Advice on college visits?
 

My oldest is visiting some schools during spring break next week. What is the one thing you wish you knew before you made any college visits? Any tips on things to check out while on campus, outside of the regular info sessions and tour?

Any specific region?

If possible, interview with the admissions office.

He's going to schools in Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee next week. Later on I expect he'll want to visit schools in Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio and New York.

Should he do that now, even though he's still a junior and isn't sure exactly where he wants to go?

My kid asked to sit in on classes in her intended major. Of course, that only works if your child knows what he/she wants to study and many times that will change. Some schools will let a prospective do overnights. Carnegie Mellon has specific Sleeping Bag weekends throughout the year that allow prospectives to get the dorm experience.

I would definitely recommend doing an admissions interview as a junior especially if you are visiting campuses that you can't revisit easily. Have your kid dress conservatively as he/she would for a job interview. My kid always wore a business-length skirt and blazer for her college interviews. Teens don't wear hose much but she did for interviews. If your kid is applying to art schools or alternative, laidback colleges such as Reed or Hampshire, the conservative look is not really appropriate. I interview prospectives for Carnegie Mellon which is a university comprised of very distinct schools. The boys tend to wear suits or a jacket and khakis, the girls will wear a skirt or good dress pants. Even the kids applying to the College of Fine Arts look pulled together and ready for an interview.

My child also brought a resume to leave with the interviewer. No matter what, follow up the interview with a handwritten thank you note (even for the laidback schools)!!!!

If your child plays a sport or instrument and wants to continue in college, set up a meeting with the coach or music department. Even for D3 schools that aren't allowed to give out athletic scholarships, athletic prowess can help in the admissions process.


Obviously your high school guidance and college career departments have statistics on admission rates. Ask if they use the computer modeling program called Naviance so you can see the scattergrams for college/university decisions for the specific applicants from your high school.

I know some GCers don't like these sites but I believe that http://talk.collegeconfidential.com and http://admissionsadvice.com are both good sources of information in the college search process. CC gets a lot more traffic than AA. Many of the posters are from the northeast and are HYP-bound (or want to be). Posters will post their kids' stats to get suggestions of potential schools. You'll see what I mean after reading it for awhile. The parents' forum is the busiest and you will get the quickest and most responses there.

To get to the message boards of AA, click on the left hand side of the screen. It's a kinder, gentler CC. Both AA and CC are run by private college consulting firms but use of the forums is free for both.

Feel free to PM me. I love the college search process which is why I am still so involved although our next kiddo is only in 8th grade.

In addition to the info sessions (including those of greek life!!! :) ) i would also recommend taking a tour of his college program building, talking to that program director, talking to the dean of that college etc. I looked at apartments and areas around campuses as well to get a better feel of the area the campus was in and for possibilities other than living on campus.....speaking of which if your child is staying on campus tour the housing facilities!!!

i am done with campus visits, but went thru them with 2 children-a daughter and a son. don't know if it is just a guy-girl thing, but my son was much more reserved on his first visit to the school he ultimately decided to attend than his sister was. that was very unusual for him, because he is generally very outgoing and the life of the party. so i guess what i am saying is, even the most outgoing kid can be a little intimidated when it comes to college visits-if it happens to your son, just let it ride. i have observed parents literally pushing their child to the front of the tour group or quietly chastising them for appearing distracted-not a good thing!

dressing nicely for any interviews is great advice. for a campus tour, i would let your son wear more comfortable clothing. there is a nice young man, the same year as my daughter, who is still a legend at school because his mother made him wear a blazer and khakis, during the summer(in alabama), on the campus tour-he will never live that down, and this is at a conservative school. so blazer for interviews, then off with the blazer and on with a sweater for the tour.

try to book an appointment with an admissions counselor and take an official visit. it puts your sons name on the list of interested candidates and the college will begin sending literature to him. they will also include him on lists for special events that the college may hold in the fall and winter.

check out the cafeteria or main dining hall and eat there. if your son feels comfortable to do so, encourage him to introduce himself to some random students and get the real scoop on campus life. try to give him some space so that he can get a feel for the campus and student population, but don't get irritated if he holds back and becomes a little reserved.

