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Want to swim faster and more competitively?   If your answer is YES here is another quick question and the answer might surprise you.   When coaches looked at the differences between athletes in the Olympics who medaled, versus the ones who did not, what distinguishing skills or characteristics do you think...

Lori Payne proved to be worth far more than what was ever expected.  In a process that can be highly sensitive among a spectrum of personalities, expectations and realities, Lori was excellent at helping navigate. Her depth of knowledge of the programs, coaches, and the pulse of what was going...

We potentially could have figured out how to navigate the recruiting process, but it was one more thing we would have had to add to our overflowing to-do lists. We were grateful to have American College Connection and Rick as a partner. His familiarity with the unspoken rules of the...

ACC has been an invaluable service to our family during the recruiting process.  It's their knowledge of the whole process that gave us confidence.  Their expertise, professional experience and contact within the college swimming world was invaluable.  Donny was open, honest and professional in all aspects of the recruiting process. ...

I know this may be hard for some of you to admit, but mom and dad were right......................... Grades Do Count    College coaches will look at your times first to see if you can help them and then immediately look at your grades. Recruits with good times and good...

We enjoyed working with Lori Payne and ACC Recruits.  She built a great relationship with our son and was always available to answer questions via text, email, and phone.  Lori helped us understand the very complex process of recruitment to swim at the college level.  She helped our son contact...

The odds of getting recruited and swimming in college are pretty slim. It has been estimated there are well over 40,000 high school senior girls and over 35,000 senior boys who want to swim in college every year. This is counting high school, club and international swimmers and the number...

This is a question that every swimmer who wants to swim in college is faced with. Too many times swimmers and their parents don’t consider this question early enough and lose a great number of options for colleges because they waited too long. Being a former Division I Associate Head...

Coming to the United States to achieve your collegiate and athletic dreams can be both very exciting and very stressful! DO NOT PANIC! This document gives you step by step directions including links to access all of the information you need. 1. Register for the NCAA Eligibility Center – This is...

The old saying, "first impressions" could not be more true when you have your first contact with your potential college swim coach. This is a formal interview; your tone, demeanor, interest in their school and manners, must be positive and well spoken.  This is all indicative of their first impression...

College coaches base a lot of their recruiting on a swimmer’s potential. Any good coach wants to believe they are recruiting a swimmer who they can help get faster. They are all looking for swimmers who are “headed in the right direction.”So how do you present your potential to college...

A couple of years ago the NCAA changed its rules to allow coaches to guarantee scholarships beyond the first year. Some coaches do and some don’t. If a coach doesn't offer a guarantee, then you need to ask. Guarantees should be listed on the scholarship agreement form. Usually, but not...

Editor’s Note: Approximately 31% of college coaches in charge of recruiting responded to the survey. Approximately 79% of the respondents were NCAA Division I coaches.For years we have been reading about football, basketball, soccer, volleyball (etc. etc.) players committing early to a university. Swimming has finally jumped on the bandwagon as we...

The answer is you don’t because most coaches don’t know. You can usually count on the first offer not being their best offer, but where do you go from there?College recruiting changes on a daily level throughout the year, but it changes on an hourly level in the fall. You...

SAT Testing Dates Click here to find this year's testing dates and deadlines: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register/dates-deadlines        

ACT Testing Dates: https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act.html        

  The NCAA passed new rules yesterday that will have a huge effect on recruiting. Our own NCAA Compliance Director spent several hours on the phone with the NCAA to make sure of our interpretation of the new changes.   This only affects Division I programs.   The new rules...

We first heard about ACC at a swim meet a couple years back. Knowing we were at the beginning process of researching colleges for our son and trying to make a plan, I looked into ACC and what they could offer us. I also conferred with other parents I knew...

Juggling sports, academics and community service can lead to quite a hectic schedule for high school students; however, for the college-bound student these days, it is a must.  According to Topunivserities.com, it does not matter what a student chooses as his or her volunteer work or extra-curricular activities, rather they...

What a crazy process. I want to thank you for your guidance and patience. Your help has been immeasurable. The endless hours of emails, calls, and visits were worth it. Without the framework of visits and knowledge, we built over the past 18 months of active recruiting Ginger may never...