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Wanting To Play College Sports

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This resource stems from a Case Study found in the “What Do You Do When?” chapter of Jim Thompson’s (@JimThompson18) book, Elevating Your Game.

I’d like to play my sport in college, but I also want to go to a good school that suits me. How can I have a great college experience that includes athletics?

Playing college sports can be a fantastic experience. It is also frustrating and disappointing for many athletes. Here are ideas about how to approach this challenge.

Avoid “anchoring”: Choosing a college is multi-faceted, so try not to anchor on a single aspect. Anchoring is overvaluing one factor and devaluing all other aspects in a decision.

List your priorities for college and use them in your decision-making: Rate each school with a 1 to 10 score for athletics, academics, and alumni. If geography, social life, cost, proximity to relatives, or another aspect of college is important, rate it also. Use your ratings to help you in your decision-making. As you learn more about each college on your list, you can change your ratings to reflect new information.

Expand before you narrow: There are thousands of colleges in the United States and likely dozens that would be a good fit for you. There will come a time to narrow your focus to a few schools. But consider a range of schools before you settle on the smaller number that you want to really concentrate on.

To read the full response, including more ideas on how to pick the right college for you, download the book excerpt found below. Those experiencing the recruiting process will also find this useful.

To purchase the entire Elevating Your Game book, and to learn more about other PCA books, click here.

These books are used in PCA’s live workshops. To learn more about our interactive student-athlete workshops, click here.

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