Ever wonder what questions to ask college recruiters? If you haven't, know this: It's important to prepare questions for college coaches. While this is undeniably true, it leaves many people asking, What are the must-ask college recruiting questions? The college recruiting process is an art form of sorts, and knowing what questions to ask can be tricky. Fortunately, we've compiled a list of essential questions to ask college coaches. With this list, you should have a much easier time eliciting crucial information from college coaches.

4 questions for college coaches earlier in the process

• What information do you need from me to jumpstart the recruiting process?


• Given what I've told you about myself, am I the sort of player that you typically recruit?


• How can I get you to see me play?


• What are your key recruiting dates?

5 questions for college coaches later in the process

• Now that you've seen me play, how do you think I can fit in with your team?


• Will you offer me a spot on the pre-season roster, or will I have to walk on?


• Do you think I can contribute immediately?


• Is there athletic scholarship money that will be available for me?


• If I apply, will you support my application?

While you're having these decisive conversations be wary of hollow promises. A coach might try to woo you by dangling the guarantee of a starting position.

But remember that he still hasn't seen you play with his team. He can't be certain how you'll fit in with the team and adapt to the college game. Even some insanely good high school players, take some time to develop before they can be effective at the college level.

From your end, don't press coaches for such guarantees. Instead of going on the offensive and asking a coach to assure you the role of starting center midfielder, phrase the question in a more general, and less confrontational fashion: "What would you say are my chances for playing time as a freshman?"

Self-recruiting is about getting yourself onto a college team where you can eventually contribute. Actually earning minutes on the field is something you have to do when you arrive on campus. If you want playing time as a freshman, you have to prove yourself during pre-season.

Learn more about college commitments and college sports scholarships.

Call each coach as soon as you receive the results of your application. Though coaches may have already received word from their admissions departments, some schools prohibit coaches from informing recruits of their application fate.

(Of course, you have to call college coaches throughout the whole college recruiting process.)

When you call the coaches, have honest, straightforward discussions. Describe to them in general terms the other offers you have on the table. Ask each coach frankly if and why he believes his school and team are your best option.

If initially you were on the bubble at a particular school, but the top few recruits didn't get in or decided to go elsewhere, you may now find yourself directly in the spotlight. You may have vaulted a few spots higher on the coach's recruiting board.

May 1st is Decision Day, when most high school seniors choose which college to attend. Admissions officers can breathe a sigh of relief, because the inevitable financial aid haggling is over -- at least for this year.

Many athletes have long since made their decisions, but if you're still trying to figure it out, here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• 1. Based on everything you know, where will you be happiest?


• 2. Where will you get the best education?


• 3. What team do you like most in terms of the coach, other players, and level of competition?


• 4. Is there athletic money available for you -- for example, soccer scholarships?

Balance the answers to those three questions and you'll have the right balance of academics, social life, and athletics. And that's what it's all about.

Don't try to start a bidding war for your services. The coaching world is small and tight-knit. What you regard as savvy wheeling and dealing may come back to sting you.

Your efforts to milk a coach for every last dime of scholarship money or a guaranteed starting position—by dangling your offer from another school in front of him—may anger or convince him that you are not the type of person he wants to deal with.

Being on uncomfortable personal terms with the coach is the wrong way to begin your college career.

Hoping that things go well in a walk-on tryout is a real gamble. There are countless circumstances that can tilt the odds against you.

For starters, a coach might select only one player from a huge candidate pool; tryouts might only last one afternoon; you might sustain a minor injury that prevents you from participating in tryouts and ends your college soccer career before it begins.

Any number of things could go wrong. You want to avoid the numbers game. So get a clear answer from each coach. Will he guarantee you a spot on his team?

As we've said all along, the best outcome of self-recruiting is to be guaranteed a spot on the team long before you arrive on campus. You haven't done yourself much good if somewhere along the way there is a misunderstanding and you arrive on campus only to find that you have to try out, that you're not assured of anything.

Therefore, the significance of a guarantee cannot be overstated. It ensures that you will be on the team, and that you don't have to try out when you arrive on campus. This should weigh heavily on your decision. Don't let your situation be ambiguous.

• Is the balance of athletics and academics right for you?


• Do you like the overall environment: academic, social, athletic, geographic?


• Does the school offer the right major for you?


• Have you had a positive impression of the coach throughout the recruiting process?


• Do you have a positive impression of the team?


• When you visited, did you get along with the players?


• Has the team offered you a sports scholarship?


• Has the university offered you institutional financial aid?


• How soon will you be able to contribute on the field?


• Did you like the facilities?

What if I decide at some point during the recruiting process that a given college or program is not right for me? How do I bow out gracefully?

After extended, favorable contact with a coach, you might visit a school only to discover that it has all the appeal of a medieval dungeon.

Be decisive but considerate if you decide that you're not interested. Let the coach know. You don?t have to make a hullabaloo over it, or explain in depth what you didn't like.

But be sure to write a quick e-mail, explaining that after further consideration, you've decided the school does not represent an appropriate choice for you. Thank the coach for his time, wish him well, and move on.

At what point should I decide that it's no longer worth my time to pursue a particular college?

If after multiple attempts to reach out to a coach, you find that the coach is still inattentive, you should seriously assess the likelihood of playing for that school. Be honest with yourself—does playing for that team seem realistic?

Then again, if you're determined to make a college team, you cannot fold at the slightest sign of adversity. Who knows, a coach may just be disorganized, overwhelmed with work, or even bluffing a bit to see how committed you really are.

If you still want to play at a school where you haven't received much of a response, don't write it off before you?ve had an honest discussion with the coach. Don't be afraid to press the coach for an explanation. Does he think that you're qualified for his team? As a recruit? As a walk-on?

If the answers to these questions are not favorable, move on and concentrate on your remaining candidate schools.

What if the coach at one of my top colleges tells me that under no circumstances does he see a place for me on his team?

Unfortunately, responses of this sort are not unusual. It's what inevitably happens when you try to funnel a million high school athletes into college sports, which can only accommodate a few thousand players.

This statistic is small consolation; rejections are bound to sting. Such an outcome may wound your pride, but don't let it shatter your confidence.

Don?t give up your hopes just because one coach doesn't have a place for you on his team. Throw away the file folder for that school and focus your self-recruiting efforts on the teams that remain.

If at the outset of self-recruiting you found ten or so teams that matched your ability, by the end you should have at least one or two coaches who want you to play for them.

As you continue to correspond with college coaches, don't lose sight of the ultimate goal: you want to be identified as a high school athlete who's right for the college team.

It's important to have informal conversations with coaches, but don't dance around the central issue. At a certain point, you have to be straightforward and determine where you stand. Don't expect a coach to simply volunteer that you are one of his top recruits.

If he does, great. If not, you shouldn't think that you are out of luck. You must be assertive and find out how serious he is about you.

You should have these conversations once you are well into the self-recruiting process. Before you go asking for an assessment, give the coach plenty of time to review your cover letter and CaptainU profile, check your references, and see you play.

A thorough coach will want the full picture before he decides to bring you onto the team.

Once you are convinced that the coach has a thorough sense of you, call or email him. Phrase your questions in a genuine, non-confrontational fashion. The most important thing is that you actually bring up the subject of your standing. You're asking perfectly reasonable questions; there's no reason to be shy about this.