For student athletes, many factors affect college decision

For senior Breanna Oltman, it was love at first sight.

“I looked into the college and the area and fell in love with it,” she said.

Oltman, who intends on studying occupational therapy, committed to play soccer for Division 3 Chatham University in Pittsburgh. She is one of many senior athletes who are considering which schools and programs will provide them with the best experience.

According to NCAA statistics, nearly 8 million students currently participate in high school athletics in the United States, but only 480,000 of them will compete at NCAA schools. Also included in that number is Malachi Winters, who recently accepted an offer to play Division 1 football at Army West Point in New York.

“I committed not only to play Division 1 football,” Winters explained, “but also to receive a great education and come out of college as an officer in the army.”

For these students and others, the decision on which school is the best fit can be challenging. A lot of time and thought goes into the decision including location, size, cost, and, most importantly, if the student feels like that school can be “home” for the next four years.

Senior Geanna Serechia, who committed to play softball at Post University in Connecticut, experienced this firsthand.

“I was looking into other schools such as Monmouth University, Rider University, Wagner College and Fairleigh Dickinson University. One of the reasons I was interested in some of these schools was because I was being recruited to play softball,” she said. “After several visits, none of these schools really felt like home and Post kind of just hit the spot. They say you get this feeling when you get to your school. I don’t really know how to explain it but I got it.”

Athletic Director Ms. Marni Parks recommends looking beyond athletics.

“The best advice has actually nothing to do with athletics,” she explained.

Parks believes that this type of decision is about the athlete themselves and whether or not the student will be “happy” at the school without playing the sport. 

“If a student doesn’t have anything outside of the sport or coach they like about the school it is a huge challenge.”