Navigating College Visits and Tours

Webinar Transcription

2024-10-24 – Navigating College Visits and Tours

Lonnie: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the CollegeAdvisors Webinar, “Navigating College Visits and Tours.” To orient everyone with the webinar timing, we’re first going to begin with our presentation, and then we’ll have the opportunity to answer your questions in a live Q& A. Before we jump into our material, let’s first meet our presenter.

Lydia: Hello, everyone. My name is Lydia Hollon. Nice to see you all. I’m an alum of New York University and I’ve been working with CollegeAdvisor for about three years now. I’m also the co-captain of the essay review team and outside of this, I’m an education consultant and a former high school teacher. So I’m happy to talk to you about all of this.

Lonnie: Okay, so with that, I’m All right. So with that, Lydia, I’ll turn it over to you to jump us into what is a good time for students to begin researching schools.

Lydia: Hey, great. Yeah. So, um, I would say that junior year is a great time to start really researching schools and that’s because It gives you enough time to really kind of dibble and dabble in all the different options that you have and it’s late enough in the game where you can feel like you’ve really got an opportunity to explore your potential majors and things like that that might interest you.

Because for most people, the major that you’re interested in pursuing, um, Really plays a factor in the schools that might be a good fit and also by junior year You might have an idea of preferences when it comes to do you want to be in a big city? Or do you want to live somewhere rural and all those different kinds of things?

and also If you start in your junior year It gives you that opportunity between junior and senior year where you can make the most of the summertime or winter break and Plan all those visits over times when maybe your family is already traveling somewhere or you just have X. But I would definitely say it never hurts to start early.

So even though junior year might be a time when you do more serious and in depth research because you have a more clarity about what it is that you want and what you want to study, it never hurts to start a little bit sooner and kind of explore what the options are out there. So start maybe your sophomore year, even freshman year, and kind of get just an idea of what are the different kinds of options that you have when it comes to schools that you can choose, right?

So there are liberal arts colleges, there are colleges that are more research based, there are colleges that are in larger cities, there are colleges that are more rural. And just kind of get an idea of what your general preferences are, even if you don’t necessarily know what you want to study. Um, that’ll give you a little bit more of a frame of reference for when you get to your junior year or even senior year to already have an idea of, Even just the kind of location that you want to be in or the size of the school that you have a preference for And college fairs and info sessions are also a great way for you to research schools and figure out what a good fit is for you um a lot of the time your school may have people come and speak At your school and talk about their college and all of the amazing opportunities that they have there so Definitely take advantage of that if that’s something that’s an opportunity for you.

Um, even if it isn’t, it never hurts to take advantage of virtual college fairs that are available, where you can learn about schools, or even just checking out different websites. Um, For different colleges to learn more about them. So attending those info sessions earlier freshman year, sophomore year, especially if you already have a college in mind, that’s your dream school can be really helpful.

Um, and I would say if you think that there’s any. Any possibility that you might want to go to a school that’s particularly selective, it definitely can be helpful to start researching sooner rather than later so that you know exactly what that school is looking for. So for example, I’ve had students that they knew before they even started high school, or they knew their freshman year of high school that they wanted to go to Columbia, or they wanted to go to Yale.

Those kinds of schools, they require a pretty intricate plan throughout all of high school. school so that you know that you’re going to be competitive for that school. So the more research that you do on the school, the more acquainted that you get with what those schools are looking for, the more competitive your application can be, which is always going to be helpful.

So when should I start my college search process or where should I start it rather? So I think the best way to start is with yourself. So like I was talking about earlier, The when you start your college process, it’s best to start your junior year because that’s when you kind of have a bit more clarity on what it is that you want to pursue and what your preferences are.

The same mindset is there when it comes to where you should start your college process or what you should be thinking about. So, start with yourself. Think about what you want from your college experience. Um, and sometimes, even if you don’t know what your preferences are for your college experience, high school can be a good frame of reference.

So, for example, some people have found that, you know, maybe they go to a really big high school and they want to continue going to a high school that’s really big. Or they go to a college, or they go to high school, rather. That has a really big sports team where everybody goes to the games on friday nights And they want to continue to do that That can be a good frame of reference to figure out if something might be a good fit for you or not And you can also think about whether or not Um, if you like having a big high school that you attend, maybe you want to go to a college that is actually Bigger or smaller.

I know that i’ve had some students that they realize that they actually like You Going to a school that’s a bit smaller. They like the high school feel and they want to continue that into college. So they find themselves leaning more towards small liberal arts colleges so that they can have that close knit feel where they know everyone on campus.

Also, reflecting on what majors may interest you. to your academic programs. Like I said, most of the time your major is going to at least play some level of a role in determining what colleges you might consider. It probably isn’t going to be the main thing, especially because the majority of students change their major at some point, but it should probably play some level of a role.

So having some clarity on at least a general area of what kind of thing you want to study. Well, definitely help you think about what colleges might be good for your list. Um, also social atmosphere. So do you want to go somewhere that is really big on sports? Do you want to go somewhere that’s big on Greek life?

