National Signing Day

What is it?

National Signing Day is the first day that verbally committed seniors in high school are allowed to sign their scholarship offer, which is called a “National Letter of Intent”, from their college or university. Typically, this date is in mid-November and it is referred to as “National Signing Day”.

Who participates?

Seniors who are receiving a scholarship are the only official participants. If you are a junior and you have committed early and will be receiving a scholarship, you must wait until senior year to participate in National Signing Day. You are not allowed to sign your contract officially accepting your scholarship until senior year. This is why verbal commitments are only “verbal!”

Many seniors who are not receiving scholarship money participate in National Signing Day in a celebratory or ceremonial capacity. In these instances, seniors can sign their admissions reply card (formally accepting their spot in the class after being admitted to the school) or even a blank piece of paper. Some skip the signing part all together and simply pose for a picture and use the date as a good time to share the news of a verbal commitment with friends and family.

Things to know about it…

• Committed seniors do not have to sign their NLI on this date, however many do.
• The NLI is the legal contract between the student and the college or university — it is the first time that your decision to attend the school becomes binding.
• Only students who are receiving scholarship money sign an NLI.

How to navigate signing

A word of advice… do not “announce” a verbal commitment to the world unless you are getting a scholarship and/or the coach has the ability to guarantee that you will be admitted to the school. Similarly, do not participate in the first National Signing Day unless you have been admitted or are guaranteed to be admitted. This can backfire badly if you say you are going to be attending a school, especially a top academic school, before you have been formally accepted. When in doubt, I always recommend asking the coach when you commit… “I’m so excited to be going to [school name]! How and when can I share this news with friends and family?” You might specifically ask about posting on social media, too.