144: Navigating Academics + College Recruitment for Student-Athletes

Female Athlete Nutrition

In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition podcast, I talk with Sarah Cowart, academic coach for athletes. This is an incredibly timely episode with the Fall semester just beginning for most high schools and colleges. Sarah helps parents and student-athletes navigate the academic process to play sports in college, teaching them strategies for a successful transition. Sarah dives deep into the college recruiting process from the academic side, explaining the requirements student-athletes must meet in order to be eligible to compete in college athletics. She outlines the recruiting process timeline for high school athletes, the importance of maintaining a strong GPA in core classes, and fully understanding what classes the NCAA counts: check, a lot of classes don’t!

Sarah and I discuss the ways our personal experiences as collegiate athletes have shaped our futures, teaching us skills non-athletes miss out on, without underestimating the challenge. We talk about the importance, or lack thereof, of choosing your perfect major; Sarah’s advice is to pick something you’re truly interested in and worry less about future career implications. No matter your sport or current GPA, this episode will focus you in on the necessary steps to be prepared, achieve your dream of collegiate sports, and thrive as a student-athlete!

The NCAA eligibility website that Sarah mentions can be found here: https://web3.ncaa.org/ecwr3/

Check out Sarah’s website https://sarahlcowart.com/

Follow Sarah on Instagram and Facebook @sarah.l.cowart and me, your host Lindsey Cortes, on Instagram @female.athlete.nutrition

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In this episode we talk about:

2:00 Sarah’s work helping student-athletes and parents understand the academic side of college sports

4:40 Academic requirements for student-athletes

7:00 From high school to college athletics

12:30 The college recruitment process: considerations for high school athletes

19:30 Preparing for college academics

21:30 Challenges and success strategies for student-athletes

29:00 Sarah’s student-athlete experience and career path

31:00 How to choose a major and/or career field

36:00 Social media for student-athletes

38:40 End of the podcast questions