NCAA Division I and Division II rules require that the ACT or SAT test be taken on a national testing date.  The state tests are not given on a national testing date and therefore cannot be used for NCAA initial-eligibility purposes.

If you are a prospective student-athlete from ILLINOIS or Colorado and have taken only an ACT state test, you will not be eligible to participate in intercollegiate athletics your first year at an NCAA Division I or II institution.

• Are there strings attached to my scholarship or grant?
• What happens to my package after the first year?
• Is my aid based on the total overall costs to attend the college/ university?
• How much will I be expected to borrow next year?
• What if my financial or my parent(s) financial circumstances change?
• What if I am awarded a scholarship from outside of the college/university?
• Do colleges have programs that allow parents and/or students to spread out their payments over a period of time?
• My aid package includes a work-study job.  What does this mean?
• Many schools have scholarships they do not openly advertise, check them out.
• Get your package in writing!

• The NCAA does not administer the NLI program.
• Signing a NLI is a binding contract with a particular college or university and not with a particular coach.
• If you do not meet admissions standards for the institution  then your NLI is null and void.
• A student under the age of 21 must have a parent/legal guardian sign the NLI, regardless of their martial status.
• When you sign a NLI, you are agreeing to attend the institution with which you sign for one academic year.
• There are severe penalties if you as the student-athlete do not honor the NLI.  Up to two years of eligibility can be lost if you sign a NLI, but do not fulfill your one year academic commitment to the institution.
• Full-ride and partial-ride scholarships are renewable every year.  They are not guaranteed for more than one year at a time.  Your scholarship is renewed through the Financial Aid Department, not the Athletic Department.
• Your have five years in which to complete four years of athletic eligibility.
• A scholarship can pay for room, board, tuition, fees and books only.  Each institution will handle the amount of the scholarship differently.  Carefully read your scholarship to see what costs will be covered by the institution.
• Transferring from one NCAA Division I or II institution to another can lead to a penalty in eligibility.  Transferring from one NCAA Division I or II institution to another will result in the loss of one year of eligibility, if a scholarship is offered at the new institution.  Many conferences also have transfer rules in which you loose another year due to NCAA sanctions and another year due to conference rules.
• Those transferring from a NCAA Division I or II institution to a NCAA Division III institution are eligible immediately for participation.
• If a student-athlete is "red shirted" they do not loose a year of eligibility at a NCAA Division I or II school if the institution applied for "red shirt" status in accordance with NCAA timelines.  A "red shirt" may still receive their athletic scholarship for that academic year.

• NCAA Division I and II coaches begin looking for talent during the athlete's sophomore year.
• They begin to correspond with the athlete during their junior year, and they want the athlete to come for an unpaid visit the summer between their junior and senior year.
• Most NCAA Division I and II coaches have their top recruiting choices down by position before your senior year.
• They usually have three to four choices per position, in hopes of getting their top choices to sing in the early signing period.

• High School Freshman & Sophomore Years
• WRITTEN: College Coaches may only send you a questionnaire, a letter explaining the rules, a referral to admissions and a camp brochure.  This is all they may send you.  Nothing else.  You may write college coaches as much as you like.
• TELEPHONE:  College coaches may not telephone you at all.  Not even to return a call from either you or your parents.  You may call college coaches as often as you like.
• EVALUATIONS:  College coaches may watch you play a limited number of times during the academic year.  They may watch you play an unlimited number of times during the summer.
• OFF-CAMPUS CONTACT:  College coaches may not have any off-campus contact with you or your parents other than a civil exchange of greeting.
• ON-CAMPUS CONTACT:  You may visit college campuses as often as you like at your own expense.  When you are on a college campus you may meet with the coach.
• EMAIL & FAXES:  Email and faxes are treated the same as written correspondence.  Basically college coaches cannot send you any email or faxes except if they were to send a questionnaire, camp brochure or explanatory letter.
• High School Junior Year
• WRITTEN: Starting September 1 of you junior year in high school, college coaches may begin to send you recruiting letters and information on the school and the softball program.
• TELEPHONE:  College coaches may not telephone you at all.  Not even to return a call from either you or your parents.  You may call college coaches as often as you like.
• EVALUATIONS:  College coaches may watch you play a limited number of times during the academic year.  They may watch you play an unlimited number of times during the summer.
• OFF-CAMPUS CONTACT:  College coaches may have a limited number of off-campus contacts with you or your parents other than a civil exchange of greeting.
• ON-CAMPUS CONTACT:  You may visit college campuses as often as you like at your own expense.  When you are on a college campus you may meet with the coach.
• EMAIL & FAXES:  Email and faxes are treated the same as written correspondence.  College coaches may send you email and faxes starting September 1 of your junior year in high school.
• High School Senior Year
• WRITTEN: College coaches may continue to send you recruiting letters and information on the school and the softball program.
• TELEPHONE:  College coaches may telephone you or your parents one time per week beginning July 1 prior to your senior year in high school.  You may call college coaches as often as you wish.
• EVALUATIONS:  College coaches may watch you play a limited number of times during the academic year.  They may watch you play an unlimited number of times during the summer.
• OFF-CAMPUS CONTACT:  College coaches may have a limited number of off-campus contacts with you or your parents other than a civil exchange of greeting.
• ON-CAMPUS CONTACT:  You may visit college campuses as often as you like at your own expense.  When you are on a college campus you may meet with the coach.  These visits are termed "unofficial".
• OFFICIAL VISITS:  You may visit 5 institutions on official visits.  An official visit is a visit where the school pays all or part of you expenses.  You may only take one official visit per school.  You may make official visits beginning the first day of class of you senior year in high school.
  
