What are coaches looking for?
Coaches have to juggle a lot when making roster and scholarship/offer decisions. Here are just some of what they may be considering at any given time:
They want runners that can be top 7 on their cross country team.
D2 and D3 schools may recruit athletes that are not necessarily going to score at the conference meet to fill out their roster, or have to potential to develop.
They value athletes that have a good GPA and ACT/SAT scores. The higher your grades the cheaper tuition will be. College coaches also get evaluated on their team’s GPA and graduation rate.
Bonus points for recruits that have already been accepted to the university.
Coaches put emphasis on good times/marks and consistency. Having a good time/mark only once may not be enough for some well-regarded college teams. They also want to see how often you are near your personal best and that you are continually in good fitness.
Scholarships/Rosters
You have to go into recruiting expecting to get no scholarship money at all.
NCAA D1 schools technically can offer up to 17 scholarships per team. However, the actual number of scholarships depends on how well funded the program is. NCAA D2 schools give partial scholarships at their discretion.
Because NCAA D1 schools can only have 17 athletes per team (for all schools that participate in revenue-sharing), a lot of high caliber athletes attend D2 or D3 schools instead, because there isn’t enough room. Don't rule out D2, D3, or even NAIA programs just because of their classification. If they're a good fit for you as a student, a whole person, and an athlete, you'll still develop and have a great experience.
Colleges recruit internationally. That means you are not only getting recruited against people across the country, but also the whole world, as well as the transfer portal.
Apply for any and all scholarships you can. They all make a difference.
Academics
Academics are the biggest key in recruiting outside of personal bests.
Your tuition is affected by how high your GPA and ACT score is. These are the two biggest factors in making college cheaper.
Having a high GPA and ACT score may get you on to college teams that may be better than you otherwise would have. This is because your academic scholarships will cover a lot of tuition so the college coaches can save the athletic scholarships for high caliber athletes with bad grades.
Having a good GPA and ACT can make going to certain D3 schools as affordable as going to a standard public-state school.
How do I find schools I might be interested in?
Contact the admissions office and schedule a visit. They’re free and it gives you a feel for the campus.
Find schools that have degrees you are interested in.
The sticker price is rarely what you will pay! EVERYONE will get a discount of some kind at basically every school. If there is an expensive school you are interested in, contact them. Odds are they can get your tuition way down.
The school comes before the sport. Find a school you like then look at their cross country program.