In high school, summer often spells travel. You might be headed to Mexico; to your local park for a picnic with friends; or just one town over, where you’re going to catch the new blockbuster at the multiplex. And I do hope you’re getting plenty of all that in! But the rising juniors and seniors among you may also be boarding trains, planes, and automobiles for a different kind of travel: COLLEGE VISITS!
Putting in the legwork at various prospective higher-ed institutions might not be exactly what comes to mind when you fantasize about summer vacation. BUT here’s the good news: you can still have a lot of fun, AND learn a lot in the process. By doing this IRL research now, you’re giving a gift to future you by helping yourself land at a college you’ll love for four years instead of one that makes you wonder, “what made me think I’d actually like this place?!”
Below, I’ve listed out my most crucial advice for your college visits. With these pointers in mind, you’ll set yourself up to select a list of colleges that’s a genuinely good fit for you. But you’ll ALSO make your application essays to those schools stand out from the pile—because you’ll have gathered specific details that show admissions officers you’re actually invested in attending their school. This is the guidance I give all of my private college applications clients who are about to head out on their campus visits!
ARTICLE CONTENTS
1. Say “Yes”
1) Optimize Your College Visits by Saying "Yes"
Would you like to take a tour of the campus? Say “Yes!” Would you like to sit in on a class during your visit? YES, you would! Do you want to do an “optional” on-campus interview? Again, that’s a heck YES!
If you get the chance to learn more about the college or university, nothing says “I’m interested!” more than taking the time to cash in on all the opportunities offered to you. And do you think colleges notice if you're interested, both on campus and in your application? Say it with me: YES.
2. Prospective Colleges Trips: Ask Lots of Questions
By the time your school visit ends, you need to know whether you think you’d enjoy your time there, and want to apply. Believe me, you don’t wait to draw your conclusions until you return home, when your impressions will already have begun to fade. As long as you’ve done a good job of information-gathering while you're on campus, you won’t have much to gain from additional thinking (in fact, you’ll probably just waste your own time second-guessing yourself). That means that you need to complete your due diligence on each of these topics while you’re still on each campus:
A. Academics
Which majors do they offer in my subject areas of interest? Are there any aspects of the curriculum that are unique to this college, e.g. a core curriculum? A freshman seminar series? Or culminating senior thesis? Do prospective students need to apply to a specific college? If so, which one would you specifically be applying to? Is there a separate application process or essay for that college within the university? Would you be able to study the other things you want to study if they were in a different college at the same school?
B. Student Life
Does the school already have a club/class/team where I can pursue my primary extracurricular interests? If not, how would you go about starting your own club? Is study abroad an option, and how many students pursue it? Do they have career services/alumni networks and can they help me learn about and land internships in my desired field? What type of student would be happy there? Is there a common personality trait among the students who attend this college?
C. Admissions (your parents can ask these ones!)
What are the application requirements for this school? What is the SAT/ACT score range? What’s the essay/writing component of the application like? Is the college Test Optional? Do they super-score? What are the deadlines for Early Decision, ED2 (if applicable), Early Action (if applicable), and Regular Decision?
3. Successful College Visitors Take (Lots of) Notes!
Do you remember the answers you gathered to questions A through C in tip #2 above? You do? That’s great—but I promise that you WON’T remember these details a few months (or a year) from now, when you’re writing that college’s supplemental essay on “Why College X?”. That’s because you’ll probably be visiting this school AND a bunch of others. Trust me: they’ll all start to blur together.
So, write down everything while or immediately after it happens. You might find a small flip notebook is helpful for this—or perhaps you’re fastest and most comfortable typing into your phone. Or maybe you haven’t yet mastered the art of walking and writing at the same time, but you CAN collect your thoughts immediately after your campus tour ends.
Other thoughts to collect in your notebook: What were the names of students, admissions officers, and educators you talked to? What were the names of the classes/professors/building/programs that stood out to you? What was the vibe of the students and faculty you met?
4. University Visit Hack: Write Down WHY You Didn’t Like a Certain School
Want to save a ton of time and possibly get to enjoy a few days of actual vacation next summer (or winter or spring) break? If you hated the school you just visited and definitely KNEW it wasn’t for you, articulate why. Give yourself 10 minutes of silence to reflect and write in your notebook about why it wasn’t a good match. If you hate large universities with separate colleges that you can’t easily maneuver between, then that’s great to know! Now you know not to travel and visit other universities like that in the future. Combining this insight about yourself with a simple google search about college sizes will save you a couple days of your life…and plenty of travel/logistical stress, to boot.
Putting these tips into practice will help you make good decisions that you don't have to second-guess when you get home.
If you follow this advice, you can wrap up your summer break with your list of colleges pretty much all set and with a real head start on your application essays! And take it from an expert: that will do a LOT to take the pressure off next semester.
Of course, if you’re still feeling the applications crunch come admissions season, reach out here—my SAT/AT tutoring and application essays services exist to make the whole app process less painful for you. And for the introverts among you who’d prefer to work on your essay solo, you can get many of the benefits of my one-on-one tutoring in my guide to acing the Personal Statement!