if your son has several areas of academic interest, try to get appointments with the dean or an instructor in those departments. the admissions office should be able to set that up for you.

have him prepare some questions that he would like to ask and some answers to obvious questions. it is inevitable that the admission officer will say the standard,"so, aopialumson, tell me a little about yourself", or "why are you interested in our school?" or "what are your interests-academic and personal?"
i think that it shows that the prospective student really is interested in the school if he is prepared. if he has not done so yet, it would be a good idea for your son to go on each of the websites and look around a little.

he also should look the interviewer in the eye and offer his hand when meeting the interviewer and at the conclusion of the interview. your son should intoduce you and mr. aopialum to the interviewer, although sometimes they greet the parents first. thank the interviewer for their time-same for any other college officials(deans, instructors) he meets.

do send a handwritten note to the admissions officer and to any deans, instructors that he meets.

at the least, take a car tour of the area surrounding the campus. how far is it to wal-mart, a drug store, starbucks? does it look like the campus is in a relatively safe part of town, or does the surrounding area look a little sketchy?

immediately after each campus visit, have your son write down his feelings in a notebook. just like during rush, if you don't take notes, the campus memories can start running together.take a camera. no matter where he ends up, it is fun to look back at the campuses and remember the trip. good luck!!

I Wish We had Done All Early Decision
 

Everyone has given great advice above. The main mistake I have made is we should have applied Early Decision for all the schools. We did get decisions early from several schools but we are still waiting. We've pretty much made our decision, though.

Start applying in the summer before Senior year. I don't work, and it took a lot of time even with the Common Application (tedious)..

The big one they don't tell you is ask about the social climate. What do people do when they are not in class. Are there local movie theaters, stores, etc. depending on your kids interests. College is more than just classes. I ruled out one school that told me about dancing on tables as a big social event. It was in a rural area, but come on. I knew that was not the school for me. Find out about the local takeout places. There was a book that was really helpful out that I found with Baird's in the bookstore. Lisa B something or other. I can't remember and it was years ago. I'm sure there is something else out there now.

Also, walk the dorms and look inside the showers. Smell the back hallways of the class buildings. Is it clean? Do the library carpets have big wholes in them? Is there a place where your kid would feel comfortable studying?-that is different for everyone. These things may seem petty, but what does it really say about a school.

Visit the cafeteria, but eat there as well. If you leave feeling sick because the food was that unhealthy, imagine eating it for 4 years.

I would say visit it on a regular day, outside of an "admissions visit" group setting. That's the one thing I wished I would have done when I visited Carolina. If its out of state, how much does it cost to get to the airport? Can freshmen have cars? What is the surrounding community like when school is NOT in session? And ditto to the showers/dorm rooms/residence halls. How far is it to walk from the dorm to the main campus? Is there free campus transportation? Check out the libraries. Visit on a weekend when school is not in session. Then write down what you've observed, and try not to let the parents' influence your decision TOO much. *wink*

Besides talking to the Admin Office, see if you can talk to the professors.
And perhaps spend some time in the Student Union area and talk to the students directly.

If really bold, walk over to Greek Row;):D

While echoing everything here, check into the commuter rates. Both schools I've gone to had very high commuter rates, and the campus would literally die each evening around 5. My last college had 2,000 folks go there, but less than 500 lived on campus. Now, that wouldn't be so bad if you lived in or around large city, but if it's a suburban or rural campus, it can be a huge drag.

I agree. I did not say in my last post that I was a campus tour guide. And we did walk thru dorms, class rooms, Student Union et al. And I did include Greek Row.

Definitely go during the week. Yes, this may mean pulling your son out of school for a day or two, but you're not going to get a feel for the campus by visiting on Sunday morning. (My parents forbade me to miss even one second of high school, so I didn't get to do things like sit in on lectures.)

If there is a freshman core curriculum, he should sit in on a lecture or two. If he knows or has a good idea what he wants to major in, he should sit in on <whatever it is> 101.

Let him off his leash. (Can you tell I had overprotective parents?) Let him meet and chat with other prefrosh and current students without mom and dad hovering around. He'll get a better idea of campus life that way - nobody will say "This is a huuuuuuge party school!" in front of mom and dad. Meanwhile, you might chat with other parents, take a walk around campus, or check out the city/town where the school is located - look at off-campus housing, restaurants, cultural opportunities like museums, etc.

