Planning Worthwhile Campus Visits: What Are Some Tips/Strategies for Visiting Colleges?

In order to have a worthwhile and productive tour, here are some tips and strategies for you to follow during your trip: 

• Make sure you sign up for a formal tour, so admissions officers can count your visit as “demonstrated interest.”
• Engage your tour guide in relevant conversation about campus life, academics, and safety issues. During your informal conversation, you may learn something you didn’t hear during the information session.
• Ask questions of students you see in the cafeteria, milling around the dorms, and walking around the campus.
• Don’t be embarrassed by your parents asking questions during the official tour. It’s perfectly normal parental behavior.
• Take notes on each college visit. After awhile, you tend to mix up campuses. House hunters videotape houses or apartments to remember the rooms and layouts; apply this concept to campus visits.
• Track down students from your high school who are current students and arrange to meet them to get the inside scoop on the campus. Plan this meeting in advance.
• Drop by to say an informal hello to your high school’s college representative (if you have one) if you can’t arrange an interview during your campus visit or if the college doesn’t permit interviews. Before you visit, ask your guidance counselor for the name of your college representative.
• Don’t ask basic questions such as, “How many students do you have?” during an information session. You should already know the answers to basic questions from doing initial research on a college’s Web site before your campus visit.
• Get the names and e-mail addresses of the tour guide and leader of the information session so you can thank them and ask them further questions.
• Get copies of school and local newspapers to get a sense of the issues and the tone of the campus.
• Visit the campus bookstore, where textbooks, college apparel, and other paraphernalia are sold. Many students like to buy souvenirs, such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, banners, teddy bears, or mugs.
• Visit the nearby town or city to see what cultural activities and shopping areas are nearby.
• Pick up course catalogs and other materials available in the admissions office.