College Visit Guide

Before selecting which colleges you want to visit, first work with your parent or guardian to create a budget and decide on the timing that will work best for you to visit. Spring break tends to be the best time to visit, particularly if the colleges you’re interested in require significant travel or if you intend to visit more than one school, but long weekends can allow enough time for schools closer to your location. While summer might afford you the greatest amount of free time, it is best to visit colleges while school is in session so that you can attend a class and speak to current students. If you have to visit colleges in the summer, make these plans while keeping your other summer activities in mind—if you are planning to attend a merit-based summer program, take an online class, or do an internship, be sure to plan your visits around the scheduled dates for those activities.

Once you have clarified the logistics, it is time to decide on which schools you want to visit. When creating your list, make sure that your list includes a variation in types of schools (small/medium/large, rural/suburban/urban, etc.) so that you can get a sense for what type of environment most appeals to you. In addition, consult with your college list to select a balance between schools that are reasonable reaches and matches. If your test scores and/or GPA are well below the 25th percentile for some of the schools on your list, it isn’t advisable to devote your time and resources to visit more than one of those schools.

When it comes to the schools that you will not be able to visit in person, there are ways to get the same insight a college tour would give you. Some of the top schools offer virtual tours on their site along with other online resources and events to engage your questions and give you a better sense of the school. Harvard offers a virtual tour followed by a virtual information session, Columbia’s virtual tour is accompanied by student panels and a live Q&A, and Dartmouth also offers live virtual tours, allowing you to experience the campus in real time with a current student, even from afar. In addition, you can check out www.campusreel.org to go on virtual tours of numerous college campuses guided by current students.

Parent Tips: Budgeting for Your Child’s College Visits

Planning financially for college visits may seem like a large task, but you can mitigate costs by strategically planning your other vacations and holidays around the locations of schools your student wants to visit. Additionally, you can help your student to select colleges to visit that are within a reasonable vicinity to one another so that you can visit multiple campuses on one trip rather than allocating funds for multiple days-long trips. While the schools nearby one of your student’s selected colleges might not be at the top of their list, seeing a school of a different size or kind of campus can still help your student to narrow their list based on how they respond to different types of colleges.

The initial arrival on campus can be an overwhelming experience, particularly if this is your first college visit. With so many sights and sounds, how do you know what to pay attention to and take into consideration as you meander through campus?

First, take in the location—college location is one of the first things we notice about a school. If you’re taking a tour of campus when you arrive, you’re likely to be swayed subconsciously by how pretty it is, or what kind of weather it is that day. However, try to carefully consider individual aspects of the location and how they might suit your individual needs and wants.

One way to do this is to take a walk or run individually through the campus and surrounding area. What do you notice about the city or town as you make your way down the sidewalk? If you’re interested in musical theater, do you notice local theaters or posters displayed in the windows of shops you pass advertising local plays? Or, if you enjoy spending your free time outdoors, do you notice parks or outdoor activity spaces that would be conducive spaces to relax and unwind? Likewise, use the same thoughtful process as you walk around on campus. Stop when you see corkboards and other spaces reserved for students to advertise events, clubs, and activities. This is an organic way to see what’s happening on campus even before speaking with current students.

If you’re looking for recommendations for things to do on campus or nearby, reach out to alumni who attended your high school or you can ask locals when you’re in the area. We have also compiled a list of recommendations from Command Education Senior Mentors who have attended top schools across the country!

As you make your way around campus, resist the urge to jump to conclusions about the school prematurely or call to mind stereotypes you may have heard about the school or its students. Keep in mind that almost all colleges are far bigger than high schools, so the social and academic stereotypes, no matter how pervasive, are only generalizations.

It is important to avoid buying into stereotypes such as:

At the end of the day, remember that you’re the one going to college. This process is a huge step towards asserting your independence as an adult, so take ownership of it and think critically about what appeals to you about the college and what doesn’t. Remember that every college almost certainly has a niche group of people for each student. College is about finding your community, and if the particular group you’re looking for doesn’t exist, you have the capability to create it! Regardless of the stereotypes you may have heard about the student body as a whole, your experience will be what you make it to be and you’ll get out of college what you put into it.

Be sure to make a stop at the school cafeteria(s) while on campus during your college visit! Not only will this help you to get a sense of the food you’ll be eating for the majority of your meals at college, but it is also a great opportunity to mingle with current students and get a better understanding of the school culture by seeing how students interact outside of the classroom.

During your visit, the most important factors to consider are academic rigor, social life/student happiness, and research opportunities. We recommend asking both the tour guide and, if possible, other students around campus. The student next to you when you sit in on a class or eat in the dining hall will likely be able to provide less scripted, more candid responses. Explore questions to ask about:

Finally, request contact information from the admissions representative you have worked with most closely during your visit. Inevitably, you’ll think of questions during your travel home that you wished you had asked, and having their contact information on hand will allow you to follow up, thank them for their time, and inquire further if you need more information.

Sitting in on classes provides you the opportunity to observe the students’ engagement levels and the professor’s lecture skills while getting a sense of the school’s academic offerings. However, keep in mind that making a good impression on a professor does not give you any boost in the application process. In order to choose which class to sit in on, you can do your research in advance by taking a look at the course catalog and asking an admissions representative if you can sit in on a class that interests you, or you can communicate your interests and intended major and ask them to place you in the class they think best aligns with your interests. You will likely be placed in a first-year course, so your experience in class can be an informative look into what you can expect from your freshman-year coursework in that particular major.

As you sit in on classes, be sure to have a notepad and a writing utensil. While you do not necessarily need to take notes on the lecture itself, you can jot down notes about things you notice throughout the class visit. Is the professor engaging? Is the class discussion or lecture-based? Do students seem engaged? How much homework does the professor assign? Making notes about these things will help you remember your experience later and compare the academic experience to that of other schools you visit.