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I found this article about college visits: Newsweek College Presidents Article. Mostly the usual stuff, but a few good ideas...

By hawkeye on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 12:32 pm: Edit

How important are interviews on campus? I just had one last week and I sounded like a dope. It was a one-on-one situation and the questions that the interviewer(a student)asked were strange-- like "what kind of car would you be if you were a car?"

By Dave Berry on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 09:35 pm: Edit

Hey, hawkeye. I think I'd be a green '63 Rambler (ask your parents about that one!). Seriously, don't lose sleep over what you think you may have sounded like. Interviews are essentially exchange-of-information situations. In my opinion, no one ever was denied admission due to a "dopey" interview, although threats of physical violence toward your interviewer could have negative effects.

I'm sure David Hawsey, another of our College Confidential experts, will weigh in on this issue. David and I sometimes disagree on how colleges view the interview. I feel that some schools, the biggies, for example (Ivies and Top-25) view the interview as somewhat of an optional affair. David, on the other hand, believes that it's crucial for the applicant AND the college. Well, I guess that's why David is a Benz and I'm just a Rambler.

Hang on, hawkeye, while I round up Mr. Hawsey. Hmm, Hawsey and hawkeye... Sounds like a sitcom.

By Roger (Roger) on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 09:57 pm: Edit

Hawkeye, campus interviews vary an awful lot - they range from "sales jobs," where the interviewer spends most of his time explaining how great the school is, to serious attempts to evaluate the applicant.

In general, I wouldn't sweat the interview too much as long as you don't come across as obnoxious, uncommunicative, etc. In my opinion, they are kind of like essays - a superb one might give you a boost, an awful one might disqualify you, but for the majority of applicants they will have little impact.

I do recall hearing a first-hand story about an interview with the admissions director at an Ivy. He apparently liked the young man, but was unimpressed by his academic record. The AD told the applicant that if he got four As on his semester final grades, he'd be accepted. The kid got the As, and was accepted. I think this is a VERY rare occurrence, however.

By Mandy03 on Tuesday, September 04, 2001 - 09:14 pm: Edit

What about overnight visits? I think it would be fun to stay in a dorm with real students and I'd probably learn more than if I just did a day visit. If we want to cram a bunch of visits in one trip, though, we wouldn't be able to do many schools. What do my parents do - just stay in a motel and pick me up the next day? Is it really worth the time and money?

By BeenThere on Thursday, September 27, 2001 - 06:04 am: Edit

Mandy,
My son (now in college) and I agree that there is one thing, and one thing only, that we did RIGHT in the college search process, and that is that he visited the colleges he was most interested in for overnights WITHOUT his parents. We just set up appointments with the colleges and put him on a plane. To save money, he focused only on the colleges he was most interested in attending -- he did not visit them before applying.

I think that with the overnight visit, the parent's view and opinions will just get in the way. The overnight visit is really critical, but it does not have to be done until after you have narrowed down choices. But here's an example of why you need it:
at one school my son stayed at, the dorm rooms were very small and crowded. A lot of kids in the dorm were drinking and smoking dope, and there was a kid puking in the hallway. This was in the middle of the week. This is NOT something anyone is going to show you on the campus tour or tell your parents about.

Of course that is only one dorm - but it did make an impression.

My son is no prude. He doesn't care what other students do with their lives, but I don't think he wants to have to live right in the middle of it. At the other colleges he visited, the students were quieter and more involved in their studies.

I know that if the college is in a rural area it's hard to visit without having your parents or someone else to drive you -- but if the college is near a city with a major airport, or closer to you and on a bus line -- you'll have more fun and learn more going by yourself. If that's not possible, try to coordinate it so that your parents have something entirely different they can be doing with their time, so you are not with them at any time while on campus. If they tour the campus, it should be at a separate time than your tour. The overnight visit is a time for you to form your OWN impressions, and your parents' observations and comments, even favorable, are likely to make it harder for you to decide whether you feel comfortable and feel you will fit in at that college.

