<p>Hi :) I'm an international currently staying with my relatives in New York for a few weeks. In the area, I'm set on applying to Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, UPenn, Georgetown. I guess my first question, then, is are college visits worth it?</p>
<p>If you think so, any advice to make the trip worthwhile? How can I go beyond the mere informational tour? When I visited New York last November, I regularly took the trip to Columbia to sit in on some lectures open to the public... given that it's summer, are there any such opportunities?</p>
<p>I was thinking that these would give me a better idea for questions like "Why Princeton/Harvard/Yale/etc." But what else can I do in this visit that would help when college apps come? Is there any way I can make anyone remember my name? Send them regular love letters?</p>
<p>I know many go on these tours to get a better feel for whether they want to apply to the school. But I'm already certain to apply to these schools, especially Princeton. So it would really only be worthwhile if there's any way this can give me an advantage for the college apps (writing about "Why Princeton" with the experience of actually having been there being only one example)</p>
<p>Unfortunately, recommendation #1 is to go when school is in session. Princeton is not. Even someplace like Harvard, which does have a summer session, will have it brimming with non-Harvard students and mostly non-Harvard professors. Thus, you won’t get the feel of what a real class is like and you probably won’t get much chance to meet real students from many of those schools. </p>
<p>There’s also not much chance to make anyone important “remember you” unless you do summer research on-campus or something like that. “Love letters” to the list of schools you mentioned only annoys them – don’t do it. </p>
<p>I’m really bumming you out, aren’t I? Sorry, I don’t mean to. </p>
<p>I suppose all that’s left is to do the tours anyway, get a feel for the area (the area is NOT just the campus – it is the neighborhood and the town as well), and try to corner as many REAL students of that school as possible (even where there are not full-fledged summer sessions, some real students are around doing research and such. You just have to stop people and ask and inquire) and ask THEM to answer the question, “Why Princeton?” (or wherever). I’m not suggesting you steal their answers, but I’ve always found their candid answers to be quite illuminating in general. </p>
<p>Yes, I guess it would be ideal to come when school is in session. I got the chance to do that for Columbia last November. Sadly I’ll only be here for June, and so now’s really my only chance I’ll remember to ask any Princeton students remaining on campus the all-important question though.</p>
<p>There are two schools on your list that my daughter liked on paper and did not like in real life. Taking those schools off of her application list left room for two different schools that were better choices for her.
While I agree that a school-year visit is ideal, I think it’s worth your time to do a summer tour and in-person visit.</p>
<p>I’m a tour guide at Princeton, and my best advice to you is to ask questions. The students giving tours over the summer are real students, so although class is not going on, you’ll still get a chance to talk with a tour guide. Nothing is worse than giving a tour where the participants don’t ask questions. Even if the guide doesn’t know the answer to your specific question about Princeton karate or swing dancing, they’ll be happy to try or redirect you. Now this doesn’t mean you have to deluge them with questions about things you don’t care about, or have to come up with a list of “tricky” questions (parents looooove those). Just ask about things you are interested in. There is so much to talk about in an hour-long tour that if you wait for your tour guide to anticipate the answer to your question, you’ll probably be disappointed. </p>
<p>Also, I recommend sticking around after the tour and going in academic buildings if they’re open, and checking out Frist (the campus center). There’s usually a calendar of events out front, so if you’re lucky you might catch something! I’m not sure what it’s like in the summer. But feel free to check out the 3 levels of Frist…it’s the student center and where most students spend a considerable amount of time. But it’s not all that pretty, so imagine it bursting with energetic students :-)</p>
I’ll remember to ask any Princeton students remaining on campus the all-important question though.</p>
I’ll be heading off for Princeton tomorrow. Might bump into some CC’ers there? :O</p>