If you're trying to determine which college or university is going to be the best place for you to spend your next four years, a campus visit can be a great way of adding information to your decision process. Read on to see some tips on how to make your campus visit the very best it can be.
Visit Early, Visit Often
If it is within your means to do so, you should try to visit the campus of most of the schools that you're seriously considering. I believe that seeing the campus and the people first hand is one of the best ways to see if you can imagine yourself attending that college. Also consider making return visits when you start to reach your decision phase. That extra campus visit might show you a side of the school you hadn't seen before.
Pick a Good Guide
Some colleges allow you to decide which guide you'd like to follow around for the tour. The guides will often introduce themselves and say where they're from, what their major is, and what sort of extracurricular activities they are involved in. I'd suggest selecting a junior or senior—they'd probably have a better sense of the way things work around campus. Pick a person who seems confident talking and who can project their voice. The guide can often make or break a tour experience, so make a good selection!
Walk Near the Front
Try to keep pace and walk near the front of the tour group. This way, you can ask any little questions you want to the tour guide as you walk from place to place on campus. The tour guide will be more likely to share little insights about the school that they may not tell the whole group if you're near the front.
Trust Your Guide—to a Point
You should accept everything your guide says as truth, but make sure you see the whole picture. Scripts for college campus visits are carefully planned and written; they're essentially advertisements. Just like you wouldn't trust an ad to give you a completely accurate picture, don't trust your tour guide to tell you the downsides of the particular college or university.
Wander Around
Visit Early, Visit Often
If it is within your means to do so, you should try to visit the campus of most of the schools that you're seriously considering. I believe that seeing the campus and the people first hand is one of the best ways to see if you can imagine yourself attending that college. Also consider making return visits when you start to reach your decision phase. That extra campus visit might show you a side of the school you hadn't seen before.
Pick a Good Guide
Some colleges allow you to decide which guide you'd like to follow around for the tour. The guides will often introduce themselves and say where they're from, what their major is, and what sort of extracurricular activities they are involved in. I'd suggest selecting a junior or senior—they'd probably have a better sense of the way things work around campus. Pick a person who seems confident talking and who can project their voice. The guide can often make or break a tour experience, so make a good selection!
Walk Near the Front
Try to keep pace and walk near the front of the tour group. This way, you can ask any little questions you want to the tour guide as you walk from place to place on campus. The tour guide will be more likely to share little insights about the school that they may not tell the whole group if you're near the front.
Trust Your Guide—to a Point
You should accept everything your guide says as truth, but make sure you see the whole picture. Scripts for college campus visits are carefully planned and written; they're essentially advertisements. Just like you wouldn't trust an ad to give you a completely accurate picture, don't trust your tour guide to tell you the downsides of the particular college or university.
Wander Around
- The quality of a guide can make or break a college visit.
- Trust the people you meet, but remember, they're advertisers.
- Break off the beaten path of the tour to discover the real school
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