COMMON RECRUITING TERMS DEFINED

REDSHIRT - A term used to describe a student-athlete who does not compete in athletic competition and is granted an extra year of eligibility. A red shirt may practice and travel with the team. More common in football and basketball at the high D1 level. A player can be asked to red shirt even if they are healthy. A red shirt player may also dress for a game and play in a game if need be at any time. There is also a term called a gray shirt, which means you are enrolled in school but are not an official member of the team till the following semester. This is often done when colleges are waiting for scholarship money to free up the following semester.

NLI - The NLI or National Letter of Intent is a legally binding document that a high school athlete signs with a school. It signifies the award of athletic scholarship money for one year. It is used at all NCAA D1 and some NCAA D2 institutions. You can only sign one with an NCAA school. It is not used at the D3 level. There is also a Junior College Letter of Intent and you area allowed to sign one JC NLI and one NCAA NLI if you so choose without penalty. There are specific early and late signing periods for different sports assigned by the NCAA.

PROSPECTIVE STUDENT-ATHLETE - You become a prospective student-athlete when you enter the 9th grade. This is an NCAA term that has little meaning, but people hear it and always ask what it is.

OFFICIAL VISIT - An official visit is a visit arranged and paid for by a college. At the NCAA Division One and NCAA Division Two level you are allowed 5 total official visits that cannot exceed 48 yours. At the Division 3 level there is no limitations as to how many paid visits you can go on, but you cannot have a paid visit to the same school more than once. Your official visit cannot begin until you have provided the university a copy of your current transcript.

UNOFFICIAL VISIT - An unofficial visit to a member institution by a prospective student-athlete is a visit made at the prospect's own expense. You are free to visit as many schools as you like as often as you like on your own time and money.

FAFSA - Free Application for Federal Student-Aid - FAFSA is the form you fill out that determines your EFC. Colleges use this to calculate and award financial aid. www.fafsa.ed.gov

EFC - EFC or Expected Family contribution is the amount of money a college expects you to contribute to your education based on your FAFSA information. Your EFC is the same for the year it's calculated in regardless of what school you are applying to. If a college costs $20,000 and your EFC is $10,000, that college will expect you to pay at least $10,000 of tuition.

CLEARINGHOUSE - The Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse is an independent entity that certifies all high school athletes that with to compete at the NCAA D1 or NCAA D2 level. If you do not register with the clearinghouse or do not meet their qualifications, you cannot play athletics in your first year of college. High school athletes must submit their transcript at the end of their junior year and then again upon graduation from high school. The Clearinghouse determines your eligibility using a set number of core courses you must complete in high school and a sliding scale that combines your SAT/ACT scores and GPA. You can register online or through your guidance office.

CORE COURSES - Core courses are courses such as math, English, science, history, social studies - that the Initial Eligibility uses to determine your eligibility at the D1 and D2 level.

YIELD - Yield is an admissions term used by colleges to define how many students apply to the school and enroll once accepted. If a college accepts 5,000 students in a year and 2,500 of those students enroll in the college, the yield will be 50%. This is an important figure for colleges, as it will define how many students they accept in a given year. The yield at Harvard University is roughly 90%, meaning 90% of all students that are accepted in a given year will enroll in Harvard and this is one of the highest yields in the country. Harvard annually receives about 20,000 applications a year and when they know their average yield will be 90%, they can only accept roughly 2,000 students a year for about 1,800 spots in the freshman class.

EARLY DECISION - Early Decision is a program that allows students to apply early to one school. In most cases, it is a binding decision. If accepted, a school expects you to attend. In other cases, it is not binding. Check the policy at each individual school. Early Decision is a signal to a school you really want to attend and will usually improve your chances of acceptance. You will lose your ability to compare financial aid packages however.

EARLY ACTION - Like Early Decision, Early Action is a program that allows students to apply early to a school. In this case, Early Action is not binding like early decision. More schools are switching to this program for admissions and getting away from binding early decision programs.

ACADEMIC INDEX - The Academic Index is a term used by Ivy League schools to determine eligibility. It is a combination of SAT 1, SAT 2 and Class Rank. An applicant's individual score is then compared to the average for all students, and admissions decisions are based on where you fall on the scale. Ivy athletes have minimum AI's that they must achieve for acceptance and coaches usually have a good idea whether you will be accepted.

NEED BLIND - Schools that are need blind do not use your financial situation when evaluating your application, even if your EFC is very low. This is a good thing for you. Ivy Schools are need blind.

CONTACT PERIOD - During this time, a college coach may have in-person contact with you and/or your parents on or off the college's campus. The coach may also watch you play or visit your high school. You and your parents may visit a college campus and the coach may write and telephone you during this period.

DEAD PERIOD - A college coach may not have any in-person contact with your or your parents at any time in the dead period. The coach may write and telephone you or your parents during this time.

EVALUATION PERIOD - The college coach may watch you play or visit your high school, but cannot have any in-person conversations with you and your parents off the college's campus. You and your parents can visit a college campus during this period. A coach may write and telephone you or your parents during this time.

QUIET PERIOD - The college coach may not have any in-person contact with you or your parents off the college's campus. The coach may not watch you play or visit your high school during this period. You and your parents may visit a college campus during this period.