College Freshman Advice




When you are planning college visits, it is most ideal to schedule a formal visit through the undergraduate admissions office. During the application process, many colleges will track the interest level of students. Documenting your formal admissions campus visit is one of the most important ways to demonstrate your interest.

Typically, the formal admissions visit lasts 1.5 to 2.5 hours and typically includes a tour and information session. It is a valuable way to learn more about the colleges you are interested in. If you want to add to your visit experience, consider going off the beaten path and do some of the following…

Observe Students & Talk To People – Walk around campus and talk to students, faculty, and administrators that don’t work in the admissions office. Observe the students and see if they are engaged and socializing with others.
Eat On-Campus – Eat lunch or grab a coffee on-campus to get the vibe of the students, professors, and administrators.
Campus Newspaper – Grab the campus newspaper and look at the flyers hanging around to learn more about the issues that concern students.
Majors – If you have an academic major in mind, take time to stop by the department office and see if a faculty member, administrator, or student is available to talk with you and answer your questions.
Buildings Off The Tour – Check out the fitness center, library, and residence halls, if not seen on the tour.
Radio Station – Listen to the campus radio station, if available.
Off-Campus – Walk off-campus to see what there is to do and if students hang out off-campus.
Financial Aid – Stop by the financial aid office if you have financial aid and scholarship-related questions.
Athletes – If you want to play a sport competitively at the college level make sure to set up a meeting with a coach or stop by the coach’s office.
Learning Differences – If you have questions about academic support for students with learning differences, stop by the disability resource center.


Watch the video to plan The “Off The Beaten” Path College Visit Experience




Location: Colorado, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AI has arrived to college admissions. What does it mean for students?

Image
  Much like every other sector of life, the rapid development of AI will undoubtedly shape the future of college admissions. What you may not know is that AI is already at play in the admissions review process. So how should students approach essays and applications in light of the growing role of AI? The answers are probably not what you’d expect – AI has already arrived to the admissions review process. In a survey cited by Inside Higher Ed, 50% of college admissions respondents said AI was already in use in their admissions review process. The catch? Those responses were collected in 2023 . In the two years since then the capabilities and accessibility of AI tools have grown exponentially, so it is safe to assume that at this point admissions offices that are not deploying AI in their review process are in the extreme minority. If we can be almost certain that some components of your application will be screened with the use of AI, how does that change the ways students should ...
Read more

When the time comes, how do you choose a college?

Image
 With the May 1st national deposit day in sight, the tables turn for students and families who’ve spent months anxiously awaiting college decisions, and it’s time to decide what’s right for you . While you may be compelled to check the rankings, we have a different approach. Here’s how we encourage you to make your own best decision – #1 Break up with the rankings: There are all kinds of college rankings and ‘best of’ lists out there…and while that may have led you to apply to a certain school, we encourage you to leave all those external validations behind when it comes time to make your college decision. The truth is, no ranking list can tell you if you will be happy, if you will build a great community, meet amazing mentors, or shape the life you want to. Nothing can tell you this with certainty, but decision time is the perfect time to step away from the noise of what everyone else thinks about a college and tap into your own intuition. Here’s how: #2 Ask yourself: how will I m...
Read more

Testing, testing: What to know about the role of the SAT & ACT in 2025 & beyond

Image
 With spring exams upon us, many students & parents wonder – how important is testing really in the college admissions process? While the pendulum swung to a fully test optional landscape just a few years ago, a slow swing back to testing has been underway, especially at the most intensely selective colleges. Here’s what to know to make your own best decisions about testing as you go forward – Where have we been, where are we headed? For those who are keeping track, the landscape at the most selective colleges has swung back in favor of requiring test scores as one component of a complete application. Among the group of 12 colleges known as the “Ivy Plus” Schools which include the eight Ivies plus Stanford, Duke, MIT, and University of Chicago, only four have retained test optional policies as of early 2025. Those are Princeton, Columbia, Duke and University of Chicago. While these schools get much of the attention, the reality is there are over 2100 colleges in the US that co...
Read more