Little to no championship experience

So you made it onto a college rifle team, but your team was never that good to actually compete in the NCAA Rifle Championship. That won't impress the USA Shooting team. Tough luck.

NCAA Championship contestant

You managed to compete in the NCAA Rifle Championship and your team beat, well, quite a few other schools. Not most of them, though. It's going to take a lot more to go pro. Good thing you studied hard in college, right?

NCAA Championship contestant, USAS Junior Olympic Championship contestant

Ooh. Looks like you competed in the NCAA Rifle Championship and the USA Shooting Junior Olympic Championship. Well, while that's cool and all…you don't exactly stand out. Tell us we're wrong.

NCAA Championship finalist, USAS Junior Olympic Championship finalist

A finalist, huh? That means you're towards the top, right? Well, to make it into the pros, you'll have to be at the top (and then some). Still, you have a pretty good shot, depending on your scores.

NCAA Championship winner, four-time All-American, USAS Junior Olympic Championship winner

Current USAS team members have your same exact resume. Seriously. You sure as shootin' got a spot on the USAS Olympic team. You're a force to be reckoned with; you eat, sleep, and dream rifle, although you probably shouldn't be sleeping with a loaded weapon. Just sayin'. Things are looking good for you, dear Shmooper.

Ever hear the phrase, "one in a million"? Well, you'll need to be exactly that if you want to go pro. Think about the best high school athlete in your district of 10 high schools. The absolute Big Man in the area. He gets headhunted so hard by colleges that he can barely spare time for his school work, let alone friends. Then, he gets into college and is a total all star there...of the 12 best all stars on his team that year. Well, guess, what? Only one of those guys will be a pro in five years...if this is a top class of athletes out of the the past several years.

So, even if you're in the 95th percentile of all NCAA athletes in your sport, you've still got a snowball's chance in a microwave of going pro. Not to mention actually mattering at all. More than likely, you'll still be struggling to eke out a living on the bench for a year or stuck on a farm team until you're forced to look for other work. We could bludgeon you with more data and stats, but as you dream about success, just make sure you're hedging your bets.

In other words: enjoy that "alternative" career, Shmooper. (#realtalk)