<p>Can people please share advice on campus visits before applying? </p>
<p>Did you tour schools as a sophmore, junior, or senior?
How did you manage your trips if you had to see different schools which are geographically distant from oneanother?
What time of year did you visit, and when do you think is the best time to go?
Did you have a particular system or methodology for visiting and comparing these schools?
Any tips for getting the most out of the visits?
What would you do the same or differently next time?</p>
<p>You can find a whole chapter about how to visit colleges in most books about admissions. See, for example, "Admission Matters". There are also lots of web pages about it that you can find with google.</p>
<p>My advice is start by visiting nearby colleges of various types (large, small, urban, rural) to get a sense of what is right for you, then focus on more specific colleges that match what you want. I think its best to go junior year when school is in session. Senior year apps are due too soon. And you want the students present because they make the school. How are you going to find out if a school is friendly, competitive, preppy, casual, kids into sports, kids into activism, etc. if there aren't kids around to talk to?</p>
<p>And when you've narrowed things down an overnite visit is a good way to get a real feel for a college and can help you decide between your options. If your top choices are competitive you might wait to do this until after you've been accepted.</p>
<p>Once you have your college list narrowed down, I would strongly suggest staying overnight in a dorm if at all possible. That is really the best way to get a feel of the people you could be around for the next four years. It's also an excellent way to have an "Aha!" moment, when you realize that this is the school for you. That's how I'm going where I am next year.</p>
<p>most colleges have infortmation sessions and tours.
go visit some classes, eat at the dinning halls
for large colleges try to get a campus map and find all the places you want to visit instead of wandering around aimlessly (like i did).</p>
<p>i think winter is the worst time to visit northeren colleges, the weather is miserable. summer isn't that great because classes arent' in session. best time imo is fall.
i don't think it's ever too early to visit colleges (when u have the time), it's good motivation.</p>
<p>I visited mostly during the summer before senior year, and only to the schools that were geographically close to where I lived. The best time to visit is definitely during the school year, like during spring break of high school. Most college campuses are pretty dead over the summer, and it's hard to get a feel for the social atmosphere when there aren't any people around.</p>
<p>I don't have a specific checklist of things to ask about or observe when I visit, but I usually hit upon housing, typical academic/extracurricular schedules, transportation, campus facilities and neatness, social environment, etc.</p>
<p>When you're visiting, it's usually helpful to go on the tours that the school organizes. Otherwise, you might end up wandering around with a map and missing out on the most important parts of the school. That being said, it's not the end of the world if you miss out on the only tour they have all day -- many students or visitor's center staff will be happy to answer any questions or point out what's important.</p>
<p>As a last note, I feel that campus visits weren't as much of a deciding factor for me than they possibly were for other people. None of the campuses I visited was particularly horrible, and all of them either met or exceeded my expectations. So visit the schools and have fun, and don't worry too much about choosing a college based on a few days' worth of visiting.</p>
<ul>
<li>All three years. Sophomore was just the schools within a couple of hours, junior year was schools near where we went on vacation, and senior year was a specific college tour extravaganza on the east coast.</li>
<li> I had multiple trips. The schools I ended up applying to were centered in two areas, so that made it simpler.</li>
<li>Go when there are students. I regret visiting the northeast in early winter because my flights got all screwed up, forcing me to shuffle a bunch of planned visits.</li>
<li>Not really. I had pretty strong feelings about whether I 'fit' with the campus/school just from walking around for a few days/sitting on classes.</li>
<li>Talk to random students. They sometimes offer something quite contradictory to admissions office propaganda, but take everything with a grain of salt.</li>
<li>Overall, I don't think I would change anything.</li>
</ul>
<p>I visited sophomore and junior years (including summer after junior year). I probably would have visited more as a senior except I found my first choice. I would reccommend doing visits in late junior or senior year because what you're looking for in a school will probably change. There were schools that I loved as a sophomore that I wouldn't consider now.</p>
<p>The best time is during the school year. Weather shouldn't be a big concern unless it will hinder your travel. (Better to visit a school in winter than summer because students are there, unless there's LOTS of snow.) You should really only visit schools during the summer if they have large populations of summer school students.</p>
<p>Picking a favorite school shouldn't be about a methodology. It should feel right. I think it's difficult to understand what that means until you find a school (or schools) where you really feel at home. And some people never do, which is ok too. But it really should be all about feel.</p>
<p>Try to sit in on a class if you're really interested in the school. It'll give you an idea of how classes are taught and of the intellectual rigor of students.</p>
<p>Other things:
Eat some food at the school. It won't be a huge factor, but it's actually pretty important.
Try not to form an opinion based on your tour guide. Just because your tour guide is awesome doesn't mean you'll love the school and vice versa.
Pick up newspaper, literary magazines, etc. Look at flyers. It'll give you an idea of the student life.
Really do talk to random students.</p>
<p><em>This first one is really detailed</em> During my junior year spring break I went with my mom to three schools--Purdue, UNC-CH, and Okie State. We left on a Saturday morning and got to Purdue at around 4 PM (from central Iowa). Saturday and Sunday we drove around Lafayette and West Lafayette and checked out the area, stopped at the mall, walked around the town square area, and walked around the campus on our own. Monday we did the tour and talked to somebody from my dept of interest in the morning, hit the road at noon. We'd been in town almost two full days, plenty to "get a feel" for the area. We drove through the night to Chapel Hill, and got in really really early in the morning on Tuesday. Left our hotel early afternoon and spent most of the day in Chapel Hill with a trip to Durham also. Wednesday morning we took the tour, talked to some dept people, and did some shopping on Franklin St. Left mid-afternoon and drove to central Tennessee where we stayed at a friend's house for the night. Left Thursday morning for Stillwater and got there that night. Didn't have much time for anything, took the tour Friday morning and did the dept thing again. Spent all of Friday night and Saturday morning in Stillwater. Drove home Saturday night, got in around 10 PM. </p>
<p>3 in 5 days is do-able even with long drives. I didnt take any pictures or notes at each school, but I could still tell you which campuses had which buildings or traditions or program or whatever. I have a great memory and remember a lot of pointless stuff!</p>
<p>The other tours I took were during my senior year. Visited the state U an hour from home (where I am now :) ), but didnt really have to. I've been to camps, games, you name it, here and knew the campus like the back of my hand before the tour began. But I did the tour thing mainly for the chance to talk with dept people. My other tour senior year was in Colorado, on a 5 day weekend...we left Wednesday morning, got there Wednesday night. Spent Thursday exploring Greeley, and took the tour Friday. Came home Saturday.</p>
<p>Long distance tours are totally possible, but you should probably be comfortable sitting in a car for a long time. Or fly. I guess I was used to it...my family has driven to all 48 continental states. I'm pretty sure my butt gets uncomfortable when not attached to a car seat for more than a few hours.</p>