<p>I've seen a lot of people on this board stress the importance of visiting schools so the colleges know you're interested and not just applying as a safety. But if the schools don't take reservations for tours and info sessions, and you just show up, how do they ever know you've been there (or haven't)? What is the point?</p>
<p>Some do take reservations for summer info sessions. Others take your name once you are there. Some send invititations to visit in the fall for special weekends. At any rate you get to look around and see the place.</p>
<p>Once you show up on campus and drop in at the admissions office, they always have your fill out an info form about yourself.</p>
<p>Is visiting a college during the summer helpful for any reason? I mean, besides letting the college know you're interested in their school, what can a summer visit teach you about the school. You don't really get to sit in on any classes, and there are very few students there.</p>
<p>I'm planning on visiting Pomona in mid-August, but don't know whether the visit will actually help me decide which school is right for me. Any advice/opinions would be appreciated!</p>
<p>Well Summer is kind of an arbitrary time...most people are free and it's generally easier to schedule a vist. Many schools like students to visit so they can get a feel for college life. Also, it shows colleges that the student is genuinely interested in the school (after all, if the student has come OOS, he must have some desire to apply). Somtimes visiting a college can make or break your decision. There are many people here on CC who chose one college over another simply because they liked it better when they visited.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Is visiting a college during the summer helpful for any reason? I mean, besides letting the college know you're interested in their school, what can a summer visit teach you about the school. You don't really get to sit in on any classes, and there are very few students there.
[/quote]
Astute observations. If you have <em>absolutely</em> no other choice then go during the summer, but a college is more than the collection of impressive buildings and manicured lawns. It is the students and faculty that make up the school and determine what your life will be like inside the classroom and out. It's much harder to get a sense of what this would be like (and to talk to a sampling of current students) when you visit during the summer.</p>
<p>mikemac is right but sometimes schools have summer programs that keep a few students on campus or some are there doing a work study stint--find out if some undergrads will be around and arrange to talk to a few of them. Also a few profs may be around --maybe someone from your potential major can talk to you. Visit the library --we did this at a few places on summer visits and found both students and profs hanging around--also go to the coffee-cafeteria-bookstore hangouts.</p>
<p>I just chose summer cause its the only time I can fly to the states without school issues.</p>
<p>fill out forms! thats the only way they'll recognize you amongst thousands of students who visit every....day!</p>
<p>Well I just got back from my college visit trip to the East Coast... 15 schools in 14 days. Not all of the schools had forms to fill out, though most did. Princeton, Yale, Brown, and Harvard were the ones that did not.</p>
<p>I'm curious what were the other 11 schools you looked at? What did you think of Brown?</p>
<p>HYP don't care about demonstrated interest. The schools that care are trying to increase the yield rate. HYP don't need to increase yield.</p>
<p>I also looked at Swat, Wes, Holyoke, Amherst, Penn, Vassar, and Georgetown. Sushi, you asked about Brown -- I hated it. The admissions officer was condescending and the students giving tours and presentations were unfriendly. As our tour group walked across campus to the lecture hall for the info session, I walked beside the admissions officer and her student assistant -- and they spent the entire 10 minute walk talking to each other. The couldn't have cared less about speaking personally to students. Their coldness completely turned me off to the school, especially when compared to the warm greetings I received at nearly every other school I visited.</p>
<p>That is unfortunate about your experience at Brown. My daughter goes there and is very happy. Everyone else she knows is happy at the school, too.</p>
<p>On the other hand, at orientation, my husband and I took our first official tour and the two students leading ours weren't that great, either. This seems like something they need to work on ... (My experience in getting answers from the admissions office was also poor ... but then my daughter received a nice handwritten message on a form letter from an adcomm.)</p>
<p>Before deciding for or against a particular school, it would be useful to see what students there say about on the school (on CC, princetonreview, studentsreview, any of those "what these schools are really like" books). Brown is always near the top for "happiest students" so it obviously has something going for it.</p>
<p>Oh, I meant to say something about visiting in the summer.</p>
<p>It isn't ideal. But it can show you what the place looks like, what the surrounding area looks like, how the food is, etc., as well as to ask any questions you have, talk to professors, and the like.</p>
<p>My daughter had attended classes at Brown for two summers. She found her experience sufficient for predicting what the place is like during the regular school year. I don't know that we would have gotten anything more from a nonsummer visit.</p>
<p>My D did two summers at the Brown summer program and is an RA for the Brown summer program this summer. She's '09 at Harvard. We did tours of of many of the same schools during spring break JR year. What we found was the impression of the school hinged greatly on the quality of the info sesssion and tour guide. </p>
<p>We didn't care for Harvard the first time. It was raining hard so no tour. The info session was dry and the student volunteer was pretentious. The next time we visited it was completely different and we loved it. </p>
<p>Wes had a very nice info session but the tour was weak and the campus wasn't that impressive. </p>
<p>MHC is beautiful and very friendly. </p>
<p>Yale had a senior do the info session and everyone left with a glow. I'm sure applications went up that year just do to his personality. </p>
<p>Smith was very personal. </p>
<p>Wellesley was beautiful but a little cold. </p>
<p>Amherst was good, but felt like a frat school, even though they don't have them anymore. </p>
<p>Rice was great the first year we visited because the tour guide was good. The next year the tour guide wasn't as good. The admissions office is like visiting your favorite aunt. They obviously love the kids.</p>
<p>If we went back to any of those schools, the impression would likely change based on the personality of the people you meet.</p>
<p>By the way, my D wanted to return to Brown this summer because she so enjoyed it in HS.</p>
<p>Hey bandit, </p>
<p>What you said is very true which is why I'm having problems deciding whether I dont like a school because its not a good fit for me or because of bad info session/tours,weather,etc... Any advice on how to differentiate?</p>
<p>For example, my Brown info session was dry. It was conducted by a lady who was soft-spoken.. She didn't even use a mike so pretty much, it was probably one of the worst I've been to. My tour guide seemed like a cool guy but was not very informative.... All this combined kinda dampened my impression about Brown.... </p>
<p>Another example would be Tufts. I visited it when the temps were around 100F so it was really hot and since the campus was hilly, it was quite a tiring tour. There was construction happening in the campus so some of the roads were blocked and it was noisy. The tour was alright since they didn't show us much ( didn't get to see the dorms,etc ) while the info session was alrigt. Hence, as we drove away from the campus, I didn't like it at all. I am considering removing it from my college list ( even though I was originally hoping I'd like it since it has diversity in population,a good program,etc,etc).. Do you guys think I'm being too hasty in removing it from my list?</p>
<p>Am finding it hard to finalize my list of schools due to the abovementioned reasons. Am I right/wrong in doing so? Any advice?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>My Princeton info session was so dry my friends and I walked out.</p>
<p>My advice is to select a school based on what you want from it, whether its a department, prof, no core, grad placement, city, etc. No matter where you end up, you are likely to find people that you like and are like you.</p>