College visit tips for admitted students
accepted student college tour /wearing: hoop earrings / knit top / classic jeans / pink nail polish / cross body bag / sneakers /
‘Tis the season for college decisions! Some students know right away which college to say “yes!” to, while others have a hard decision ahead of them. Nevertheless, there are ways to navigate this decision and help your student make the right one so they can enjoy their college career.
If your student knew right away, after receiving their acceptances, which college to choose, congrats! You have the easy road. On the other hand, many students receive their acceptances and start seeing all the marketing from each university and realize their decision is harder than they originally thought. The kicker? They only have until May 1 to make this hard decision! Yikes!
Sometimes you cannot figure out which college to say “Yes!” to without visiting the school. In fact, I recommend visiting the school before accepting anyway. This is the only way to truly feel the vibe of a campus and student body. Each university has its own personality, layout, traditions, and more. Your student does not want to end up someplace where they feel like a fish out of water.
After going through the admissions process with three children, I have visited a lot of campuses and talked through several decisions. With this experience, here are my college visit tips for accepted students!
- Narrow your list of acceptances down to your top three. Use criteria such as location, major offerings, cost, campus size.
- Once you pick your top three colleges, plan a trip! Many universities have accepted student tours and/or admitted student days. I recommend attending those tours or days. They are great ways to get the vibe of a university and see their program for your major up close. You may even get a chance to speak with a professor!
- Walk around the campus before your tour or admitted student day. A leisurely walk around campus where you find iconic spots, major-specific buildings, dorms, and food is a great way to get your own feeling of the school without a tour guide giving you the “ra-ra” speech.
- Make a pro-con list during and after the tour. Have your student make a thorough list covering everything important to them from social activities, traditions, research opportunities and academics.
- Check out the dorm situation. Are there enough dorms for freshmen or is there a lottery or are they already full? Housing is a consideration if getting a dorm isn’t a slam dunk. Is your child ready for an apartment as a freshman? Can they cook and clean? This is an important factor on your pro con list.
- Eat in the cafeteria and people watch. Are the kids wearing merch? Are they happy and socializing? Feel the vibe.
- As a parent, note travel to the school. Does the flight require a layover? How comfortable are you and/or your student with that? Is the school drivable? What are prices of the airplane tickets? Will airfare and hotel costs fit into your annual budget? There are hidden costs to schools you need to fly to, so be sure to consider the financial impact as well as time, stress and your students ability to fly alone; possibly across the country.
- What is there to do off campus? It is a college town where the school is the town or is it located in an urban environment? Find out what type of location is important to your student.
- Wear comfortable shoes for the tour. Nothing makes touring a school more miserable than aching feet.
- Take a lot of photos. It helps your remember parts of the tour as well as locations. Be sure to take pictures of important slides if you see any slideshows.
- Talk to other students. In addition to in person conversations while you are on campus, you can look through reddit posts from that university, check out TikTok’s and Instagram posts. This will give your student insight into what actual students are saying about the school.
What I wore for college tours:
Well, that’s it! Enjoy touring the colleges your student has been admitted to, and don’t worry, they will eventually make that crucial decision! Once they decide, then it’s the fun part! You can buy merch to wear on decision day at school on May 1 and start planning for the fall semester or quarter. Good luck and feel free to ask me questions! I’ve done this three times now!
Thanks for stopping by!
XOXO
Cathy
