Make the Most of Your College Visit

October 1, 2025

Choosing colleges to apply to is exciting! Your research uncovers opportunities, experiences, and a world of possibilities at different schools. Adding college visits to that research can be especially valuable—they help you decide if a college is right for you and show the college that you’re serious about them.

Why Visit?

College visits let you see and feel for yourself what it might be like to live there. You gain information and insights you simply can’t get from brochures or websites. And if you end up applying, visiting shows initiative and signals to the school that you’re genuinely interested in attending—an effort that can tip the scales in your favor, especially if you’ve also interviewed or talked with admissions counselors, coaches, or professors.

Get Your Visit Right!

Campus visits take time, money, and effort. Make them worth your while by following this checklist:

1. Plan Ahead
   • Register: Colleges offer different types of visits including open houses, special visit days, and smaller group or private tours. Each type has advantages and disadvantages. Check the college’s website to see what they offer and register (even if it’s not required—it shows interest). Try to schedule your visit while classes are in session and set up meetings in advance with specific people (professors, coaches, staff) or to see facilities or activities that matter to you.
   • Research: Before you visit, do your homework on the college—review what it offers and prepare a list of specific questions, concerns, or things you want to check out—whether on campus or in the surrounding community.
   • Be ready to Talk About Yourself: Admissions staff, faculty, and other campus representatives are often on hand to welcome visitors. They may ask about your interests and goals so they can connect you to the right people, departments, or opportunities. Being prepared to talk briefly about yourself helps you make a good impression and get better guidance during your visit.
   • Observe Proper Etiquette: Be on time, dress appropriately, and be polite and attentive. It shows respect and that you’re taking the visit seriously.
   • Give Yourself Enough Time: Plan to spend enough time to fully explore the both the college campus and the surrounding community.
2. Take Notes
   • Campus visits tend to blur together, and it’s easy to forget or mix up important details and impressions. Take notes during and immediately after your visit about what stands out—what feels great, acceptable, or unappealing. Take pictures and collect contact information. These observations will be very helpful later when deciding whether to apply.
3. Take (and hack) the Tour
   • A campus visit almost always includes an extensive tour led by a student guide. They cover the basics—dorms, dining halls, the library, the student center, fitness centers, classrooms, theaters, athletic fields, art studios, music halls, bookstores, and tutoring, career, and health centers. Guides can give you lots of information, so ask plenty of questions!
   • Be aware, though, that tour guides often stick to a script and may downplay negatives. For example, if you ask about the quality of food, which can truly be horrible, your guide might highlight all the dining options you have both on and off-campus instead of admitting the food isn’t great. If you ask about drinking and partying, they will likely answer, “Like all campuses, we have our share, but there is plenty to do if you don’t want to party.”
   • To get real insight, try unexpected questions like:
     • Where else did you apply, and why did you choose to come here?
     • What is your greatest disappointment about this school?
     • What surprised you most once you got here?
     • Would you change anything about the school if you could?
     • Do the campus police and students have a good relationship?
     • How often do students go home?
     • What’s the hardest thing about dorm life?
     • Which activities or events do you look forward to most?
     • What happens on campus on the weekends?
   • Tour guides may or may not be great at their job, so don’t decide whether to apply based solely on the tour. And if the tour skips areas of the campus you would like to see, ask if you can explore on your own later.
4. Read Between the Lines
   • Look for subtle clues about campus life. Bulletin boards, school newspapers, and college radio and television can reveal a lot about the student body, campus atmosphere, school culture, and available activities. Pay attention to how students interact with each other and with staff and faculty. Are people friendly? Do they seem happy? What kind of energy does the campus give off?
5. Customize Your Experience
   • When possible, schedule personalized meetings or experiences that matter to you.
   • Academically, this could include meeting with professors or students, or sitting in on a class in a department you are interested in. Ask about the major, available electives, and opportunities to work closely with professors. Pay attention to the facilities—are classrooms well-lit, roomy, and up to date with tech? Are there plenty of comfortable study spaces?
   • Other examples of things you may want to do include observing a team practice or theater rehearsal, sitting in on a band practice, taking a sample music lesson, meeting with a club president, visiting the campus art gallery, etc.
6. Eat the Food
   • College food can range from barely edible to surprisingly good. Most dining hall food will get old over time, but if you can, duck into a dining hall and try a few different options for yourself. Some admissions offices provide complimentary meal tickets but be prepared to pay if not.
   • Check what dining options exist beyond the cafeteria(s) and whether they’re included in your meal plan. Also, find out if nearby restaurants participate in the college’s meal plan or offer student discounts.
7. Skip the Sleepover
   • Overnight stays are rare nowadays and don’t necessarily give an accurate picture of residential life on that campus. Whether the experience is great or terrible, one night won’t reflect what it’s really like to live there. Keep this in mind if you do choose to stay overnight.

Applying to colleges is expensive! A well-planned campus visit gives you more insights and helps you decide which schools are worth both your application time and money and, ultimately, the cost of attendance.