<p>What are some of the most important things you learned when visiting a campus?</p>
<p>Examples are:</p>
<p>-some sort of statistics
-that you didn't like something
-that you especially loved something
....and more!</p>
<p>Also did visiting change your mind about that college? ...and how/why?</p>
<p>On campus visits with my son some of the schools that we thought would be top choices fell completely off his list. At Brown the information session convinced us that that the school did not give the quality of education that one finds at the LACs. At Wesleyan we were underwelmed with the internship opportunities and the political engagement of the students. Haverford and MacAlester had too much emphasis on athletics for my son. Other schools came out looking a lot better. For instance, Bennington, Vassar and Oberlin were standouts. All three had great internship programs. Oberlin also impressed my son with the political engagement of the students.</p>
<p>That is how it seems for a lot of people.</p>
<p>I think it is best to visit the schools to really get a feel for what it would be like there.</p>
<p>Thanks for your imput!</p>
<p>I’ll give you my experience of UCI</p>
<p>-Statistics: I found out that it has outstanding Business, Biology and Computer Programs. UCI is well ranked nationally and internationally and the campus has a lot of research opportunities. For those in business, a lot of the OC companies recruit UCI graduates and I found out that UCI is an amazing school in most of their departments and can compete with other universities. This impressed me.</p>
<p>-What I didn’t like:
-The dorms, they all looked the same.
-The food was good but I could see myself hating it after a month (the menus didn’t change much).
-The location was nice but to go to Newport and other places took forever without a car (even if u took the shuttle)
-Didn’t like the way the campus was laid-out, the maps and directions were not clear.
-Even though you could ride a bike and skateboard, there were lots of places with “No bike riding” signs
-The parking fees, way too overpriced!
-The admissions aid, counselors and administrations staff; I walked in to ask some questions and treated me like a little kid.
-Some of the student staff, at places like the library and help desk, they weren’t very “helpful” even though they were there to help.</p>
<p>-that you especially loved something:
-I loved the rec center, it was complete, very nice and new, with lots of activities and an amazing pool
-The history of UCI
-The Park
-The clubs, greek life and other student activities
-the fact that u could do music and theater and not be a major of them.
-The In-N-Out outside campus
-The student body actually was very cool, lots of diversity and even though there were loads of asian people, I was very pleased with the diversity.
-The actual dorm rooms
-The classrooms and academic programs
-Some spots on campus are just amazing, like their libraries are huge! and they have nice theaters.</p>
<p>Also did visiting change your mind about that college? …and how/why?</p>
<p>It changed my mind a little, pretty much I liked UCI but if I had a better option I would not hesitate to chose A better school. Don’t get me wrong UCI is an outstanding university. But their administration was rather unhelpful and I could see myself having issues with them. The location is nice but without a car there isn’t much to do, and with those parking fees… ehhh,</p>
<p>“-The In-N-Out outside campus”</p>
<p>I love In-N-Out! I live on the East Coast and we don’t have it so even time I go West I eat it a lot! hahaha</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your imput! Very informative!</p>
<p>^ Yeah, the In-N-Out is totally a plus to any campus.</p>
<p>^^ haha yeah. I miss In-N-Out, Jamba Juice, and Islands</p>
<p>here’s a hint. If your tour guide seeks to assuage your fears about huge class sizes by telling you that most people don’t attend, anyways, you can guess that the place might not be for you. </p>
<p>Or, it could be the perfect place for you.</p>
<ul>
<li>What students are like</li>
<li>Dorms/dorm life</li>
<li>Good and bad profs (even sat in on a class)</li>
<li>What there is to do on campus</li>
<li>How the food is</li>
<li>Overall feel of the school</li>
</ul>
<p>When I visited colleges many years ago, I learned what dorms to avoid (though I suppose this stuff is probably in online forum boards). I also learned that the campus was spread out across a city. I also found out that you could buy season tickets for the football games and resell individual games for an amazing profit.</p>
<p>IBfootballer: XD That is hilarious!</p>
<p>Belevitt: Those are interesting things you learned</p>
<p>SingDanceRunLife: Thanks!</p>
<p>When we went to one college, we went through what looked a lot like a prison security checkpoint to get to the dorms. Crossed that one off the list.</p>
<p>Another one we discovered that the entire place shuts down for Daily Mass every day. That clarified the importance of religion on that campus in a way that nothing on the website ever could.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Char-Grill is so much better than In-N-Out.</p>