We recently had a discussion with two of
our college admissions consultants, Aileen Kelly and
Sheri Mural, in regards to the importance of college
visits.
Q: How important is the college visit to
students trying to make a decision?
AK: If it's possible, try and visit the campuses
of the schools you are considering. Seeing the size of
the school, the housing or dormitories, classrooms, and
other facilities can help you determine if the school is
a good fit for you.
Q: Summer seems to be the best time to go for
a lot of prospective students. Would you agree?
AK: The feel of campus will be different than it
is during the year.
SM: During the summer, college campuses are not
always the bustling places of activity that they are
from September until May. Summer is a wonderful time to
take tours and complete interviews – if only to have
these college admission tasks out of the way before the
start of your senior year.
AK: Keep in mind there may not be as many
students present, or there may be physical renovations
going on, or summer school, et cetera. Keep that
in mind. And don't limit yourself to just passive
observation. You have to ask questions, too.
Q: And those would be?
SM: 'Who are the students I'm seeing walking
across campus?' Are they high school students attending
a summer program, or are they visiting students from
another college? Or are they full-time degree candidates
at the school who are taking advantage of a summer term?
AK: If you haven't already read up on class size
at the school, you can ask about class size you might
encounter as a first year student. You might also ask
about the accessibility of instructors and the resources
that will be available to you in terms of advising,
sports – either varsity, JV, or intramural.
Extracurriculars and dining hall food are other topics
to ask about.
SM: Right. Also, ask someone, 'How much snow or
rain does this area typically receive?' Summer is filled
with warm sunny days across the country. But be mindful
that September until May might not bring the same kind
of weather. It is easy to get wrapped up with the vision
of yourself carrying a backpack across campus and
hanging out at the benches outside of the student union
in nice weather.
Q: Does it really matter about such trivial
things such as weather or what types of students are
about?
SM: Absolutely. The point I want to make is that
the behavior that you'll observe in people on campus in
the summer may or may not be reflective of what you
would see in students enrolled at the school during the
academic year.
Q: What if you can't make a campus visit to a
school you're considering?
AK: If it's not possible to visit some of the
schools you are considering, there are other ways to get
the information you'll need to make a decision about
applying.
Q: Such as?
AK: College fairs can be a good resource. You can
use them to meet with a representative of the school
without having to travel to there. Often, an alumnus of
the school will attend college fairs to help the
admissions representative.
College admissions officers also
schedule visits to individual schools each year. Call
the college admissions office and see if a staff member
is planning a visit to your school or area.
– Aileen Kelly served in admissions at
Harvard
University from 1994 to 2000. Her experience includes
service on Harvard's freshman and transfer admissions
committees.
– Sheri Mural is a former Associate Director of
Admissions at
Columbia University's Barnard College.
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