Um, do you want to go to, for example, a historically black college or university? Those are all things that you want to consider as well. And then there are also online tools. So once you have an idea of what your preferences are and what’s important to you on a personal level, you can use online resources like College Board, Nadiant, and Big Future.

These are all websites that can help you get an idea of what the options are for you. and get an idea of where they’re based, the majors that they offer, financial aid, and all those things. Another good website is also Niche. Um, and then going to the school websites themselves. Um, once you have a general idea of maybe a list of, I don’t know, 30 schools that you think might possibly be schools that you want to consider, um, going to the The website and looking on each of them and just getting an idea of their campus culture, the programs that they have, application requirements, how selective they are, and all those things can be really valuable so that you can get an idea of what’s a good fit.

And especially if you’re starting that college process. Maybe your sophomore year or earlier junior year. At that point, you start to kind of have an idea of where you stand as a student, right? You probably have an idea of what your trajectory is or what your graduating GPA is roughly going to be. So let’s say that you have a 3.

5 GPA and it’s your junior year and you don’t have much reason to accept it. If you don’t expect that it’s going to go up by much or go down by much, it helps because you kind of have an idea of what colleges are going to be a good fit, and you can make sure when you look on the school websites, that your stats line up to some extent with the colleges that you’re interested in.

And then once you’ve looked on the school websites and you’ve kind of gotten an idea of which schools kind of fit your vibe and you might be a good fit for when you look at their stats and all those different kinds of things. Definitely, if a school is really speaking to you, reach out. You can, there are ways that you can contact alumni.

LinkedIn is a great way to do that. Um, talk to current students if you see them on LinkedIn or maybe social media. If it’s a school that’s local, you might have a friend whose older sibling goes there that you can ask or reaching out to the college admissions office to ask questions that you may have or arrange a tour and things like that can be very helpful.

So what factors should I consider when crafting a college list? So I talked about this a little bit when I was touching on the importance of looking at lots of different things like school website, um, online resources, and things like that. Um, but you want to first consider academic fit, and I would say that that’s, um, One of the priorities, partially because academic fit is going to be the major factor when determining whether or not you’re gonna be able to actually get into that school, right?

So if you’re looking at a school like Harvard or Yale where the 75th percentile of students that get accepted already have a 4.0 or higher, or the 75th percentile of students that get accepted there already have a perfect SAT and 90% of students that apply there. Um. That have a perfect SAT still don’t get in.

Well, if you have a 3. 2 and maybe a 1200 on the SAT, you may still want to apply there, but that probably shouldn’t be the kind of school that is exclusively on your list, right? You want to make sure that you have a college list that is balanced and reflects where you’re at as a student. That includes academics, the preferences that you have, the extracurriculars and what it is that you want to study.

So. Looking at the majors and programs, making sure that this college actually offers the majors that you’re interested in. You’d be surprised how many students I’ve seen that have this school in mind that they really want to go to because it’s ranked highly or, you know, it’s in a location that they really like.

But then when they decide to actually apply there and they go on the Common App, they realize that school doesn’t actually offer the The major that they’re interested in. And so they have to decide, are they willing to kind of tweak what it is that they want to study, or do they just not apply there at all?

So definitely make sure you do your research, confirm that all your schools actually have the major that you’re interested in. And if the school has specific requirements to be eligible for that major, make sure that while in high school, you took all of the classes that you needed in order to be eligible for the major.

Um, also class size. So some students don’t mind being in big lecture halls or don’t mind being at schools that just are big and have lots of students in a large population. Other students really prefer having that close knit seminar style where maybe they’re in a class of only 10 people. Um, so definitely look at what the average class size is.

Um, definitely for larger schools, it’s more likely that you may not get an opportunity to have that space. Small seminar seminar type style class until you get to the higher level courses. So if it’s important to you for you to be. You’re going to get that kind of one on one attention. It may be important for you to make sure that your college has that opportunity.

And then also faculty, especially in your area of interest, um, seeing if there are any experts that are really well regarded. Maybe there’s a professor that has gone on CNN or something like that and they’re a commentator and you’re interested in what they have to say or they’ve published a book that you’ve read or something like that.

You All those kinds of things can just show that there may be opportunities for mentorship or research that are aligned with the things that you’re interested in, and that always can be a nice opportunity for you. Next is location. So definitely I think the most important thing is determining whether or not you want to stay close to home.

This can be a big thing to consider for a number of reasons. One, transitioning to college is For many people, one of the biggest shifts that they go through in their life because it’s the time when they’re leaving their family and they’re starting a life of their own as an adult. And for some students, they’re completely fine and actually excites them to go somewhere completely new and create this new identity and this new life completely separate from their family.

Or the friends that they have back home, but for some people, it helps to kind of have the training wheels of being close to home and being able to go back home for the weekends and things like that. And also from a financial perspective, it can be advantageous if your college is really close to home, if you can commute back and forth and not have to pay for a dorm or an apartment and things like that.

