"COLLEGE CORNER" with Steve Van Note

ASBA's Steve Van Note

Official Visit vs. Unofficial Visit: Understand The Differences


A major part of the college selection process is visiting a school. You can visit a school in two different ways-- an official visit or an unofficial visit. A good idea for any student-athlete is to take an unofficial visit. An unofficial visit allows a family to travel to a school of their choice, tour the campus, visit the athletic complex and get to see what type of atmosphere the school has to offer on their own. This is a very important trip.


On the other hand, most official visits are scheduled around a big football weekend or a sporting event that will have the school running on all cylinders. Going on an unofficial visit will allow you to see a school during its down time. For an official visit, you will be toured around campus by one of the coaching staff and possibly a player. They will be able to answer any questions you may have about the baseball program. Mom and Dad may be able to get more questions answered than they need on the unofficial visit, but by far the player will have more fun on the official visit. Below I have listed the definitions of both official visits and unofficial visits.


An Official Visit is a prospective student-athlete’s visit to a college campus paid for by the college. The college can pay for transportation to and from the college, room and meals (three per day) while visiting and reasonable entertainment expenses, including three complimentary admissions to a home athletics contest. NCAA recruiting bylaws limit the number of official visits a recruit may take to five.


An Unofficial Visit is any visit by a prospective student-athlete and their parents to a college campus paid for by the prospective student-athlete or the prospect’s parents. The only expense the prospective student-athlete can receive from the college is three complimentary admissions to a home athletics contest. The prospect may make as many visits as he or she likes and may take the visits at any time. The only time the prospective student-athlete can not talk with a coach during an unofficial visit is during a dead period.