College Tours

The most important questions to ask on a college visit are questions that are important to you. Don't hog the tour and share the space. Tour guides love their campuses and can even give you suggestions about what else to do while on campus.

The more you get to know a campus and let the campus get to know you the better. So if you can meet with admissions officers during your visit, take the opportunity. Find out the representative in charge of your area and try to make an appointment. If you have academic passions, see if you can meet with professors in that field. Admissions offices can often help you coordinate those contacts. You can also attend classes and even visit a professor during his or her office hours--these are usually posted online. Always follow up with a thank you note and make sure to mention these interactions in your application.

I would try to get to know the campus and area around the college as well as possible. You can eat in the cafeteria. You can visit classes or meet with professors. You can even spend a night in the dorms with a current student. You can meet with college officials, attend athletic events, and walk around the campus and speak with students. Do your research and explore the area around the campus---restaurants, stores, etc. See if the campus has any special programs targeted to your interests, culture, and academic passions.

Try and speak with random students (i.e, students you see in the dining halls or on the quad) about whether they like the school and whether there's anything about it they're not happy with. If you have a specific academic interest, see if you can sit in on a class in that area and possibly speak to the professor.

If you don't get to see a dorm on the tour, see if there's any way you can glance into one (you can often just ask a random student if you can take a quick peek into his or her room). Look around the area immediately adjoining campus to see what types of stores, restaurants and services are within walking distance. If there's any specific academic area you're interested in that you didn't get to visit on the tour (i.e., the engineering quad or the music building), try and take a look at it.

I would let the tour guide run the tour and ask questions if something seems interesting or if the guide doesn't discuss a subject you want to know about. Some questions that you might ask about would be the availability of dining at all hours, how long it takes to traverse the campus from the dorms to the academic buildings, whether the student center is used for numerous activities, whether students turn out for athletic or theatrical events and whether lots of kids leave campus on weekends. Try and ask questions that can't be answered by looking at the college website.

Yes, if there's a way to do it without being too pushy. You can try and sit in on a class in which you have a particular interest and approach the professor after the class to ask a question. Although it's often difficult to meet an admissions officer unless you have a scheduled appointment or interview, if you do have such an opportunity, make the most of it by introducing yourself and saying how much you loved the tour and the campus. If you have met an admissions officer at your high school, send an email before you visit the school to see if you can stop in to talk. But whatever you do, be genuine and enthusiastic.

Visiting colleges can be so vital in deciding where to apply and ultimately where to attend. Students should try to meet with actual admissions officers for interviews and meetings. They should try to see if faculty in areas that intrigue them are open to meeting. They should stay in dorms or meet up with students who have graduated from their high schools or who host students. Students can also meet with athletic coaches and arts-related professors and staff. Try to create a tour that enables you to truly see what a college is like.

Make sure you visit the financial aid office to see if there is money available that you weren't aware of, and make sure you visit the cafeteria to see if you like the food. Look at a campus newspaper and check out campus bulletin boards,wander through snack bars and student centers and observe how students interact with each other.

Yes. and when you do make sure that you, be on time, be yourself, ask questions that deal with your particular needs,and make sure you mention anything about your background or achievements that you want the admission office to know.