So definitely considering geographical areas in terms of how close it is to your home. Urban versus rural. Um, they can both be fun. I think sometimes students assume that if you go to a school in an urban area, that it’s going to be inherently more fun or more to do than a school in a rural area. It really just depends on what your preferences are when it comes to defining fun.

Right? If you go to a school that’s in an urban area, there are probably going to be more things to do even when you walk away. the campus versus in a more rural or college town, it’s more likely that there might be a lot of things to do, but it’s all going to be centralized on campus. If you try and leave and go to a new restaurant or expect to go to some new hip art museum, there might not be opportunities like that.

So if you really want to be integrated into the city and have lots of things to explore even off campus, then going to someplace that is more urban or even suburban might be a better option for you. And then lastly, weather, which I wouldn’t say is necessarily the most important thing, but for some people it is.

Um, Figuring out if the climate suits your preference. I would say that usually it’s not that important, but I do know some students that maybe they’re from Hawaii or Florida. It can actually be a really big deal if you move to a place like Minnesota or Chicago where the winters are absolutely unbearable.

That can be a really big transition. I know for me, even when I went to NYU, I was originally from the South and I was actually shocked with how much earlier the sun set in New York. Compared to back home, even though I was in the same time zone. So even little things like that are things to just think about when you’re making your decision.

And then lastly, campus life. So do you want to go to a school that’s big, maybe has a lot more activities going on, but maybe feels overwhelming and it might feel harder to find a real sense of community or a smaller college that maybe has a smaller campus. closer knit community, but also can in some ways have that high school feel, which can be a good thing or a bad thing.

You know, news travels fast when it’s a small, small campus, um, extracurriculars. So are there clubs, sports and activities that might interest you? I know. Something that a lot of students might think about is if they’re a legacy for a sorority or fraternity or something like that They may want to research if that school actually has it Or if you really want to be able to continue playing a sport that you’ve done all throughout high school Making sure that there’s an opportunity for you to be able to do that.

And then lastly housing and dining So Do the dorms and the dining options align with your preferences, um, especially because there are a number of colleges that might require that you stay in dorms all four years, making sure that that’s something that you feel comfortable with. Do you want to stay on campus all four years?

And if you do, do you like the living arrangements that you would have to live with? So just considering all those things definitely will play a role in your satisfaction on the college campus. Um, and then just to continue that, financial fit, it’s very critical, I think, besides academic fit, this is probably the most important one, making sure you can afford it.

Does the tuition align with what you can afford, and if your parents are willing to contribute, what your parents can afford? Um, and then financial aid, so how generous is the school? So some schools might say that they meet 100 percent of demonstrated need, so that might be something that is really important.

However, keep in mind that just because a school says that they meet 100 percent of demonstrated need, that does not necessarily mean that you will not have to take out loans. It just means that a combination of your financial aid package between loans and grants and anything else that you receive will be able to cover the cost of tuition.

So do not think that that means that you’re not going to graduate with any student debt because they meet 100 percent of demonstrated need. Um, So that’s something to consider. Also scholarships. So is this the school that offers full rides to students? Is this a school that actually gives a lot of scholarships to students?

And you may actually be able to go there without having to take out a significant amount of loans. Those are all things that you definitely want to consider because student loans are no joke. You really want to make sure that you’re considering affordability and having open and honest conversations as well with your parents about.

What you can expect them to contribute, if anything, and also thinking about what you may be able to earn after college, and if you’re going to be able to afford to pay whatever those student loan costs or payments might be once you graduate. And then culture. So for some students, diversity might be a really big thing.

You want to feel like you have a community of students that look like you or that resonate with you in some way, whether that’s race, ethnicity, sexual orientation. So that’s definitely something worth looking up. When you’re researching schools, if you want to feel comfortable, or even if you’re not a part of a minority group, for students, it can still be an important thing that you’re looking for just because you want to be exposed to different mindsets, different backgrounds, and different kinds of people.

Maybe you come from an environment where it’s not a lot of diversity. And so this Might be your first opportunity to expose yourself to people who are different from you Um, and then community this is especially important if maybe religion is something that’s important to you So looking for colleges that maybe have the same religious affiliation or maybe you’re passionate about social justice and you might want to go to a school that really values that like UC Berkeley that’s really known for social justice and activism and protesting.

So going to a school like just making sure that the campus culture is something that aligns with who you are so that when you get there you don’t feel like your identity is constantly at war with the environment that you’re in. And lastly, outcomes. And I think this is closely tied to the financial fit piece.

You want to make sure that whatever it is that you’re paying for is going to give you the return that you want. So if you’re paying, let’s say, 60, 000 a year, you’re Making sure that most of the students that go there are graduating within four years. Looking and seeing what the career services are. Um, is there a lot of support to make sure that students are graduating with a solid job?

Um, and post graduation success. So what are the kinds of career paths that students get? Are they going to graduate school? Making sure that the, the careers that they pursue after graduation actually are in alignment with the things that they chose to study.

