Page 27 - THE ORACLE MAGAZINE October'23 EDITION

BridgeU.com
StudyPortals.com
JKEducation: a paid education agency which
can help guide you through the application
process, aid with essays, teach you how to
‘
market yourself’
well. They regularly attend
Park Lane
’
s university fair as well as
Gaudeamus.
USA Sport & Study: the agency I worked with
personally. Similarly to JK Education, it is a
paid agency which helps you with the
application process. They have many contacts
with universities and coaches across the U.S.
which makes it easier to talk to coaches
quickly. Your agent will conduct mock
interviews with you to prepare for interviews
with coaches and help with writing essays and
preparing applications.
NCAA: as a student athlete, you will have to set
up an NCAA account at some point. However,
since all U.S. schools are part of the NCAA,
their website contains all the necessary
information regarding rankings, contacts etc.
The Student Sport Company: a non-profit
company similar to USA S&S, based on a
questionnaire, they will market you to UK
Universities and put you in contact with
coaches if they express interest
British Universities and College Sport (BUCS)
website
Helpful Resources:
Overall:
US:
UK:
Europe: since university sport is not as big here as
in the US or the UK, you have to research whether
your sport is available at a given school.
Scholarships are not often available, but
university club sports are almost always an option.
If you have any other questions, do not hesitate to reach out through my school email
@pupil.anna.nemcova@parklane-is.com. I’
m always happy to help in any way I can:)
What my process was like and what your
timeline might look like:
November-December (DP1): Independent
research, making a rough list of schools you
’
re
interested in, maybe signing a contract with an
agency to help with contacting coaches and the
overall process.
January-April: Emailing and calling coaches,
determining where athletic scholarships are likely,
researching alternatives (i.e. academic
scholarships, financial aid, external scholarships
such as Bakala and Kellner Foundations), creating
and filling out application portals (CommonApp,
UCAS, UCs, CSS Profile, FAFSA etc.), planning
visits over the summer
May-June: #1 priority = Y12 EOY Exams, SATs,
contacting coaches and arranging visits in late
June/early August Late June/July: at this point,
most athletes are starting to get signed, as coaches
are finalizing roster spots for the next academic
year (yes, during your first year of IB!) but this can
continue well into DP2.
August 1st: Common App opens, fill out
questionnaires for each school, start writing any
essay supplements
September: finishing essay supplements, getting
ready to submit ED/EA applications where
applicable
October-January: submit all applications on time,
submit external scholarship essays/attend
interviews (Bakala Foundation in November,
Kellner Foundation in January)
January-May: find out acceptances, negotiate any
last-minute
‘
walk-on
’
options with coaches based
on acceptance, evaluate financial aid packages if
applicable, accept an offer, collect necessary travel
documents, housing
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