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Why should I visit college campuses?

Written by Sally Rubenstone | Feb. 10, 2002

Question: Why should I consider visiting those colleges on my candidate list?

You may have heard the saying, "Ain't nothin' like the real thing." That's why you have to visit the campuses where you're considering spending four years of your life.

You can read all the viewbooks and watch all the marketing videos produced by your candidates. Nothing, though, can match walking down a shady, tree-lined walkway on a fresh, sunny morning on a college campus that could become your temporary home.

You'll get a sense of the college's vibrancy, character, and facilities. If you can do so, by all means visit the campuses while the students are there. And, to put a further condition on your visit, try to visit in the fall or late spring, when the full beauty of the campus is showing.

This means that if you're a junior, you could plan some visits in May and September. If you're a senior, September and October are your choices. That's why it pays to develop your candidate list in the junior year. You have more flexibility in developing your visit options.

When you finally arrive on campus, take the standard tour as soon as possible. This will give you the highlights of the physical facility. Also attend any admissions department question and answer sessions to get answers from the source about your application. Then move to the next level of information: the student body.

Don't be afraid to ask real live students what they think of their school. I recommend four quick questions. How do like this place? What do like most about it? What don't you like? Any tips for an applicant? These questions can inspire longer discussions. You may even make a friend for the future, if you join the student body next school year.

Your final step in the campus-visit process should be to discuss your impressions with your family and make some notes to which you can refer later. Remember, the more up-front research you do, the less likely it will be that you select the wrong college.

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.