College visits can be fun, but they also can be long and draining. To be honest, most college tours are going to give you a pretty photoshopped example of what campus life really looks like; you’re going to be shown the best version of everything, from the dorms to the food to the extra-curricular opportunities. That’s why it’s important to have a game plan before you get to the school.
Come with a list of questions
Refer back to your list of deal breakers and come with a list of questions based off of it. For example, what are the dorms like? What is the weather like most of the time? (Seriously: I went to a school Freshman year that was lovely until October, then suddenly became an arctic blizzard. This, for a Southern girl, was totally alarming and shock-inducing.)
Take time to walk around the campus yourself, without a tour guide—this will give you a better sense of campus life
Does the campus look busy? Are people hanging out together? What kinds of people are on campus? (I know this sounds shallow, but honestly, you want to go to a college that has a social scene you enjoy. If most of the kids are wearing athleisure and you hate running and hot yoga, maybe think more carefully about going to that school.)
Talk to students!
The best way to get a realistic perspective on a school is to talk to a current student. I’ve seen some people make the mistake, however, of talking to alumni student who attended a school 5+ years ago. Colleges can change, and sometimes pretty quickly. It’s good to talk to a student who is attending the college at the moment, or at least graduated less than 3 years ago. Chat with a student in the cafeteria line or working behind a desk at the library. Some questions to ask could be things like: how is the food? How are the dorms/what’s the best dorm to live in? What do you do on campus for fun?
Sit in on a class (preferably one for your prospective major)
If you can, request to sit in on a class of a professor that has a high rating on RateMyProfessor. This is another great opportunity to get a feel for campus life as well as the school’s academics. Do students talk to each other before class? Do they sit on their phones? Is the professor good at engaging with the students?
Drive around the area to familiarize yourself with college’s town/city
While the place your college is located may not be make-or-break, it’s always nice to get a better perspective of where you might be living for four years.
Finally, if you don’t love a college after visiting it, don’t go there!
Again, making a decision about a college based on one or even two visits can still feel like judging a book by its cover. If you leave a college campus, however, and truly feel like that was not the place for you, go with your gut! One of my sisters toured a college that was highly recommended by both friends and college-ranking websites. She and my mother got to the campus, started the tour, and half-way through both of them looked at each other and said “this is not it.” They left as soon as the tour finished up.
