<p>I'll be going on a college tour at the end of the month (and also sightseeing, hooray!) primarily on the mid- to upper East Coast. I'll be going to as many info sessions and campus tours as I can, but I heard that making reservations for the info sessions and campus tours in advance are helpful. Is there anything else I should do before visiting? (Apart from making the basic plans, of course). :) Thanks!</p>
<p>Since you said you are sightseeing as well… I would make an “itinerary” to make life easier for yourself and your parents. Find places you want to sightsee and see which schools are nearby it so you can save some time and all.</p>
<p>Check the websites. Some schools require reservations if only as a way to insure there are enough guides. Other schools are very laid back and just say show up at the designated time and location. After a few, for us anyway, the info sessions all sounded the same: “Everything is great here at Whattsamatta U, we have great financial aid, our study abroad programs are the best, etc.”. On the other hand the tours are always interesting if only to see the quality of the facilities, walking distances etc. Though it’s easy to fall into the trap, don’t assume that your tour guide is a typical student. If you like the school but not the tour guide you owe it to yourself to do more research.</p>
<p>If you’re visiting more than ~6 schools, take notes. At the end of the day, just write down in 100 words or less whether you liked it or not, whether it seemed strong in your major, what the general “vibe” was, whatever’s important to you. The goal isn’t for you to be comparing statistics (well, at this college 78% return for their sophomore year, but at this one 80% do!), but to jog your memory later.</p>
<p>many books about admissions have a chapter about what to do and look for on a college visit. One I can recommend is “Admission Matters”.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks so much, everyone! I’ll definitely keep your tips in mind.</p>
<p>We also did a college tour week combined with vacation. Here is what we did:
- Pre-planned the daily itinerary.
- Checked the colleges web sites. If they require reservation, booked them early.
- Only did one tour a day.
- Did the tours in the morning. Ate lunch on compus. Walked around more by ourselves.
- Did sight seeing nearby in the afternoon.
- Discussed the same day about what we thought of the morning tour. Took notes. Also ranked the colleges by various categories, the feel of campus, food, etc.</p>
<p>We got a good feeling of various colleges and had fun.</p>
<p>Thanks, BusyMei, for your brief schedule. I’m working on college tour reservations as I type this. :)</p>