The Gate April 2018 | Page 4

College Placement Timeline By BGGA College Planning & Placement Team There is a lot of work that goes into college placement and landing a spot on a college golf team. The preparation needs to start early and there’s a certain process to follow. See the optimal college placement timeline below. Freshman Year of High School • • • • Build a resume and establish a ranking in junior golf in the U.S. by playing in multi-day tournaments. This is how you start to build your profile. Begin your research on colleges and admissions requirements. Keep up academically by taking the core courses required by the NCAA. Maintain a high GPA and figure out a plan for the next three years in regard to academics. Sophomore Year of High School • Continue to make academics a priority and maintain your GPA. • Participate in school activities. • Keep building your list of potential colleges. • Play consistently in tournaments. • Update your golf and academic resumes. • Register with the NCAA eligibility center. • Start contacting coaches when appropriate. Junior Year of High School • Refine your college list by looking at team rosters to note how many players are leaving the year you enter and note their scoring averages. • Continue to update your golf and academic resumes and send them to coaches. • Take standardized test prep courses and register to take the SAT and ACT in the Fall of your junior year. • Take the TOEFL if required. • Start making unofficial visits to colleges. Senior Year of High School • If you haven’t taken the SAT or ACT this should be a priority. You can retake them if you need to improve your score. • Have your transcripts sent to the NCAA Eligibility Center. • Upload your test scores to the NCAA Eligibility center • Complete the amateurism certification process. • Continue to compete in tournaments. • Try to narrow your list of potential colleges down to those that are a “best-fit” for you • Continue to make unofficial visits or official visits if asked by the coach • Evaluate offers and decide on the best option for you! Learn more about BGGA’s College Planning & Placement and see a signing day list of where BGGA students have gone on to play college golf.