Planning Your College Visit

Depending on your location and the latest winter storm, the crocuses may be blooming and squirrels and robins may be stretching their limbs after a wild winter, but seniors everywhere, regardless of the weather outside, will definitely be hearing back from their colleges in the coming weeks. Now is the perfect time to visit!

Unlike other areas of the college admissions process, the world of college visits has stayed mostly the same. Colleges will still be doing everything in their power to woo you to their campuses, and your job is to stay focused on your “needs,” “wants,” and “likes” list. Be honest; how often would you really play ping pong in the student union, or go swimming in the Olympic-sized pool? Is soft serve ice cream in the cafeteria a good enough reason to sign the dotted line? Don’t let various frills distract you from your college goals.

This will take work on the front-end before your visit. For more information, check out our recommendations for what to do before you set foot on campus.

During your day on campus, you will need to be on full alert, observing everything, taking notes, and holding off on your decision until you’ve had some time to let the visit cool off. Here are some suggestions for what you can do.

Finally, after you visit your colleges, it’s time to make the decision! Like deciding between answer choices B and D on the SAT/ACT, you don’t want to just “flip a coin” on your college choice. You’ll want to hold your remaining colleges up to your “need, want, like” list and see which one makes the cut. More advice can be found here.

It’s an exciting time as you hear back from your colleges! Make sure you start well with the decision process. After all the work your colleges have made you do, now it’s time to make them work to get you to their campus!