What do I want to do when I grow up...?

By Michael Bucci
National Director
GetUrecruited.com

This is a rudimentary post towards applying to college.  In other words, there are no answers in this post...only good questions, which Socrates would argue is better than posting facts...that's assuming Socrates would blog.

I promised I'd help you develop a roadmap to start your recruiting process, so, hold on tight...and mom, grab the tissues, this is going to be rough.



You want to go somewhere, and mom and dad want you to go somewhere else.  Oh, is that just what happened to me?

Here's some questions...and they're all focused on YOU, not your parents.
Is it ok that you can't have a car for your first year?
Is it ok if you're on the bench your freshman year...in order to have a chance to play later on?
Is the campus lively enough for you?
What's there to do around the school?

Is it warm/cold enough?
Are you sure you haven't ranked this school because of status?...what others will think of you?
Is this where you really want to go?
Did you visit the school, and enjoy it?

Just ask yourself questions...grow up, be honest.  What do you want to do?  It's ok to not know...but it's not ok to not ask yourself these questions.

I really didn't enjoy my first school visit at Albany, but...I still went.  Why?  I hate to say this out loud...but, it's well...it was the closest school I applied to relative to competitiveness, and it made the most sense to our family financially. 

Great planning.

There are many many more questions to ask yourself...so, ask yourself these questions and really think.  You go to school for 40 years...not 4 years, is an adage you'll hear from time to time, and it's right.  You'll change your major, probably once...if not, 3 times (that's the national average)...but it's better than transferring.

Transferring isn't a great idea, it's really a plan for after you decide you can't stay...it's expensive to transfer.  What I mean by that, is you lose credits...so make sure you make a few Official and Un-Official Visits.  The basic difference is "who pays for what".  You're only allowed 5 official visits of Division 1 & 2 schools in one year, during your senior year, and only 1 official visit to a particular DIII school (you can't revisit the school-officially).  So, make appointments to schools on an unofficial basis...meaning you drive yourself down there, pay for your own lunch and your own hotel...then you won't get into any trouble.  If you can't afford to visit everywhere, then tell your recruiter...and they MAY pay for it, making it an official visit...

Remember a few things, transferring isn't the worst thing...but expect to lose 30-50% of your credits.  What does that mean?  It means a lot of time and money, that you don't get credit for...now I know you learned it, but, you don't get credit for it.  So, you need to learn it again, somewhere else.

So really think about why you want to go to school...what are your reasons?  What do you want to do?  What do you not want to do?

Roadmaps are folded sheets of papers...Trip itinerary are plans that start with where you are, and where you expect to end up.  Big difference.  Start with the end in mind.  If you don't know where you hope/intend to end up...start with where you don't want to end up...and work backwards.

From there, you should be able to tell recruiters and coaches what you really are looking for, so you can see...from the start, if they're school is a good fit for you.

For more info, or answers to specific questions you have, post here or ask directly at this address.