Take Advantage of Time Off to Make Multiple Unofficial Visits

Put These On Your Must-do List This Summer

NSR prospects, like Kristina Serhan, will be making hundreds of unofficial visits this summer.

Online research will give you a fairly good idea about what a particular college campus has to offer and what a coach is like, but nothing replaces seeing them in person.  This summer presents the perfect opportunity to make what the NCAA calls “unofficial visits.”  These are different from “official visits” in several significant ways. 

First, by NCAA rules, you may take as many unofficial visits as you would like.  One or a hundred, you are not limited to the number of these you are allowed to make.  In contrast, you may only take a combined five official visits to NCAA DI and DII schools.   

Second, unlike the far more restrictive official visits in which the colleges pay for a large portion of the recruit’s expenses, you and your parents must pay all your expenses, save three tickets to sports events which the school may furnish at no cost to you.  Since we are speaking here about making unofficial visits during the summer it is a moot point anyway.

Third, you are not limited to the amount of time you spend on a campus during an unofficial visit.  For instance, if you have a friend attending summer school a particular college, you may stay with that person in a dormitory for any number of days.  On official visits, you can only stay on campus for a maximum of 48 hours. 

This (unofficial visits) opens up the discovery process to you.  Take advantage of this incredible option.  Make plans to visit as many college campuses as possible this summer, especially to the schools whose coaches have shown you real interest.  You will find that there is a certain chemistry which exists between you and all campuses and coaches.  From the moment you step on a campus, you will sense it, good or bad.  And, as you continue to tour the grounds, buildings and facilities and meet the people, you will innately feel if that situation is right for you or not.  It’s not something which you can experience over the Internet or on phone conversations.  It’s not something which a friend or relative can determine for you.  Instead, it is a something which you must experience yourself and be completely satisfied with at every turn.