Questions and answers

An agency does the recruiting for you, for a package of $4,600 to $17,900 paid once (the prices three agencies publish). Varsio gives you the data an agency works from: 5,000+ teams with rosters, the coaches’ contacts and what each school costs. You do the recruiting yourself. Recruit, which adds the coach contacts, opens soon at $849 a year. Until then everything in Free works.

Coaches would rather hear from the athlete than from someone who speaks for them, and you see the same data the agency would.

Recruit includes your ten best matches, 16,000+ coach work emails from official staff pages, and a draft for your first email to each team. Free already includes your profile, the quiz, your three best matches and the whole database of schools.

The data stays useful after you sign: when you transfer, when a coach changes, through your years in the US. A placement fee would pay us for promising a place, which nobody can guarantee. A yearly price that stands on the website is easier to judge, and you renew only if it was worth it.

No, and nobody can. A “95% placement” figure usually leaves out the athletes who dropped out along the way.

What we provide is data from official pages: which teams are likely to have openings, which coaches to write to and what each school costs, each with the date we read it. Some of it can be out of date. The emails, the video, the grades and the effort are yours, and the coach recruits you, the athlete.

Usually less than the headline figure. A “$40,000 scholarship” is a discount on a list price that almost nobody pays in full. What counts is what your family pays each year after athletic and academic money. That ranges from a few thousand dollars at well-funded programs to more than $20,000 elsewhere.

Scholarships that cover everything are rare outside a few sports and divisions. Where a school publishes its scholarship rules (181 schools so far), Varsio shows the price after academic money for your grades. For other schools it shows the full price.

You train with your team most afternoons, go to classes in the morning and travel to away games by bus or plane, paid by the school. Fall teams start training a few weeks before classes in August. There is a winter break of about a month and a long summer break, when most athletes go home. The days are full, and the school gives you coaches, athletic trainers and academic advisors to make it work. More in our guide on life as a college athlete.

No. US college sport has many levels, from NCAA Division I to two-year junior colleges, and most international athletes in our data play outside Division I. Coaches look for players who fit their team at their level. The quiz asks for your level so that your list matches it.

Soccer, tennis, swimming and golf. NCAA Division I, II and III are well covered (about 8 to 9 in 10 programs). NAIA is at about 6 in 10 programs and junior colleges (NJCAA) at about 4 in 10 so far. That matters, because many of the best offers for international athletes come from schools outside the big Division I names, which often publish fixed rules for academic money. More sports follow as the database grows.

Often, yes. A junior college (NJCAA) is a two-year school. It usually costs less, you play early, and after two years you can move to a four-year school. The new school decides which of your credits count, so ask it early. Varsio's founder went this way himself, from Tyler Junior College in Texas to Cumberland University in Tennessee. More in our guide on the junior college route.

From public sources: official team roster pages, staff directories and US government education data. We never collect anything behind a login or a paywall. Every record stores the page it came from and when we read it, so you can see where a fact comes from and how old it is. Most rosters are read again about once a week, coaching staff pages every night.

Your profile exists only with your consent, is stored on servers in Germany and is never sold. You can download or delete it at any time. Deletion requests sent to privacy@varsio.io are handled promptly.

If you are under 16, a parent or guardian must agree before you can create a profile. Coaches see nothing about you unless you write to them.

Ideally 12 to 18 months before you want to start at a school. Coaches fill next season’s places early, and you need time for your emails, the eligibility process, tests and the visa. Starting later still works, because places open all year, but starting early means you can choose between offers.

Good enough to follow lectures. Most schools ask for an English test such as TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo, and each school sets its own minimum score. Take the test early, because you need the score for admission.

Yes, in almost every sport. Coaches rarely see European games, so a short video of your best moments is how they judge you. In swimming your times count most, in tennis your UTR, and the video supports them. Our guide explains what coaches want to see.

Yes, and many do, since parents usually pay. Everything is written so that a parent can follow it: the reason for each match, the cost estimates and the data behind them. If your child is under 16, your consent is required. The emails to coaches should still come from the athlete, because the athlete is the one being recruited.

By email, from your own address. Recruit, once it opens, gives you the coach’s official work email where the school publishes one (head coaches almost always, about 6 in 10 assistants), with the date we last checked it, a draft for that team and your profile, and advice on timing. Put the link to your highlight video in the subject line and the first line, keep the email short and follow up politely. Coaches read these emails every day, and a short, specific message from an athlete stands out.

Yes, an F-1 student visa. Once a school admits you, it sends you a form called the I-20. With it you pay the SEVIS fee (currently $350), fill in the visa application, pay its fee (currently $185) and go to an interview at the US embassy or consulate. A new $250 visa integrity fee was passed in 2025; whether it is charged yet depends on the consulate. Step by step in our guide on the F-1 student visa.

Varsio does not file anything for you and gives no legal advice. For your own case, ask the international office of your future school and the NCAA or NAIA Eligibility Center.

Yes. Recruit will be a yearly plan that you can cancel at any time. It then runs until the end of the period you paid for. There are no placement clauses and no exit fees.