Visiting College Campuses
When visiting colleges, it is important to remember that the quality of the visits you schedule is more important than the quantity of visits you schedule. It is also important to realize that you want to explore not only the academic and social aspects of the college, but also the environmental aspects (climate and residential). If you know the department of your intended major, bring along a list of specific questions for that department and see if you can meet with an advisor/counselor from that department.
Planning Your Trip
- Check each school's website that you wish to visit to see if that campus has visitation days scheduled
- For the colleges which offer and prefer an on-campus interview, try to schedule your campus visit around the campus interview schedule
- Plan to spend around half a day at each school you plan to visit. This will provide you a chance to attend the info session and the tour, eat the food at the cafeteria, and see how life is like on campus
- Plan to attend an information sessions and a student-guided tour. The information session is usually taught by an admissions officer and the tour is fielded by a student, which will provide you with two points-of-view
- Plan to ask on-campus students questions about the college
- Plan to visit a diverse selection of colleges
- Bring a list of general and specific questions to ask during the visit
- Bring a notebook to record answers to questions and your own thoughts. You may use the information to answer the "Why this college" question on your application
Sample Questions
- Who does most of the teaching? Professors or graduate students?
- Is there a Career Planning and Placement Center? Do they help with internships?
- What percentage of students continue onto graduate or professional schools?
- Does the school provide functional computer facilities?
- How is the surrounding community like?
- What is the relationship between residents and students?
- What do students like most about the college campus and college life?
- What do students dislike most about the college campus and college life?
- What activities do students do on the weekends?
- Are there other dining options outside of the dorm/campus cafeteria?
- Are fraternities and sororities important to campus life?
- What is the weather like?