Preparing for "unofficial" visit

Questions about the school, graduation rates of his athletes, the need for your son's position (a BIGGY), who is he recruiting already at this position, the number of scholarships the school funds and what he has available currently, kids drafted or where did they move on to(if a JUCO), housing for athletes, tutoring and resources available for students and amount of study time he requires(many coaches have their own number of hours that they expect players to study). I also always asked about community and school support of the baseball program. This can give you some valuable insight.

I also found that it was helpful to ask a few personal questions without being too personal if that makes sense. Questions like where he came from, family, and his career goals. No coach is going to tell you that he plans on leaving in a year, but sometimes you can read a lot between the lines. This can give you a "feel" for his personality as some coaches will mesh with your son and some won't - that's just a fact of life.

As far as the coaches - they'll ask about GPA, questions about his HS program possibly, summer teams or experiences, what major, other players from his area. They often "chit chat" as well because they want a feel for his personality as well.

Depends on what you want to get out of the visit. You should know to some degree ahead of time if this school would be your sons "dream school" or is this visit just weighing possible "options" down the road? We used the unofficial visit as an opportunity to look at the campus, the baseball facilities, student housing, the town in general, and maybe pick up on the coaches’ personalities. On a few unofficial visits we never even talked to a baseball coach. What Lafmom suggest is a good approach with good questions. Most wouldn’t do it our way but it was our personal choice NOT to pre-arrange an unofficial visit with the coaches. We didn’t want a “dog and pony” show but just wanted to “drop in” and see things on a “normal” day. If you do talk with a coach you can discuss anything you want since you are on his campus. I wouldn’t ask presumptuous questions or I wouldn’t close any doors on the first visit. I would classify an unofficial visit more as a feeling out process for both sides. This is basic but I'll say it anyway. Your son should understand that first impressions are lasting impressions and to dress accordingly. Some coaches are a little quirky about their players’ appearance. My son even shaved his goatee after viewing one teams roster on the internet.
Good luck,
Fungo

Good advice Fungo - appearance is very important. Ask Michael about it - we were leaving for one and were only about 2 blocks from the house when I realized he hadn't shaved. We still laugh about my "flipping out". We turned around and went home so he could shave. He never forgot after that!

Also, we did unofficial visits the same way for the most part - unannounced.

Thanks for the appearance advice--pretty much reinforces what I've already told me son--plus, to remove the earring!

...and keep the ink covered up.

The one postiive for me about "unofficials" is the opportunity to visit campuses and compare them

I am not even worried about coach/player meetings when it comes to unofficials--the unofficial visits can eliminate a lot of schools before you go too far in dicussions

You are there already so why not use the downtime effectively.


We urge the parents and kids to visit various campuses in the area when we play away on weekends even if they do no more than just drive around the campus, look at the baseball facilit, look at the buildings etc