<p>Recently, my top choice school said that they were unable to offer an official visit at this time, but said if I was willing and interested, that it should definitely come on an unofficial visit during the weekday to observe practice and meet with the team. Obviously, this is not a great sign. However, is going on this unofficial visit potentially important to the coaches, and should I go on it? It's a six hour drive to this school, so it's a bit long, but if this is seen as important in their eyes, I would be willing to do it. Although, if this is not that important, I already have an official from a very close second choice school so I won't dwell on it too long :).</p>
<p>The unofficial one isn’t nearly the same. My experience (My brother is a TCU Football commit, but has offers from OSU, UArk, LSU, Texas, and a bunch of D2’s) is that the unofficial visits lead to a lot less offers than official ones. I went on some of the unofficial ones with him and its personal but not. Since it’s your number one school, I say its worth the 6 hour drive. And find out about camps and all, excelling in those goes the farthest, but getting to go to them is pretty hit and miss. I’d go ahead and take the unofficial visit but don’t expect too much. Take everything with a grain of salt and use it to verify that it’s really your number one. Like you said, you’d be fine at your 2nd choice, so don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get an offer. But not taking the visit at all doesn’t even give that a chance. Goodluck! </p>
<p>Selecting your college is possibly one of the 5 biggest decisions you will make in your lifetime. You have an opportunity to visit and win over the coaches at your number one choice. What is there to think about? Comparing and contrasting schools is such an important part of this process, not to mention the financial investment. You could pay more than $225K for a private education. Six hours one way, a couple tanks of gas, and some change for tolls is worth it IMHO… </p>
<p>If you aren’t willing to drive 6 hours was it really your first choice? I’m not convinced. I know others who have jumped on planes to visit colleges for these opportunities. My son and I drove 8 hours (one-way) to visit a school that wasn’t even his top school at the time, but it was #1 when he left. He enrolled a year later and just graduated. </p>
<p>That is an interesting decision. I think if you can go, you should. You never know if their “a” list - the recruits that got official visits will accept offers. If not, I would guess that those that came for unofficials could get offers. Would you go with a “preferred walk on” spot at this school over a scholarship offer at #2?</p>
<p>The first question is whether No 1 school is offering OVs to other kids, or is it a question of money for OVs not being in the budget. If the former, then to me, the question is how important is your sport to your plans for college? If you are 100% convinced that competing and succeeding at your sport at the D1 level is a major goal you have going forward, then I would think hard about it. If your sport is really important to you, then giving yourself the best chance to succeed athletically should be a major concern. The unfortunate fact is that there is a reason that this school isn’t offering you an OV. I don’t mean to suggest that this necessarily means you are not athletic enough, you could have talent equal to all the kids on the roster, but maybe in the coaches’ eyes your skill set does not fit into the theory of the program. Maybe they are right, maybe not. Either way, coming out of the box they are not going to look at you as someone they think of as ultimately successful in the program. Likely this means that you will have to “wait your turn” behind other, more favored recruits as opportunities arise early in your career. </p>
<p>On the other hand, if you think your sport is a smaller piece of the puzzle in your college experience, then by all means go. Make your decision in that instance on overall fit on the campus, cost, etc. Success in your sport is then just the cherry on top if it comes.</p>
<p>@fenwaysouth
It’s not necessarily the length of the drive that concerns me, but the fact that it will cause me to miss two days of school and practice. For my team, my coach will absolutely hold this against you if you do not have a good enough reason in her eyes. I am absolutely willing to do this if I still have a chance at this school, but if just a nice way to say that they are not interested, then it is definitely a lot to ask of my parents, who both work, to miss two days of work.</p>
<p>@ahsmuoh
At the top choice school I mentioned, if I were to get recruited, it wouldn’t be a preferred walk-on situation, but a firm recruitment. For the second school I mentioned, I would be able to get 90% off of tuition because one of my parents works there. In addition to that, I would also be able to get extra scholarship money. Also, I simply really like the school and think that the team could definitely be very successful.</p>
<p>I’ve just known athletes that have been in this situation and ended up being offered a preferred walk on situation. Not knowing what sport you participate in also makes it difficult. It’s a shame that your coach would hold a college visit against you. Most coaches want as many of their athletes playing in college as possible - it makes them look good ;)</p>
<p>I completely agree with you, especially since our program usually sends at least 10 or 15 girls a year to DI programs. I assume my coach is being strict because last year there was almost never a day when the full team was at practice because of college visits which was very detrimental to us as a team. But everyone is right, since this school is definitely my top, I’ll go talk to my coach about it and hope that she understands.</p>
<p>
This.</p>
<p>Some coaches aren’t given the budget to offer OVs to all their recruits. I’d clarify this before making a decision on an unofficial visit.</p>
<p>Edit to add: An athlete I know who was being recruited by a highly regarded college requested an OV and was told they generally didn’t offer them. The recruit was disappointed because they wanted the experience, but it didn’t affect recruitment. They were accepted ED with coach’s support.</p>
<p>Can you maneuver the visit to only miss a day of school?</p>
<p>If it is your top choice, don’t give up. That is more important than other considerations. It’s not like they didn’t bother to answer you at all.</p>
<p>However, if what others say is true, if the coach is either limited in official visits because of money, or can’t do them because of money, you better <em>really</em> like the school because perhaps the team does not have sufficient financial support.</p>
<p>I would discuss the offer for the unofficial visit with your current coach. If he sends 10 -15 girls to D1 programs every year he should have a good idea about where you stand with your first choice school. I would think that if the unofficial is being offered during the week that other athletes are being offered OV on the weekend. You may want to ask if you can schedule an unofficial for the weekend or if the coach will consider offering an OV if someone else cancels. </p>
<p>Coaches like to see commitment. Even if you are not one of their top recruits now, by the time the OV period ends, most of their top recruits might choose elsewhere. So if you are conveniently around and continue to demonstrate interest, the coaches will show you some love.</p>
<p>Good luck, be persistent, but not pushy.</p>