Here are some common myths about college recruiting.  It's a changing process, and the more you know the better chance you have of achieving your goals.     RECRUITING MYTHS 1. If you are college material coaches will find you. There are 166,000 high school boys playing lacrosse throughout the country.  A coach is looking for five or six players each year to fill in his roster.  He has limited time and a limited travel budget.  Your chances of being found among the 166,000 are slim at best. 2. You need to wait until official recruiting period begins at the start of your junior year. Wrong!  31% of lacrosse players commit before the official recruiting period even begins!! In fact, rising sophomores (freshmen) are committing to college programs so preparing for college cannot begin too early. A recent article in the New York Times was headlined "Committed to College and Then Started 9th Grade."   3. By the time you are a rising senior it is too late to get recruited. 69% of commitments are made between the junior and senior years.  Many schools will recruit rising seniors to fill in unexpected gaps or among players who are late bloomers or missed in the process.  While your chances at a top D1 school go down by the time you're a senior, it is never too late to be recruited. Our own survey of Blue Chip 225 Rising Senior attendees found that over 90% reported at least one college inquiry as a result of attending Blue Chip 225  4. Aim high!  That's where the money is. The talk in any high school locker room is about the top D1 schools kids are going to get into.  UNC, Virginia, Hopkins, SU, and so on are every players dream schools.  They have big time scholarship money. The math is easy - there are 41,000 players in each graduating high school class and maybe 400 scholarship equivalents at all the D1 schools (some you've not likely even heard of).  The odds of receiving ANY funding from ANY D1 school are 0.89% - less than 1 in a 100) - The average award in lacrosse is about $6,000.  In all sports only 3.7% of high school players even make the team.  Unless you are among the national elite players , at least include a wide range of D1 and other division schools in your target list.  Dream high and plan wide. 4. I know a bunch of people who got full rides for lacrosse. Football and basketball are head count sports where each scholarship is given to an individual for college.  Lacrosse is an "equivalency" sport which means that the 12.9  scholarships for D1 and 10.8 for D2 are turned into dollars and awarded in pieces among athletes.  In this way an athlete may receive partial tuition, or books, or any dollar amount so long as the total disbursed does not exceed typical expenses times the number of scholarships allowed for that division.  Not all programs are fully funded which means that a given school may allocate only a portion of the maximum funding to the program which further limits the funding to be spread among the players in the four college classes.   5. Grades don't matter if you're a recruited athlete. Quite the contrary.  While being a recruited athlete is likely to get you some favorable treatment at the admissions office, NCAA regulations and the standards of colleges are likely to set minimum standards you must meet to be admitted no matter how strongly you are being recruited.  Further, a coach assesses the likelihood of your remaining eligible academically, so the athlete with the stronger academic record is going to get the nod over one with lower grades or standardized test scores.   6. Someone can get me recruited.  My coach will get me recruited. I filled out the prospective student questionnaire that's enough.  I got emails from coaches indicating interest. I was invited to college camp.   All these statements are good indications of interest by colleges and you should welcome them. BUT!  During the course of a year a coach may email hundreds of players, invite many players to camp, respond to a vast number of questionnaires... and that is exciting but all it means is that you are noticed.  Until you receive a direct offer from a coach you can drop off the recruiting roster in a moment and the coach is not likely to notify you of this.  The simple reality is that is up to you to market yourself to the schools you want to attend.  No one, and I mean NO ONE, cares as much as you do about this next step in your life!