The campus visit is the most critical part of your college search. If you don’t come prepared, you’re wasting your time and maybe even blowing the biggest decision of your life.
What makes the campus visit such a big deal?
That’s where you finally get a sense of whether a college is right for you beyond everything you’ve read in the brochures, seen on the Web, and heard about from friends, high school counselors, and your Aunt Freida who graduated in ‘92. It’s not going to happen like magic. It could happen like stories you’ve heard: “I got out of the car, looked around, saw those pretty buildings and leafy trees…and just KNEW I wanted to go there!” And so could love at first sight, but for most students the college visit is real work, and if you do it well, it’ll pay off in a great college education at a place you love.
Before you go anywhere… Do your—ugh—homework!
Most college visits last only two to three hours. That’s not much time to gather the information you need to make one of biggest decisions of your life. So, make the most of that time by doing some advanced prep.
Make a list of the top 4-6 schools that meet your criteria, and get all the material you can about them. Call the admissions office and order the catalog and any other publications they have addressing your major or interest areas, and review the school’s Website. Make a list of faculty and facilities you want to see, and any questions you have about what you’ve read.
See what the college guidebooks have to say about your schools. The information they have is usually unbiased and often includes student reviews.
Read the campus newspapers on the Web to get a feel for the issues students are talking about.
Visit a couple of colleges in your area, just for practice. You’ll get better at asking the right questions.
Talk to your friends who’ve either visited or attended the colleges on your list, and ask them what to see and who to talk to.
If the college offers special open houses, interviews and overnight stays in the residence halls, as well as meetings with faculty, do it, and make sure to schedule those well in advance. Schedule your interview after your tour, so you can speak knowledgeably about the school. Be aware, though, that some open houses can look and feel too big and too impersonal, so don’t dismiss a school on the basis of an open house. Go back and visit again later, when you can arrange for a personal tour with an admissions office staffer.
Pick your time wisely. Avoid summer break and other vacation times, if possible, because you’re going to want to talk to students and faculty, sit in on a class in your major or interest area, check the bulletin boards to see what the social and cultural opportunities are on campus, and see how students decorate their dorm rooms. If you going during exam time, students will be stressed and grumpy! If you go during special high-activity weeks, you may get an unrealistic view of what the campus is really like.
Plan on touring no more than 2 colleges a day. Otherwise, you’ll get totally burned out.