So you have your list of schools that you would love to attend as a student-athlete. Intimidating isn’t it? With so many options out there—great programs and prestigious coaches—it’s important to find a way to sort your college list. It’s overwhelming to look at a full list of 20 or 30 colleges and much easier to see the schools in smaller batches. One great way to sort, at least as you begin your search, is by groups of safety, match and reach.

Create your college list on CaptainU

Safety

Safety schools are the ones where it’s easy for you to get in, play well in your sport and do well in classes. Your high school stats and grades are likely well above the safety school’s averages.

Match

Match schools are your most natural fit. Your stats and grades line up with those of the other athletes. These are the colleges most likely to offer a mix of comfort and competition for you.

Reach

Reach schools are the colleges that are not as certain to take you. It’s possible that your grades, stats or both aren’t up the usual standards at these schools.

Unsure which colleges fall into each category? Start by asking the people you know.

Keeping your list organized

When you look at colleges, think of ones from all three groups. Then, when you organize your college list, sort the schools into categories of safety, match, and reach. With a recruiting profile on CaptainU, you can create your own categories and just drag and drop to rearrange your college list. Each college on your list acts as a folder holding all important information about that school making it easy for you to access. With CaptainU, just click on each school in your list and you will be taken to that school’s information page, with a to-do list on best practices to get in touch with the coach and a notes section which serves as a timeline for tracking all of your interactions with that school. CaptainU takes the paper filing process of the past and turns it into powerful online solution for organizing your entire college search.

Ready to create your college list? Create a free recruiting profile here.

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• The College Lifestyle Benefits of Division III Schools
• How to Write the Perfect Email to a College Coach
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