True Walk-on vs. Preferred Walk-on. What’s the difference?

What's the difference between a walk on versus a preferred walk on? There's a big difference going through this college recruiting process and trying to play at the college level. Let's start with walk on. A walk on is an athlete that is not recruited by the coaching staff and they have to try out and make the team, which is a huge accomplishment. If you make the team going through a tryout, which typically can be a day long, it can be two days long, it can be several weeks long. So that is a true walk on. Now, now what is a preferred walk on? A preferred walk on is recruited by the coaching staff, but they're not on athletic scholarship and the coaching staff holds a spot for them. So if you're a preferred walk on, they are promising to hold a spot for you and you are just as part of the team. You don't have to go through the tryout process, but they are holding a spot for you. So those are the big differences here. And if you're going for a true walk on, make sure that the school has a tryout process because not all schools have a tryout process. Good luck.