Do This Before & After Any College Visit

Hey guys, it’s Eric at Solution Prep and today we’re talking about what to do before and after any college visit. Visiting colleges is a great way to learn more about the schools you’re interested in and see if you’d actually like to apply there and eventually attend. It’s also a great way to demonstrate your interest if the college tracks that info and if it’s something they use as part of their admissions decisions.

But when you go on an official college visit, you’re going to get the sales pitch. You’re going to see the prettiest, shiniest, newest parts of campus, and you want to see more than that. So before your visit, maybe the night before, maybe in the car ride there, you can look up some quick stats, like: What is their acceptance rate (the percent of students who apply who are accepted)? What is their yield (the percent of students who are accepted who choose to enroll)? What is their retention rate (the percent of freshmen who return as sophomores)? What is their graduation rate for four and six years? What is the cost to go there (tuition, fees, room/board, and indirect expenses all rolled together)?

You also want to learn more about your major, your program, your school within a school. That way when you’re on your visit and they’re showing you that part of the campus and they say, “Does anybody have questions?” you have questions about your major, your program, the opportunities, the co-ops, the internships, whatever it is, because you already have that foundation and you’re not still processing the boilerplate stuff they just told you.

Now, after your visit, you don’t want to just pack it in and go home. In fact, if it’s a big college or a college you care a lot about, you want to plan to spend a whole day there. Walk around campus. See the parts that weren’t included on your visit. Maybe pull on some handles, see if you can go inside some buildings if they’re unlocked. Get the business card for your regional representative. That way you can follow up with a quick email that lets them know you were there and you thought it was great and thanks so much. You can also eat on campus. You can also check out the downtown, see if it’s a place you’d like to live, you know, what’s that kind of city college area of the city look like? And if this was like a general visit or an open house or a major specific tour, can you schedule one of those other things to come back to look at it more?

Some schools will even let you do a major specific tour immediately after your general school tour. And what an opportunity to learn more while you’re already there.

You don’t want to book a plane and stay in a hotel and rent a car and come all the way back with “It was pretty.” They’re all pretty. They have landscapers. So make the most of those visits. Visit a lot of colleges. And if you have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at 732-556-8220. We are here to help.