10. VISITING COLLEGES--CAMPUS VISITS AND INTERVIEWS
When to visit: It is customary to visit colleges during the last half of your junior year, the following summer and during the first half of your senior year. Since the real purpose of visiting is to learn enough about the college to know whether or not it is right for you, a visit when school is in session is desirable. This might mean missing some school, but careful planning should minimize that problem.
· Juniors can use spring term break to visit colleges. Juniors are not eligible for excused college visit days
· Seniors can use the fall term break and other fall holidays to visit colleges.
· Seniors also are permitted to miss two days of classes during the first two trimesters in order to visit colleges but they are responsible for all work missed and they must provide a written request from their parents to be absent from school at least two weeks before they visit. Students who miss school for college visits without prior notification will be considered as having an unexcused absence and faculty are not responsible to help them make up missed work. One additional excused college visit day may be taken during trimester three.
What about summer visits? The problem with summer visits is that you can’t see the college as it really is when it is alive with students. That being said, it still is better to visit during the summer than not to visit at all. You can always return in the fall or winter to talk with students and/or to stay overnight..
One major piece of advice: Do not enroll at any college if you have not visited it. While there are occasionally exceptions to this, it is vastly preferable to spend the time and money to visit before making a commitment so significant without actually seeing the school. It is very difficult to know that a college is right for you if you haven’t seen it in person.
Colleges have different procedures about visiting. Some offer personal interviews, some do not. Some give large group tours at specific times during the day with general “information sessions before or after the tour.
Some give tours as often as needed. Check the college’s website to be sure of its procedures. You can always call the admissions office and ask. It is a good idea to call at least 2-3 weeks in advance to be sure of the college’s procedures and to register if there is a limit on the number of visitors the college can handle on a given day. It is not a good idea to just “show up.” You might be disappointed.
Most of the time, the college will set up the structure of the visit. There will be a tour.
Tour guides are usually students who work for or volunteer in the admissions office. It sometimes happens that a tour guide just doesn’t “click” with you. You should not use your response to the tour guide as a reliable indicator of the nature of the school or whether you will be happy there.
There may be a public information session or an individual meeting with an admissions representative. If so, sit in on it. It will help you understand how the college thinks of itself and you will also have the opportunity to ask general questions about the college.
If you have the opportunity to meet individually with someone from the admissions office, take it. Parents, remember that although the college will be solicitous of your questions, the visit is about the student and the college, so don’t be surprised if the admissions officer wants to talk with your student alone and then invites you in for questions. Make sure that you have questions prepared to ask of the faculty whom you have arranged to meet.
If you have the opportunity to visit a class, take it. Often, the college will require that you set this up in advance of your visit. You will have a better idea of how things work at that college if you do that. Never miss an opportunity to meet faculty or coaches if it can be arranged. It is important to remember, however, that these people will almost always be encouraging, so don’t come away from a meeting with a faculty member sure you will be admitted because she said she thought you would fit in well.
If you have the opportunity to eat on campus, do so. Remember, food is an important part of your four years at the college. Check out who is in the dining room or snack bar. What do people look like? How do they act? Are they all the same or is diversity apparent? Sit with some students and ask questions. You’ll get a sense of what it is like to be a student there.
Stay overnight in a dormitory if the college allows it. This is especially important for ED students. You will have the opportunity to see what it really is like to be a student there. Normally colleges want at least two weeks advance notice for an overnight visit, sometimes more. Check with the admissions office to get their requirements.
If you have the opportunity to read the campus newspaper, do so. It will tell you a lot about what is and what isn’t happening on campus. In the same vain, check out the bulletin boards. What’s going on?
Visit the bookstore. What is for sale--just textbooks and cool college stuff? What about food to take back to the room? What about computer supplies and general reading or books about the things you study in the required reading?
Don’t trust your memory. Whenever you visit a campus, jot down your impressions. It is a simple fact that if you are visiting several colleges over several days, someone (you or your parents) will get something mixed up.
Interviews may be the most misunderstood part of the admissions process. Many colleges, especially large colleges and universities, do not offer personal interviews. Some offer interviews by alums only. Some recommend interviews and some require interviews.
The best rule of thumb is to check the admissions web site or application checklist to see what the college’s procedures are. If an interview is available, seize the opportunity!
The days when interviews were used to separate those students who would be admitted from those who would not be admitted are long gone. The real purpose of the interview is threefold:
· Interviews give admissions officers a chance to give you information.
· Interviews give admissions officers a chance to get to know you as a real, live person, not just on the basis of the papers which make up your application.
· Interviews give you a chance to ask questions.
Interviews also show that you care enough about the college and the process you are going through to extend yourself. As more and more colleges are factoring in “demonstration of interest,” interviews become a good way to demonstrate that interest.
