Acing the Application Process: The Informational Campus Visit

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The Importance Of The Informational Campus Visit

There is only so much you can tell about a school from what you read in books and college promotional materials. Although the advent of the Internet has made it possible to take "virtual" tours of college campuses and to view streaming video of interviews with current students, there simply is no substitute for the real thing. To make the best-informed decision between and among the schools on your list, you must walk their campuses, visit their dining halls, attend their classes, talk to their students yourself, and get a real feel for each campus's students and its architecture, atmosphere, and "vibe." By visiting a campus, walking around, observing life on campus, and watching the way the students interact with each other (and with you), you should be able to get a feel for what it would be like to go to school there—and for how well you would fit in to the lifestyle you observe.

When To Go

Try to schedule your initial campus visits at a time when students are on campus and classes are in session, so that you can get a realistic sense of what a typical day on campus feels like. To accomplish this, you will need to avoid midterm week (usually the last week in February or the first week in March), the two weeks in March when students are typically on spring break, and any time after the third week in April, as that is often when "reading period" begins and students hole up to begin preparation for spring-term exams. You're also going to want to visit at least your top-choice schools during the school week so that you can sit in on classes.

We say "initial" campus visits, because for most of the schools on your list, if you follow our advice, you'll actually be making two visits to campus. The first of these visits will be for information gathering and to test the list of schools you've researched and tentatively chosen for "fit." Your second round of visits will be for on-campus interviews.

Prepare to Go Twice

Yeah, we know that traveling around the country not once but twice and stepping around all these scheduling landmines is going to put a huge burden on you and your family. We know it is going to be hard for you to find the time during school, during your sports season, and in the middle of your various other commitments, not to mention those of your parents and your siblings, to make this happen. We know it is going to be expensive and that you'll have to put hundreds, if not thousands, of miles on your car. And we know about all the other excuses you can come up with.

Call the Admissions Office to Pick Dates and Schedule Meetings

As you are planning your itinerary of campus informational visits, give each admissions office a call to ensure that classes are in session and that you are not planning to visit in the middle of exams or at another inopportune time. While you have the admissions receptionist on the phone, ask him or her whether the admissions office will be giving informational sessions on the day you are planning to visit and at what time they will be occurring. Ask the same question about campus tours.

If you would like to speak to a particular faculty member in an area of academic interest, you can typically schedule these appointments through the admissions office. The same is true if you would like to meet with a particular coach of a sport for which you hope to be recruited.