Do’s:
· Schedule your visit with admissions (never visit anonymously). As we are well aware many schools closely track visits by potential applicants.
· Ask about College/School specific tours (some schools offer supplemental tours of their Business, Engineering, or other schools). If they don’t have any be sure to swing by certain areas of campus that may not have been covered by the general tour but are of interest to you.
· Take some time to yourself pre/post tour/info-session to experience the campus. Sit under a tree, grab a meal in the Dining Hall, or just relax in the Student Union. Eavesdrop, talk to students, or just keep an open eye and make note of what you see. So often students tell me they just “had a feeling” that one school or another was the right place for them and it grows out of this personal time a lot.
· Jot down specific notes right after your visit. The more schools you see them more information will run together so having a clear idea of what you liked/disliked is important as we continue to move from a working list to a final list of schools. Last month I forwarded the College Visit Checklist (and I’ve added it again this month).
· Ask to either speak with, or at the very least get the name and contact information for the Admissions Representative who covers your high school. Send a quick follow-up email post-visit letting them know of your interest in the school (if you are) and/or thanking them for taking some time to meet with you.
Don’ts:
· Ask Admissions Officers questions you can easily find answers to on the website (what’s the average class size, how many students go here, do you have a business major).
· Eliminate the school because the tour guide wasn’t great or there was bad weather the day you visited.
· Constantly check your cell phone while on the tour or in an information session. You just never know who is watching!
· Try to see too many schools in one day or on a single visit. Give each school the necessary time to really consider it and compare it to other schools you’ve visited. Good rule of thumb: no more than two schools in a single day and a maximum of 5-6 (and this is a lot) on a single trip.