Interviews usually are not comprised of scintillating conversation where you are expected to demonstrate your superiority as a student and leader whom the school cannot live without. They tend to be relatively matter-of-fact in tone and helpful to both you and the admissions officer who will make notes about your questions, interests, and general attitude. So, while you shouldn’t go into an interview unprepared, you also shouldn’t think of an interview as a test you need to pass.
Some basics:
· Be on time. If you are going to be late, call the office and tell them. Show that you
are considerate and courteous enough to make the effort.
· Dress naturally. Jackets and ties for males and dresses and heels for females are probably overkill and will be viewed that way. Be neat, clean, and tucked in. Tie your shoes or sneakers. This isn’t a time to be cool and it isn’t a time to show off.
Parents: “Business casual” is perfect. You can be sure that the tour guides will be dressed comfortably, even in shorts in very hot weather.
· Practice your listening skills before you open your mouth. And, answer the question.
If you don’t know the answer to a question, saying so, can often keep you from getting into trouble.
· If you are a bit of a smart aleck, curb it. Humor can backfire if the other person doesn’t get it.
· If you are shy, try not to answer a question with a one-word answer. The interview is a conversation. You need to do your share of the talking.
· Don’t forget eye contact.
· Don’t chew gum.
· Remember this is a semi-formal situation. “Like, you know, dude…” isn’t appropriate but neither is a display of your complete vocabulary.
· Don’t try to “oversell” yourself. Admissions officers see too much of that and are rarely impressed. The purpose of the meeting is information, not sales.
· Parents, please remember it’s your student’s interview, not yours. Stay in the background. What does “prepare for the interview” mean? Simply, it means that you should have enough knowledge about the college to ask a few questions which aren’t obvious from the school’s literature or website. You might ask:
· What are the most popular majors on campus? Which ones would you consider the strongest?
· Where do most of the students come from?
· What type of student doesn’t do well here?
· What colleges does your school overlap in applications?
Tip: The answer to this question tells you what the college’s real competition is. (It probably is not an appropriate question at an Ivy League school.)
· Would you describe the campus as conservative or liberal?
· What about diversity? Would a ________ student (fill in the blank with ethnicity, religion, or
another category) feel comfortable here?
· I have a special need. How can the college meet it?
· I’m interested in pursuing ___________ (medical school, vet school, etc.).
How many students here do that? Where do they go to graduate school? Is there a special advising program for my interest?
· What is the average size of a freshman (English, psychology, biology) class? Do fulltime faculty teach all of the classes? If there are break out sections of large lecture sections, who teaches them? Who reads the tests and the papers?
· What’s the biggest problem for freshmen in adjusting to this campus?
· What percentage of students stays on campus for the weekend? If the answer is less than 80%, ask why. What do students do for entertainment during the week and on weekends?
Tip: This is an important question. You really can’t trust your neighbor or friend’s opinion, especially if they leave campus often. Get the facts before you make up your mind, not just someone’s opinion.
· When and where do students study?
· When and where do students party and hang out?
· What’s the school’s policy on alcohol and drug use? (You can be sure they’re against it, but what you
want to know what the reality is on campus.)
· Tell me about Greek life on campus. When is rush and how is it conducted?
· Tell me about housing and whether students really can get any work done in their rooms.
There are dozens of other good questions based on your interests, needs, and desires. Don’t worry about seeming naïve or foolish – this is an important decision and colleges tend to respect people who ask thoughtful questions about whether this is the right place for them.
Questions you should be ready to answer:
· What are you looking for in a college?
· Why did you pick this college? Why are you considering this college?
Tip: “It’s a good school” is a lame answer. “You are well known for your international focus in
the curriculum” is not.
· What do you hope to gain from college?
· What other colleges are you visiting? What other colleges are you considering?
· Do you have a first-choice college? (“Not yet” is an acceptable answer.)
· Do you know what you want to study? (“Undecided” is an acceptable answer. A major that the college
does not offer is not an acceptable answer.)
· What courses do you like best?
· What courses do you like least?
· What is your favorite thing to do outside of school?
· What are you reading?
· What is your favorite book? movie? band? music? why?
· What have you done that you are proudest of?
· If I asked your friends about you, what would they tell me?
· If I asked your teachers about you, what would they tell me?
· What was the biggest decision you ever made?
· If you could take a year off and do anything you wanted, what would you do?
· What kind of person do you want to be?
· Who are your heroes? Why them?
· If you could change one thing in your school, what would it be?
· If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
· How do you expect to change as the result of going to college?
· Tell me about your interests outside of your academic work. Which is the most important?
the most meaningful? the most satisfying?
· Describe the perfect weekend.
· If you had the power to change something about our society, what would it be?
· What else should I know about you? (Silence should not be your answer. Think, in advance, of one or two
adjectives which describe you and be prepared to give an example.)
Finally, don’t read anything into the length of the interview. Sometimes 15 minutes is the right length, sometimes an hour is the right length. Be respectful of the interviewer’s time; he or she might only have a half-hour with each student.