Campus Visit Key in Selecting School
June 30, 2009
By Heidi Fletcher
Vice President for Enrollment Management
College of Notre Dame of Maryland
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Summer is the time for cookouts, ice cream, trips to the beach and the beginning of the high season for college visits/selections for your rising high school senior.
One of the most important things your child can do before selecting a college is to visit the campus. You wouldn’t buy a car without test-driving it first — and the same goes for your child’s college choice.
A campus visit is critical for several reasons. The prospective student must determine if the college is the right fit — is it someplace to which she can commit the next four years of her life? Does the college have the academic and extra-curricular facilities to provide her with the best learning/living experience? Is it in the setting that appeals to her (urban, suburban, rural)? Does it feel safe?
The visit also demonstrates the prospective student’s level of interest to the school. The visit can sometimes be a deciding factor for admission or getting off the wait list.
Although visiting a college at any point is helpful, the most productive visits occur toward the end of the junior year and the beginning semester of the senior year. This time is either when students are forming their “short list” of colleges or making their selection from that list.
It is important to spend some time thinking about what you and your child want to get from these visits, so that you can be prepared to see the appropriate areas and ask the best questions. You may want to visit the college(s) of choice again after your child has been admitted, this time with a different intent and set of questions.
Try to visit the college when it is in session — that is, when students are on campus. You want to see the types of students who attend and try to get a feel of the energy generated by the student body.
Are these the types of students your child would like to have as friends? Does the campus have a party-school vibe, or a more serious tone, or does it cater to an older population? Also, you’ll want to speak to some students. Ask them questions about what they like and don’t like about the school. What do they do on the weekend? How is the food?
Be sure to call and schedule your visit at least two weeks ahead of time. You’ll want to give the college time to accommodate your specific requests. Ask to have your child sit in on a class in her intended major, speak with a faculty member or a coach, spend the night in the residence hall and meet with a financial aid counselor.
A usual campus visit will simply involve an information session or interview with an admissions counselor and a tour led by a current student. Depending on the size of the college, this could be in a small or large group.
You will need to ask for any “extras” — such as the visit with the coach — and don’t be afraid to ask. You need to make sure that the visit really does provide your child with the necessary information to choose her college. The traditional college visit lasts about two hours, but it is best to allow for more time to get the feel of the school and campus.
When your child meets with the admissions counselor, she should be prepared with questions she wants answered — not just what she thinks the counselor wants to hear. Getting to know the counselor is an important part of the application process. Sometimes an admissions committee has to make a choice between two students. What can tip the scale in your child’s favor is if the school knows that she is serious about attending. Committees try not to admit students whom they do not think will attend. Your child’s admissions counselor can be your greatest ally during these discussions, whether it’s in first-round decisions or determining who will come off the wait list.
Make sure to get the business card of everyone you meet. After the interview, have your child take the time to write a thank-you note or e-mail. These will be very much appreciated. Have the prospective student stay in touch with the counselor, but don’t stalk her! Occasional e-mails or calls are appropriate. Every day is not.
On the same visit take the tour and ask questions of the tour guide. Take notes and take photos. While you are on a campus, you think you will remember all the details, but after your fifth visit, details become blurred.
You do need to remember that the guides are trained to take you to the best places on campus and put a positive spin on all aspects of the college (rather like a human viewbook). One of the best things you can do is after the official tour is over is to take your own tour. Visit the academic buildings that you didn’t get to see, talk to the students and try to see the inside of the freshman residence halls. Read the postings on bulletin boards and other public spaces. Do they describe things that your child is interested in and activities that appeal to her?
Before you leave take the time to have your child stand in the middle of the quad, and have her try to imagine being a student at that college. How does it feel to her? You’ll often hear people say that when you are on the right campus, you will just know. To a great extent this is true — and the same goes for knowing a school is not the right place for your child. In the end, be prepared, don’t stress out and most of all enjoy your visit.
Next month we’ll talk about the role of social networking sites in college selection and college admission.
Heidi Lippmeier Fletcher is vice president for enrollment management at College of Notre Dame of Maryland. She has worked in admissions at colleges in North Carolina and New Mexico. Ms. Fletcher holds a bachelor of arts in anthropology from The University of Cincinnati and a master of arts in anthropology/human biology from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
