Advice on college visits?

[KSUViolet06]

*I agree with SCHEDULING a visit via admissions as opposed to attending on the large group "open house" days. You have more time to walk around and ask questions that way (and the lines in the cafeteria aren't as long).

*Drive around the town that the school is in. See where the nearest restaurants, laundromats, gas stations, grocery stores, etc are located. Remeber this is not just where you would be going to school, but where you would be LIVING for most of the year. You might not want to live somewhere where the nearest grocery store or mall is 20 minutes away.

*Get the scoop on area apartments. Find out which ones are nice, reasonably priced, and conveniently located. Why? Because he likely won't want to live on campus forever so it's good to see what the area has to offer in off campus housing.

*Also try to get insider info about the meal plans and cafeterias. Is it all fast food or junk food crap or are there places that actually serve meals that are reasonably balanced? This may not seem like a big deal now but four or more years of eating unhealthy cafeteria food will really take a toll on your weight and overall health.

*Really LOOK at the dorms, particularly the ones in which he/she would be staying in if they decided to go there. Are they gross? Ugly? Run down? Take note of that.

*Get the scoop from students about what most students like to do there. Not clubs and stuff, but what you can do on campus just lounging around for free. Example: KSU shows free screenings of movies on the lawn, there's a bowling alley in one of the dorms, and coffee shop in the student center.