Contacting Colleges

I would talk to 6 to 8 schools because it shows your interest, but if you talk to 15-25 you might sound a little desperate to get to one of them. But that's just me

Can I add the question how long should it take for a coach to email you back after you contact them? Will they likely respond even if they are not interested?

I talked to one coach and he responded, I only responded though telling him that I wish his team good luck, but I guess it depends. Some coaches though get real busy. If you ask now in the winter vs. fall and spring you probably will get a response faster. But I can't guarantee anything.

I would assume they mean start with 20-25 and narrow it down. They won't know how many you contacted, so whether it is 6 to 8 or 50 they won't know.

My observation is they contact you you fairly soon (within a week or so), but coaches are busy, and many are part-time.

I think if you can find 6 or 8 that show some interest---focus on those.

That sounds right, but I'm not the best person to ask.

What is your gradaution year?

Other colleges can't see how many you contact. Contact them all if you want! All it does is increase your changes and encourage a better fit

Send many emails to the coaches and have a GOOD list of questions to ask. If you don't initiate a good conversation then the impact may be that you just don't really want it. Ask your questions as though the school wants YOU and not the other way around.

Questions like?

courses practice facilities the team has access to?

how often they practice?

how long they practice?

conditioning program?

???

Here's a suggestion (in order):

1) Identify a major course of study
2) Go to a2zcolleges.com and search for colleges offering this major (List #1)
3) Cross reference this list with all golf schools - go to NCAA.com and NAIA.com - this will give you a comprehensive list of all golf schools (D-I, D-II, D-III and NAIA) across the coutnry which offer your major.
4) Contact the coaches for your top schools by e-mail, phone, etc. - do whatever it takes and make several attempts to contact.

I played D1 Baseball and this is the way it works:

A. If it is RECRUITING...then the colleges are coming to you.

B. Your High School coach should be making the contacts with colleges, especially if he has connections. If he has none, then you are going to have an uphill battle.

C. You need to consider finances: I got a full ride to the school I chose, I was only offered a percentage to some of the other schools on my list.

D. I hope you have academics as the top priority, choosing a school w/o the correct academic path that suits you will be a mistake.

E. Obvsious - LOCATION.

D. After all that, if you have to do the contacting, then you need to go ahead and contact them all....you need to send video, and data to show your performance.

F. If you can't compete with the top golfers on the current team, then you need to look elsewhere. On top of that you need to be able to compete against the top golfers in the CONFERENCE, not just the school.

G. It does not matter what level of college....some schools are known for their programs, others are not!