As for early decision, keep in mind that it's binding. Your son should only apply early decision if he knows he wants to go to ABC U and nowhere else. Early action is non-binding. But if you and he are comfortable pursuing early decision or early action, go for it! I applied early action, and even though I sent in a few regular applications too, it was a huge load off my mind when I got my acceptance letter and I knew I didn't have to stress about college applications any more. :)

Good luck with the college hunt.

Sideline to this: Find out if he even needs a car. At an urban campus, you usually don't. Between the public transportation system, maybe a bike, and your own two feet, you can get around well enough. Even on a more rural and spread-out campus, a bike may suffice.

If your (or spouse's) chapter is on campus call ahead and see if you can take a couple of the collegiates out for a casual lunch or dinner. This will give your child some time to ask as many questions as he can think of in a relaxed atomosphere. If he wants to go greek it could help there too. ;)

In addition to what SoCalGirl said, if you have a coworker or friend who has a child enrolled at a school that you are visiting, make arrangements with that student for coffee and a chat. That really helped my daughter to get the real opinions from current students that were not filtered through the admissions office PR machine.

Read some issues of the student newspaper while you are on campus. Many prospectives find the student newspaper provides a good wrapup of what was going on at the school as well as the political and philosophical leanings of the student body.

It may sound odd, but look at the school calendar. If the school starts classes after Labor Day or has a very lengthy Winter Break, the Spring semester may not end until late May or early June. Many employers and internships want the students earlier rather than later. If the school has a huge winter break but expects the students to do something related to their field during the time, do they help place the kids into positions for that month in January.

Thanks to everyone who's made suggestions, but a huge Thank You to aephi alum for this one. He won't have a car but it's a great idea to think about transportation options.

Also don't forget--if financial aid is even the slightest concern, going Early Decision will require you to commit to a school before seeing what they'll offer you. Also, most of the ED schools that I'm familiar with do not offer merit scholarships, either. I did Early Action back in the day (and was accepted!), but my alma mater has switched to ED.

If at all possible, see a dorm other than the one that's featured in a campus tour. I know at Brown the nicest freshman dorm, smack in the middle of campus, is the one they feature on tours. Unfortunately, a ton of first-years come in and expect their dorms to look like that one.

If school will be far from home, see how easy it is to get to the train station or airport without a car. A few weeks ago, I visited a friend from college who's getting his PhD at Stanford. It's not that easy to get to the campus to the train station, and even then you have a few transfers from the train station at Palo Alto to SFO. Also, shuttles and cabs can be less than reliable. In college, I almost missed flights waiting on a shuttle that was late, full, or never came.

Speaking of transportation--are there shuttles around campus to pick up students late at night from the library or other campus places? Especially if you're thinking of an urban campus, or one that's really spread out, this can be a huge safety issue.

Finally, let your child make the decisions! I know it's easier said than done, especially when you're the one paying. I really like how my parents stood back and gave me food for thought, but they didn't dominate campus tours or anything like that. Basically, they held their tongues until the admission letters came. I really appreciate that now, especially since I do college interviews for my undergrad and end up dealing with helicopter parents! :)

On the first part, don't you then incur fees to all the schools you don't go to? Unless you have wads of money, it seems like a poor idea.

The second part... so did you write your kids' applications? Why did doing the applications take you any time at all?

I actually don't think writing the actual applications is a big deal. I did them all by myself, and finished them all in the course of about 3 weeks and had them in by the end of September, except for the last one which I didn't decided to apply to until November (I applied to 6 schools for undergrad).

One thing that I didn't think about when I was looking at schools is whether they are on a semester system or a quarter system. I think most schools are on semesters now, but I ended up at one that wasn't and hated it. Now, being at school on semesters, I realize how significantly different my education would have been.

Read the paper for the local town/city and get a feel for the area or neighborhood. Not only can you get the dirt on relations between the school and the town, but also find out about activities and services. Even flip through the phone book while you're visiting or go online.

For example if your kid has a medical issue is there a doctor that specializes in it, and if not is there a traveling clinic for a rural area? You can also read about crime off campus which certainly affects students. Also look at the housing dates because sometimes there are extra fees for staying for part of a break even if a student is required to be there for an activity, or housing shuts down completely and you need to make other arrangements ahead of time.

