Marcos de Niza Boys Basketball

• Train hard and continue to perform successfully as an athlete
• Do well in school, and start noticing which academic areas interest you
• Make sure you are taking tough courses- colleges prefer students who challenge themselves
• Try to find school clubs/organizations or local volunteer opportunities that interest you.
• You should take the SAT’s in the spring- especially if you are applying early.
• Start thinking about where you would like to go to school. Make a list of 5-15 colleges that interest you. Consult with your parents, friends, and counselors to get their input on schools.
• Evaluate college athletic programs from different schools. Research team and conference results to see where you’d fit in. Don’t be afraid of contacting coaches to get information about their programs. Emailing a coach is a great way of both learning about and showing interest in a particular program.
• Getting a(n) job/internship is an excellent way to build your resume. It’s also an excellent way to make money that can be put towards your college education.
• If meeting the NCAA eligibility standards seems daunting, try taking summer classes to raise your grades and/or ease next year’s schedule.
• Make unofficial visits to schools in which you are interested. Try to plan these trips after July 1st or June 15th, depending on the school’s division, so that you can meet with the coaching staff. Keep a journal with notes about what you like or dislike about each college. Inform your teachers that you will be missing work. Also, ask for a workout to do while visiting.
• Source: http://advice.berecruited.com/junior-year/to-do-list-for-juniors/

• Take the PSAT in the fall to get some practice for the SAT and perhaps win a National Merit Scholarship.
• Analyze your PSAT results carefully. If you do poorly, perhaps taking an SAT class would be wise.
• If you did well, taking the SAT your junior year could be a great idea. Colleges look at your best combined SAT score (best verbal + best math), so taking the SAT multiple times can only help!
• Many schools require up to three SAT II scores. The spring of your junior year would be a wise time to take these. Since most schools require the SAT II Writing and Math, take each of these. You can take up to three SAT II tests at once and colleges only receive those scores that you submit.
• Register with the NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse and check the academic requirements. Make sure your senior year classes meet these requirements.
• Source: http://advice.berecruited.com/junior-year/junior-year-testing/

• Register with the eligibility center. U.S. students should register here; International students should register here.
• Make sure you are still on course to meet core-course requirements (verify you have the correct number of core courses and that the core courses are on your high school’s 48-H with the NCAA Eligibility Center).
• After your junior year, have your high school guidance counselor send a copy of your transcript. If you have attended any other high schools, make sure a transcript is sent to the eligibility center from each high school.
• When taking the ACT or SAT, request test scores to be sent to the eligibility center (the code is “9999″).
• Begin your amateurism questionnaire.
• Source: http://advice.berecruited.com/junior-year/junior-year-ncaa-eligibility-center-suggestions/

• If you have not taken your SAT’s, make sure to do so. Remember, many colleges have SAT II requirements. If you are not content with your SAT II scores from junior year, retaking them cannot hurt.
• In the classroom, do not enter senior slump during the first semester! You have to maintain a challenging schedule- and do well. Colleges look very closely at first semester grades from senior year.
• Keep in contact with your college guidance counselor. Make sure he/she knows your feelings about each school on your preliminary list. Ask him/her your honest chances of getting into each college.
• Narrow your list of schools down to about 3-5 (not including safeties) with your parents and counselor. If there is one school that is your clear favorite, consider applying early.
• Make sure that you have the applications for each school in which you are interested. Begin working on the applications as early as possible- applying to college is a time-consuming task that should not be left for one weekend.
• Source: http://advice.berecruited.com/senior-year/to-do-list-for-seniors/

Official visits (or recruiting trips) are perhaps the best way for you to find out where you will best fit in, and where you want to study. An official visit is an expenses-paid visit for recruits and programs to learn more about each other. The rules regarding official visits differ upon the school’s division. See the “Recruiting Rules” Section for more information.If you are going to apply early, make sure you plan your trips as early as possible, to leave yourself enough time to make an informed decision.

You only have 48 hours to visit the campus, so make the best of every minute. Try to plan your trip so that your official visit starts on a Friday morning. This allows you to see what a typical weekend is like. If you plan your visit far enough in advance, you should make sure you can sit in on some of the classes that interest you. Make sure to inform the coach of your preferences.

While attending classes, notice their size and atmosphere. Notice the ability of the professor. Would you feel comfortable learning in this environment?

Important Questions to Ask:

• Ask about which classes are interesting or fun.
• Ask about how difficult it is to balance academics, athletics, and social life.
• Ask the team members about the practices and weight program.
• Ask athletes if they have improved while at this school and whether or not they have enjoyed themselves.
• Ask what other schools team members applied to and why they ended up at that particular school.
• Ask the coach what the average GPA and SAT is on the team and the university as a whole to see if you could handle the academics of the school.
• Ask the coach what percentage of his/her players stay on the team all four years.

Ask Yourself:

• Is the coach’s style is compatible with your personality and with my goals? See where your athletic ability would put you on the roster and in conference play.
• Will I be happy here, and can I see myself living at the college for the next four years? Look around you and see if people are enjoying themselves.
• Source: http://advice.berecruited.com/senior-year/official-visits/