Lonnie: Okay, thank you, Lydia. We’re gonna take a short break or pause. That is because we would like to get a sense of where are you in the college application process. So we would love for you to take a second to answer it. Lydia, can I ask you a question while our audience? Yes, of course. In the poll, um, so just, you just shared, you know, different like factors when it comes to like choosing colleges, like, is there anything you felt like you would have done differently?

Um, if you went back to, you know, your time of considering your college options?

Lydia: So, um, one thing. I guess I’ll start with something that I did do. So I say I toured, I think the majority of schools that I decided to go to. I mean, when I was applying to college, um, I think it was more normal to apply to less than 10 schools.

I might apply to eight schools. So it’s a little bit easier for me to knock them all out. So I’m glad that I got to do that, but I think I decided to go to NYU and something that I wish I would have done, even though I did tour the campus is probably talk more to the actual students. Because even though I wouldn’t have, I wouldn’t choose to go anywhere else in hindsight, I definitely did have a difficult time, you know, coming from the south and not having any family in New York.

It was difficult for me because NYU doesn’t have a real campus. It’s a really big school. And as someone who’s more of an introvert, I did have a bit of a difficult time really feeling like, Finding my community and feeling like I had friends and things like that. So it was a difficult transition. So I think if I had taken the time to really speak to people who were currently attending NYU, who could kind of give me the scoop on what the social life is like, and just some pro tips on how to acclimate to the environment, I think my freshman year would have been a lot smoother.

Lonnie: Nice. Thank you so much for sharing that with our audience. And so I know someone picked up a good little point of like, let me make sure I talk to students. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be shy. Um, 10 times a student is so So excited to talk to a perspective student like yourself. So ask those questions so that you can really get a true sense of, is this a really good fit for you?

Um, so with that, taking it back to the poll, um, we have 44 percent of our audience. They haven’t started. Their college application process. 38 percent are currently in that research schools and probably thinking about which schools are going to start to do some college visits for. And then we have about 6 percent split between getting application material together and almost done.

So with that, I’ll turn it back over to you. Okay.

Lydia: So should you visit schools before or after you get into them? How important is the college visit? So I would say there are pros and cons to both. So if you go before you apply, it definitely gives you the opportunity to get a feel for the campus, make sure that it’s the right fit, the right vibe, um, that it aligns with what you kind of envision your college experience being like.

Um, sometimes you don’t really know if a school school is gonna feel like home for you until you actually just walk onto the campus and experience it. So apply, not applying, but touring the school before you apply can just kind of confirm that, okay, I’m throwing my hat in the ring and I actually feel confident that if I get into this school and this is the school that I end up picking, that I’m actually going to be happy here and the additional bonus is demonstrated interest.

So there are a lot of schools that might track demonstrated interest. And one way that you can demonstrate that is by visiting, um, the school doing tours or attending webinars and things like that. Um, and so that’s a way to show that you’re serious, granted. For most schools, taking the time to go to a tour is not going to be the end all be all or the final determinant in terms of deciding whether or not you’re going to get into that school or not, but it is an extra little bump.

It can give schools a little bit more reassurance that you’re more likely to decide to actually go to their campus. But if for some reason you’re not able to tour that school, maybe you’re interested in going to Stanford but you live in Virginia or something like that where it’s just a little bit difficult, don’t worry.

There are plenty of ways for you to still be able to learn about the school before you apply. And like I said, there are some schools that, even if you can’t necessarily do an in person tour, They have online virtual events that they also may track attendance for as well. So that’s another option for you to be able to show demonstrated interest.

And also, like I mentioned a little bit earlier, there are a lot of schools that might send representatives from their college to come speak to schools and kind of talk about their college. So that can also be a way to show demonstrated interest, even if it’s not necessarily a tour, um, by just going to whatever.

Now, the pro of doing after acceptance is one, um, especially if you’re someone who is applying to a lot of colleges that are out of state and might be expensive to go tour because you have to get a plane ticket or possibly a hotel going after you’re accepted saves you a bit of money, right? Because you’re probably limiting the amount of schools that you have to going to go see and confirm that they’re the right fit.

And usually after acceptance, you probably have a bit of a narrower idea of which schools are in your final list, right? Because maybe it’s, even though you applied to say 12 schools, now that you know that you got into eight of them, you’re kind of looking at what, what were the original top three? And if you didn’t And if you didn’t go toward those schools, now you know for sure that it’s worth it to go toward them because you got in.

Um, so it can really be helpful in that sense of just, you know, saving you money and not that you don’t even end up getting accepted to. Um, it also can be really helpful just in terms of getting a final decision. Um, I know when I was applying to colleges in high school, um, even after I got accepted, there were some schools that I went back to that weren’t too far from where I lived.

Um, Even though I toured them before, just because I wanted that final confirmation that this was the right school for me to go to, um, So sometimes you just have to go and it’s a helpful way for you to compare campuses because once you get accepted, it’s a shorter timeframe. So you might be going to multiple schools back to back to back.

