Campus Tour Checklist

Visits to schools beat pictures in brochures any day! If you have the opportunity, you should experience college life first-hand during your junior and senior years to be sure your home-away-from-home will be the right one for you. Carefully plan each visit and limit the number of visits to the schools that are most important to you.

Planning the Visit

• • • • Get a map of the campus

      • Plan at least a full day (and stay overnight, if possible) at each school

      • Visit when school is in session

      • Arrange an interview with an admissions officer or sign up for a group session, if available

      • Prepare a list of questions you might have about the school

      • Get a notebook to record the answers and your impressions

      • Spend the night in the dorms. Many campuses offer overnight stays

What to Do

• • • • Take a campus tour

      • Read the school paper

      • Talk with students and faculty

      • Attend a class

      • Attend a sporting event, if possible

      • Check out the stuff that's important to you (e.g., dorms, libraries, student unions, athletic facilities)

      • Eat a meal in the Dinning Commons. Let them know you are visiting the campus. Parents and future students do this all the time

      • Visit the Career Center

What to Look For

• • • • Watch how students spend their time: studying, partying, socializing, exercising

      • Check out the size of the average dorm room and what furniture they provide

      • Look at what students have in their rooms and how it’s arranged

      • What’s available off campus? Restaurants, theaters, museums, public libraries, job opportunities?

What to Ask

• • • • Are there active fraternities and sororities on campus?

      • How good is the food in the dining facilities?

      • Can you stay in the dorm for more than freshman year?

      • Can you have a single room or must you share? And if you’re sharing, with how many others?

      • What intercollegiate and intramural teams are represented on campus?

      • What kinds of clubs and societies are represented on campus?

      • How well are the campus and its facilities maintained?

      • How safe is the campus? Where are the campus police located?

      • Are there safety programs, such as escorts and emergency phone boxes, on campus?

COLLEGE SURVEY

• • • • 3 things you like about the college

      • 3 concerns about the college

      • Did you meet with an advisor?

      • Did you attend a class? Is the average class size large, medium, small?

      • How was the dining -- good food, variety?

      • Did you like the dorms?

      • What was the general feel of the campus?

      • What are your impressions of the student body?

      • Can you see yourself fitting in and making friends easily?