Visiting Campuses This Summer?: All Your Questions Answered Here

Now that the COVID-19 pandemic is easing up in many parts of the country, high school students and their parents are eager to resume that rite of adolescence: the college visit.  Most campuses have re-opened to prospective applicants, but that doesn’t mean you should throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to online research.  Here are my independent college counselor answers to families’ essential questions about visiting college campuses this summer and fall.

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 Why visit a college in person when you can visit online?

As an independent college counselor, I can describe and cite statistics.  An online tour can provide visuals.  But only current students can give you a nineteen-year-old’s view of what it’s like to attend school there.   Sure, the quality – and quantity! -- of online tours increased tremendously in the immediate wake of COVID.  But, there’s no substitute for walking through the quad, speaking with current students, and getting the actual feel of a campus in person.

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When is the best time to visit a college campus?

Ideally, visit while school’s in session and students are taking courses on campus.  Also, wait until your child has taken advantage of the online resources offered by that school and others (such official and unofficial tours, prospective student information sessions, etc.) to whittle down their list before booking your trip.  (To learn more on creating a balanced college list, read on or register for my July 1, 2021 webinarhere.)

We don’t have the time or money to visit all of the schools on my child’s list.  Where should we focus our visits?

Most families visit their child’s “reach” schools, dreaming about four years of ivy-covered bliss.  However, as an independent college counselor, I recommend visiting the student’s target and safety schools first.  (If you’re not sure how to build a balanced college list, check out my pre-recorded webinar on this topic or email me for a complimentary half-hour consultation to discuss my services to help families build one.)

As highly selective colleges became “highly rejective” this spring, more children were denied admission to their dream schools.  Students need to be prepared to choose from among a realistic – but still awesome! – list of schools during the spring of their senior year.  The easiest way to make this decision is by having visited all or most of the colleges on their target and safety lists before applying.    Then, when Dream School U comes knocking on or around March 15, it’s a lot easier for Mom and Dad to open the wallet to send Junior across the country!

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Who should visit colleges?

As an independent college counselor, I recommend that families start visiting various types of colleges – small, large; public, private; liberal arts, technical; commuter, traditional; urban, suburban, rural – within a short drive from their home during the child’s eighth, ninth, and tenth grades.  You can even link trips to universities farther from home during family road trips.  These trips are not for investigating the actual schools to which the student will apply, but rather for understanding at which kind of college your child will feel most comfortable, learn best, and thrive.

By the time your child enters junior year, they should know which combination of the adjectives above represents their ideal college.  This prior exposure, conducted slowly over the course of years, should make crafting a balanced college list much easier.  For example, now the student and their counselor know to only put small private, liberal arts colleges in rural areas on the actual list.  Building a college list in this way also allows families to save time and money.  A kid with that profile, for instance, should not be visiting UCLA, though without having seen Hunter College in Manhattan first, your child might not figure that out until you’re on the plane leaving LAX!

What should we ask while we’re on campus?

Though the specific questions you ask should reflect your own goals in going to college getting a degree, I really like this list of “50 Questions to Ask on a College Visit” just published by U.S. News & World Report.

How can we navigate this process to give our child their best shot?

My first, best tip is to start the college planning process early.  But, even if your child’s a rising senior and you haven’t given much thought to any of this, don’t despair!   Lots of colleges are offering on campus visits this summer and into the fall.  I’ve also got many online (and a couple of New York-area in-person) talks scheduledfrom July through December, so you can begin the process of education yourself and your child at no cost now.  (Subscribe to my YouTube so you get notified when I post recordings of these talks.)  And, of course, I’m available for one-on-one coaching as an independent college counselor beginning July 1 for the 2021-22 season.

Together, we can make the college planning and visiting process more manageable — and maybe even exciting and FUN!

Got a question about college planning that wasn’t answered here? Email me or drop it into the Comments below!