Ivy League and other select, non athletic scholarship awarding institutions can, in many cases, offer significant assistance in Admissions that can potentially lend strong support for prospective student-athletes. It is important that prospects, families and high school advisors clearly understand the role the college coach plays in this process and make every effort to develop a sincere and strong working relationship with them throughout the college search.

Admissions Pre-Reads

Early academic evaluations are an effective means of determining the potential admissibility of a candidate. Typically, coaches work with an athletic department “Admissions liaison” that can assist them in requesting “early reads” for prospects. If families have cultivated a strong relationship with the coach, this request will likely be honored and could be a real time saver by providing recruits with an accurate idea of their chances in admissions. Below are some important points to consider regarding pre-reads:

• Provides the family with a strong idea of the likelihood of admission.
• Requires current and accurate standardized test scores, updated transcripts and high school profile.
• Gives the coach a strong indication of the prospects Admissions Index and the level of potential support in Admissions.
• Coach-family collaboration develops trust and confidence.
• Shows the coach “strong interest” from family and prospect.
• Will avoid “spinning of wheels” for the family, prospect and the college coach, especially if admissions seem unlikely.
• Turnaround time is generally 2-3 weeks

Likely Letters

The likely letter is a tremendous tool typically used by Ivy League coaches that offer “near guarantees” of admissions and these letters can be sent to prospective student-athletes well before the regular population of applicants is reviewed. This becomes a tremendous bargaining chip for college coaches who are competing with scholarship institutions for the same prospect, or “overlap” prospects who are applying to other Ivy League and select academic institutions. It is fair to point out that likely letters are not abundantly available and only a certain percentage of “impact” prospects will receive them.

Likely letters will provide recruits and their families with a sense of confidence, especially when they are presented with athletic scholarship deadlines from other college coaches, or feeling pressure from non-scholarship college coaches to “move in their direction.” Likely letters are issued directly from the admissions office and will offer families with relative assurance that, barring any unusual circumstances, their children will be admitted.

Priority Applications

Priority applications are becoming more popular in the recruiting process and are typically used by Division 3 programs as a means of providing families with an early “look” from admissions well before the majority of regular applicants are read.

When you break it down, the priority application is a win-win for both the college coaches and the families. Firstly, the priority application is a simplified version of the regular application that offers the prospect with a streamlined and time saving approach to admissions and turnaround time from the office of admissions can be as early as 30 days. Likewise, college coach’s benefit by offering their top candidates with a priority admissions read that can rival both the national letter of intent, as well as many of the early decision/action admissions programs.

It is fair to say that priority applications are not offered to the majority of prospects, but are distributed to athletes who show significant interest in his program and are part of the coach’s “A” recruiting file. Either way, the priority application can provide families with early and exact information in admissions and serve as a handy tool that will assist them strongly in the decision making process.

Tips for Advisors, Parents and Prospects

Below are a few pointers that will be helpful in navigating the college quest for prospective student-athletes who are interested in applying to Ivy League and select, non athletic scholarship schools:

• Cultivate an honest and truthful relationship with the college coach.
• Provide the college coach with accurate and timely information that will assist him in making a fair and timely evaluation of both academic strength and athletic talent.
• Be honest with the college coach about the schools you are seriously considering.
• Let the college coach know where you stand with his/her school, and give the coach a chance to recruit you further.
• Avoid using the coach as a springboard in Admissions with the intent of not participating on the team. This will potentially backfire down the road for high school teammates and your sports program. Remember, you are representing yourself, your coach, your school and your family. Maintain a high level of integrity.
• Include community service and leadership activities in your personal profile. This could add some weigh that creates further support for your application by the college coach.

Especially in today’s tough economic climate, the non scholarship option for prospective student-athletes and families may seem daunting, but considering the long term benefits one can receive from such a potentially rewarding experience, makes this option very worthy. Additionally, it is fair to point out that athletes, although identified in Admissions as having a special talent, are treated as any other candidate and will be admitted only if the applicant’s academic credentials are in an acceptable range and he/she is deemed capable of succeeding. That being said, student-athletes who bring solid academic credentials to the table and have the ability to strongly impact an athletics program could bring a very strong “chip” to the game of college recruiting that could give them a leg up on the competition.

I knew that homeschooling would enable me to use what I believe to be superior educational materials, which embodied sound Christian values, rather than secular humanism, evolution, hedonism and other philosophies of the world that have infiltrated the text books used in state schools.

I was also happy to know that one-to-one tuition that homeschooling allows would ensure that none of my children would ‘fall through the cracks’ if they had any special learning needs. They would be able to progress at their own pace and move ahead only after they had mastered whatever new concept they were learning.

I was glad to know that as we progressed in the years to come, that I would discover my children’s passions and I would be able to tailor-make their education to facilitate their interests and career directions, making learning a fulfilling and purposeful experience for each one. This would be true ‘outcomes based education’ with our own Godly outcomes as the goal, instead of the state’s outcomes!

I soon discovered that I would need to train my children to be helpers in the home, capable of completing chores that would contribute to the smooth-running of our home. I was glad that we could encourage a good work ethic in this way and raise capable, hard-working individuals.

I, too, would learn to become better organized in my home and I found that each year, as I matured in our homeschooling adventure, gained experience and confidence, that I got more and more organized and enjoyed the journey more and more.

So, with all these benefits, I had the mental picture of us becoming the ideal ‘happy homeschooling family’.

..and then REALITY HIT!

