<p>I am currently a junior and am planning to visit some schools in the boston area. I want to just do a simple tour of each school.
I'm confused/lost as to how exactly college visiting actually works...
Do I need to make an appointment for a tour?
Do I just go to the admissions office and ask for a tour?</p>
<p>Call ahead to each school before you travel, tell them you’ll be in the area visiting and would like a tour. That way they’ll be sure to have someone available. They may have tours leaving on regular schedules which will help you plan. If you’d like an interview with an admissions counselor, ask for that. If you or your parents would like to talk to someone in financial aid, ask for that. If you’d like to meeting with a professor, a coach, a student, ask for that. If you’d like to sit in on a class, ask. </p>
<p>The theme here is basically just ask for what you’re hoping to do.</p>
<p>A bunch of colleges require you to make a visit/tour reservation in advance from their web site because they have scheduled tours and info sessions. You’ll need to look for that on each college’s site in the admissions section. Do you already know what you might want to major in? If so, meetings with professors now can be very helpful, especially if the college doesn’t let Juniors sit in on classes. </p>
<p>Also, attend an info session with the admissions office so you can ask some questions about their application process, any special scholarships (some of the bigger ones have very deadlines!) We visited a college last week that had a campus visit requirement for students applying for some of their largest scholarships. They would’ve had to visit that campus before the scholarship application deadline of their senior year. So make sure you’re checking in by name to every admissions office at some point when you visit a college!</p>
<p>Actually, if you email professors or heads of departments, they’ll usually let you sit in anyway and you don’t have to go through the admissions dept. Just make sure you show up for class on time and don’t try to leave before it ends. Going beyond a simple tour and sitting in on a couple of classes you’re interested in can help you see what kinds of students are attending there and if you like the feel of it.</p>
<p>It is different from college to college. Some schools ask you to make appointments in advance and others don’t. Look online at the admissions section of each school and there is usually a place to get information about visits. You should do a tour and an information session at each school (usually around 2 - 2.5 hours in total) so you can get a good sense of each place you visit. Don’t just show up whenever you want and expect to be accommodated. The tours and information sessions are at set times so you need to check before you go. And be sure to sign-in at the school so they know you were there (many colleges, particularly the smaller schools care that you visited).</p>
<p>Don’t forget to:</p>
<p>1) take some quick notes after each visit because the schools blur together in your mind after a while (just a list of what you like and disliked should do it) - it can also be useful for your ‘why this school’ essay later.
2) get a copy of the student newspaper to see what the place feels like to insiders.
3) take some time to walk around the neighborhood - does it feel like somewhere you’d be comfortable? would like to hang out?
4) check out the bulletin boards in the depts you are interested in - what’s on them? Just ads for overseas study programs - or speakers, events, and things you’d like to do?
5) eat in the dining hall, even if you have to pay for it - not only can you check out the food, but maybe you can strike up a conversation with the people next to you and ask a few questions - most people LOVE to be asked their opinions. (That’s what makes CC tick!)</p>