Hi, no experience taking extra subject or additional semester, but the NCAA eligibility Centre will be able to help. I believe Jonah Bolden had a similar issue and actually did either part or a whole additional semester & as a result had to red shirt his first year at UCLA.

There are 16 semesters, 2 in each year from Y9 to Y12.

I can't recall exactly, but I think the problem you will have is you only have a certain number of semesters to complete the required core subjects & hence the required GPA. Essentially you can't repeat semesters. If you don't get the required GPA then you either have to repeat the subject in the remaining time or take an additional subject in the same stream. I.e you don't have high enough marks for biology, so take another science subject, chemistry. But these will be additional subjects, so the workload/study only increases. This is easier said than done.

I wish you luck, but if you are only just finding out about this, I think you may have left your run too late.

There is a lot of information out there about Academic Eligibilty for Div 1 & Div 2. But you'll spend 10's of hours wading through it all. I had to do it about 4 years ago. It is not impossible, but it is time consuming. I also calculated my Son's GPA as there was an Academic rule book that translated Australian education results into a GPA for each state in Australia. Can't remember what it was called, but I still have a couple of copies on my laptop.

Don't discount Div 2 or even junior college. From junior college you can transfer to a Div 1 or Div 2 college after 2 years. Also, the 'prestige' of Div 1 is not the be all & end all. Speaking from experience, pick a place where your kid is sure to play otherwise it is a disappointing experience. Try & pick a well respected academic college. Only 1 in 1000 or more will play in our NBL let alone the NBA. So focus on getting somewhere where they will play & get a well respected degree.

Your kid really needs to have a long honest look in the mirror about their abilities.

Download a copy of the NCAA Academic eligibilty rules.

The extract below is from http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/play-division-i-sports

Division I academic eligibility
To be eligible to compete in NCAA sports during your first year at a Division I school, you must graduate high school and meet ALL the following requirements:

Complete 16 core courses:
Four years of English
Three years of math (Algebra 1 or higher)
Two years of natural/physical science (including one year of lab science if your high school offers it)
One additional year of English, math or natural/physical science
Two years of social science
Four additional years of English, math, natural/physical science, social science, foreign language, comparative religion or philosophy
Complete 10 core courses, including seven in English, math or natural/physical science, before your seventh semester. Once you begin your seventh semester, you may not repeat or replace any of those 10 courses to improve your core-course GPA.
Earn at least a 2.3 GPA in your core courses.
Earn an SAT combined score or ACT sum score matching your core-course GPA on the Division I sliding scale, which balances your test score and core-course GPA. If you have a low test score, you need a higher core-course GPA to be eligible. If you have a low core-course GPA, you need a higher test score to be eligible.

I will emphasise what happened to Jonah Bolden at UCLA. So beware of what 'people' tell you, even college recruiters.

In any given year there are maybe 300 to 400 male college basketball athletes.

How many of those that have attended (completed their study or not) are on NBL rosters? Not many.

So have realistic expectations. It might be best even to stay in Aus, go to Uni here & get on an NBL roster as a Development player, but even these are hard to get and most of these spots go to kids who have done well in Australian Junior Champioships or represented Australia at Junior level. There are some exceptions like Kyle Adnam

Essentially the Academic eligibility is set out to ensure you have shown reasonable academic 'progress' over the last four years of high school. The reasoning is this indicates you will 'more than likely' pass at college and not drop out.

The NCAA view these students as academics first, athlete second.

The overwhelming majority of Australian (Male) athletes look at it as Athlete first, Academics second. Most of them are thinking they will play in the NBL & NBA, which is not a realistic expectation.

You can download the NCAA manuals from :
https://www.ncaapublications.com/s-13-Manuals.aspx

https://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/CBSA18.pdf

Here's the international student academic standard.

Australia is listed on pages 20 to 25

https://www.ncaapublications.com/p-4416-international-standards-2015-2016-guide-to-international-academic-standards-for-athletics-eligibility-updated-october-2015.aspx

Here's the international student academic standard.

