When researching colleges alumni can be a great help.
TASK: As part of your fact-finding mission about schools, contact local alumni to get to know a school's personality from the inside.
WHY: Alumni can be good resources for information - especially alumni who keep strong ties to their alma maters. Asking to talk to gather facts can be helpful in learning about schools (as long as you don't expect to make friends or convince someone to champion your application).
METHOD: Contact your colleges to ask about events hosted by local alumni for prospective students or look on their Web sites for contact information for local alumni clubs (this can often be found on the alumni relations Web page, not the admissions Web page). If an alumnus will meet you or speak with you, ask some of the following questions (also ones you should plan to ask an alumni interviewer later).
• What was your favorite part of your college experience at X University?
• What was your least favorite part?
• How often do you get back to campus and what differences do you see today from when you attended?
• What do you consider the unique aspects of the college?
• What type of student fits the best there: personality-wise, interests, lifestyle, etc?
Web Resources
If you're not shy, you can try cold-contacting alums from your favorite school through Facebook or MySpace, which both let you do searches by school attended. Or at least it could be fun to browse profiles to see what kinds of people went there, and what they're doing now.
HOH Tip
One thing to remember: While a college's alumni will share detailed information with you, be careful to always consider the source. They will likely think the place where they attended college is the perfect place for anyone.