Visiting colleges can be fun, and a little overwhelming. The first school typically makes a big impression, but if you have the opportunity to visit more than one, the following schools can start to run together in your mind. Without a system for keeping track, you may have trouble remembering important details. To make the most of your college visit, follow these tips:
Schedule your visit in advance.
Most colleges and universities allow you to schedule your visit online. Requesting a visit online ensures that the school will have a record of your visit (helpful at application time), eliminates the chance of your being blocked out of a tour, and helps you plan your time. A school’s “visit campus” page will also alert you to any days when the school is closed to visitors.
Have a College Visit Summary to use on your visit.
- Download the linked form above and put it in a folder on your computer/tablet.
- Before you visit, save a copy of the form with the name of the school you will be visiting, and then fill in the top of the page.
- As soon as you finish your visit, take a minute to fill in the blanks.
- Be specific when filling it out, noting anything you particularly like or dislike. Some questions to think about include:
- Can I see myself at this school? Would I feel comfortable? “Kids on this campus all seem dressed up.” or “I think I would fit in here.”
- Do I like the “social” scene (e.g. Greek life, popular activities) “I like that there are 4 vocal groups I could try out for.” or “Seems like most kids rush… the Greek housing is awesome.”
- How good of a fit are the academic offerings with what I want to study? “No undergraduate nursing at this school.” or “I like the unique XYZ major they offer here.” or “Sounds like kids have a hard time getting into the classes they want. Many take 5 years to graduate.”
- Do they have good facilities for my area of interest? (e.g. labs, sports arenas) “The gym is great and close to the dorms.” or “I’m not impressed with the labs… they seem kind of old.”
- How is the dorm situation? “The dorms are small and smell bad.” or “I like that freshman can room in suites.” or “They sometimes put 3 kids in a room made for 2.”
Eat in the dining hall and record your impressions.
- “The food was really bad.”
- “I like that they have 4 dining halls spread around the campus.”
Wander on your own and chat with random students.
- “What were you surprised by when you came here?”
- “What has been the best thing about being a student here? The worst?”
Take a photo
- If possible, get a photo of yourself with the name of the school in the background.
- Add keywords to your photos (e.g., “Name of School – Cafeteria”) so you can easily find it in a search.
Give the school an overall grade on a scale of 1 to 5.
- Let your “gut” make this decision.
- Feel free to change your score if your opinion about a school changes after you’ve had a chance to see others.
If possible, drive around the nearby area to get a feel for the “neighborhood.”
- Make notes about the scene (e.g., is it urban? rural? near a lake?)
- Does it seem that most kids have cars or do they take public transportation?
- Would you feel safe at this school?
Write thank you notes
- Possibly send notes to tour guides, admissions professionals, and professors you encountered.
- An email thank you will probably suffice these days, so be sure to collect email addresses as you tour. Also, be sure to send thank you’s promptly.
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While visiting a college in advance is not necessary, such a trip can be helpful in deciding where you want to go. Do you have any college visits in your future? What advice would you give a prospective student who may?
I love this form to capture specific details for every college visit. It’s useful to complete immediately after the visits and to discuss the visit with your family. Having this form will help determine next steps.
It is so important to do it right after you visit. After you’ve seen a few, they start to run together in your memory!
What a great idea, Seana. I agree that when you visit more than 1 or 2 college campuses they can blur together, making it difficult to remember the differences. Your idea to create a review of each campus after you visit is brilliant.
My girls ended up using these forms to make a giant matrix at the end, which was very helpful in evaluating options!
I love the “old-fashioned” advice that we tell our children, and will tell our children’s children. WRITE THANK YOU NOTES. Write them. Not email them. It makes them stand out!
Oh boy, I feel like I was just doing college tours, and now in four years, I’ll start doing them with my kids.
The fact that you will be doing these in four years blows my mind. I still see the little baby photos of Scarlet in my mind! It is helpful to record this information after each visit. They do start to blur together after you have seen a couple of them.
Writing paper thank you notes – definitely a winning idea!!
I remember those college visit days. I enjoyed them but my kids not so much. I love your college visit summary sheet. With lots of information during the tour, it is always helpful to take a moment at the end of the trip to write down the highlights of what you liked and disliked about the school.
We were grateful to have the summaries after we had seen a couple of schools. Many have similar offerings, and it was easy to lose track of which school had/said what. I enjoyed the college touring with both of my girls. I think they had fun, but of course, they had the “pressure to impress” aspect, which I did not.
For students with cars: Is parking available on campus? Is there a cost? How far is it from your residence and/or classes?
I didn’t drive as a student, but those with cars had to walk up 99 steps from the parking lot to the rest of campus.
Oh my goodness – 99 steps would have been enough to have me write that school off if driving was necessary LOL! Excellent question to ask and answer to note on the form.
I wish my daughters had access to this form when they were looking. It makes such good sense and alerts students to look for things they hadn’t thought about. Sometimes the little things (like the 99 steps) can make a big difference when you find them after you’ve made the decision and can even spoil the college experience if you can’t change it. Searching for colleges is fun, and seeing them is very important.
I know I wish I had had access to a form like this. It’s easy to get the details confused when you are seeing a lot of schools!
I loved this. Just an hour before I read it, I was talking to one of our colleagues about her campus visits with her son last week and all of these questions (and more) came up. Cornell had about 8 dining halls when I attended; now they have eleven, plus 17 “eateries and food courts” (including Kosher, Halal, all-vegetarian, etc.) and I don’t think you can ever underestimate the importance of appealing food and good living spaces when you’re far from home. And if dorms are just for freshmen, is there affordable and decent housing for upperclassmen?
A piece of advice I heard, long after I left school — make sure your college visit includes walking around at night, because feeling safe in the daytime is very different from feeling safe walking from the library to your dorm at midnight!
That’s a great tip to walk around at night. A place definitely can have a different vibe when the sun goes down! Housing is always an important topic to pay attention to, and thanks for the reminder to ask about upper classmen housing as well!
What a thoughtful post. Thanks for sharing great resources for families getting ready for college.
It can feel like a bit of an overwhelming process, which is where organizers specialize, right?