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I'm going to be visiting colleges soon. What should I look for in the college that I can't find out on the internet?

By Uknowwho42 (Uknowwho42) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 10:44 am: Edit

Overall feel of the campus, social life firsthand, food, "gut reaction," people (opportunity to ask questions), classes, professors...basically your visit is everything. You can read books and websites, but in the end they mean nothing compared to your visit.

By Montmammoth (Montmammoth) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 11:55 am: Edit

Make sure you go to a class, and stay in a dorm overnight if possible. You can learn a lot about whether you want to live with these people for four years. At one school my daughter was turned off because the students didn't seem to be serious about learning and spent a lot of time running down the town they happened to be in.

You should make sure you visit the places where you'll be spending a lot of time. Can you stand the cafeteria food? Is the library layout quiet & amenable to study, or is it noisy? If you can stay in a dorm, or at least walk through the dorm area at night, is it noisy at 1:00 AM with a drunk throwing up in the hallway, or are things buttoned down during the week?

Take every opportunity to talk with students and find out what they like and don't like about the place. Good luck with your visits.

By Mikemac (Mikemac) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 04:19 pm: Edit

if by "soon" you mean this summer, my advice is to wait until the fall when school is in session. MontMammoth gave some great things to look for, and you can only do most of these when the students are actually present. A campus visit during the summer lets you see the campus and talk to an adcom, but it misses an essential part.

there are lots of guides for visits on the web, such as http://www.collegiatechoice.com/mytips.htm or http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/process/tips/s-campusvisit/ The College Board publishes a book called "Campus Visits and College Interviews: All-New Second Edition"

By Skiowad (Skiowad) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 05:03 pm: Edit

I can't. I live in the south and am going to visit colleges in the north. I can't fly, don't have the money and we start school really early (august 3rd) so I can't go on the weekends. I'm going right before school starts.

By Tdizzo (Tdizzo) on Thursday, July 15, 2004 - 11:51 am: Edit

depending what schools you're interested in they might have some form of financial aid to help arrange for a plane trip during the actual semester...I'd advise you to at least look at the possibility, that way even if only one does have a program you can fly north and then drive to the rest with a rental car.