Advice for making college visits

[Grantmom]

I wanted to ask for some seasoned advice about beginning to make college visits.  DS is a 10th grader, and really doesn't have any ideas about where he would like to apply.  Things like school size, region of the country, etc., are all open to him at this point.  He does know what his areas of interest are, though.  I thought it would be good to start making some college visits now, and that might begin to give him an idea of what he is looking for and where he feels comfortable (i.e. small school vs big school).  So, I just have a few questions before we make plans to visit a few this summer.

 

I have read that for some schools, a part of their admission decision is whether or not the applicant has shown an interest in the school, so coming to visit, etc,. can be a positive for you.  But isn't it too early for us to initiate that kind of contact?  Like asking for interviews and things like that?  When do they do those?

 

Does he contact them ahead of time?  Would he also contact the department of the major he is interested in to tell them he is coming for a visit?  If we don't have much data in the way of test scores yet, is it better to wait until after you have some sort of "profile" to present yourself?

 

When should DS start initiating contact with admissions offices to express interest?  And is that a thing?  Does the student email the admissions office?  Or what do they mean when they say they like the student to express interest in the school?  How much does this matter?  I have read things like people saying that they thought they may have been waitlisted because they never visited the school or showed any interest.  I mean, obviously, it would be ideal to visit a school before you decide to spend 4 years of your life there, but do you start visiting places as a first pass now, then visit them again later when you know where you want to apply and ask for interviews then?  My goal is really just to give him an idea of what's out there and what he might want to look for.  Thanks for any advice!

 

[Bootsie]

If you have some colleges nearby, I would suggest some informal visits if your son has not been on a college campus before.  Just walk around the campus, browse the bookstore, etc.  

 

You could contact the admissions office to set up a campus tour.  Usually this can be done through the website. Until he has a little bit better idea of what he is looking for, I would not go beyond the standard campus tour at this point.  He is probably not at the point of being ready to ask meaningful questions of someone at the departmental level.  It might also be overwhelming to  him when he is just beginning to look at schools.  

 

Some schools do track interest.  If he signs up on their website for a campus tour, that will be tracked.  

[JanetC]

Usually interviews are for juniors and seniors. I would sign up for a tour, but not an interview at this point. If you have drafts of your homeschool documents, you may want to make an appointment with admissions for yourself to see if the information you are preparing is what they want to see.

 

For a kid who is still not sure what he wants, start with schools close to home. Make a list of everything you can find in driving distance and then try to select a variety of very different types of schools. Tour a public university, a private college, the biggest one you can find, the smallest one you can find, etc. You may or may not apply to all these schools (some might be too expensive or not a great match) but you can get a feel for:

 

Does he like small schools or big ones? Does he like rural or city environment? What features of the school seem to be important to him? (I.e. He never forgets to ask about football games or food or whatever). Your goal is simply to see what grabs or doesn't grab him at different campuses so he can start to answer questions about what is important to him.

[Grantmom]

Thank you!  Great starting points!

[Hoggirl]

I really like the Fiske Guide for reading about schools. In particular, there is a "quiz" at the beginning of the guide that can kind of help identify the type of school your ds might like.

 

Also, not all schools care about demonstrated interest. Whether they do or not (and to what extent) can be obtained from the Common Data Set, section C7. You can usually find these by just googling the name of the school and the words "common data set." As you narrow your choices down, you can factor in that aspect when deciding whether to visit a school or not. Interest can also be demonstrated in other ways such as e-mailing or calling the applicable regional admissions person for your area.

 

Some schools will not interview or do overnight visits until fall of senior year. We ran into this when we went to the Claremont schools in California - a long trip for us! At the time we visited, Pomona would interview juniors but not Claremont McKenna College. Or at least not in February when we visited. Ds did interview at Pomona, which was certainly a good experience for him, but he did not wind up applying there, so it mostly served as practice. He did apply to CMC where he was waitlisted. I think an interview would have helped him. My point being, don't jump the gun *too* much on long/expensive trips.

[Grantmom]

So in thinking about a timeline, you should maybe make some general college visits first, to get an idea of what you like and what you think would be a good fit. Then once you know where you want to apply, contact them ahead of time, before your visit, to find out if they offer any kind of special in depth visits like meeting faculty in the particular department you're interested in. Once you have applied, ask about interviews. Is that right? I'm thinking some places you might not be able to visit more than once, so for those places you'd need to probably wait until after you apply?

[Carol in Cal.]

Always remember that they are starting a file on you when you contact them, and your visit will be noted and details about it recorded in that file.  Act accordingly.

[Hoggirl]

A lot of places will handle visits and perhaps even interviews through an admissions website. Not every place will grant on-campus interviews. If they do, some will have admissions people interviewing and some will have students interviewing. Some will have alumni interviews. These may be in your hometown or near where you live. Not every place is going to accommodate specialized visits. I have a friend who was rather appalled at the lack of individuality afforded students who visited one higher ranked school. I think her expectations were unrealistic and being overly indignant about it is not going to garner much of a positive impression. She remarked that they were "herded like cattle." Some places have thousands of visitors per year. Some could not care one hoot if you visit or not. The best hope for specialized visits will come from contacting people within departments. Smaller schools are also likely to be more accomodating. The time of year you visit may impact the ability to have something more unique. Generally speaking, there will be an information session and a tour at all schools. Perhaps the opportunity to attend a class. Generally, you must sign up for these online and then you "check in" when you arrive.

