Do I have to worry about the NCAA Clearinghouse?

Yes - you will need to be registered with the NCAA Clearinghouse (or Eligibility Center, as it is now called) to attend an Official Visit to a college campus, and to sign a NLI (national letter of intent) to a Division 1 or Division 2 university.  The main purpose of the NCAA Eligibility Center is to help determine the academic and amateur status of each athlete and clear them for competition their Freshman year in college.The Eligibility Center costs $75 and you must send them your test scores and grades with a certificate of graduation before being cleared to attend college on scholarship.Keep in mind that you must earn at least a 2.3 GPA in your NCAA-approved core courses and take the required amount of core courses (must earn 16 core courses) to become a NCAA academic qualifier out of high school.For Divison 3, there are no rules that say you must be registered with the NCAA, as Division 3 schools determine their own academic eligibility. But I would still recommend you registering just in case you want to look at or end up getting recruiting by some Division 1 or 2 schools. For more information on amateurism and academic requirements, check out the Initial Eligibility Status Terms on the NCAA website.Also, check out The NCAA Eligibility Center, or their Eligibility Center information site, to create your account with the NCAA Eligibility Center.