Campus Visit Checklist
Campus Visit Checklist
I get a lot of questions on what the best way to research schools to attend. But, all the research in the world can’t give you the real “feel” of what the campus is like. You can save THOUSANDS if you actually go to the schools under consideration and take a tour. Just because the school looks good on the internet and in books, your student might not like the “makeup” of the school. If you live in California and are used to warm weather and you are looking at school in New York, your student might not like snow. Visiting 6-8 schools may seem like it would be expensive, but it is A LOT cheaper to tour the school and find out you don’t like it, versus actually moving to the school, getting an apartment and deciding its not for you. Then having to transfer to another school.
Here are things your child should not miss while visiting a college. Take a look at this list before planning campus trips to make sure that your family allows enough time on each campus for your child to really get a sense of what the school — and the life of the students there — is really like.
§ Take a campus tour.
§ Have an interview with admission officer.
§ Get business cards and names of people you meet, for future contacts.
§ Pick up financial aid forms.
§ Participate in a group information session at the admission office.
§ Sit in on a class of a subject that interests you.
§ Talk to a professor in your chosen major or in a subject that interests you.
§ Talk to a coach in your chosen sport.
§ Talk to a student or counselor in the career center.
§ Spend the night in the dorm.
§ Read the student newspaper.
§ Try to find other student publications — department newsletters, “alternative” newspapers, literary reviews.
§ Scan bulletin boards to see what day-to-day student life is like.
§ Eat in the cafeteria.
§ Ask a student why he/she chose this college.
§ Wander around the campus by yourself.
§ Read for a little while in the library and see what it’s like.
§ Search for your favorite book in the library.
§ Read the bulletin boards around the campus.
§ Ask a student what he/she hates about the college.
§ Browse in the college bookstore.
§ Ask a student what he/she loves about the college.
§ Walk or drive around the community surrounding the campus.
§ Ask a student what he/she does on weekends.
§ Listen to the college’s radio station.
§ Try to see a dorm that you didn’t see on the tour.
§ Imagine yourself attending this college for four years.
§ Write down notes of your visit on what you saw (both, good and bad).
