Top 10 "Don'ts" of Letter Writing Pt. 3

Kelly Kulina: Your Link to the Colleges

This week's entry features the final part of my series "Top 10 Don'ts of Letter Writing." If you've missed the previous entries, I'd recommend reading Part Two and Part One for further reading.

7. Don’t ask for a scholarship or financial aid information.

Whether meeting with coaches or applying for a job, “compensation” is usually taboo. Trust me, at some point in the recruiting process, scholarship and financial aid will be discussed. All the same, there is no tactful way of bringing up athletic aid in writing to a coach. To him, players that bring up this subject can sometimes appear to be “just about the money.” Instead, put yourself in a better position by doing your homework in the meantime on FAFSA, university grants and 3rd party scholarship funds.

8. Don’t forget to change the coach’s name and address when sending out multiple letters.

Nothing will end your recruitment faster than writing to the wrong coach. I wouldn’t even read the letter or email if it wasn’t addressed properly. Coaches know that you’re looking at other schools, but also don’t want to be offended by being just another coach or school! Remember, they all have egos just like you do! You simply must take the time to look over each letter you send. Even better, rather than copy and paste a dozen copies of the same letter, spend some time personalizing every introductory letter that you send to coaches. Not only will you help yourself avoid that embarrassing stumble, but showing a coach that you did your homework on his program may elicit a more positive response. Coaches want players who want to come to their school and don’t want to be part of an e-mailing campaign!

9. Don’t forget to sign the letter.

This only applies if you are sending a hard copy of a letter, but think how you would feel if a coach sent you a letter and didn’t take the time to sign it- probably not too special. It doesn’t take a lot of time or energy and it shows a coach you’re that much more interested.

10. Don’t forget to proofread the ENTIRE letter.

Even with the safety nets of Spellcheck, you still need to proofread your letter. I’d recommend reading through everything you send top to bottom, and then backwards. It also helps to have someone else read it, too. Many times, players will simply check for misspellings, rather than ERRORS. It’s very easy to miss when the WRONG word has been spelled correctly. I remember one player sent a letter to a coach on his college list talking about his hitting ability. While talking about your skills isn’t recommended in the first place, what’s worse is that he accidently added an “S” to “hitting.” In this case, the coach saw the humor in it and cut the player a break, but such a silly mistake could just as easily cost that player his recruitment!

Kelly Kulina is the Senior Vice President of College Recruiting at Baseball Factory. Kulina is a former Associate Head Coach and recruiting coordinator with the University of Maryland. As a former recruiting coordinator for ten years in the ACC, Kulina has vast contacts and is widely respected throughout the nation. From 1989 to 2000, Kulina coached 46 players who were selected in the MLB draft.