My sister and I visited a school on just a regular day. No big open house and for one school, we didn't even have a tour guide, we just walked around. It was helpful to see what things looked like without being scrubbed and scoured because guests were coming. Also, when you eat in the cafeteria, don't be shy about approaching a table of students and asking them how they like it. Most of them will give you a REAL review of the school and what the atmosphere is like. A tour will tell you the technicalities, but if you want to know what it's really like being a student, then get out and talk to people. Ask them about the weather, the teachers, the neighborhood and the city. A lot of students will not mind answering these questions and one or two might even be willing to keep in contact with you in case you come up with some more questions later.

Lisa Birnbach's College Book.

If Greek life is something you are interested in, don't assume anything about the housing. Ask if it's on or off campus, how the students pay for it, if you have to live in the houses etc. This varies WIDELY from campus to campus.

Go eat at the cafeteria on a non-visit day if at all possible.

Very good advice! Don't eat at the nice restaurants in town or even any fast food places/cafes on campus--eat where you will have to eat your freshman year if a meal plan is required!

And, if you're staying a few days, order delivery from a few places one night. When I lived in the Gamma Phi house it was 8 girls to one normal-sized kitchen so I lived off campus food and delivery!

Another thing I would ask, if you/your kid is interested in athletics: what is the team travel schedule like? When I was on the track team we were away every weekend - but the nearest school in our conference was at least three hours away by bus. It was really tiring to leave at 4 a.m. on Saturday and get back at 3 a.m. on Sunday.

Talk about bumping an old thread! :)

Eldest has now been accepted to five of the six schools he's sent applications into. Drexel, Washington and Jefferson, Ohio Northern, U of Toledo and his #1 choice, Michigan. Still waiting to hear from Vanderbilt, he applied regular decision so should hear by April 1st.

We're starting the visit process for DS#2 this spring. He's interested in Penn State, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Wisconsin-Madison, Michigan and Yale.

We really, really need to win the lottery!

Well if #1 goes to Michigan, I hope #2 goes to Ohio State. that could get really interesting around Thanksgiving!

I wish I had checked out Medical Care on campus. My son's school included office visits (minor ones) with tuition which was awesome but my Daughters didn't even accept our Military insurance which was a huge and costly pain.
We were stationed in SC when D was a senior and her idiotic high school only let you have ONE college visit day and if you were absent more, they made you go to Saturday school and FINED you $25 to go to SS. Obviously, they wanted everyone to go to USC or Clemson. She flew out West to visit a school and it took MY intervention (plus showing them all the campus tour pamphlets) to get her out of in school suspension. The prinicpal said it was so students didn't "abuse" the school visit policy. Morons!

I wish I'd gotten more drunk

5 for 5, congrats to your S1 (and his parents :) )! We only have a freshie but will definitely do college visits over Spring Break. In retrospect, junior year was too late to start the visits.

Go for Yale, join the Skulls, he'll be set for life.

Our governor just called for a tuition freeze for all of the public colleges in Michigan so Michigan might not be a bad deal!

I just had an even better idea! Housing is so cheap in Michigan right now, you could get both boys to go to Michigan, buy a house that's been separated into several flats, they would get resident tuition PLUS you can get income from renting out the other apartments in the house!

Update: just paid the tuition and housing deposits for eldest son. He's going to Drexel. They made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Anyone here from Philly? :)

DS#2 visited Pitt, Duquesne, Robert Morris and Penn State over spring break. He loved Pitt and PSU. He also visited Carnegie-Mellon, but walked out on them. I love this kid! DH said C-M was the most unorganized and unprofessional college visit he's been on in his life. #2 is also looking at a bunch of in-state schools, including OSU and Cincinnati.

Thank heavens we'll get a break for a few years before DS#3 goes through the process!

Umm, Early Decision is binding, and it requires you to withdraw your applications at any other schools to which you've applied. You may mean Early Action, which is not binding.

I'm not even going to get into the "we" business.

That said, mad props to those parents who have kids close to each other in age. My sister and I are 7 years apart, which probably made paying for college so much easier for my parents. :)