I would like to tap into the vast knowledge and experience of those on this forum to help me with important questions to ask coaches, advisors, wrestlers, etc... on a college wrestling recruiting trip? Thanks in advance for any help you can give!!!

Yea I'd like to hear somethings too...

1. Ask about what they invision your first year on the mats to be primarily: Redshirt/ Starter

2. Ask about depth of weight at your weight class projected for the upcomming year.

3. Ask about the area around the school, what is there to do and what attractions are near.

4. School? Is it accredited and what majors do they offer.

5. Ask if there is a way they could help you find scholarships.

This is a little long, but these are the questions we asked at most of the schools we looked at. If they really want to sell you on their school and program, they will take the time to answer ALL of your questions.

EDUCATION

1. Does the school offer the courses and type of program I want?

2. How good is the department in my major?

3. What is the Student / Teacher ratio?

4. What percentage of athletes on scholarship graduate?

5. Does the school offer a high quality education?

6. Does the school offer services I need and activities I’m interested in?

7. What are job placement rates for students who have recently graduated?

8. What academic support programs are available for athletes

9. How many credit hours should I take in season and out-of-season?

10. Are there restrictions in scheduling classes around practice:

11. Am I assigned an advisor in the beginning?

FINANCIAL AID / GRANTS / SCHOLARSHIPS

1. What type of loans / scholarships / grants / aid is available?

2. When can I apply?

3. How much is available?

4. Federal Pell Grants

5. What are my opportunities for employment while I am a student? As an athletes, would I be eligible for Federal Work-Study?

6. How long does my scholarship last?

7. Exactly how much will the athletics scholarship be? What will and will not be covered?

8. Am I eligible for additional financial aid? Are there any restrictions?

9. Who is financially responsible if I am injured while competing?

10. Under what circumstances would my scholarship be reduced or cancelled?

11. Are there academic criteria tied to maintaining the scholarship?

12. What scholarship money is available after eligibility is exhausted to help me complete my degree: (it may take longer than 4 years to complete a degree)

13. What scholarship money is available if I suffer an athletics career-ending injury?

14. Will my scholarship be maintained if there is a change in coaches:

COSTS
1. Actual Tuition & fees – any waiver for out-of-state student athletes? What will my final costs be?

2. Room and board (is it covered or can it be included in student loans)

3. Cost of books, supplies, and miscellaneous expenses (include a reasonable amount for a personal computer)

4. Transportation Allowance

5. Out-of-pocket expenses

COLLEGE LIFE

1. What is a typical day for a student-athlete?

2. What kind of facilities does the college have available?

3. What are the residences halls like? Do the athletes stay in a certain dorm?

4. Do student-athletes have to live on campus? If yes, what are expectations?

5. Are freshman allowed to have a vehicle on campus?

ATHLETICS

1. What weight do you have me forecasted at

2. What others are you recruiting for my weight / around my weight / how many?

3. How many do you have in your program / approximately how many at each weight?

4. What is the possibility of being red shirted?

5. What expectations do you have for training and conditioning? Summer training?

6. How would you describe your coaching style

7. Do the other coaches and yourself work out with the wrestlers?

8. When does the head coach’s contract end – how long do you intend to stay?

9. What are preferred, invited, and uninvited walk-on situations? How many do you expect to compete: How many earn a scholarship?

10. Is medical insurance for athletes provided by the college? Is medical insurance required for my participation?

11. What happens if I want to transfer to another school?

12. What other factors should I consider when choosing a college?

13. What is school provided / supplied? Uniforms, bags, shoes, etc. – What will I need to provide?

14. If I redshirt, what does the college pay for / what am I responsible for – in and out of competition

15. When in competition, what expense does the school pay for

16. How much time will I be away from school / class while competing?

17. Out-of-pocket expenses?

18. Are laundry services provided for athletes or I am expected to do it all myself?

19. Are there fundraisers we will be expected to help with

20. What conference are you in and what teams compete?

RECRUITING TRIP

After each of the schools we visited, we told him to write down things that happened, dislikes, likes and how he actually felt he was treated and accepted. Did the coaches try to sell him on the school and their program, did they take the time to visit with him, answer all his questions, or did they kinda brush him off?

We told him to rate each of the colleges 1-5 and hopefully that would help him make the "best" decision for him. I can tell you from experience, each college does things very differently on the recruiting trips!!

If you want to ask specific questions, please feel free to email me at gratergr@kansas.net

Leanna Grater

Another thing to elaborate on after reading Leanna's comments about each college doing different things on recruiting trips:

GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING!!!

I like LLG's response! It puts the priorities (student/athlete)in the proper order!!

Thanks for the responses Aaron and Leanna, those are great questions and will allow us to be more prepared on our visits. There is another area in which I would appreciate your help, what are some common questions the coaches will ask the wrestler? I assume they ask about grades, strengths and weaknesses, etc... but are there any other questions that are commonly asked that we should be prepared for?

Go and watch the team and especially the coach in action at a match or tournament if possible.

Coaches will typically ask a wrestler stuff like:

What is your planned major?

What weight do you see yourself at?

They of course ask about the grades....

They ask about state and how you did, I know they asked a buddy of mine about a tough loss he had, and that's where they really want to see character shine through.

I agree with Slowpoke too on watching the team and coach. I know quite a few colleges will let you come and watch practices and competitions.

I don't remember a lot of questions because we asked so many, but I know one that stuck in my mind was:

Where do you see yourself as a member of our wrestling team and what are your goals as a member of our team?

What do you expect to gain from being a student / athlete?

Also, we put together a recruiting video (good and not so good matches) from Danny's freshman year through the summer before his senior year. Another thing we did was put together a "resume" that told about Danny (education / sports / personal) and sent to the college coaches. We also included a copy of his high school transcript to date. From these two things, they already knew a lot about him before we took the visit.

Good luck in looking at colleges. It's a big decision for them to make but we heard it many times while taking college visits; They will know when it's the right college"!! In our household, education was first and wrestling second. Some may not agree with that, BUT they have to have the priorties in the right order!

Leanna Grater

Ask them about living facilities on and off campus.

Find out where WalMart is.

Learn a bit of history about the college both athetically and academically to understand the school better.

Those are some tips from me.

Great questions Leanna! The only thing I would add is don't sit there and wait for the college to show interest in you. Put together a highlight tape and send it with a letter showing your interest in their program and why you think you are a good fit for their program. Target schools that interest you that also have people graduating at or near your weight class.

Write a resume of acheivements on paper(typed) and list W/L record, state and league honors. National tournaments and such. Send it off to schools you are interested in.

Wow! Great lists! valuable info...great question and posts!

Just a heads up, in regards to sending the highlight tape and letter to the colleges you are interested in, we did that!! We were always told to be upfront with the coaches and ALWAYS respond to any correspondence he received whether he was interested or not and tell them either way!!

However, don't be discourage when the colleges don't respond. It's too bad that some of the college coaches don't follow that same rule and respond with a brief note to these wrestlers either way!!!

Leanna Grater