A visit is where a school stops being a name on a list. It is also where a coach decides whether you are someone they want around for four years. Both sides are evaluating.
An official visit is one the school pays for, at the coach's invitation. An unofficial visit is one you and your family pay for and arrange yourselves. You can walk around any campus at any time on your own. The rules are about when the athletic department can host you and meet with you.
Members lesson
In the full lesson
- The two kinds of visit side by side: who pays, when they open, what they signal
- What actually happens on an official visit weekend
- How to set up an unofficial visit a coach will make time for
- Nine questions for the coach
- Six questions for the athletes, when the coach is not in the room
- How recruits lose offers on a visit
Rules, dates and numbers checked October 2026 against NCAA recruiting guides and calendars. They change every year; confirm with each school's compliance office.