Australia is listed on pages 20 to 25

https://www.ncaapublications.com/p-4416-international-standards-2015-2016-guide-to-international-academic-standards-for-athletics-eligibility-updated-october-2015.aspx

Taken from page of 12 of the "2017-18 Guide for the College Bound Student Athlete" found here: https://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/CBSA18.pdf


Courses Taken After High School
For Division I, only courses completed in your first eight se-
mesters will qualify as core courses. If you graduate from high
school on time (in eight semesters) with your incoming ninth-
grade class, you may use one core course completed in the
year after graduation (summer or academic year) before full-
time collegiate enrollment. You may complete the core course
at a location other than the high school from which you gradu-
ated and may initially enroll full time at a collegiate institution at
any time after completion of the core course. A college course
taken after high school graduation can be used toward your
initial eligibility and will be awarded 0.5 units unless awarded
one full unit by your home high school, and it must appear on
your home high school transcript with grade and credit.
An additional core-course unit taken after on-time high
school graduation cannot replace a course used to meet
the core-course progression (10/7) requirement, but an
additional core course after on-time graduation may re-
place one of the remaining six core-course units necessary
to meet core-course requirements

How are 16 core courses a problem if they are counted from Year 9 onwards? That's 4x4 courses x years?

Agree, GPA is calculated on AVERAGE all results (Grade Points) from Y9 thru Y12. Hence the name Grade Point Average (GPA).

As an example - if you have poor results in Y9 to Y11, then, depending on your GPA equivalent scores for those years, you may not even qualify even if you get all A's in Y12. i.e. If you got all C's in Y9 to Y11 let's say you have completed 12 core courses, that would give you 12 x 2.0 = 24 Grade Points, divide by GP the No. of courses (12) 24/12 = 2.0 GPA.

Then say you get all A's in Y12. 4 courses at 4.0 = 16 Grade Points

Total = 24 +16 = 40 Grade Points

40 divide by 16 = 2.5GPA, which just scrapes you in the required 2.3 GPA. But if you got some D's in Years 9 to Y11, then you will probably not make it.

So you need 16 x 2.3 = 36.8 Grade Points total across Y9 to Y12. Lets say you need 37 minimum, as there is non way the conversions will give you a 0.8.

Your GPA is an average GPA (Australian equivalent converted) of all the subjects across the four years.

An important note: the GPA conversions for Australia do not make any distinction between say a B, B+ or B-. In the conversion they are all taken as a B, same for A, C, D scores. It is a very rough, I would say unfair conversion, but it is what it is.

Generally an A converts to a 4.0 GP, B = 3.0 GP, C = 2.0 GP.

Note: There are some differences between the States. i.e. In Victoria I I think a C is also considered as a 3.0 GPA, & a D is a 2.0, not sure why that is?

Also, Very important you have studied the right subjects.

If you have studied Religion that helps a lot as it is a valued subject in the USA academic system & can count in your GPA.

Also, no point studying the harder Maths subjects as it doesn't help. A B in a harder level of maths is worth the same as a B in an easier level maths. So, my recommendation is to do the dummy maths, especially if you will not be studying Engineering, Science, Accountancy, Economics or anything where you need the higher level of maths at College.

Hi ColCon, Just checked the IS1516 document and it would appear the GPA is only on the Y12 subjects. Been a few years since I was all over it.

However, can she not take one (or two) extra subjects in the last semester this year?

Or did she finish Y12 last year?

If she has already finished Y12, then I'd suggest she talks to the academic entrance staff at the Colleges where she has offers and seek their advice.

The coaches who are recruiting her will put you in contact with the academic entrance staff and they will be able to provide the best advice based on her situation as it is not really in their interest to recruit someone who has to Red Shirt (Academically) unless they are full of players next year as this would be a 5 year scholarship.

Good luck with it.

Check with coaches who are recruiting her, they will put you in contact with the academic entrance staff and they will be able to provide the best advice based on her situation as it is not really in their interest to recruit someone who has to Red Shirt (Academically) unless they are full of players next year as this would be a 5 year scholarship.

They will tell you exactly what she needs to do and they will more than likely recommend an institution to do the course.

Obviously, you might have to declare your intention to accept their offer (NLI). Will she get an early round NLI or a late round NLI?

I still think doing an additional subject (or two) in the 2nd semester this year might be the way to go, but that might be overloading the trailer!

Good luck with it.

^ In Vic, basketball Victoria used to hold information sessions on NCAA academic requirements for basket ballers who were in their talent I'd programs.

This was for kids entering Y9.

Education is king. As the saying goes :

"You give a poor man a fish and you feed him for a day. You teach him to fish and you give him an occupation that will feed him for a lifetime."

Usetahoop. I think you need to read some of the literature about NCAA Academic eligibility.

Sounds like the problem arises because students are choosing too many elective/cruisey style subjects. You reap what you sow. History isn't exactly Physics or Chemistry that you would want to avoid understandbly as it is more intensive.