Um, so it just makes it easier for you to feel really confident about your, just your decision. If you go see that school one last time, right before you choose to accept. And just in general, the importance of the visit is, like I said, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t tour, it’s not like it’s gonna significantly hurt your ability to get into that school, but it’s another piece of information for you in terms of making your decision, and sometimes just being physically on campus can make a huge difference.

And being completely honest, when we think about it, you know, if you go onto a college’s website, The pictures that they had of a campus, nine times out of ten, they’re going to look beautiful. It’s going to look like everyone there is having the time of their life. It’s going to look like the best place in the world.

They’re going to take it on the sunniest day possible and all of that. So sometimes it can be good to just go like on a random Tuesday and just get a feel for it and that might be a more realistic depiction of what it’s actually like to go to that college. So what do you usually learn during a school visit?

So I mean one of the main things is just it’s. Just something that you can’t really measure or quantify necessarily, but also campus culture. So, if you imagine the things that kind of get covered while you’re on a school tour, and you have a tour guide talking about it, they definitely talk about the traditions and the culture of the school, what are the things that they’d like to do or celebrate around campus, what’s student life like, what are the events that usually happen.

Um, and then, How do students normally interact with each other? What are the major organizations that are on campus that might put together, you know, events that everyone likes to attend? Is sports a big part of the college campus? If it is, you’re definitely going to hear about it. Academics, you’ll definitely get to probably see a classroom at some point where they talk about the classroom experience.

Um, What the average class size is, what the buildings and classrooms look like, how you can expect to get that one on one experience with a professor or a TA, um, what, who the faculty are, and how accessible they are, the office hours, things like that, and campus facilities. So, Pretty much every time you’re going to be able to see a dorm where you get to see, you know, What it looks like.

Are you gonna have a shared bathroom? Is it comfortable? Is it cinder block? Or is it, you know, something that feels a little bit more homey? Is it clean? Is it safe? Is it comfortable for you? The dining halls? I always recommend if you’re going to go to do a tour in person, have lunch there. Because if you’re gonna live on campus there for the next four years, that’s the main food that you’re going to be eating.

So, make sure that it’s something that you can see yourself eating for the next four years. And especially if you have food restrictions, like you eat kosher, or halal, or you’re vegan or vegetarian, confirming that they have options that align with your dietary preferences is definitely really important.

And libraries and study spaces. So I know especially for some students, you know, if they don’t like to study in their dorm, it’d be really important that the school has a really nice library or a really nice study space that makes them feel comfortable and that they could get really locked into whatever it is that they need to do for their classes.

So definitely check those out and see where students like to spend their time and make sure that that’s a place that you feel like you could see yourself going and studying. And lastly, this is a big one too, especially when we’re talking about campuses like NYU, for example, that are very much integrated into the city, asking about the safety of the campus.

How do they keep their students safe? How do they make sure that, you know, whatever they’re Violence or crime that may be happening just in the general vicinity of the city itself is, you know, somewhat checked, um, on campus and then also on off campus, like looking at the surrounding area, is it easy to get off campus?

Is it easy for someone outside of campus to get onto campus? Are there nearby restaurants or stores or entertainment that you would want to explore that could? To your college experience beyond just the campus experiences. How can I find out if a school offers virtual visits? So this is really important, especially if maybe you live in a more remote area, or you just know for a fact, I don’t want to go to many schools that are in my general area, and I don’t really have the opportunity to go drive or fly multiple hours to go see them.

College websites are the first place to look. If a college has virtual visits or, you know, online webinars about their programs, they’re going to have that listed on their website, especially if you go check the admissions page. So look for links. To those tours or info sessions or Q& A panels, and that’ll be a great way for you to learn more about the school.

Um, also, if for some reason you can’t find that information online, um, emailing or calling the admissions office is another great way to find out. To that demonstrated interest piece. Um, you know, reaching out to an admissions officer to learn more about how you can learn more about the school. It’s also a great way to just show that initiative and show that you really care.

Um, and then third party platform. So if for some reason there aren’t tours or there aren’t ways for you to learn more about the college, um, By going on the actual school website, there are places like uVisit or CampusReel where students that actually go to the college can record videos of themselves at that school and really give you a hands on experience of what it’s like in their day to life as a student.

And so that can be a really great way for you to learn more about the college in a way that’s maybe a little bit more unfiltered and candid than what you would see on a college website where, you know, obviously they’re trying to get you to be interested in going to their college. So they’re not necessarily going to show you All the behind the scenes stuff that an actual student would share.

Um, and even though this isn’t a virtual visit or a video necessarily, I always tell students that Reddit can also be a great place to check, just because if you go to a Reddit for a specific college, you are definitely going to get the raw, unfiltered, uncut version of students experiences. And so if you have any concerns or you’re wondering, Oh, maybe it’ll be, you know, A little maybe the classes are really hard or maybe it’s hard to make friends going on reddit You’ll be able to see if people are having that issue because they will definitely talk about it on there So how can I use visits to help me finalize my college list?

