College Visit Tips

Colleges are happy to have you visit, but there are certain courtesies and preparations necessary to make your visit worthwhile. Following are some suggestions. 

Preparing for the visit 

  • The best visits include seeing the campus on school days when classes are in session, visiting classes, talking with students, spending the night in a dorm, talking with faculty members in your area of interest, and talking with admissions officers.  However, due to busy schedules and the demands of Breck, students will often visit in the summer or during school breaks.  Make the most of anytime you are on campus.  These visits need to be arranged several months in advance during the peak seasons of spring and summer.  Websites are the best resources for visiting colleges.
  • If your visit requires short notice, call the admissions office ahead of time and ask if it would be possible to join a tour of the campus and an information session. College Websites often offer the times of tours and sessions, so at least you can show up – admission offices tend to consider your visiting their campus as a sign of interest, but only if they know you were there.
  • Always notify a college well in advance if you are requesting an interview.  Write for an appointment with an admissions officer and call to confirm your visit.  Admissions interviews are often conducted in the summer and fall of the senior year – at some schools these dates are filled up months ahead of time.  Also, many larger schools are getting away from the admissions interview as a formal part of the application process, so don’t be surprised if they simply do not have interviews.
  • Visit the neighborhood of the college and get a sense of life off-campus.

What you want to find out

You want to find about the college in the most comprehensive ways possible.  Here are some ideas about how to learn the ins and outs of each school.

Students: The best ways to find out what students on each campus think about, and spend time doing are often harder to find than what’s on the school’s website.  Look at:

  • Bulletin boards
  • Newspapers
  • Calendars
  • The Student Center
  • Ask students in the dining hall

Analyze their social styles, interests, social customs, backgrounds, and general engagement with the school.                 

Campus facilities: Enter dorms whenever you get a chance. Be suspicious if you are not encouraged to see a dorm. Go to the dining hall and notice how students arrange themselves by groups, or are they all studying alone?  Visit student centers, athletic facilities, and health services and get a sense of the availability of the facilities to all students.  Notice the hours the library and the athletic facilities are open. 

Faculty:

  • Go to the bookstore:  recent faculty publications are almost always sold in the bookstore.  Check out the titles.  Are the celebrated faculty researching things you would be interested in?  Does it matter to you?
  • Ask three students what the best class on campus is, and who teaches it.  Do the students have enthusiasm for the faculty of the college?  Do the faculty have enthusiasm for the students? 

Community: Go into town and see the relationship between the school and its surroundings.  Grab a local newspaper and a college newspaper and get a sense of the activities and interests the town and the college share.

The Interview 

Remember, the person interviewing you is eager to get to know you and is almost always on your side.  An experienced interviewer is well aware that you are nervous and will try to put you at ease.  He/she will want to answer your questions, but will be more interested if you’ve done your homework about the school and don’t ask obvious questions that are easily answered in the material published by the admissions office.  Questions about the curriculum, its activities, and ways of teaching often indicate a degree of interesting education.

Know yourself — your grades, your test scores, and your academic interests.  If you are undecided about careers (most students are), feel free to say so, but it is wise that you recognize you are going to college to learn and to think through some areas you would like to explore, competencies you would like to develop, projects and situations that intrigue you.  Some interviewers may ask questions as to what books have impressed you and why, what you feel your most significant contributions are, what would be the "good life"? for you in twenty years, what you would most like to change about Breck, and what you think of present day political, foreign situation.

Be honest!  You and your interviewer both know everyone has strong and weak points.  Hopefully, college will help you with some of the latter and promote the former.  You can learn a great deal about the college in the interview.  In many cases the interview may not carry much weight in the final admissions decision, but is important to get your questions answered and leave as good an impression as possible.

If your parent or friend accompanies you to the college, plan to have your interview alone.  Most admissions officer prefer to talk with you all by yourself.

Dress neatly and comfortably.  Do not try to make certain statements with your dress.

Your interview may be with a senior student.  Sometimes these are the best interviews because these students take their work so seriously.  Don’t write off a college because of an interview that didn’t go well.  We al have our bad days.

After you return, write a thank-you note. Your courtesy is always appreciated.

Possible questions that may be asked in an interview

•  What adjectives would your friends use to describe you?
•  What have you enjoyed most so far in your life?
•  How have you grown or changed recently?
•  What activities have you found most satisfying lately?
•  What things do you do well?
•  What strengths would you most like to develop?
•  Have any of your courses challenged you? Which ones? How?
•  How do you respond to academic pressure and competition?
•  What would you change about your school if you had the chance?
•  Who is your favorite author?
•  What issues concern you?
•  How do you define success?
•  What aspects of the college experience are you most looking forward to?
•  What more do you need to know about our university/college?