College Planning: Making The Most of College Campus Visits

College visits are often an expensive proposition, so plan on doing some serious research before you ask your parents to commit time, energy, and resources to a college visit!

Randomly visiting colleges that may or may not be a good fit is NOT part of a smart college plan. A college should be a “serious contender” – meaning you’ve done research about the college and you have reasons beyond“great atmosphere” “pretty” “it has my program”.

However, once you know a school is a really good “serious contender,” set up an official tour. Having visited a campus as part of a summer camp or sports tou
ament, or to see your third cousin graduate, doesn’t count!

Don’t make the mistake of focusing all of your energies on your current favorite school. Remember: More than one right choice is out there for EVERYONE.

If you think you have lots of time left to research schools, think again. Begin subtracting the hours and days you will spend working, volunteering, vacationing, playing sports, doing marching band, and engaging in all your other activities between now and when you’ll have to start applying–in the fall of your senior year. You’ll realize just how little time you really have.

Here are 3 tips for making the most of your college visits:

1. Plan ahead. You can’t just show up and driving through doesn’t count, either.
2. On the day of your visit, show up early. Take note of how the staff interacts with visitors. Valuable clues are there.
3. Look beyond the tour. Pick up the school newspaper, cruise bulletin boards in dorms, student center, departments etc. Again, valuable clues are there for those who are observant.

Your Assignment:
1. Come up with a list of serious contenders.
2. Research each serious contender.
3. Visit campuses (once you know more than “it’s a pretty campus”).
4. Create a system to help you narrow down your list of serious contenders with the goal of coming up with a final list of colleges for your applications

Now, if you’re struggling with figuring out which type of colleges are the best opportunities for you; if you’re not sure what questions to ask or how to research colleges to see if they’re a good fit for you. If you have no idea what to look for on campus visits (and what to look out for); If you don’t have a clue on how to create a system to help you sort through the avalanche of information out there, it’s time to consider getting some help!

I invite you to invest in your student and your family with our “Right Type For You” College Assessment. It’s an opportunity to sit down and discuss your particular situation, where you’re at in relation to your goals (if you the only goal you know for certain is that you want to go to college – that’s okay!).

Together, we’ll look at colleges you’re interested in and what needs to be done to make them happen. We’ll also evaluate the financial aid picture at those schools so that you can begin creating a better plan by knowing what to expect.