D1 Unofficial Visits as a Junior

Athletic Recruits
1

<p>What are thoughts on D1 unofficial visits? </p>

<p>There are the visits when coaches ask you to let them know when you are on campus so you can meet, etc. - I assume that this face-to-face meeting is for the benefit of both coach and athlete at no expense to the college. Coach can see the athlete for him/herself also to get an idea if they can get what they want physically from the student (after already knowing the current stats, etc.)</p>

<p>Then, there are the visits when the student is invited by a coach to not just visit the school (as a junior) but to also spend the night, go to classes and dine with team members, come watch a training session, etc. - just like an official but paid for by the student, and not with other recruits there at the same time. This seems as if it would be more of an expression of interest than is general at this time?</p>

2

<p>Unofficials are so important in the recruiting process. All of the ones my son went on were basically like an official except for the fact that we paid for the travel expenses and he did not get to spend the night on campus. There were never any other recruits there at the same time. Usually offers were made during these unofficial visits.
Jr. Days were more general and there were many other recruits there. However, it is a good way to see if you are interested in what the school has to offer and if you like the coach/players.
In baseball, the official visit has almost become a get together for committed players as most kids have committed by the time they are eligible to take them. Just read the other day where a few 2012s committed. It keeps getting earlier and earlier. But that is a subject for another postā€¦</p>

3

<p>ok
so a visit to a school, visiting with team, meeting coach and seeing practice is all ok on the studentā€™s dime during the jr yrā€¦at the studentā€™s initiativeā€¦
right
otherwise it is an infraction against the july 1 ruleā€¦</p>

<p>so its all an unofficial visitā€¦and ok? yes?</p>

<p>alsoā€“coaches asking for jr yr transcript and SATs now is ok- rightā€¦</p>

4

<p>Yes, everything that you said is all OK.
It does not necessarily have to be the studentā€™s initiative. Usually it is initiated by the coach.</p>

5

<p>fogfog - I hope this helps, and clarifies. It did for me. There is an easy to read document at [The</a> Official Web Site of the NCAA - NCAA.org - NCAA.org](<a href=ā€œhttp://www.ncaa.org%5DTheā€>http://www.ncaa.org) -> academics and athletes -> eligibility and recruiting -> Information for Student Athletes and Parents. It is a PDF that you can download. I used to reference it all the time to understand time tables for my sonsā€™ specific sport, as well as all the rules. It has all the sports and their timetables, and like I said it is easy to read.</p>

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<p>fogfog - I ditto Mom3xy.</p>

<p>Mom3xy: Thanks for sharing just how important unofficial visits were to your experience. Many college coaches that my D is corresponding with ask her to come to campus to meet them, etc. (all unofficial). Two coaches have scheduled phone conversations with her (with D calling them at set time). One college - one of Dā€™s dream schools - has invited her to come visit, spend the night in a dorm, go to class, watch practice, etc. - all unofficial obviously as D is a junior. I think we have to pay a nominal fee for the dorm stay - maybe $10/$20. Just curious as that seems like a lot of interest in a junior this soon (spring sport).</p>

<p>Mom3xy: When your son was being made verbal offers on his unoffical visits, were these during his junior year?</p>

7

<p>Majority of it transpired before senior year started, mostly in the summer. For his sport, NLI signing was in November. Official visits are not allowed until the 1st day of school senior year, which for us is September, and by then it is pretty late in the game.
It was nice to have the majority of the legwork done in the summer as it is hard to do all that visiting/traveling after school starts.</p>

8

<p>Mayhew, I would echo the advice that junior year unofficial visits can be very helpful in beginning to narrow down your athletes options. I donā€™t think itā€™s early - depending on the sport - many kids make an unofficial commitment in junior year. </p>

<p>We were a little behind the game with our S and then he had to make decisions about which official visits to take in fall of senior year without ever having seen some of the schools before (youā€™re limited to 5 official visits and time may limit you to fewer than that). Having an idea of where your athlete would want to make official visits before the craziness of senior year can be very helpful!</p>

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<p>Thank you for these thoughts! D and I have visited most of the colleges she would seriously consider (thank heavens, after our 23 college tour - ridiculous, but fun! - And no, she is not interested in 23 colleges right now!!) ), and it will be good to narrow down the list via meeting coaches before the potential invitations for official visits this autumn (assuming/hoping everything keeps going the way it has been - !). In June, we will revisit some of these colleges now that she has developed some level of rapport with coaches. </p>

<p>It is really good to know that these upcoming unofficial visits are valuable, and it sounds as if they are definitely worth our time. Needless to say, the upcoming overnight one has my D beyond excited. First night on a college campusā€¦! Thank you:)</p>

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<p>Official vs unoffical</p>

<p>ok since the kids can only take 5 officials
and official visits cost the schoolā€™</p>

<p>is there any disadvantage to us going and our student doing the tour, visit with the coach, see a pratice, have a meal with teammates etc on our dime?</p>

