First Point USA

[LAMac75]

Hi, glad I found you guys before I went to the post office. I am still very sceptical about First Point USA and the extortionate service fee they charge with no guarantee that my son will be placed in a USA college/uni and get a half decent scholarship to study a four year degree and play football at the same time. It's a lotta money with no guarantee and they've sold it to my son something shocking to the point that there is NO changing his mind no matter what. I can't even get him to look at other options

I have a cousin out in the USA on a football scholarship and he has suggested another recruitment agency. I have looked into them and the LOGICALLY only take money off you (half the fee of FP) when they place you. I have set up a skype meeting and hope this helps change my sons mind a little.

The things we do to please our weeuns.

Any further advice about First Point USA, I would greatly appreciate it.

Hope to hear from someone soon

I'm a Yank mum with one child who just started uni and another one who is currently looking and will start in two years.

I think you're possibly going about this backward. I would find colleges (that's what we call them here) who are a good fit for your son academically, socially and career wise, then see which of them can offer him an athletic scholarship. It will do your son little good if he's not a good fit for the school or winds up with a useless degree.

I can also answer general questions you have about the application process, standardized testing required, etc.

By the way, when you say he wants a football scholarship, do you mean American football or what we would call soccer?

I agree with you by the way, I wouldn't pay a big service fee up front just on the possibility that he might get something.

Hi misconduct

It’s soccer. Apologies to the USA folk.

So find a college that suits my sons academic needs first and foremost. He has no problem academically and I’d say he’d get in to a good college no problem that way. Then it would be matching the athletic side of the college. Do you know what I mean?

I’m just so confused by it all and I just don’t like the fact I’m gonna part with mega bucks and he’s not guaranteed this service!

I think your first stop needs to be understanding about the testing required for admission to US colleges - as MissConductUS points out above. This link may help bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-in/testing/which-college-admission-tests-do-i-need-to-take.

Apologies if you know about standardised testing already - but one of the main differences between the UK and the US is that US learning doesn't narrow as early as in the UK - and I think most UK students would need coaching for SAT or ACT tests.

I had a thread on applying to US schools in the Education section some time back. I'll see if I can locate it.

MatildasAunt, you're quite correct. My son and now my daughter both had coaching for the SAT and they went (are going, in DD's case) to secondary school here in NY. OP's son doesn't have a prayer of getting an athletic scholarship without decent standardized test scores.

One other thing to add - there is a ton of money here for American football scholarships because the colleges make a mint selling the television broadcast rights. There is far less money available for scholarships for sports like soccer (or crew, or track, etc.) that do not have a fire hose of money coming in like that.

I've found one I started that didn't get a huge amount of traffic but still has a lot of the basics:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3293457-Applying-to-Colleges-Unis-in-the-US-Ask-me-Anything

This one was pretty good

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3081020-Anyones-kids-doing-US-applications

This one was before my time as a MN'er but has some good input from other Americans:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/2940910-Successful-application-to-US-Ivy-League

I would steer clear of First Point. It has the look of a scam.

You need to go straight to the relevant US sports and university application/testing sites.

Get a Collegeboard account for your DS and learn about the admissions process for US universities.

Read about the NCAA here:
www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/future/international-student-athletes

www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/EB17.pdf
Initial eligibility brochure.
Have you been planning and preparing for the last four or five years?

FAQs for international student hopefuls:
fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/Student_Resources/International_Student_FAQ.pdf

web3.ncaa.org/ecwr3/
NCAA National Eligibility site.

Has your DS done the ACT or the American SAT?

You should know that if your DS gets a NCAA scholarship, goes to the US and starts studying and playing, he will be out on his ear if injury, disciplinary action or academic failure means he is cut from the team. Financial awards are renewable annually.

www.debt.org/students/athletic-scholarships/
Some sobering thoughts.
This^^ is actually very informative.

These students can help themselves in the following ways:

<span class="italic">Most college websites have recruitment pages where prospective athletes can signify their interest in participating in the school’s athletic program(s). These forms need to be filled out when applying to the school.</span>
<span class="italic">Students should contact coaches directly during their junior and senior years in high school and try to visit them on their campuses during college tours.</span>
<span class="italic">Participating in a skills camp that some schools offer during the off-season lets coaches know that a student is interested in that school’s program.</span>
<span class="italic">Recommendations from high school and/or travel team coaches are helpful.</span>
<span class="italic">Skills videos that are sent to chosen schools allow coaches to ascertain an athlete’s talent and potential.</span>

But you have to have the academic groundwork done on top of the NCAA stuff.

Hi has anyone any recent information on First Point USA. Have read previous posts but doesnt seem to have been a success ??

Hi has anyone any recent experience of First Point USA? Any kids studying in USA who have got a scholarship through them