<p>I will be visiting a college (and interviewing for a scholarship) for three days and staying with a current student. It's my first time doing an overnight visit - do you have any suggestions? I want to make sure I'm not imposing on my host. :)</p>
<p>Ask if you should bring a sleeping bag (you’re probably on a couch) that you can stow away during the day. Bringing some food (brownies/cookies) as a present will get you a nice reception!</p>
<p>The school mentioned bringing a sleeping bag (and towels and toiletries and all that), so I’ve got that covered! Didn’t think about food, so thanks for the tip. 
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<p>Do most hosts hang out with you after classes and such?</p>
<p>Bring some homework or other things to do on your own, as your host might have studying to do. When my D did college overnights, sometimes the host spent time with her, and sometimes the host asked nearby friends to help show her things while host studied. At one school, everyone had a lot of studying to do and D wished she had brought some homework. Have a wonderful time and learn as much as you can.</p>
<p>When I was hosted and not in mandatory events (it was a program), my host stayed with me and introduced me to her friends. She took me to class with her. We hung out a lot, and ate meals together. She even took me to a party, haha.</p>
<p>Edit: Agree with katieh, definitely bring homework for downtime. When she wasn’t in class, my host was in her room studying. I’d go to the lounge and do my homework as well until it was time to go.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! I definitely didn’t think of that. What did you do about showers - just during the day whenever you had time?</p>
<p>As you can see, I’m really nervous. xD First overnight stay at any college!</p>
<p>There’s no rule about showers – do what’s convenient. Will you have a key or swipe card? You might need to coordinate. Definitely get cell phone nos. of your host and his/her roommates. It might be useful to think of a few types of classes you’d like to visit. Your host and his/her friends can then have you tag along.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I’ll have a key or swipe card…I’ll have to ask.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the tips, everyone!! They are all things I wouldn’t have thought of. :)</p>
<p>Beyond class visits, also look on the college’s web site to see what’s happening on campus during your visit. Colleges have concerts, art shows, authors and comedians on tour, etc.</p>
<p>My D did an overnight last week and I had told her I noticed on the college web site that Toni Morrison was doing a reading on campus the same night she was staying there and too bad it was already sold out. As it happens, her host had one ticket for herself for that event and emailed a couple days in advance to introduce herself and to ask if D wanted to attend. If D wanted to go, host was going to help her get into satellite location for simultaneous video feed of the event but host would continue trying to find another ticket for D. It turned out that host was able to get D into the main event venue too so it was a big bonus activity for D on that overnight. </p>
<p>Also, don’t forget some campuses have art museums free to students, evening classes, and special symposium events. Your host may be busy studying but you could still take advantage of where you are & still do something cool on your own (or maybe with a friend of host) while you’re on campus. Admissions office may even be able to help you find an ‘event buddy’ if host student can’t attend something with you and you don’t want to go alone.</p>