* It was a struggle to keep my home as immaculately clean as my husband would like, when I was busy with a school-going child, toddlers at my feet all day and pregnant most of the time too!
* My friends thought I was a bit odd, to stay home, occupied with my children all day instead of putting them in preschool like they did.
* I could never go anywhere without having a group of small children in tow – so any outings or errands became a major event, to get everyone organized, bags packed, juice cups filled, safety-belts all buckled up etc. etc.
* I could no longer go to gym, craft mornings, Bible studies or other adult activities that would stimulate me unless it was a ‘child-friendly’ group.
* We had to survive on one income, which meant that for many years, until I started a home business, money was very tight and was often an ‘issue’.
* There were relationship clashes between me and my step-daughter, which affected the atmosphere in our home and made it hard on everyone in the family.
* I regularly wondered if we were doing enough compared to what school-children were doing, as our days seemed to be filled with interruptions.
* I wondered if I was using the best curriculum or if we should have used some better program.
* I wondered if my children would one day be glad that they were homeschooled, or if they would feel that we had deprived them of a school career.
* At times, some of my children had very few friends their own age or own gender and I wondered if they felt deprived of friends.
* On days when I lost my cool with my kids, I felt I was a terrible teacher and parent.
* I often compared myself to other homeschoolers, either in real life, or on the Net, and felt that I was not offering my kids as rich an education with as many opportunities as they were giving theirs.
* I read about many different styles and philosophies about homeschooling and often felt that there might be something lacking in the way we do school.

As the years rolled on, I found answers to some of these dilemmas. I became more confident and settled in our way of homeschooling. I found better curricula materials that suited our needs more comfortably and in time I realized that the sacrifices that I had made for homeschooling our family were paying off.

My children, although far from perfect, were learning to do their chores.
They were becoming self-motivated learners, able to get out their books and start without me at times.

I succeeded in teaching them to read well and they fell in love with books, becoming bookworms that devour any literature they can find in the house that they haven’t already read. (I now have to pack away in boxes any literature that I want to read aloud with them!)

They are well-socialised and polite, able to converse with both adults and two-year-olds alike! They make friends easily and participate in both individual and team sports.

They say that they are happy to be homeschooled and view one another as each others’ best companions. They value their relationships with their siblings.
Our house is reasonably neat, but never going to feature in any interior decorating magazine!

I have found ways to pursue hobbies, a home business and interests of my own in the evenings that leave me fulfilled. BUT, in spite of all these wonderful successes, I have discovered a far more valuable and hidden blessing in our homeschool life:

Firstly, let me state that the success of a homeschool does not lie in any curriculum!

God is using homeschooling to constantly shape and mould all our characters.
The constant rubbing up caused by our different personalities enables us to sharpen one another like iron sharpens iron.

As homeschooling parents, we have the opportunity to constantly disciple and train our children’s characters. Whenever vices such as laziness, selfishness, dishonesty, lack of respect or any such trait raises its ugly head, we have to deal with it head on!

We have the opportunity to build strong relationships with our children, to win their hearts, so that they will learn to honour and obey both their parents and God and become adults of integrity! What good is it if they are well-educated academically, but not honest, reliable, diligent and God-fearing men and women of integrity! Knowing how to deal with these heart issues that we face in our homeschool is not always easy…and learning to govern one’s own emotions is also a challenge.

As a parent, I have had to develop traits that would hardly be needed if my children were in school for hours and hours each day.

People often say to me, “You must have such patience!” If I have patience, it is because I have developed it to meet a need. Nobody has patience if they don’t need it!

Patience, perseverance, self-sacrifice and humility in the face of one’s own weaknesses are just a few of the traits that are constantly developed in the homeschool situation. I think every homeschool parent has, at one time or another, had the awful realization of the bad fruit in their own lives being reflected back to them through their children’s behaviour – be it attitudes, actions or even just intonation! It’s enough to make any parent run to the foot of the Cross and cry for mercy and help!

A few years ago, I found a quote that says in a nutshell what I have discovered:

“…God’s initial goal for Christian homeschooling families is not the raising of godly children. Instead, God’s wonderful, but subtly hidden agenda is that the homeschooling experience be so challenging for the parents that they feel the need and hunger for a closer walk with their heavenly Father.” (Kyle Miller)

It has taken me years to fully comprehend that homeschooling is not just about academics, rather, the hidden blessing of homeschooling is the opportunity that it affords us to allow God to develop His character in us and in our children by drawing near to Him in our need!

The parent who wishes to send a child to private school in hopes that it will prepare him or her for college can always consider enrollment in a distance learning private school. Although physically different than a traditional private school, a distance learning private school is by no means less qualified to educate a student and prepare him or her for the rigors of college.

Distance learning schools, especially in this current economic environment, represent a very economical option to more expensive and costly traditional private schools, for various reasons.

• A considerably cheaper alternative – Economically and statistically speaking, tuition at most distance learning private schools costs only a fraction of what tuition costs at traditional private schools. In some cases, tuition at a distance learning school can cost about a quarter of that at a traditional private school.

• No “hidden” fees – Private schools, like other traditional schools, often have events and activities that can add to their overall cost. Whether it is a ticket for the prom, a yearbook, or an activity card, there always seems to be something to pay for at a private school. With a distance learning private school, many of these extra costs are avoided, since the focus is entirely on education.

• Leave the driving to us – It seems silly, but by attending school online through a distance learning program can save parents a bundle on fuel charges. By not having to drive a student to and from school, parents can save hundreds if not thousands of dollars each year.

• Uniforms not required – Going to school online means not having to deal with spending money on uniforms. Most private schools have a dress code of some type, whether it is requiring that students wear polo shirts or a shirt, tie, and coat. For parents, this means yet another thing they have to pay for. Again, this is not a problem with a distance learning private school, since students will attend class from the comfort of their home.

• All inclusive – Much of the supplemental help that students need in order to succeed in private school is often available to them, at an additional cost. Tutoring and private lessons, if available at the school, usually cost a bit more. With a distance learning program, students generally receive this additional help as part of the overall package.