<p>meaning will our student still possibly get that official visit from this school that is pulling out the stops for our visit (our dime)</p>

<p>since they get tons of kids trying to get inā€“seems to me it is little effort for the coach/team to do this since the planning, $, etc are all arranged by moi for us to get there to begin withā€¦ (coach planning when we are thereā€“)</p>

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<p>Unofficial visits are a great way to see the campus, meet the team, and see the coach in action. The coach will see that your son is serious about the school, and not just looking to add another free trip (official visit) in the fall of senior year.</p>

<p>If son is considering applying ED or SCEA, those unofficial trips are crucial to narrow his choices. If he finds his first choice school, and the coach reciprocates ā€˜the loveā€™, he can have the whole process wrapped up on Dec.15 of senior year (and earlier if he warrants a likely letter)!</p>

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<p>Iā€™m adding my enthusiastic support to junior year visits. As everyone has said, fall of senior year is just too busy to cram in 5 trips, and they may miss some things at home that theyā€™d rather not: homecoming, time with friends, not to mention studying/writing for that last batch of AP classes. </p>

<p>IMO, the official visits should be made only to schools youā€™ve already visited and that are truly in the ā€œtop 5ā€. Donā€™t waste your kidā€™s time, the coachā€™s time, the time of the college kids who are hosting your kid, etc. </p>

<p>We felt NO pressure on the unofficials. No risk for the kid or the coach, just a chance to get a good look at each other. By the official visits, my daughter had a serious set of criteria in mind on each visit, and Iā€™m sure the coaches and team did as well. I learned an incredible amount on the unofficials- Iā€™m pretty sure I was present at every coach meeting. I tried to be silent and spongelike. In fact, we agreed that I would not speak. If the coach looked at me for an answer, I looked at my daughter.</p>

<p>My daughterā€™s questions got better with each visit: more targeted to what she really wanted to know about a program, and more specific about what the coach was looking for in the recruiting class. She also got a lot better at communicating to the coach what she is like: what she looks for in a coach, in team mates, in a school, how she likes to practice, compete, etc. She let the coach see the ā€œrealā€ kid instead of the tense recruit she would have been without some interview practice. </p>

<p>The culmination of these visits and talks were the officials. She came home from her final choice completely satisfied that she had found her match. You may never remove all doubt, but you can get closer if you see a lot of programs, and consider no trip wasted, just another learning experience. </p>

<p>Best wishes- this can be soooooo fun and exciting, if you like roller coasters, that is.</p>

13

<p>The unofficial my daughter went on was initiated by the coach. We dined with the coaching staff twice (dinner and then lunch the following day, and we paid for our own meals) on campus. We stayed in a hotel. She was offered a spot and accepted. Now the other big stuff remains, SAT, maintaining the gpa, completing the app for early decision, getting accepted by admissions. Sorry if this sounds boring. Trust me, Iā€™m anxious and excited. Bottom line, junior visits matter a great deal.</p>

14

<p>THANK YOU SO MUCH for this feedback and advice. You have confirmed my instinct that this unofficial 24 hour visit will be well worth our time - my D is so excited as she LOVES this D1 school.
Beawinner, was your daughterā€™s unofficial visit taken recently - as in, is she currently a junior? Congratulations on her offer, which I assume is a verbal one?</p>

15

<p>Glad to hear that unofficals donā€™t hurt and can helpā€¦</p>

<p>showing the loveā€¦</p>

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<p>Mayhew, yes, the unofficial was taken a few months ago and she is a junior. I forgot to mention that she also did attend a class and visited the athletic facilities (beautiful), talked with an academic advisor about transferable credits and plans for tutoring, etc. Very informative all the way around and is your chance to find out the nitty gritty on what the college has to offer and also about its limitations. I also learned all about how they handle their athletic scholarships and what to expect in the upcoming application process. If this upcoming unofficial visit doesnā€™t ā€œstickā€ for whatever reason, at the very least youā€™ll come away with a lot of useful information for future ones.</p>

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<p>beawinner: Thank you for sharing your experience, and a HUGE congratulations to your daughter for having a verbal offer made - what a great confirmation of her academic and athletic efforts! I am really looking forward to keep learning and being educated on this process as we move through itā€¦again, thank you!</p>

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<p>Looking forward to hearing the updates ;o)</p>

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<p>Mayhew?
Mayhew?
Where are thou? Havenā€™t heard from you
Are you and your student traveling/visintg ;o)</p>

20

<p>We are back from a really great unofficial ā€¦ and thank you all so much for your endorsement of the value of these visits!! It was really good to have the one-on-one time with the coach without the distraction of other recruits, etc. It was great for my athlete to be able to ask direct questions, and also to be really questioned by the coach. I am also glad that I could sit in too to be a second set of ears, so to speak. Also, class and practice were attended - a truly valuable and very exciting experience! Extremely motivational too for my student to know exactly what is expected from her this season in order to get what she wants - a fair deal :slight_smile: Who knows where this will all end, but this was a really, really good experience - thank you again everybody!</p>