One of the areas that I discussed in the article about taking all five of
your official visits (Click
here for that article) is if you should make your college decision based on
the offers you currently have or roll the dice by hoping that another school
will extend you a scholarship. But what should you do if the school you are
waiting has been the program you have spent your life dreaming of playing at?
This question again depends on the situation and you will have to look at a
number of factors before making that final decision. And no matter what state
you live in, there is a good chance that you grew up loving a state school or
another national program that has made a name for yourself. Making that decision
will really affect the rest of your life so it is important to weigh both the
pros and cons of each side.
If your dream school is really interested in you (And by really interested I
mean calls, hand written letters, and a request to come on an official visit),
then there is a good chance that at the very least they would take you as a
preferred walk-on. Being a preferred walk-on would be the worst case scenario
here and along with that comes a lot of options.
The first depends on the
financial situation of your family. Can your family pay for you to pass up a
scholarship either by having the money or taking out student loans? As a
preferred walk-on, you will get to wear the jersey that you have dreamed of but
the financial situation is what should factor in the most. A lot of athletes
that come from wealthy backgrounds have no problem spurning scholarship offers
to live their dream and walk on at a Division I school. The problem is few
people have that type of money to turn down a scholarship. And as I have said
here many times, student loans are not exactly fun to pay off over time.
The next situation is that as a walk on, everyone’s dream is to prove
college coaches wrong and eventually become a starter at the school of your
dreams. The problem is that the majority of athletes who take this route either
never play for the four or five years of their career or end up transferring to
a smaller school to play. I would assume if you are considering this, you are
the stud at your high school and most likely play every down in football or
never leave the basketball court. Whatever the case, you will have to be happy
with sitting for at least a few years. Rarely does a walk on come right in and
start within the first few years of their college career. It does happen, but
not very often.
If you do a good enough job, the school will likely
extend you a scholarship offer. But it could be your third year at the school.
And with walk-ons, you may receive the offer one year and it may be taken away
the next. While all scholarships are a one year contract, coaches are more
likely to pull the ride from a former walk on than someone who was offered in
high school. This does really happen.
At this time in basically all
recruiting processes, your dream school is probably still evaluating you and if
you are worthy of a scholarship. They may be up front with you and tell you that
you can come there as a preferred walk on. The most likely case is that the
school is waiting on other prospects that they have rated higher on the
recruiting board to decide. If they pick another school, then you are moving
closer to that scholarship offer on the recruiting board.
What is
interesting about following the recruiting process of schools is that with the
help of sites like Rivals.com, 247Sports.com, and a variety of others, potential
recruits and their parents do follow what is going on with the recruiting
process. While it is never going to be 100% accurate, this site will give you a
feel for who the school is after and who they have offered. The biggest schools
have the most in-depth coverage so if Alabama is after you, it would be easy for
you to check what defensive backs they have offered and who they are bringing in
for visits.
As I have always said, it is important to ask the
coaches questions when they call you about your current situation. If they are
serious about you at this point, they should be calling you weekly. Ask them
about your status, who is above you on the recruiting board, and if they feel
you have a realistic shot at a scholarship. They may up front with you or they
may feed you lies. You never know. But asking the questions can never hurt in
the recruiting process.
In the end, it comes down to money and being able
to pay for college. You want to find a school that you love and has academic
areas that you are interested in. If your dream school does not have the
Engineering major that you want to go into, you need to think about that as
well. You will roll the dice waiting for that scholarship offer but sometimes it
pays off.
For example, a school in the Midwest is having their potential
late minute scholarships/preferred walk-ons all on official visits a week and a
half before Signing Day. Right now, none of them have made decisions and they
all hope that they will get an offer from this school. The problem is, out of
the three for sure visiting, I don’t see more than one leaving the visit with an
offer. And if that scholarship comes, it may end up coming the day before
Signing Day.
It will be a tough decision either way. Passing up a
scholarship, no matter what school offers it, is difficult. Look into money,
your potential major, and your desire to play early versus going to your dream
school.
