Planning the Visit:

Without a doubt, the college visit is the best way to learn about a college. It does not matter what you read in a guidebook, or see in the college brochures, or read on the internet. There is no substitute for seeing a college with your own eyes, and forming your own opinions of it. The first thing you might want to ask yourself in preparing for your visit is when should you visit? The best time is when school is in session. A good portion of what you derive from the overall college experience is going to come from the other students. They are who you will be living with, learning with and hanging out with for four years (hopefully only four…at least from your parent’s perspective), so you want to decide if you could see yourself being friends with the types of student that are on a campus. The number one question you should ask yourself when you are at a college is, “Can I see myself walking across this campus to go to class?” Before we go any further, I want to share with you a story that the Dean of Admission at one college shared with me. After a tour of prospective students, the tour guide pulled the Dean aside and asked him, “Dean, do you see that student over there?” To which the Dean replied, “Yeah.” “Well,” the tour guide went on, “he just told his mother, ‘Mom, I’m coming here because they have a Taco Bell.’” So, it is the purpose of this section of the book to make certain that you are not making a decision that will affect the rest of your life on the presence or absence of a Taco Bell.

First, we will start by talking about the different types of visits. All colleges will offer guided tours. Official guided tours are usually led by a student from the college. The student leader can be doing this either as part of his or her work-study job or as a volunteer, or, on some campuses, students must audition to become a tour guide. Most tour guides are only going to tell you positive things about the school, but sometimes, if they are tour guides for their work-study job, they can be brutally honest. Schools usually also offer information sessions, where an admissions officer will talk to you about the requirements of the school and answer all your questions. In addition to guided tours, some schools offer open houses, and half day visit programs. At programs like this, there is usually a tour, an information session with a member of the Admissions Office Staff, a meal with students at the school, and often times different faculty panels or financial aid presentations. While tours are usually offered Monday thru Friday and on most Saturdays, the open houses and other visit programs occur at select times. Some schools also offer overnight programs, where you can visit campus, stay with a student, go to classes with him or her and get a real feel for life at a college. These vary by school. Some schools no longer offer such programs, some only offer them to accepted students, and some allow any one who makes the request to conduct such a visit. There is always the unofficial visit, as well. This entails visiting the school on your own and looking around campus. In my opinion, the best visit will include parts of all the different ways of visiting a school. It is a good idea to attend an information session and take the official tour, so that you can check in with the admissions office. Remember, most schools track the number of contacts that you make with the school, and when they are reviewing your application, they will see you as a more serious applicant if you have taken the time to visit. It is also important to explore the campus on your own. Talk to students. Find out what they like and what they don’t like about the school. Look around to see what kinds of activities and parties are advertised around the campus. Pick up a newspaper and flip through it. See what the big issues on campus are. Is this a politically active campus? Do students care about social issues? Or, is the most important social issue which fraternity party to go to on the weekend? Are there campus activities for those not interested in drinking? Are there concerts? Are there student groups of interest to you? Are sports big on the campus? How stressed are the students by the class work? While most people do not have much of a choice in where they are going to attend high school, you have a number of choices for college, so you want to make sure to find a place where you will be happy. Eat a meal in the cafeteria. You are not testing the quality of the food, because more than likely you will like the food sometimes, hate the food sometimes, and tolerate the food the rest of the time. What you are looking at is what are people talking about in the cafeteria? How are they acting towards each other? Does everyone sit together, and talk? What are they talking about? Is everyone sitting by themselves and studying? Now, you have to realize that if you are visiting at midterm or finals time, a lot of students will be studying. Talk to some of the students in the cafeteria. More often than not, they will be happy to spend a few minutes talking with you about the school. Here are some other things that you will want to notice about the school on your visit:

What are the dorms like? How many people share a bedroom? How many share a bathroom? Where are the laundry facilities? How close are the dorms to the classrooms and the cafeterias? (Think of those cold winter days, or rainy spring days, how far are you going to want to trudge in inclement weather to get a meal or go to class?) If it is a long distance, are there shuttles available? How safe do you feel on campus? Are there blue phones around? Does everyone keep telling you that whatever you do, don’t walk the campus alone at night? What are the classrooms like? Do they have all the modern amenities? Are there mainly large lecture halls, or are there a number of smaller classrooms as well? Find out where people study. Do they mainly study in their dorm rooms, or is it too loud? Are there designated study areas in the library? How easy is it to locate a book that you might need? (Most colleges will tell you on the tour that they offer inter-library loan. However, if you are starting a paper on Tuesday that is due on Wednesday—not recommended—what good does getting a book in 24 to 48 hours do you? ) If you are interested in the sciences, how modern are the laboratories? What opportunities are there for undergraduates to do research? How are the athletic facilities on campus? Can all students use them, or are they reserved for just the varsity athletes? How close is the nearest grocery store, or convenience store, if you want to get a snack? Are there movie theaters, stores, or other things that might be important to you close to the campus?

Remember that this is a living as well as a learning experience. You want to be happy, or else you will not get the most out of your college experience. If you have the chance, you should visit several colleges. This will give you a frame of reference. It is also important because you will learn not only what you like, but also what you do not like about colleges. All of this information will help you narrow down your choices.
While it is not ideal to visit a campus when classes are not in session, it is better to visit a college over the summer than never to visit it at all. You can answer all of your questions about the physical plant of the college. However, realize that the students who are there during the summer might not be there during the regular school year. Also, I wouldn’t recommend visiting more than 5 or 6 schools in one trip. After a while, they will all blend together. So, it is a good idea to take some notes after you visit each college. Just a few things that were memorable about the campus, so you can review them later on and they will jar your memory. You do not have to take notes while you are on the tour, you don’t want to be that kid with the notebook. Just make certain that before you leave the campus you take a few moments to jot down your thoughts.