College tours and visits can be an incredibly valuable resource for gaining a first-hand understanding of a college. By walking the campus, sitting in on classes, and interacting with current students, you will get a sense of what you can expect in the future should you enroll in the college. In addition, as you visit colleges, you might be surprised at what you discover would work best for you in a campus community. You may begin the process thinking that you want to be on a rural campus and discover instead that the hustle and bustle of city life is invigorating to you. Or, you may have dreamed of attending a big state school only to find that the large classes and sprawling campus are a bit overwhelming for your taste. Many of these things are not evident from reading a website or speaking to admissions officers over the phone, but instead become clear through in-person experience.
However, depending on the distance of the schools you are applying to and the many demands on your time, planning a college visit can feel overwhelming. How do you start the planning process? And once you plan your visit, what can you expect when you arrive on campus?
College visits can be expensive and require dedicated amounts of time, so you will almost certainly not be able to visit all of the schools on your list. At the same time, college visits can be incredibly useful both for narrowing your list and for cluing you in on what that school really cares about, so be strategic about which schools you choose to visit in person. You can plan to start your college visits once you have received your standardized test scores and created a balanced college list—typically the second semester of your junior year, though if you’re going to be traveling near one of the schools you’re interested in before then, it never hurts to visit!
Before selecting which colleges you want to visit, first work with your parent or guardian to create a budget and decide on the timing that will work best for you to visit. Spring break tends to be the best time to visit, particularly if the colleges you’re interested in require significant travel or if you intend to visit more than one school, but long weekends can allow enough time for schools closer to your location. While summer might afford you the greatest amount of free time, it is best to visit colleges while school is in session so that you can attend a class and speak to current students. If you have to visit colleges in the summer, make these plans while keeping your other summer activities in mind—if you are planning to attend a merit-based summer program, take an online class, or do an internship, be sure to plan your visits around the scheduled dates for those activities.
Once you have clarified the logistics, it is time to decide on which schools you want to visit. When creating your list, make sure that your list includes a variation in types of schools (small/medium/large, rural/suburban/urban, etc.) so that you can get a sense for what type of environment most appeals to you. In addition, consult with your college list to select a balance between schools that are reasonable reaches and matches. If your test scores and/or GPA are well below the 25th percentile for some of the schools on your list, it isn’t advisable to devote your time and resources to visit more than one of those schools.
When it comes to the schools that you will not be able to visit in person, there are ways to get the same insight a college tour would give you. Some of the top schools offer virtual tours on their site along with other online resources and events to engage your questions and give you a better sense of the school. Harvard offers a virtual tour followed by a virtual information session, Columbia’s virtual tour is accompanied by student panels and a live Q&A, and Dartmouth also offers live virtual tours, allowing you to experience the campus in real time with a current student, even from afar. In addition, you can check out www.campusreel.org to go on virtual tours of numerous college campuses guided by current students.
The initial arrival on campus can be an overwhelming experience, particularly if this is your first college visit. With so many sights and sounds, how do you know what to pay attention to and take into consideration as you meander through campus?
First, take in the location—college location is one of the first things we notice about a school. If you’re taking a tour of campus when you arrive, you’re likely to be swayed subconsciously by how pretty it is, or what kind of weather it is that day. However, try to carefully consider individual aspects of the location and how they might suit your individual needs and wants.
One way to do this is to take a walk or run individually through the campus and surrounding area. What do you notice about the city or town as you make your way down the sidewalk? If you’re interested in musical theater, do you notice local theaters or posters displayed in the windows of shops you pass advertising local plays? Or, if you enjoy spending your free time outdoors, do you notice parks or outdoor activity spaces that would be conducive spaces to relax and unwind? Likewise, use the same thoughtful process as you walk around on campus. Stop when you see corkboards and other spaces reserved for students to advertise events, clubs, and activities. This is an organic way to see what’s happening on campus even before speaking with current students.
