subject: An Official College Visit is Your Reward for Years of Hard Work in Your Sport [print this page] An Official College Visit is Your Reward for Years of Hard Work in Your Sport
As you excel in your sport andmarket yourself to college coaches, you will start to gain attention from the colleges you focus on. It will start with standard questionnaires and form letters to get you on a coach's recruiting list. Next, coaches will send more personalized letters. Then when the NCAA timetable permits, coaches will send emails and make phone calls to express their interest. This attention is all good. However, this is only the beginning of the recruiting process. After an evaluation of your recruitment video, game film, and live game action, it's time for the biggest step in the process The Official Visit.
Official visits are a great experience and a special reward for all the hard work you have put in over the years in your chosen sport. Official visits usually consist of a three-day weekend staying with an athlete on the team. You will get to experience college life first-hand. You will stay in the dorms, eat in the dining hall, visit practice, and attend event on campus. The weekend usually revolves around a home football game or one of the other sports on campus. You are treated very well while you are there; and you should enjoy the experience!
While you are having fun, remember why you are there to make a positive impression on the coaching staff and your future teammates and to gain important information about the college and the athletic program that will allow you to make a decision about attending the college. Before your visit, ask to meet academic faculty that teach in the subject area you are considering for a major. Ask to meet the sports nutritionist, the sports psychologist, and trainer, if these services are important to you.Ask to meet with the academic support staff. The coaches will set your itinerary, but they will welcome your input on what is important to you during your visit. The coaches should work to accommodate you. Use your time together with your host to ask questions about the school, the professors, team practices, the coaching staff, the social life, and more. It is your opportunity to get a college student-athlete's perspective on what the next four years of your life may be.
Before your visit, you should have established a good rapport with the coach and have asked enough questions and done enough research to know that the school is still one of your top choices. If you are considering schools that are geographically close, you might consider making an unofficial visit and save your official visits for schools that will require more expensive travel arrangements, such as airfare. You also need to consider the cost to attend schools and the potential for financial aid, grants and scholarships. You do not want to use an official visit only later to find out the coach will not offer any aid and the cost of the school will prohibit you from attending. If you are honest and upfront with the coach about your financial situation, they will completely understand. Keep in mind, the NCAA also sets a limit on the number of official visits a coach can offer. So it is in the best interest of both parties to have important questions answered before the official visit. Ask to complete financial aid forms to see how much money you could potentially qualify to receive with need based aid or federal aid in addition to an athletic scholarship.
What many student athletes and parents do not anticipate is that the NCAA only allows you 5 official visits. An official visit is when the coach is paying for your visit. They pay for your transportation, accommodations, food, and events among other things. You may take as many unofficial visits as you wish but all travel and accommodations are your responsibility.
If you prepare well before your official visits, you will get much more out of the trip and have a better understanding of what makes a college the right fit for you athletically and academically. Enjoy the trip! You have worked hard to earn it!
