Plan School Visits - At Least One

To figure out how a school really feels, the best thing is to visit the campus. These visits will allow you to see the best and the worst of a school, and you'll be able to make your own judgments about what it would be like to go there, and how you might fit in.

HEAD Lines

Talk to your parents about when you can start scheduling visits. If you are planning various small trips, plan your first soon. Here's how:

• Go to the school's Web site to see when they offer information sessions and tours. Register if necessary, and put the date on your calendar.

• Build in additional time around the sessions to wander the campus and ask questions (and to find parking and get lost on the way!). At least half a day per school is best.

• Think about the questions you have for students and admissions officers and your goals for the visit - make a list inspired by what you see on the Web site.

From Other HEADS

NEVER VISIT ON A WEEKEND MORNING. Several of the colleges were dead when I visited. No one was on campus and there didn’t seem to be any atmosphere. Then it hit me: Everyone was still asleep. Now that I am in college, I completely understand why everyone is sleeping. The most important time to visit is later in the afternoon on a spring day. There are more people on campus and I could get a feel for what the school was really like. Spring is amazing: people lying in the quad getting sun, everyone is happy. That is the best time to visit.

-- ROB FEHN

LAFAYETTE COLLEGE

VISIT YOUR NUMBER ONE CHOICE LAST. That way you can compare it to the others with an open mind. If you go to your number one choice first, your opinion of the others will be tainted because you think you have seen what you want.

-- BETSY LILIENTHAL

UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE

Web Resources

Bookmark the colleges' Admissions Web sites if you haven't already.

HOH Tip

Depending on your schedule and on where the schools that interest you are located, you might prefer to do a slew of visits all at once during Spring Break or over the summer - or you might just visit schools here and there on random weekends.