The following question and answer discussion has been taken from the 2013-2014 Soccer College Forum and replayed here. The discussion introduces the link for the College Bound Student-Athlete Handbook, a must have resource for all student-athletes considering a collegiate athletic career.

Originally Posted by BoardLord
Originally Posted by Anonymous
What's the definition of an "official visit" as opposed to visiting a coach when you are on a regular old campus tour?
In order to have access to the core of College Bound Student-Athlete information for 2013-2014, BOTC strongly urges you to become familiar with the following resource :

NCAA Eligibility Center Guide for the College Bound Student-Athlete, 2013-2014

Turning to your question, the official NCAA-sanctioned definition for an official visit is found on Page 21 :

Official visit

Any visit to a college campus by you and your parents paid for by the college. The college may pay all or some of the following expenses:

� Your transportation to and from the college;
� Room and meals (three per day) while you are visiting the college; and
� Reasonable entertainment expenses, including three complimentary admissions to a home athletics contest.

Before a college may invite you on an official visit, you will have to provide the college with a copy of your high school transcript (Division I only) and ACT, SAT or PLAN score and register with the NCAA Eligibility Center.

For completeness, you should also be familiar with the following two terms :

Unofficial visit

Any visit by you and your parents to a college campus paid for by you or your parents. The only expense you may receive from the college is three complimentary admissions to a home athletics contest. You may make as many unofficial visits as you like and may take those visits at any time. The only time you cannot talk with a coach during an unofficial visit is during a dead period.

Verbal commitment

This phrase is used to describe a collegebound student-athlete's commitment to a school before he or she signs (or is able to sign) a National Letter of Intent. A collegebound student-athlete can announce a verbal commitment at any time. While verbal commitments have become very popular for both college-bound student-athletes and coaches, this "commitment" is NOT binding on either the college-bound student-athlete or the college or university. Only the signing of the National Letter of Intent accompanied by a financial aid agreement is binding on both parties.