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Interact with Schools - Contact Students
How can you REALLY assess a school?
Learning about a school on paper is necessary - you need to have an idea of statistics and majors and clubs, etc... but how can you REALLY assess a school? The students, of course. So to do this research, go to the source.
HEAD Lines
Each school has student volunteers to speak with prospective students and their families. While it's true these students are the most excited about their colleges (after all, they've volunteered to do this), you will still get a sense of some of the personality nuances in a school.
Look on schools' Admissions Web sites for some way to contact current students. If there is no formal program, write to the admissions officer responsible for your area of the country and ask if he can put a current student in touch with you. Talking to ANY student is better than nothing, so even if you are matched with someone completely different from you, you can still learn something. Some suggested questions:
• What do students do for fun during the week and on weekends?
• Is there a Greek system, and do most students rush?
• What are some of the fun traditions?
• What do the students like best and worst about the school?
• What's day-to-day life like? Are the students stressed out? Always partying?
• Are there other students like you (ethnically, religiously, politically, etc.)?
From Other HEADS
IF YOU VISIT A SCHOOL, find a random person to talk to: students are brutally honest.
-- SARAH BORMEL
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
NO MATTER WHOM YOU ARE DEALING WITH, don't swear and don't show up late for a meeting. I did both of those the very first time I met with one of my high school teachers to ask for a recommendation. He really got on me about it and said if I did those things at the wrong time, it could really affect my future. I really took that advice to heart.
-- RACHEL LYNCH
COPPIN STATE UNIVERSITY
Web Resources
Another option is to get on Facebook and do a search for students at the school. It can't hurt to e-mail them cold - after all, some might ignore you, but some might be an even better source of info than the student volunteers.
HoH Tip
Ask only open-ended questions of students you happen to meet. By asking a question that only requires a "yes" or "no" response, you will not really receive the information you are seeking.