The better grades you get in high school the more options you’ll have for college. So, shoot to beat the NCAA’s minimum grade-point average requirements for incoming athletes. Division I softball prospects must have at least a 2.3 GPA on a 4.0 unweighted scale in their core courses. The minimum GPA to play Division II softball is 2.2. Division III schools don’t have a minimum GPA but they tend to be academically demanding.
More about required courses
The NCAA defines “core” courses as the foundation of your education in high school. Picture the standard stuff, not electives. Athletes need to complete many core courses *before* their senior year in high school. Like your coach says about team meetings, when it comes to taking core courses “early is on time”.
The NCAA’s web site lists 16 core courses for Division I:
- 4 years of English
- 3 years of math (Algebra 1 or higher)
- 2 years of natural/physical science (including one year of lab science if your high school offers it)
- 1 additional year of English, math or natural/physical science
- 2 years of social science
- 4 additional years of English, math, natural/physical science, social science, foreign language, comparative religion or philosophy
Divison II core course requirements are slightly different.
The NCAA doesn’t list required courses for Division III as these colleges tend to be academically demanding. Those schools’ web sites are the best source of “typical” GPAs, course-loads and test scores required for each of them.
Be sure to check with your high school guidance counselor to understand which of your high school’s courses count as NCAA “core” courses. Or you can research this for yourself via the NCAA high school portal.
Another requirement: Sign up with the NCAA Eligibility Center
If you want to play NCAA sports at a Division I or II school, you need to register with the NCAA Eligibility Center. Plan to register before the end of your freshman year of high school, or as soon as you start thinking about playing in college.
Why? By registering with the NCAA Eligibility Center you’ll be eligible to take official school visits and sign a National Letter of Intent. The NCAA Eligibility Center also provides resources for student-athletes and families as they progress through the recruiting process. So do it.
Beyond grades: Other things to pay attention to
Your grades are important but they aren’t everything. There’s other academic bases to cover including:
- TEST SCORES Some schools will require a standardized test – either the ACT or SAT – but the score you need on the test depends on your GPA. It’s a sliding scale. Many colleges have abandoned the ACT and SAT since Covid. Conventional wisdom is that student-athletes still should take a standardized test for keeping as many options open as they can.
- EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES “High academic” colleges or universities require a better GPA and test scores than the NCAA minimums. What is a “high academic” college? It’s a reputation thing, and not pegged to level of play exactly. Ivy League schools are academically demanding and play in Division I for example. Amherst, Johns Hopkins, Claremont McKenna, and CalTech (to name just a few) have excellent academics and sports programs – and they all compete in Division III.
What all “high academic” schools have in common is: You’re going to have to do more than the minimum to get in no matter how good an athlete you are.
Keeping track of it all with MyNextPlay’s recruiting tools
MyNextPlay provides two free tools that will help you manage your college planning and softball recruiting journey:
- The MyNextPlay Tracker will help you keep track of all your academic and athletic information during the college planning and recruiting process. The Tracker also lets you create and update your list of colleges you might be interested in attending as a college softball player.
- The MyNextPlay Timeline will help you manage all the things you need to be doing each semester and summer from 9th grade through 12th grade.