By Roger (Roger) on Thursday, September 27, 2001 - 10:04 am: Edit

Great advice, BeenThere! It really points up the importance of overnight or extended visits. A one hour walking tour isn't going to let the student know he'll be living in Animal House when he arrives in the fall!

By GMom on Sunday, November 04, 2001 - 07:24 pm: Edit

Just a word of caution on visits. I've known kids who had a rotten visit at a school that plenty of other kids really like. The opinion they came away with just didn't match up with the experience of the other kids. For example, they may have done an overnight and been stuck in a room with real jerks. I'm not saying kids shouldn't do visits - I think college visits are mandatory, and preferably they should be overnight visits. But the visit experience should be combined with other info, like feedback from existing students, etc.

By California Mom (Calmom) on Monday, November 05, 2001 - 03:20 pm: Edit

That's a good point GMom, but keep in mind that different kids have different perspectives.

At one college my son visited, he was dismayed at the high level of partying going on mid-week, but impressed by something he hadn't anticipated, the very large number of international students he met. Another student might have been happy to join the party, and not even noticed or cared where the other students came from. For my son, this was a useful experience in thinking about what he wanted and didn't want in a college.

At another college my son visited, his host student was a gay guy who let my son have the dorm room to himself, while he went off to spend the night with his boyfriend. My son was delighted to have the privacy and the freedom to wander around on his own -- another student might have been quite put off.

So, to each his own.

For parents, it might be useful to have a debriefing session with your kids after the visit, where they have a chance to articulate their experiences. I don't think parents should probe too deeply -- my son didn't feel comfortable about telling me about the marijuana use at one campus until several months after his visit -- but it's good to talk about things to help put it all in perspective.

By Geoff on Friday, November 30, 2001 - 08:36 pm: Edit

Anyone have the experience of visits blurring together? We covered 5 colleges in 3 days, and a day later we were arguing about which school had the really dumb guide and which one had the good dorms. We kind of sorted things out, but we decided we should have done more to keep track of stuff. Maybe shot videos, or taken notes. Any tricks of the trade?

By Dave Berry on Saturday, December 01, 2001 - 10:04 am: Edit

I'm a big fan of taking a brief set of notes immediately after the visit, while impressions are fresh. One good time for this is while you're driving to your next destination or over dinner.

Of course nothing beats a video record. I remember that when our son was considering colleges, we were extremely impressed with the Princeton campus. So, on our second visit, after he was accepted, we took a video camera with us and recorded a "driving tour" of the entire campus while our son was off with his student host. I rode shotgun and captured (out the window) the lay of the land while my wife and I added our running-commentary impressions. Then we did our own walking tour where we got to record some of the aspects that didn't make the viewbook (old buildings, construction projects, etc.).

Our son watched our improvisational production after we got home and added his impressions gathered from his overnight stay and student-led tour. The fun part of all this is watching that video now, six years after we made it. It's a great archival record of sights and attitudes.

BTW, if you're interested in "real-life" college-tour videos, try Collegiate_Choice_Walking_Tours_Videos. According to their verbiage: "Collegiate Choice Walking Tours are simple, non-promotional videos of the student guided campus tour offered at over 350 colleges and universities across the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, and Scotland. These videos are not professionally produced. Guidance counselors, not commercial film makers, are doing the recordings."

I have no commercial interest in recommending these. I just think it's a great idea and allows students and families to take an official college tour without having to leave home.

By Geoff on Monday, December 03, 2001 - 09:17 am: Edit

The do-it-yourself video approach is a great idea. Tape is cheap, and you can always refer back to it if you are trying to remember what a particular campus was like or some particular feature. Camcorders are cheap now. We took a regular camera on our last set of college visits, but we didn't take too many pictures. I think if we had the kind of video record you describe, we wouldn't be scratching our heads now about which college was which.

By Dadster on Monday, December 24, 2001 - 03:37 pm: Edit

Sometimes, I know, visiting a bunch of colleges in one trip is unavoidable, but it at all possible, I think it's a good idea not to overdo it. I think having some "reflection" time after a visit is a good thing, instead of being thrust into a new environment a couple of hours later. I do like the video idea, though, as a way of recording a lot of info quickly and cheaply.