RULE #5: Parents should be realistic and get an honest evaluation of an athlete from a high school coach, club coach, or scouting organization.

Most student-athletes are dreamers. Though it is important to shoot high, it is equally important to have at least some grasp on reality. If an athlete is only five feet tall and plans to win a full-ride scholarship to play center guard for women's basketball, her parents might want to direct her toward some objective standards so she can set more realistic goals.

Likewise, parents should also be realistic about their child. Most parents are partial to their children and might not be the best judges of a student-athlete's ability. Parents should try to find objective statistics about their child. See www.athleteswanted.org for general statistics about student-athletes at Division I, II, and III levels for each sport so parents can see how their child stacks up.

The most successful student-athletes are the ones who aim low but shoot high. In other words, parents should not pressure their children to get into a Division I school, but allow and encourage them to apply to these schools, as long as they are also applying to schools where they realistically stand a chance of admittance. (Remember that the best schools do not always have great athletic teams, and that we recommend starting from the Division III level.) Parents should do their homework and have a good understanding of the NCSA Collegiate Power Rankings, available at www.athleteswanted.org, which compares academic records, athletic records, and graduation rates.

Parents need to be realistic about the financial side of their child's experience as well. Though many, many opportunities await, the majority of athletes will need to supplement their educational costs even if they receive athletic or need-based academic grants-in-aid. Parents should establish these parameters early and start doing research. Sometimes, the more expensive schools will offer the most in scholarship money, so a $40,000 school might cost only $10,000, while a $20,000 school might cost $15,000. Never evaluate a collegiate opportunity based only on a college sticker price.

RULE #6: Parents should know their Expected Family Contribution.

Critical to the financial side of a child's college opportunities is the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC determines how much the family can contribute, and understanding how this number is derived allows parents to make adjustments or allocate assets in such a way that best leverages their financial situation. Not knowing an EFC is like not knowing a credit score, or not knowing how much a person can afford for a down payment before buying a home. The EFC will allow a family to objectively compare collegiate opportunities. Remember that it can change year to year, and it is based on how many full-time dependents a family has in college.

Once parents have determined how much they can contribute, they should clearly communicate that the athlete must find a way to cover the gap through work-study programs, jobs, other grants, and student loans. Remember that being a college athlete is essentially a full-time job, and that maintaining another job, even if part-time, can be overly taxing and harm performance on the playing field and in the classroom.