What should I NOT ask when talking to a college coach about recruiting?

Off the top of my head the questions you shouldn’t ask are about the obvious things, i.e. the stuff you can (and should) find out on your own about the team and the school. Asking questions like “how many people are on the team”, “who do you race”, “does the school offer XYZ major”, etc. just indicates laziness on your part.

Related: Hey, I’m a senior in high school. I’m a coxswain and my coach said that I should email coaches to let them know that I’m interested in joining the team, do you have any advice as to what I should do/say in the emails?

Also, don’t ask them how much money they can offer you. There’s definitely a time and place for questions like that but right when you’re starting to talk to coaches can come off as presumptuous at best and a huge turn-off at worst. I probably wouldn’t ask it at all until I knew I’d been accepted at the university and that rowing for this specific team was a lock. What boat you’ll be in, how often you’ll race, etc. also isn’t a good one to ask – you’re a freshman so regardless of your high school accolades, don’t automatically assume that you’ll be placed in a boat higher than the freshman 8+.

Related: Hi! I’m a junior in HS and I have a few colleges I’m interested in and I’m thinking of emailing the coaches. As a coxswain, what should I say? I also don’t have an SAT score yet so I’m not sure what to do. Can I just ask them what the requirement would be for SAT/GPA? Am I even allowed to email coaches yet?

Basically, use your common sense. If a question doesn’t seem appropriate to you, don’t ask it. If you’re not sure, run through them with your coach and get their feedback/advice.

Tags: college contacting coaches qotd recruiting