I think the first is what i’ve been talking about this whole time, which is trust your instincts Um Your gut will tell you if a place feels like it is a safe place or a good fit or if it’s not. So after your visit or even during the visit, sometimes it’s immediate, think about how did you feel? Like did it feel like a place you could see yourself living or did you feel a little bit uncomfortable the whole time?

When you looked around at the people on campus, did you see people that maybe you could see yourself being friends with? Did you see people doing activities that you’d be interested in? You Those are all the kinds of things that you want to be thinking about when you’re envisioning what your college life will be like and whether or not a school is the right fit for you.

Also, compare vibes. So, yes, trust your instincts, but how did one school make you feel versus another? Also, even if both schools make you feel good, sometimes they make you feel good in different ways, right? Different colleges can bring out different aspects of who you are as a person, just based on their personality.

So, for example, a school like NYU has It’s positives, and it’s really great, and it’s in New York City, and Columbia is also really great, and unique, and in New York City, but they definitely have different cultures, and different personalities, and while a student might like both of those college campuses, you might need to think about, well, which one do I feel like might make me feel better, or turn me into the kind of person that I want to be?

What kind of vibe is it bringing out of me, or personality is it bringing out of me, and do I like that about myself? Interact with the students. Um, like I said, that’s something that I wish I would have done a little bit more of when I was touring. I definitely just kind of focused on the stats or the information and class sizes and things like that, which is definitely important.

But sometimes. Like I said, you just need that candid perspective of what is it like to go to this campus. And talking to students about their experiences can definitely be a great way. And while it’s great to talk to the tour guide, um, they’ll definitely be willing to tell you about it. Just sometimes walking up to a random student that seems willing to talk can be helpful just because a tour guide is Probably going to try and tell you, you know, the best things versus a student that is not working for the admissions office or anything like that.

It’s probably going to be a little bit more transparent. So don’t be afraid to just walk up to a student that you see in the dining hall and just ask them a few questions. You’ll be surprised how willing they are to talk to you about it. And then also take notes. It doesn’t have to be a ton, but even just like writing down stuff.

unique things that you noticed on your tour that really stood out to you, um, that you may easily forget that you probably wouldn’t be able to find on the college campus itself. Those are some things that can be helpful with making your final decision, because it’s so easy to just kind of forget and you only remember It’s the randomest of things.

So writing down the stuff that really stands out to you that isn’t Google able, um, can really be important. And that might be just journaling what, describing the exact feeling that you had when you walked onto that campus so that you can compare. So should I connect with admissions officers on my visit?

Yes, you definitely should. Um, we talked about demonstrated interest earlier and when you take the time to connect with your admissions officers on the visit Um, it gives you an opportunity to make that personal connection You know at the end of the day when you’re applying to colleges and these admissions officers are making decisions about who’s getting accepted and who isn’t It goes down to who Are they willing to advocate for who are they rooting for and willing to say this person deserves to be here.

This person is going to bring something of value to our college campus. So the more that you can show yourself, the more connections that you can make with that admissions office. The easier it’ll be for them to advocate for your, for why you deserve to go to that college. Also, asking questions and showing your interest, you know, if you’ve done your research and you ask about specific things that you saw online, that can be a great way to stand out and show that you’ve really taken the time to think about the college.

Um, and if possible, if you’re able to schedule an interview or a meeting, that can be an even better way. better way because rather than just, you know, pulling aside a random admissions officer and asking them a question for five minutes, you’re able to really have a full in depth conversation about who you are.

So final advice on how to maximize your college visits. Um, especially if you’re planning on speaking with an admissions officer, that’s just a great way for you to ask questions that really help you to stand out. And it also helps you know what to look for when you’re on your tour, because you already have certain things in mind that maybe have piqued your interest or maybe even things that you’re a bit concerned about that you can ask about.

Also, ask smart questions, and this is related to doing your homework, right? If you get the opportunity to talk to an admissions officer, especially if you’re just pulling them aside and you only get to talk to them for a few minutes, make sure you’re not asking them things that you can easily find online like, what is your acceptance rate?

Or what is the GPA of the average student that gets accepted here? And things like that, that are easy to find. usually easily defined online. Um, even though those are great questions in general for you to want to know, if you’re getting the opportunity to actually talk to someone on campus, you want to ask things that you wouldn’t be able to find if you just looked on the school’s website.

So that might be, you know, I’m really interested in XYZ extracurricular, you know, what do you think of this extracurricular on campus? I know you offer it, but do you feel like it’s good? Or, you know. I really am like concerned about being able to make friends because I know that I’m an introvert. Do you feel like there are good opportunities for someone who maybe is a bit shyer to be able to put themselves out there?

Or is the campus kind of big where it’s easy to kind of get lost in the shuffle? Um, third, be observant. So even if you don’t take the time to talk to an admissions officer or pull a student aside and ask them how they feel, pay attention to the students around you. See how they interact with each other.

What kind of activities are they doing? What is their facial expression? I mean, sometimes it might be misleading if you go during finals week. But, um, you know, pay attention to how they seem. Do they seem to be enjoying themselves? Do they seem content and happy on campus? Or do they seem like stressed out?

