<p> Tips for College Visits</p><p>Why Visit? </p><p>There is no substitute for seeing a college yourself. Take a tour or sit in on an admissions presentation when possible. View books and virtual tours are helpful but you don’t get the feeling of the actual campus environment. Sometimes you don’t know what questions to research or ask about until you hear a college admission representative or tour guide tell you some unique or special about their school. Then, you’ll know to ask, or look for, these same things on the next tour you take. </p><p>Which Colleges Should I Visit? </p><p>. Choose colleges that fit your requirements: location, academic field, academic match, athletics, campus attitude, look of the campus, finances. </p><p>. Tour local colleges that share similarities with colleges you are interested in that are out of the area. </p><p>How Do I Find the Information? </p><p>. The College and Career Center has a lot of view books, books and resources. Stop by!</p><p>. Books: Fiske Guide, College Handbook, Book of Majors</p><p>. Naviance: College Search and College Compare tools</p><p>. Collegeboard.org: Big Future ‘College Search” tool</p><p>. Go to the College Website and search for the Visit Campus tab</p><p>How Do I Schedule a College Visit or Campus Tour? </p><p>. Consider visiting 1 or 2 colleges per day (3 is ambitious if you are taking an actual tour).</p><p>. Register online at each admissions office website link. Schedule an admissions presentation and student tour. Each provides different information about the campus. </p><p>. If this campus is one near the top of your list, call or email when you register to ask if you can interview with an admission counselor. Schedule a meeting with a faculty member or attend a class. </p><p>. Attend the admissions presentation. This has valuable information that will prove helpful when answering admissions essay prompts and in helping you remember features you loved about this campus.</p><p>. Take a student lead tour: you’ll see what students on campus are like, visit a dorm, the recreation center, eating facilities, classrooms, and learn about career/internship possibilities and study abroad programs.</p><p>While On Campus</p><p>. Eat in the commons, look for event posters to see who/what happens on campus.</p><p>. Talk to students: what do they like about the school, what other colleges did they apply to, why did they pick this college. . Get a feel for student lifestyle. Is this a place you could call home? </p><p>After You Leave</p><p>. Spend 5 minutes writing down everything that comes to mind about this campus: likes/dislikes, interesting information shared, things you noticed. Document your thoughts so that when it comes time to apply for college, you’ll remember all you learned on this tour. </p>