College Admissions Process for Student-Athletes – Timeline and Steps in the NCAA Eligibility Process

Written by: Kim Penney and Danielle Dunn, One-on-One College Consulting

In our latest blog, we covered the process of sending standardized test scores to the NCAA Eligibility Center and how to check your high school’s NCAA-approved courses to ensure you meet the 16-core course requirement necessary to compete in NCAA Division I and II sports.

So when should you register with the NCAA? In this blog, we will review a general timeline of when to begin the process and the steps you can expect to take.

Technically, you become a prospective college recruit the first day of your high school career. However, we counsel student-athletes to use freshman year to adjust to high school life before becoming concerned about their future college athletic experience.

The beginning of sophomore year in high school is a good time to register with the NCAA Eligibility Center:

1. Create a Certification Account if you plan on targeting NCAA Division I or II institutions. If you are only looking to play NCAA Division III, there is no need to register with the NCAA.
2. Once you receive your 10-digit NCAA ID #, you can include it on your emails to college coaches and list it on your Athletic Profile. This indicates to college coaches of NCAA Division I and II schools that you have begun the process of becoming academically eligible to be recruited by them.  
3. Check your high school’s NCAA-approved courses to ensure you meet the 16-core course requirements and GPA sliding scale necessary to compete in NCAA Division I and II sports. If the course titles on your high school transcript do not exactly match those listed as NCAA-approved courses for your school, you must go ask your guidance counselor to update your school’s NCAA-approved course listing immediately. You want every course you took to count, if possible.
4. At the end of junior year, request that your guidance counselor submit your final transcript (with 6 full semesters of grades) to the NCAA.
5. Every time you take a standardized test, send the scores to the NCAA officially through either the SAT or ACT testing agency (NCAA code is: 9999).
6. Once you begin senior year, you must log into your NCAA Eligibility Center account to “Request Final Amateurism” to indicate that you did not play your sport for money and that you are indeed still an amateur.
7. At the end of senior year, you must request your final high school transcript to be sent by guidance to the NCAA Eligibility Center. 

Then you are officially qualified to begin your athletic playing career at an NCAA Division I or II institution. Good luck!

Next BSG Blog Topic (Week of June 10, 2019) – How to Maximize Your Summer as a Recruited Student-Athlete