers with the chance to impress college coaches by showing them their abilities as well as what they can do for the college and college team. The teen should also consider going to a college camp in order to be seen by college coaches. While there, the teen can network, get his/her name out, show them some of his/her skills, and make connections.