Do they seem kind of distant from each other? Okay. Good indicators of what it might be like to be there. What does it seem like the average student is experiencing while you’re there? Definitely check out dorms and dining. I think that sometimes students don’t spend enough time looking at that part, but Dorms and the dining halls, that’s the core of what your actual life is going to be like.

That’s where you’re going to lay your head, that’s where you’re going to eat. So don’t downplay that. If the food is not what you like, that’s a really big commitment to be willing to eat that for the next four years. Or if the dorms look like a prison cell, that’s a really big commitment to live in a place that doesn’t feel like home for you for the next four years.

And lastly just use the visit to reflect especially if you’re early in your college selection process Sometimes those first few visits are really just an opportunity for you to figure out what it is that you even like or don’t like Um, so definitely make sure to take note of how you react to the things that you see on campus You may not realize that you don’t like campuses that are really big and sprawling and you have to walk Really far to get from here to there until you actually Go on to the campus and realize, dang, like, I think I need to be on a smaller campus because I’m not about to be walking 20 minutes to get to class.

So just pay attention to those things so that you can figure out, you know, what’s important to you and what college is the best fit.

Lonnie: Alrighty. Believe it or not, um, dorms and the dining hall was. such a big factor for me when it came to me making my decision, I wanted to make sure I lived in like a really nice dorm and I definitely wanted to make sure the food was good.

So I put that at the top of my, my list.

Lydia: It was a big factor for me too. I chose NYU because it did not have communal bathrooms.

Lonnie: Yes. Yes. Yes. That’s awesome. Well, thank you so much, Lydia, for sharing more about college visits and tours. Now we’re going to move into our live questions and answers. So how this is going to work.

I am going to read the questions out loud and then Lydia will have the opportunity to answer them. So you can actually now begin to place your questions in the Q& A tab. We’re going to start with our first question, which reads, I’m a senior now and haven’t visited any schools yet. If so, what and how should I, let me see, if so, what and how should I do if I receive 10 offers from a college, 10 college offers?

Should I visit each one of them or just pick two to three schools to visit before committing to one? Um, please, if anyway, just please provide me any advice on what steps I should take.

Lydia: So, I mean, I think this has, this is more based on what is. reasonable expectation for yourself and for your family and you know, where are those colleges?

So, you know, if you have a bunch of schools that are within two hours of you and those are all the schools that you got accepted to, then hey, you know, why, why not? You might as well visit all those schools because it’s not a huge, you know, Lift. Um, but if these are schools that are spread out all across the country, that’s a lot.

I mean, even if for whatever reason, your family can afford it or has the time that’s that’s a lot of time to be out of school. Presumably, you’ll have to be out of school to do it. Um, and it’s just, it’s It’s a big commitment to just spend that much time traveling. So I think be realistic about what you think you can handle, what you think your family can handle, and then from there, come up with a number.

I don’t necessarily have an issue with just touring, you know, two to three schools, as long as you feel like you have kind of a clear idea of what your top choices are. So if you get accepted into 10 schools, Most likely, you have an idea of at least a few of the schools that it’s like, yeah, like they’re not the top of my list.

Like, I’m pretty sure I’m not gonna choose them, even if I go on campus. And so, if you have any schools like that, where it’s like, yeah, I don’t even think they’re in my top five. Like, I’m pretty sure I can just eliminate them all together. They were really just safeties for me. I don’t see the point in really going to tour school like that.

But if you feel like, you know, my college list, what’s completely even, I love them all the same. Then sure. Take that time to go visit all of them. But I think going to just see three, your top three, that’s perfectly fine.

Lonnie: Okay, thank you. Our next question says when it comes to choosing colleges for touring, how should I go about choosing when I don’t know what I want to major in or what I or what I want in a college?

Lydia: Great question. So, um, I think I would go back to the other factors that we were talking about, um, earlier.

So major is definitely a factor that students are going to consider to some extent. However, um, I think that. It’s so important to remember that most students are going to change their major at some point, so I would usually not advise a student to make their decision for a school based entirely on a major anyway, even if they felt more confident about it, but if you’re not sure about what you want to major in, then I would say, look for colleges that just generally have just strong academics across the board.

They’re not a school that’s like really great in engineering, but not that great in everything else. So that you feel like, you know, even if I do change my mind or even if I do, you know, end up doing something different than what I expected, I’m still going to feel happy here. And I think, you know, when you’re thinking about whether or

Like we talked about the cultural fit. Are you going to be comfortable there? The dorm, the dining halls, the extracurriculars, the size of the campus, you know, how easy it is to meet people and how welcoming it feels. So definitely just start with those things, even if you don’t have an idea of your major and you’ll be able to figure out what the right fit is.

Lonnie: Okay, great. So we’re going to take a short pause for me to share more about the work that we do here within CollegeAdvisor. Um, so for those in the room aren’t already working with us, we know how overwhelming the admission process can be, you know, even thinking about college visits. Where do I go? How many do I go to?