 

Also keep in mind that visits can be done after an acceptance and many schools will have admitted students weekends.

[JanetC]

So in thinking about a timeline, you should maybe make some general college visits first, to get an idea of what you like and what you think would be a good fit. Then once you know where you want to apply, contact them ahead of time, before your visit, to find out if they offer any kind of special in depth visits like meeting faculty in the particular department you're interested in. Once you have applied, ask about interviews. Is that right? I'm thinking some places you might not be able to visit more than once, so for those places you'd need to probably wait until after you apply?

 

Some corrections:

 

1. Always contact the school ahead of time. A large state U may have "just show up" tours, but many will want to know you are coming so they can have enough tour guides available. You may have choices as to what you do during your visit. Some options offered might be tour, interview, sit in on class, meet with a student, stay a night in the dorm, etc. Choose the options that are appropriate for you. You don't have to do everything. Not all schools will offer all options, and some options may be reserved for seniors or specific kids.

 

2. Do not wait until the application is done to schedule an interview. If you are visiting a campus that does interviews, and you are a junior or senior, and you are at all interested in applying, you should probably schedule the interview and get it done. Getting an interview is like getting test scores sent or getting recommendations, it's a part of the application and like any other part should not be left to the last minute. If the school is far away, there are usually options besides going to campus, such as an alumni interview, a visiting interviewer, or a skype interview.

 

3. Yes, you can visit after you apply or during the weeks between being accepted and the decision deadline, if that's what works for your schedule.

[Hoggirl]

Sorry. Double post.

Edited May 1, 2016 by Hoggirl

[Grantmom]

Always remember that they are starting a file on you when you contact them, and your visit will be noted and details about it recorded in that file. Act accordingly.

This is what I'm worried about, not knowing when to do what and what is "okay" to do and what's not. What if you just fill out a card at a college fair?

 

Regarding specialized visits, I did not mean to sound like I think we should have special treatment, I just mean, how do you know about the individual department by just doing the general college tour? I've read on here many times about people going to a school and visiting the engineering department specifically, or the nursing department, or something like that. I'm talking about the kind of major where you have to specifically apply to that department and for that major when you apply. Folks here have said that the admissions is often very different for engineering, has different acceptance rates, and even requires different things. I've seen on some websites that often an engineering department will require additional test scores than regular applicants, for example. So, I'm wondering about that. How do you know which schools you want to apply to, if you go and just do the tour that you sign up online for and are just getting the general college tour, and not getting that additional information about the major to which you are applying? Do you contact the department ahead of time to find out if they do tours as an additional thing? And if you go to do that, are they starting a file on you at that time, as the PP mentioned?

[JanetC]

This is what I'm worried about, not knowing when to do what and what is "okay" to do and what's not. What if you just fill out a card at a college fair?

 

Regarding specialized visits, I did not mean to sound like I think we should have special treatment, I just mean, how do you know about the individual department by just doing the general college tour?

 

Do you contact the department ahead of time to find out if they do tours as an additional thing?

 

And if you go to do that, are they starting a file on you at that time, as the PP mentioned?

It is always OK to just fill out a card at a college fair. They will send you lots of junk mail and/or spam, and possibly a phone call to a junior or senior during application season, but nothing scary will happen.

 

Getting department questions answered is going to vary a lot from school to school. There will almost certainly be tours and/or information sessions for the major departments, such as engineering and nursing, at large universities. A small department at a small liberal arts college will probably not have a special departmental visit program, but you can email a professor and ask questions about their program. If you are coming to campus, you can try to arrange a meeting. The admissions office can arrange for you to sit in on a class, too, if you are visiting on a day when classes are in session. Ask the admissions office or visit the admissions and/or department websites.

 

You can also learn a bit about the department just by poking around in the building where it is housed, without a tour. Read the posters and bulletin boards, see if the students are comfortable hanging out there, see if the labs are deserted or busy, and so forth. DD poked her head in a performing arts building and it was deserted. There were few posters for auditions or performances and no one was using the recording studio (which is booked weeks in advance at her CC). It told her a lot about how strong the performing community was at that school.

 

Your main job on a visit with a sophomore is just "don't get on the parent/student was an absolute asshole" list. Really. You don't have to overthink the "permanent file." Again, a large state campus will not bother to track you at all. There are too many thousands of kids finishing the applications to have time to track all the ones who did a tour and might apply later, too. A small school may make a special note to recruit you if you make an especially positive impression.

 

For the most part, they will keep your name, year in school, and tick the box that you visited. "They came, they toured," will have a small positive effect on your application, and it doesn't take more to get that box ticked than just not being difficult and obnoxious.

[Grantmom]

Thank you!!   :001_smile: