NCAA Eligibility Center

What we did was have his HS guidance counselor/guidance department send them in. We filled out the form and they knew where to send the transcripts. You can't actually do it yourself, but you have to initiate it with the school.

You will continue to get the status pending until all transcripts through the end of your senior year are received.

When you have your son take the SATs, you can request to have his results sent to the NCAA Clearing House. They will automatically send them there when you enter the NCAA Clearing House code.

Hope this helps.

+1

Yes, it does help. Thanks. We're just waiting on his SAT results to be posted on the collegeboard site and will have those scores sent.

 

Which form did you fill out though to initiate this process if I may ask. I don't see that there is an actual form on the site.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Appreciate it.

I am pretty sure you would use a request form (for official transcripts) from your high school guidance office, and they would take it from there getting it sent.  At our high school, to send transcripts to one or two places is free, then a small charge ($3) for any additional.  You will need to request the official transcripts to be sent again after all grades are in after graduation (to the university/college your son will attend as well NCAA).

Yep, it's the same form the school would use to send transscipts to any college. The guidance department will know what to use. Just tell them they need to be sent to the NCAA Eligibility Center. There is a code for it, I don't remember what it is, but it should be listed on the NCAA EC site. Every school has a code and so does NCAA EC. Just ask for the transcript request form and they should know what to do.

Thanks, All. I appreciate it.

The code is 9999.

 

"If you’re planning to play intercollegiate sports for a NCAA Division I or II school, your SAT® or ACT® scores must be sent directly to the NCAA from the testing agency.  Use code “9999” when ordering test scores for the NCAA."

If they have already taken the test, how do you get them from where they are to the eligibility center

Go to the site where you signed up for the SAT/ACT.  Log in and there will be a place where you can go to have them send the scores out.  Enter the 9999 in the appropriate place and they will send them there.  I believe you are permitted to have the scores sent to a certain number of places for free, after that, there is a small charge.

Chefmike, when you go to send scores, can you post back what you found out?  I was on the collegeboard site today and I see where son can send 4 free when you register, and is $11 each if reported after the test(?).  

 

Son hasn't sent scores anywhere yet, and is taking the SAT for the second time on  Saturday, and if anyone knows:   ******If he elects to send scores to a school or the NCAA, will the prior test scores from February automatically be sent as well?

Keewart, happy to do so when I find out. I have intentions of doing it tonight after his game (rouhgly 11pm since he plays at 730 away

Well....here's an update on this. I managed to get the transcrips sent. Didn't pay anything though. I just called the athletic director and expressed a little grief as to why his guidance counselor wasn't giving him any help with this. I logged in today and it said amatureism status aquired or something like that and then I went and added some information to update his history (he played for American Legion this summer) and then now it says pending review again.

 

One thing I can't figure out is why there is no credits on there for core courses he's taken.

 

I'll tell you this, folks. If the guidance counselor isn't doing anything to help the kid out you had better get on the ball and get a hold of someone who will. The one we have makes the boys schedule up and doesn't even know he's a student athlete wanting to play ball in college. Is a mess. Can't even get a response via email or phone from this lady.

Your son is not the only student the guidance counselor has to help.  It's the players responsibility to see that what ever needed is sent, it just doesn't automatically happen. 

To make sure that what is requested is sent, fill out self addressed stamped envelopes for the guidance counselors, they will appreciate that very much.

Your son is not the only student athlete sending in their info to the eligibility center.  There are thousands and it takes a while to input info.

 

Here is a heads up, every semester request a transcript and make copies, keep them on hand to send to coaches when asked, mail them yourself. They technically are not official (have to have the schools seal on them) but they will get what they want to see before the serious stuff happens (offers, visits, etc).

 

This way you know that it has been taken care of. Always remember no one cares more than you, so get it done and don't complain!

Yes, I get all of that. Problem is that I've tried that thing with the envelopes as well and still didn't see results until I pounded the issue. I'm not really complaining though. I know it sounds that way but I'm really not.

 

But I agree. Have to just stay on top of it because you're correct. Nobody cares about it more than we.

 

I don't know how other schools operate with this but our school (I've only recently found out) has set up an actual classroom time where students can go and manage this eligibility center thing. Problem is that it's only something that football players get to do. And so then this has become the process as far as the counselors function. Until I got on the horn and asked why other athletes playing other sports didn't have this luxury there was really never any other means unless you got people like me nagging about it. Now, of course, they say that they'll offer it to all athletes next year but by then I'll have had it done with him.

 

Big old ball of wax and I guess you just have to be there to know where my frustration came from. Technically he's all caught up on the thing now.

+1 to what TPM said.  I will also add that there are about a gazillion questions on the amateur status part of the Clearing House.  Watch how you answer the questions.  If you have any doubt about any of them, ask here.  The last thing you want to do is have your son's amateur status put into question.  Many of the questions are a little confusing and it seems no matter how you answer them, you are in danger of being paid to play.  That's just a little of what I remember.