• EMAIL & FAXES:  Email and faxes are treated the same as written correspondence.  College coaches may send you email and faxes as often as they like.
  

• Freshman Year
• Keep up your grades - sign up for honors or AP classes if you can.
• Play as many national level tournaments as you can, as coaches tend to go to those.
• Create a coverletter, education/sports resume and web site.  Include your name, school, year in school, potential major, GPA and class rank.
• Notify college coaches in advance about the national tournaments you will be playing in.
• Sophomore Year
• Update your coverletter, education/sports resume and web site.  Include your name, school, year in school, potential major, GPA and class rank.
• Start tinking about where you want to go to college - geographical area.
• Attend a summer sport camp at the college or university you are thinking about.
• Play as many national level tournaments as you can, as coaches tend to go to those.
• Notify college coaches in advance about the national tournaments you will be playing in.
• Keep up your grades - sign up for honors or AP classes if you can.
• Junior Year
• College coaches can officially write you after September 1 of your junior year.
• Your junior year is the key year in college recruitment and developing a timeline search for the college of your choice.
• August to October
• Begin to think about specific colleges or universities.
• Talk to your high school guidance counselor; find out if you are on track to be a NCAA qualifier.
• Have a family meeting about college.  Determine where you are academically, financially, and athletically.
• Take PSAT or PACT.  Schedule your first nationwide SAT/ACT test.
• Get a copy of the NCAA Handbook for College- Bound Students.  Your Athletic Director and guidance counselor are mailed one yearly.
• Update your coverletter, education/sports resume and web site.  Include your name, school, year in school, potential major, GPA, PSAT/ACT score and class rank.  Send off by the middle of October.
• January to June.
• Send off your NCAA Clearinghouse Form at the end of your junior year if you plan to participate at the NCAA Division I or II level.
• Narrow down your list of colleges and universities.
• Retake SAT/ACT if need be.
• Make a video.  Update your coverletter,  education and sports resume, and web site. 
• Watch college teams play.
• Try to visit college campuses to get ideas of what you like and do not like about them.
  
• June to August
• College coaches can officially talk to you by July 1 after your junior year.
• Attend a summer sport camp at the college or university you are thinking about.
• Play as many national level tournaments as you can, as coaches tend to go to those.
• Notify college coaches in advance about the national tournaments you will be playing in.
• Senior Year
• August to December
• Colleges can officially pay for a campus visit on the first day of your senior year.  You must first have taken the ACT/SAT test exam and have provided the school with an official transcript.
• Update your coverletter, education/sports resume and web site.  Include your name, school, year in school, potential major, GPA, PSAT/ACT score and class rank.  Continure sending them off.
• Respond to letters from coaches.  Return questionnaires; send videos, transcripts, etc.
• When you have decided not to pursue a college, inform the coach ASAP with a letter or phone call.
• Follow up letters/tapes with phone calls to coaches at schools that interest you. 
• Request your high school coach to contact schools that have contacted you first!  They usually find you first, not the other way around.  Division III coaches are always looking.
• Continue to take NCAA Core Classes.  Your guidance counselor has a listing of what the college of your choice has chosen as NCAA Core classes that have been approved by the NCAA.
• Visit colleges of your choice - paid or unpaid visits.
• Send out college applications to at least three schools.
• NCAA I or II colleges verbally commit or sign your National Letter of Intent in the early signing period.
• January to June.
• Apply for scholarships and financial aid via the FAFSA form. Do this by January 1st.  Most Colleges "date stamp" your FAFSA application and financial aid is given by a first-come-first-serve basis, especially at NCAA Divsiion III level.
• Develop a relationship with one finaincial aid counselor.  Do not accept the first package they send you.  Negotiate items.
• Try to get more grant money then loan. 
• Compare similar colleges and their packages.
• The higher a student's GPA and test scores, the more a college is willing to "wheel and deel" with you.
• Graduate from high school and complete the final stages of NCAA Clearinghouse certification - Division I and II only.
• Visit the college of your choice again.  Meet with the coach and get your summer workout program.

• Running Speed
• Home to First Base: 3.0 Seconds or Less
• Home to Home: 10.0 to 12.0 Seconds
• Pitching Arm Strength
• Fastball: 57+ MPH - NCAA Division I
• Fastball: 50 to 55 MPH - NCAA Division II
• Pitchers: Drop Pitch, Riser, Off-Speed
• ERA: At Least 2.50 ERA or Better
• Catchers
• Home to Second Base: 2.0 Seconds
• Batting Statistics
• At Least .300 or Better
• High School Grades
• 3.0 GPA or Better Out of 4.0
• College Testing Scores
• ACT: 24+
• SAT: 1000+