Filling Out Questionnaires – Keep Playing Baseball

There are many ways to get college coaches your information and show interest. Emails, social media, and camps remain some of the best options, but don’t sleep on the importance of the age-old recruit questionnaire. Available on almost every athletic program’s website, recruit questionnaires can still play an important role in providing information to college coaches and showing interest in a program. Let’s take a look at how to use them in today’s recruiting world.

How are Questionnaires Used?

Programs use recruit questionnaires to gather information on interested prospects. By filling them out, you are first and foremost showing interest and initiative. Responses are usually vetted by an assistant coach or administrator for the program.  It may seem like it takes a lot of effort to fill out all the information that the questionnaires ask for, but you should answer all of the questions as best you can because you never know what each program values (it could be what you least expect or simply the detail you include in your answers!). Be sure to include everything you can, and make sure you are completely honest. Nothing will make a coach lose interest in you faster than if he finds out you aren’t being truthful in recruitment.

When should Questionnaires be Completed?

The best time to fill out a student-athlete questionnaire for recruiting purposes is when you have the type of academic and baseball skills that coaches are looking to recruit. This includes skill measurables that they would like to see (throwing velocity, 60 times, exit velocity, etc.) and academic information like Core GPA and SAT/ACT scores. If you’re not sure when the right timing is for you, check out this article on seeking exposure at the right time and this article on when to contact college coaches. While it’s unlikely that anything will come solely from finishing the online recruit questionnaire, completing the questionnaire is an important step in setting up your introductory email.

Pairing Questionnaires with Email

The best recruiting processes are coordinated. Pairing the questionnaire with a more personal introductory email is a great strategy. Fill the recruit questionnaire out right before you send your introductory email. The questionnaire will allow you to provide a ton of information that interested coaches may need (more than you should ever include in an email), while keeping your email short, to the point, and focused on things that will captivate the coach’s attention and interest, like video and measurables. Simply mention briefly in your email that you filled out the recruit questionnaire online with more information to help the coaches connect the dots and easily find out more about you, should they be interested.

Managing Expectations

The goal of the recruit questionnaire is to provide a coach with information they need to evaluate you as a fit. If you don’t hear anything back, don’t worry and don’t give up on that program. Many coaches won’t take any action after receiving a questionnaire or even an email, and it isn’t always due to lack of interest. There are many reasons why emails and questionnaires go without a response, including that they may be prohibited from responding due to recruiting rules. Stay persistent. Give it some time and then send a follow-up email. We discuss what to do if you don’t hear back from a program of interest here.

While a questionnaire alone will likely do little to start a recruiting conversation, it’s a great way to provide a lot of information, reiterate interest, and pair with a personalized email to show you truly want to explore being a part of a program.