What do I ask on a college visit?
Be on campus. It's really the only way to discover if you feel comfortable there. You will be able to form an opinion of the nature of the people who go to school there as well as those who manage the institution. Try to find out if it will be a good place for you to live and grow for the next four years.
Phone the admissions office ahead of time. You’ll want to have a formal campus tour, sit in on a class or two, either hear a formal admissions presentation or talk individually with an admission counselor, and you may even want to set up an overnight visit in a residence hall. When you call for arrangements, ask about directions to campus, parking availability and restrictions, tour times, an appointment, and a schedule of classes you might want to see.
Plan your questions ahead of time, and have plenty of them. Try to go beyond the obvious. Think about the issues and topics that really matter to you.
- What is the attitude these students have toward learning? life? social issues?
- What do students praise most about the college?
- What do students complain about the most?
- Why do students choose this school?
- How intense is the academic competition?
- How many hours a day do typical students study?
- What kind of student is happiest here?
- To what other colleges do applicants typically apply?
- What are the most popular majors? Why?
- What are some of the student traditions?
- How safe is the campus and the surrounding area?
- What is a typical weekend like on campus?
- What are typical course requirements? How many papers, tests, projects, etc.?
- How many students return after the first year? How many graduate in 4 years?
- Who teaches introductory courses? How many graduate students teach courses?
- What departments are considered the strongest? Weakest?
- What if you decide to change your major? What if you enter "undecided"?
- What employers typically recruit students here?
- What are the job placement resources available?
- What support help is available for tutoring, personal, and career counseling?
- How cooperative and efficient is the financial aid office?
- How complicated is it to receive services (registering for courses, dropping/adding, etc.)
- What are the computer facilities on campus and in the residence halls?
- How does the dining plan work? How good is the food?
- What residence hall options are available?
Summarize and analyze your visit. You might want to use a summary sheet to make notes for comparison later. If you visit more than one or two campuses, the information will all blend together unless you have a system to record and remember your impressions. Also, try to get the same information from every campus so you can compare the same factors.
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