 

Also make sure you have your son's SAT/ACT scores sent to the NCAA Clearing House.  I believe the code is 9999.  Your actual eligibility will not be 100% confirmed until final transcripts are received.

 

  

Welcome to the public school system.  Where we are the counselors are 100% useless when it comes to the college application process.  Most people whose kids have ambitions to attend 4-year schools hire their own independent college counselors.  That stinks, but at least that's cheaper than private school.

Hi Guys, 

 

I am one of those independent consultants so I thought I would just chime in to "maybe" ease your worries. 

 

You have good advice above. 

 

The pending status is not of concern if (as I assume) your son is a rising senior. 

I am pretty sure my son's was pending through much of senior fall.

 

There is ample time, and in the meantime your son can just let coaches know he has registered with the NCAA. We put my son's NCAA number on his profile and in all correspondence with coaches, so they know he was on top of that.

 

Re: Core courses not showing.  The reason the transcript core courses are not yet posted is likely due to the fact that they don't have his SAT scores. Once they get all data into the system, scores + grades 9-11, that triggers an automatic review of his core courses.

 

Final review and approval happens after the HS sends the final transcript in June after senior year.  As far as I know anything prior to that is pending.

The Guidance counselor typically don't  work in the summer, FYI, at least in my region.  So a delay now is kind of to be expected, but if you had requested this in the spring it should have been done.  I do think that the NCAA does an electronic process of requesting transcripts now called "e Docs" and your son would have needed to follow those instructions to do the request. (But a follow up with guidance and/or the AD to request is prudent of course!)

 

FYI, to another point, coaches don't do this; it is the job of either your son's GC, or the one on  guidance staff who is appointed to be the NCAA point person.

 

I think that in fact a lot of what you are worried about is premature.....NCAA status does not need to be "FINAL" for quite some time. (Unless of course he is a class of 2013 already recruited!)

 

At this stage last year my son's NCAA account was set, his amateur status was still pending, and his academic was  'early qualifier' but still pending final review.

 

Oh, and when you send scores you can choose if you want to send priors or to just send the latest, to 9999.  That process will become more evident when you log on to the College Board web site to send the scores.  

 

I tell my athletes (for the most part)  to always send scores upon registration, using one of the free reports, every time they take it.  Unless they are likely to really tank it and be below qualifying, why not get the scores into NCAA?  A really weak test taker, I might suggest waiting to report until after he/she knows the scores.

 

Hope this helps and feel free to send me a PM / Dialog.

 

Cheers,

 

Mary S

 

PS, Just a shout out to defend the public schools counselors where there average student load is about 250!! (worse in some cities).  They really do the best they can in most schools, with pretty limited resources. And many just don't have the background or time to learn more about the athletic process at all.  For the most part they are pretty dedicated professionals with too much on their plates.

 

 

+1bbmomandCOP

Yea some counselors are bad, some are good.  I am a high school guidance counselor and baseball coach so I'm all over the NCAA Eligibility stuff.  My caseload is about 350 kids, which is alot for the midwest.  

 

There really is no excuse for a counselor missing the ball on this thought.  At the beginning of each school year I meet with all seniors and document who are athletes (and where they are looking).  Ultimately I put the responsibility on them to notify me when they need to send transcripts out, but I walk them through the process (website, dates, etc).  When due dates are approaching I make sure to meet with those who have not sent anything or submitted anything for a little reminder.  

 

Don't like to see too much bashing on the counseling profession, but I understand some are not the best at what they do.  I take pride in being proactive on all college/athletic situations (and I get on my coworkers about it too).

 

To be clear, I did not mean to bash the counseling profession in my post above. If anything, I'm bashing the system and the budget allocation devoted toward counseling in general, and specifically as it relates to the college application process. 

 

As background, where we live the public high school that serves our neighborhood has a reputation for academic excellence and rigor, and it offers a boatload of AP and honors courses. Yet when you talk to colleges, this HS is not on the radar of most.  If you ask the school administration, their answer to that is that it's their job get the kids ready for college, not to get them into college. So they do no outreach, they do no college fairs, and they do the minimum to aid in the college application process, and virtually nothing to aid in the college selection process. Meanwhile, across town, the private and parochial high schools, who are not regarded to be any better academically, yet who market themselves as "college preparatory" schools, are now meeting with their incoming freshmen to talk about what they should be doing this year to get themselves ready for the process, and getting the kids to start thinking about what colleges they might look at based on their interests and academic background.

 

There are many super-smart and accomplished kids going to this public school.  Like I said above, most parents who want their kid to attend a 4-year school, whether that kid is an athlete or not, and especially if they want to look past the state university system, hires a private advisor such as BBMOM to help with the process.  Thanks to the internet, a parent with a lot of time could find a lot of the same info, but with such an important decision, I think it pays to invest a few dollars on the services of a professional.