By IJGA 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!
