Do Parents Go On Unofficial Visits?

If your student-athlete is planning an unofficial visit, as a parent, you’re probably wondering if you should go with them on the visit. Unofficial visits are a chance for you and your student-athlete to explore campus on your own time. But do most parents go on unofficial visits?

Parents can go on unofficial visits, and it can be beneficial for you to visit campus in person. Parents often play a significant role during the decision process once student-athletes receive a scholarship offer. Attending an unofficial visit with your student-athlete allows you to see the campus and get a feel for the culture yourself.

It’s best to have your student-athlete reach out directly to the college coach to schedule an unofficial visit. Your child can coordinate with the coach to find the best weekend to meet with the coach and tour campus. They should stay away from busy weekends, like homecoming, when the coach is going to be extra busy.

Families often have to travel far away to potential colleges for unofficial visits, so to maximize your time, you can plan multiple visits in one weekend. For example, spending a day visiting two different colleges in the same area can help bring clarity when your child is considering various schools. Parents play an essential role during the recruiting process because they can help student-athletes think through what’s important to them for their college experience and even into their careers.

Parent’s Role On An Unofficial Visit

So if you’ve decided to attend an unofficial visit with your child, you may be wondering what your role is during the visit. Is it more critical for you to be proactive and engage with the coach? Or should you take a step back and let your child take the lead?

Prepare: Help your student-athlete prepare for a visit by brainstorming questions with them for the coach or tour guide. For example, what are the academic resources available to students? How would the coach describe their coaching style? What is the team dynamic like? Thinking about these questions ahead of time will put less pressure on the student-athlete to think of questions during the visit.

Evaluate: You should be evaluating the school while you’re there to assess the campus culture for fit as well as the strategic benefit for your child’s athletic career. Take notes as you’re walking around campus about things that strike you or you might want to bring up to your child. You will have a less active role during the visit than your child, so you can pick up on things they might not notice.

Support: It’s best to cheer your child on from afar during an unofficial visit. Let them ask questions and chat with the coach. Encourage them to be confident and be themselves. Let them know that you’re there to back them up if they forget a question or don’t know specific financial details.

Ask Questions: It’s helpful for parents to jump in during conversations about financial aid and scholarships, especially considering that parents are usually responsible for the financial aspect of college.

It’s essential to strike a balance between being over involved and not supporting your child enough. Coaches don’t want to see a parent that is over involved or pushing their child to play college sports when they don’t want to. The best thing parents can do for their student-athletes is to give them a chance to tour the campus and prompt them to think about what they want their college experience to be about.

What Can You Expect On An Unofficial Visit

If you haven’t been on an unofficial visit before, it’s hard to know what to expect. An unofficial visit is different from an official visit because the school doesn’t finance the visit or usually plan any of the itineraries. You and your student-athlete have the chance to focus on the parts of campus that are most important to you. There are a few things that you should plan on doing during your unofficial visit to make the most of your time.

Talk With The Coach: This conversation with the college coach might be the first time your child has talked with them in person. Especially if they’ve been communicating over email for some time, this meeting is helpful for the coach to get to know your child and see how they would fit on their team. Talking with the coach also shows the student-athlete what their coaching style is like. Student-athletes need to click with the coach because that relationship can change their college experience.

Tour Campus: Your child should set up a tour with the admissions department while you’re on campus. This tour will take you through the class halls, libraries, dining halls and the bookstore. A campus tour is one of the best ways to get a sense of the culture on campus.

Go To A Game: The university doesn’t finance unofficial visits, but they can provide you with three tickets to one sporting event. It’s great to take advantage of this if you can to see a different side of the school and experience the game-day atmosphere.

Tour Athletic Facilities: You may also be able to tour the athletic facilities on campus to see where you’ll be training, practicing and competing. Coaches usually offer to do this during the scheduled meeting with them, so your child can express interest during this meeting.

Building these activities in your unofficial visit schedule is sure to maximize your time and help you and your student-athlete decide if that school is right for them. Depending on which college they choose, it can set them up to have an overall positive college experience and successful professional career, whether it involves athletics or not.

How To Prepare For An Unofficial Visit

Every parent wants to help their child prepare for a significant moment in their athletic career, and an unofficial visit can be a pivotal moment during the recruiting process. But how should you help plan for an unofficial visit?

Research The School: Researching the school is important for your student-athlete so that they can talk with the coach about what attracted them to the school. Making personal connections between themselves and the program can be helpful and catch the coach’s attention. It’s also beneficial for you, as a parent, to research the school to learn about the academic and athletic resources available to your child.

Write Down Questions: Writing down some of your pressing questions, especially about tuition and scholarships, before the visit can help remind you to ask the coach or admissions staff about those topics.

Register For NCAA Eligibility: Before going on an unofficial visit, student-athletes should register with the NCAA Eligibility Center and upload relevant athletic statistics and standardized test scores. It’s helpful for the coach to have all this information in one place, and it’s required before student-athletes go on an official visit, so it’s great to be over prepared and do this ahead of time.

It’s easy to get stressed about an unofficial visit, especially if you’re just starting to tour schools. But a visit, especially an unofficial visit, is a chance to explore a school and consider all your options without a lot of pressure.

Things To Keep In Mind

No Limits On Unofficial Visits: There are no limits for how many unofficial visits you can take. You can go to as many schools as you want, as many times as you wish. Unlike official visits, unofficial visits are a more casual way to explore campus and compare your top schools.

Official Visits: Official visits are a turning point in your recruiting process. College coaches invite student-athletes on official visits when they are seriously interested in recruiting them. Often, college coaches make scholarship offers on these visits. You can go to both types of visits, and many student-athletes and their parents do visit a school twice.

Make A Good Impression: One of the goals of an unofficial visit for student-athletes is to make a good impression on the college coach to develop a relationship with them further. Make sure that you’re allowing them to shine and interact with the athletic and academic staff.