If you’re looking for recommendations for things to do on campus or nearby, reach out to alumni who attended your high school or you can ask locals when you’re in the area. We have also compiled a list of recommendations from Command Education Senior Mentors who have attended top schools across the country!
As you make your way around campus, resist the urge to jump to conclusions about the school prematurely or call to mind stereotypes you may have heard about the school or its students. Keep in mind that almost all colleges are far bigger than high schools, so the social and academic stereotypes, no matter how pervasive, are only generalizations.
It is important to avoid buying into stereotypes such as:
At the end of the day, remember that you’re the one going to college. This process is a huge step towards asserting your independence as an adult, so take ownership of it and think critically about what appeals to you about the college and what doesn’t. Remember that every college almost certainly has a niche group of people for each student. College is about finding your community, and if the particular group you’re looking for doesn’t exist, you have the capability to create it! Regardless of the stereotypes you may have heard about the student body as a whole, your experience will be what you make it to be and you’ll get out of college what you put into it
While current students are an invaluable resource as you visit the campus, admissions officers will likely have more of a comprehensive awareness of the school’s academic programs, student clubs, and school-sponsored activities, whereas students can be siloed in their particular major, residence hall, or on-campus involvements. Because of this, be sure to bring your list of questions to the admissions office as well. Plan to attend any programming the admissions office offers during your time on campus—whether a campus tour, Q&A session, or an interview with an admissions officer.
Finally, request contact information from the admissions representative you have worked with most closely during your visit. Inevitably, you’ll think of questions during your travel home that you wished you had asked, and having their contact information on hand will allow you to follow up, thank them for their time, and inquire further if you need more information.
Sitting in on classes provides you the opportunity to observe the students’ engagement levels and the professor’s lecture skills while getting a sense of the school’s academic offerings. However, keep in mind that making a good impression on a professor does not give you any boost in the application process. In order to choose which class to sit in on, you can do your research in advance by taking a look at the course catalog and asking an admissions representative if you can sit in on a class that interests you, or you can communicate your interests and intended major and ask them to place you in the class they think best aligns with your interests. You will likely be placed in a first-year course, so your experience in class can be an informative look into what you can expect from your freshman-year coursework in that particular major.
As you sit in on classes, be sure to have a notepad and a writing utensil. While you do not necessarily need to take notes on the lecture itself, you can jot down notes about things you notice throughout the class visit. Is the professor engaging? Is the class discussion or lecture-based? Do students seem engaged? How much homework does the professor assign? Making notes about these things will help you remember your experience later and compare the academic experience to that of other schools you visit.
College visits are helpful to get a sense of what you want in a college (as far as size, region, type of campus, etc), so it is important to visit at least a few different colleges. That being said, visiting a college and attending a class or meeting with an admissions officer does not give you a leg up in the admissions process—so these visits are ultimately for your enrichment rather than your chance of admission. You can, however, weave in information about your visit into your supplemental essays to demonstrate your knowledge of the school and your clear interest in their programs.
While you can certainly tour a campus or visit a college during your 9th and 10th grade years if you’re in the vicinity, odds are you have not yet created a college list based on your SAT/ACT scores. Because of this, it might not be the best investment of time and money to travel to colleges during those years of high school. It is best to allocate the time and funds for touring colleges in your junior year, when you will have a better developed sense of which schools might be a good fit for you academically and culturally.
Odds are, you will not be able to visit all of your schools in person—and that’s okay! The most important thing is that you visit a range of schools (different sizes, locations, types of campuses) in order to make an informed decision about what type of school is best for you. For those schools that you are unable to visit, plan to take a virtual tour and attend an online information session so that you can hear from current students and admissions officers about what makes that particular school distinct.
On a college visit, you should expect to tour the campus (both formally and informally), meet with admissions representatives and current students, attend a class, and (depending on the school) potentially spend the night in one of the residence halls. Be prepared to bring clothes which are casual but still polished, a list of questions you want to ask students and admissions officers, and a notebook to record things that stand out to you on your visit.
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