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During this meeting, you’ll receive a preliminary assessment of your academic profile, along with some initial recommendations on what you can do to stand out. At the end, you’ll also learn more about our premium packages, where we offer to you will pair you with an expert who can support you and building your college list, editing essays, and much, much more.

Okay. So with that, I am going to continue with our live questions and answers. So our next question says, do colleges give priority and admissions to students who attend the college tour?

Lydia: So I wouldn’t use the word priority because I think that, Implies that, you know, they’re going to look at all the students that did a tour first before they look at any students that didn’t do a tour, and I wouldn’t say that that is necessarily how it works.

Um, I think that colleges, it’s more so like, it’s, it’s a nice bonus. But I would never say that that is the thing that is going to get someone through who otherwise wouldn’t have been considered for admissions. When we think about all the different factors that go into determining whether or not a student is going to get accepted into a college, I would say that You know, tour tours of a college are pretty much about as low as you can go in terms of importance.

Um, I mean, colleges, yes, they do care about something called the yield rate, which is this, the ratio of students that they accept versus the students that actually decide to go to their college. Um, but more important than that is making sure that the students that they accept fit the profile of what it is that they’re looking for.

And the kind of. Culture that they’re trying to create on their campus. So yes, it’s something that some colleges do take into consideration, and I wouldn’t even say that every single university actually does take it into consideration when accepting students, but it. Is not going to make or break. I would say at most maybe a 5 percent you know, influence on your application.

If that.

Lonnie: Okay. Our next question says, how do we find out about scholarships and a the school? So maybe if I’m on a visit or tour, how do I find that information?

Lydia: Yeah, so I mean, I think the first place to look is on the financial aid page on the website. Usually a college, if they have, you know, specific merit scholarships, you’ll be able to find those listed on the school’s website.

Um, also, if a student. You know, they meet 100 percent of demonstrated need or something like that. You’ll be able to find that information on their website under the financial aid tab. But if you’re in person on campus, definitely go to the financial aid office and ask them those questions. I think being really transparent, if you feel, if you and your family feel comfortable being transparent about your situation, is great, um, because you want to ask those questions, you want to feel like you can get an idea of, you know, how generous is this school?

How much money do they normally give? I know, for example, for me, when I was applying to college, Money, like for me, I don’t think it’s a unique experience, but money was definitely an important factor for me when choosing whether or not I was going to go. And I was kind of in a unique financial situation because my parents were divorced and there were all sorts of things.

So I wasn’t really sure what my financial aid situation was going to look like. And if both my parents are going to be considered or one. And so, Every time I went on the college tour, I went straight to that financial aid office, and I kind of gave them a rundown of my situation, and kind of just a general idea of what it is that I could expect, and how they would normally handle a situation like mine.

And that gave me a really good idea of, you know, Is this a school that I might be able to afford or is it not? Um, and also, you know, if you really do your research and do your digging, there are websites also where you can figure out, you know, what is the average financial aid that a student receives. A lot of the time a college will have that on their website as well.

And that can give you an idea of even if you don’t get a scholarship, what can you expect in terms of grants or, you know, loans and things like that.

Lonnie: Okay, um, how can a student evaluate? diversity during a college visit?

Lydia: Great question. So, I mean, I think the easiest way is looking around and paying attention to, you know, what kind of students do you see and things like that. Um, but I think another thing is Paying attention and seeing, does it seem like the school is invested in it?

So, you know, there might be schools where there are students of color or there is an LGBTQ population or otherwise But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the school has put in effort to try and make those students really feel welcomed and included so Pay attention, like does this school have a multicultural center?

Does it have an LGBTQ plus center and things like that? Those are signs that there aren’t just people who look like me But that this school actually cares about having people who look like me or who identify With me on campus. So I think looking for both of those things is important and also I mean, it’s also think about what kind of experience would you want?

So for example, for me, when I was looking at colleges, paying attention to. You know, does it seem like all the black students are in one corner of the cafeteria and everyone else is in another section of the cafeteria, or do I see students of all races kind of mingling with each other and thinking about what is the kind of experience that you want to have, you know, do you want to feel like The only people who can see you and interact with you are the people who have the same experience or background as you do, or do you want to feel like your school is inclusive enough that you can sit anywhere in the cafeteria and no matter who you’re sitting next to, they’re going to be able to accept you and make you feel welcome.

Lonnie: Nice. That was so insightful. Um, so with that, I think that was our last question for our webinar. So thank you, Lydia. Yeah, I’m. I feel motivated to want to do a college visit. I’m going to Nashville soon. So I definitely got to check out Vanderbilt and take some of that advice that you gave. Yeah, so thank you again and thank you to our audience for your participation and our presentation.

And then, um, with that, I do want to let you all know that we do have upcoming webinars for, um, the month of November. And so we definitely look forward to seeing you. And if you’re interested in the handouts, you can download the handouts by clicking on the handouts tab. You still have time to do so. And then lastly, um, you will receive a recording of this presentation by tomorrow.

So with that, everyone that now concludes our webinar. And again, thank you, Lydia. Have a great night, everyone. Bye. Bye.