College Campus Tours and Visits

While I've written in previous posts about websites on which you can find vitual tours of college campuses (collegeboard.com, unigo.com, and www.campustour.com), nothing beats actually visiting the campus of a school in which you're interested. You can find out most of what you need to know to arrange a tour on the school's website. Many of the colleges that require pre-registration to visit, ask you to do so online. In order to get the most out of the trip, you should have a plan of action. After all, you don't want to possibly travel many miles just to take a hopefully pleasant stroll around campus with a guide who's probably a Work Study student and might know less about the university than you do!

On the homepage of unigo.com there is a site index on which you'll find the link "Checklists and Worksheets". A mere click brings you to a comprehensive three page "College Visit Checklist" that you can review and even bring with you on your visit. (What you might consider "nerdy" - checklist, clipboard, etc. - might be perceived as conscientious and well-thought-out to those you meet while at the college of interest.)

Under the preparation section of the list there are two items I would add. Notify a college representative whom you might have already met at a college fair or high school visit that you are visiting the school. If you are involved in a sport which you would like to play in college, notify the athletic department as well. Obviously, most of the sought after, scouted players already have a relationship with the athletic department. But if the school has an intramural or even club team for a certain sport, there are coaches and advisors for that also. The same holds true if you have a certain talent. If you play an instrument, act, sing in the choir, cheer, or tutor, notify the advisor of the pertinent club or group on campus. Anything that you can use to stand out from the crowd, put a face to the name - anyone you can meet who might take an interest in your gaining admission to that school is an asset.

A lot of the answers to the questions on the checklist can be found on the college's website or on other sites such as Unigo. You might want to jot down brief answers to the ones you already know. Shortly after your visit, while it's still fresh in your mind, take a few minutes to write your impressions of the college on the back of the checklist. In that way you can save the checklist and use it as a resource when you narrow down your choices as to which schools you will actually apply.

One question which is not included that I feel is very important is, "How are dormitory accomodations and roommates decided?" Unless you have special needs, freshman year assignments are often random but many schools allow accepted students to ask to room with other accepted students whom they already know. Find out if assignments after freshman year are made on a lottery or point system. Personally, I feel the lottery system is lazy and doesn't reward students who work harder to earn prime dorm locations/choice of living companions.

In the next post, I'll write about intellectual freedom and physical safety on campus.

My Niece and Naviance

In the last post, I wrote about attending a college representative's visit to your high school as a way of sizing up your possible local competition. On collegeboard.com there is a feature which helps you see how you "stack up". You enter information about your GPA, rank in class and courses taken, etc., and it helps assess your chances for admission to a particular school. Often colleges try to accept a geographically diverse student body and try not to accept too many students from one region and especially not from one school. The Naviance guidance delivery system is a resource to which many schools now subscribe that can help you find out more about with whom you're competing.

The website, www.naviance.com, is interesting but does not allow general access to detailed information. However, if a school district is a subscriber, the information is very extensive and tailored to the individual high school. Students and parents also have access as part of a "Family Connection". The system offers a feature which shows how successful students from the subscriber school have been in gaining admission to specific colleges and universities. I believe this feature is only available to the school's guidance professionals and other personnl. I've only had limited exposure to this system. At the party my niece had for her son's first birthday, she enthusiastically took the time to give me an overview of the program. She, too, is a counselor and, yes, she generously took time from her hosting duties to share this new knowledge with me. What can I say? We're guidance geeks!
I was pretty impressed. If you're fortunate enough to have this tool at your disposal, take the time to learn it and the opportunity to use it.