College Resource Center

Now that you’ve made arrangements to visit the college campus, make the most of that time by getting all your questions answered. For some students, this campus tour will be their only time to check out the school and form impressions of what college life will be like. Take this time to thoroughly consider if you could live with this school for the next four to five years. How do you like the atmosphere, the “feel” of the campus, the people, the classes the faculty?

Here’s a sample list of things for you to do or
ask while you’re on your college campus visit:

• Take a campus tour
• Have an interview with an admissions officer
• Get business cards and names of people you meet, especially the the admissions officer you met with and the student who gave you your tour. You can get back in touch with them if you have any questions in the future.
• Pick up financial aid forms and check to see if there are school specific scholarship applications you need
• Sit in on a class. Try the beginning, general education classes to see what a large size class would be like and an advanced class to see a small sized class.
• Talk to a professor in the major you might be interested in pursuing
• Arrange to have a sports tour if you plan on playing a particular sport.
• Arrange to meet with the coaches or student on the team.
• Spend the night at the dorm.
• Have lunch and dinner at the cafeteria and check out the facilities
• Pick up a college newspaper and if available, check to see if there are other student run publications.
• Check out the bulletin boards or online postings.
• Ask students why they chose to college
• Ask students what they love about their school and what they hate about their school
• Check out the bookstore
• Ask students where they go to study
• What is it like during finals
• Ask students what they do on weekends, what about the social scene on and off campus?
• What is the community like around the college campus?

Sit in the library and consider what you just observed and the information you gathered. Can you live with this school for the next four to five years that it will take to complete your degree? Make a list of what you’ve observed and when you get home, think about all the campuses you visited and what you liked and didn’t like about each one.

Making a short list of schools after you’ve visited them will make the application process easier. Once you get your acceptance letters in the spring, making the final decision will be that much simpler as you re-evaluate your campus tour experience.