Are you interested in learning more about the difference between an unofficial visit and official visit?
Let’s take a deep dive into this topic!
UNOFFICIAL VISIT
- Unofficial visits can take place at any time on the athletes OWN time (with no athletic department contact)
- Visits can begin August 1st before the recruits junior year of high school (D1 only) if the athlete wants to communicate with the athletic department and coaching staff
- Unofficial visits vary per university
- Unofficial visits are a great time to sit down with the coaching staff and get to know their style of coaching and ask important questions:
- What do typical practices look like?
- How many spots are the coaching staff trying to fill?
- How strenuous is the life of a student-athlete?
- What does the coaching staff expect academically from the student-athlete?
- Is there an academic support team?
- How does the coaching staff handle qualifying?
- Information about facilities the golf team has access to
- Unofficial visits allow the prospective student-athletes to do the following:
- Tour campus and get a feel for student life
- View athletic facilities
- Explore educational buildings and get a sneak peek at a class
- Check out university housing
- Meet an academic advisor and discuss future academic plans
- Explore the bookstore and look at merchandise
- Unofficial visit inside information:
- First time impressions are everything
- The way you dress is important to the coaching staff
- DO NOT wear opposing schools gear – you’d be surprised at the comical stories coaches have about these situations
- Your relationship with your parents/guardians tells the coach a lot about what type of teammate and student-athlete they will be getting
- Look people in the eyes and shake hands when the situation presents itself (people remember these things)
- Always write a handwritten thank you note after the visit concludes – whether you end up choosing this university or not – these notes go a long way with the coaching staff
OFFICIAL VISIT
- Visits can begin August 1st before the recruits junior year of high school
- NCAA allows for a student-athlete to make five visits to a Division I school with one visit being allowed per university
- NCAA also limits DII and DIII to one visit per university, but the student athlete can make unlimited amounts of visits
- Each official visit can only be 48 hours – don’t worry, the coaches will make sure each hour is filled
- Universities can pay for the following for the recruit and parents/guardians:
- Transportation to and from campus
- Hotel/lodging for the official visit
- Three meals per day
- Three tickets to a home sporting event
- Official visits are an opportunity for the recruit to stay with a current student-athlete on campus to get a feel for campus/dorm life
- Official visits are an ideal time to sit down with the coaching staff and touch base on some important items as this is most likely the final face to face meeting prior to committing:
- Future potential teammates – meet with team and get an idea of how you fit in
- Athletic academic advisor meeting
- Meet athletic support staff
- Check out campus again (assuming an unofficial visit was taken)
- Official visits are also a time where coaches have the opportunity to ask you final questions such as:
- Where do we rank on your list?
- Can you commit soon or do you still have reservations?
- What are some questions you or your parents/guardians still have regarding our program and university?
- Official visit inside information
- Dress appropriately for each event – never wear opposing university gear (this goes for your parents, too!)
- Be yourself with the team and ask them lots of questions – this is an ideal opportunity to get an inside look at how the life of a student-athlete looks like at this particular school
- Look people in the eyes and shake hands when the situation presents itself (people remember these things)
- Always write a handwritten thank you note after the visit concludes – whether you end up choosing this university or not – these notes go a long way with the coaching staff
And that is the difference between an unofficial and official visit! We hope that you were able to learn something from this valuable information. For more posts like this one, check out our blog here: Path Fore Success Blog. You can also follow us on Instagram & Twitter for more!
