By a Stanford Student-Athlete

Tomorrow is my first day of classes at Stanford, and I am so excited to be here!! With the start of my freshman year, I have been reflecting upon the recruiting process that led me here. I know that the recruiting process can be an overwhelming time for student-athletes (thanks Captain Obvious). So, I'm here to share five tips that simplified my recruiting process and led me to Stanford. Hopefully they decrease your stress, confusion, and frustration until you put that pen to the paper and sign!

#1: The Early Bird Gets the Worm

Hindsight is 20/20, and looking back at my recruiting journey, I am so thankful that I started the process when I did, which was the end of my sophomore year. Every sport has its own unique recruiting timeframe, but the majority of track and field athletes will commit in the fall of their senior year. This gave me a little over two years to connect with coaches, improve upon my times, and decide my priorities in a college.

Starting your recruiting process early does not necessarily mean reaching out to coaches early. In fact, different sports have various restrictions on the communication and contact between coaches and recruits, so make sure to check out the NCAA rules and timeline on your specific sport. Still, it's never too early to start following teams on social media, tracking their performances and times, and visiting camps that they host. Maybe you go to a camp and dislike the coaching style. Maybe you absolutely love it. Either way, you're making progress that will help you direct your energy when it comes time to reach out to them.

Starting early also gives you time in case of any change in plans (maybe like a global pandemic?). For example, I took the ACT early in my junior year before the shutdown. When everyone else was scrambling to take the test once it reopened, I didn't have to panic because I already had my score. Being proactive about little things like that will save you the stress later on down the road.

Remember, just because you start early does not mean you have to decide early. Be patient. You never know what opportunities are right around the corner. I didn't even start talking to the coaches at Stanford until the final months of my recruiting process, but since I had spent so much time discovering what I didn't like, it was easy to identify Stanford as the perfect fit for me.

#2: Do Your Research

If there is one tip that I would say is the most important, it's this one. Do your research. In other words, make sure the program you're checking out is an appropriate fit for your academic and athletic abilities. It will help you set realistic goals, bring clarity to your next steps, and remove a lot of frustration.

There are a lot of resources out there for athletes to do their research. For track and field athletes, I would recommend TFRRS (https://www.tfrrs.org/). You can search any collegiate team and find the names of their athletes as well as all of their times. With a little bit of searching on Milesplit (https://www.milesplit.com/network) , you can also find these athletes' high school times, which can inform you whether or not you're on the right trajectory for that team. You might already have similar PR's as their athletes, or you might have some catching up to do. Regardless, it gives you a better idea of how the program would fit athletically.

If your sport doesn't have the equivalent of TFRRS or Milesplit, or if you just want another point of reference, ask your coach. My high school has its own college recruiting coordinator (shoutout Mr. Bufton) who specializes in the research phase of recruiting. Often times, an objective, outside perspective can help align your abilities with your goals.

Research isn't all about the athletic fit, either. Average ACT/SAT score, acceptance rate, average GPA, and other academic statistics are just a Google search away for any college.

Overall, doing your research helps you narrow your focus and set clearer goals for yourself -- two things that will save energy and minimize frustration throughout your recruiting process.

#3: Be Organized

Now that you've done your research, you need a place to organize it. Organization helps some people more than others, so feel free to customize my organization suggestions to better suit your style. Even if you're not an organization nerd like me, the simplest of techniques can add clarity and minimize confusion. Trust me, you'll want to decrease stress in any way possible throughout your recruiting process.

First, have a place to keep track of your progress. It can be a Google doc or a physical notebook (I used both, hehe). There are lots of ways to do it, but I would recommend creating sections based off of schools. Under each school, record your research (see tip #2), write down questions for the coach, and log your thoughts and reflections on the school.

Also keep track of your conversations with the coaches at each school. Write down when you spoke to them, when you will speak to them next, and summarize your conversations with them.

Most importantly, refer to your research when you talk to coaches! It is so valuable to have your research in a central location so that you can review past conversations before new ones, remember small details to impress coaches, and look at the questions on your list during your call (I guarantee you, they'll ask if you have questions at some point, and you will sound so professional if you have them ready).

My last organization tip (I just can't help myself!) is to keep a recruiting To-Do List. It can be in the same place as your list from above and will help keep you moving forward in the recruiting process so you don't drown in the many things you have on your plate.

Staying organized is not just a way to make life easier for you, but it will also help you put your best foot forward when interacting with coaches. Organization is just a darn good life skill to have, and recruiting is a great opportunity to develop it!

#4: Be Confident

The recruiting process is simple: You are trying to find the right fit for you. You. Not the college coaches, not your parents, not anyone but you. And since you are in the driver's seat of this process, you should be confident that you are in control of what happens and where you go. I heard this tip at some point in my recruiting process, and it altered my entire perspective. If anyone should be nervous, it should be the coaches, not you! They are trying to win you over, and not vise versa.

Just as much as they are evaluating you, you are evaluating their programs. Think of it like a job interview. Yes, you want the job, so you will put your best foot forward. But at the end of the day, if the boss is a jerk, or if you have a better job offer somewhere else, you're not going to take the job.

Remember your authority, and let it boost your confidence throughout your recruiting process.

#5: Be Yourself

Okay, this is a cheesy quote that should be (and probably is) on a kitten poster that they sell at the Scholastic Book Fair. It's so important though!

A lot of athletes get so nervous or intimidated that they clam up when they talk to coaches, or they think that they need to wear some sort of facade to impress the coach and "fake it til they make it." While professionalism is critical, don't be someone you're not.

At some point, likely when you get to college, you're not going to be able to keep pretending. Just like I talked about the athletic and academic fit earlier, you also want to make sure that your personality fits with the coach and team. You can't identify that if you're not being your authentic self.

Additionally, the recruiting process is a great time to start building that coach-athlete relationship for your collegiate years. Your adjustment to college athletics will be a little bit easier if you know and like the person leading you in practice, and if they know and like you. But they can't know you unless you show them your true colors, so make sure to relax enough around coaches so they know what, and who, they're working with.