Although you are always welcome to visit college campuses at your own expense, you are limited to only five official visits in which the college pays for part or all of your expenses.  Completion of the SAT or ACT and a high school transcript are prerequisites to an official visit, and you may only go on an official visit after the first day of senior classes in high school.  Usually an official visit consists of an overnight trip to campus where you will have a member of the soccer team as your host.  While you are on campus, you will meet members of the team, learn more about the soccer program and be better acquainted with the coaching staff.  In addition, the coaches and the team may bring you to a sporting event and classes so you can get a better feeling for the student body and the academic environment at the school.  In fact, you may meet other recruited athletes who are on their official visits as well.  An official visit is truly a genuine way to see what it would be like to be a student-athlete in college.

Most importantly, talk to people and take advantage of every opportunity to visit a classroom, a sporting event, a lecture, etc… You will be spending most of your time with players on the team, so you will be able to see what a typical day is like for a collegiate student-athlete.  Ask the players on the team what they think about the coach.  What do the players think of the coach’s coaching style?  Academically, you should tell the coaching staff and the players what your interests are.  If you like art history, there may be a great art history seminar that you can attend.  Perhaps there is a member of the team who is majoring in art history and can talk to you about the department.  Talk to the players on the team.  If you like the school, these players may just end up being your upperclassmen teammates in college and important figures in your life when you need advice and support.


NOTE:
Unfortunately, in the women’s game these days, because of the acceleration within the recruiting process these days, “official visits” are more of a “thing of the past”.By this I mean, you’re usually traveling to prospective colleges/universities these days at your own expense.  If you take “official visits” now, it’s usually to the school that you’ve more than likely made a commitment to!