Currently I am a rising junior, and have some college visits coming up within the next week and beyond. I understand that it’s better to visit during the school year, but summer is a much better time for my family.
I was just wondering what exactly I should pay attention to on campus visits. Any questions I should ask? Anything about prepping for these first campus visits would help, thanks.
I’ll be visiting Lehigh, TCNJ, UConn, and UNC-CH this summer. I will be attending an information session and be going on a guided tour for all of these schools. During the fall I will be visiting NC state, Rutgers, and possibly the University of Alabama.
Any information about any of the colleges would also help.
Before the tour you’ll most likely have an information session, where you’ll be presented with the average stats of previously accepted students and the requirements for the universit(ies). At these sessions, you’ll see what SAT, ACT, GPA, resume goals etc. you should aim for; however, you can ask questions about types of classes or an interest you might have (i.e. what resources are available for a ________ major? perhaps).
On the tour, which is almost always guided by students, you can ask more personal questions about dorms, time management, what classes they’re taking, how they handled freshman year etc. You’ll also get an overall feel for the campus.
It makes sense to spend some time on each college’s website before you visit to get an idea on a wide array of things such as the school’s selectivity, majors available, types of dorms on campus etc. You can also try to get your hands on a couple of guide books (I like Fiske, Princeton Review, Insiders Guide) and read up on each school – available at many libraries, at bookstores etc. Doing some up-front work can help to make a visit more productive. For example, I’ve been to more than one information session when a student finds out that the school s/he is visiting doesn’t have the major they want --making the visit a real waste of time.
Other than that, the description above is how the typical visit goes. Unfortunately over the summer you won’t get a great feeling for each school since most students will not be on campus.
Pay attention and look around as a much as possible
Carry a small notebook or tablet and write 5-6 things about the school that interest you / or dislikes
Own the process as much as possible - your parents will appreciate this
Scour web sites first
If you do get a chance to meet the admissions director make a good impression - introduce yourself - talk a little about your interests and ask how they would match/conflict/mesh with the school
At this point you are mostly going for feel of campuses - then if you feel strongly about a campus then you can look at similar ones
You will eventually have some idea - where you want to be geographically? how big a campus? city or not?