March 1, 2009 - “Stuff Like That” - the Spring Vacation Campus Visit
Spring vacation (Easter Break in Catholic schools) provides the perfect opportunity for high school juniors to check out potential colleges in a relatively low-stress environment. Most colleges are in session and most admissions offices are open for business.
Before you make the often expensive decision to visit campuses, however, be aware of a few things. First, different colleges have different spring breaks. Although it might seem that every student at an east coast college goes to Fort Lauderdale at the same time, there is actually a 4-week period over which this occurs. Second, admissions offices at Catholic colleges (Notre Dame, Boston College, Santa Clara et al.) are often closed down during Easter Week (and parts of “Holy Week” the week before), so it behooves families to check carefully in advance as to the exact scheduling. Third, if spring break is later than usual, colleges are often trying to woo their accepted high school seniors and may not be able to give juniors the appropriate attention.
When you do have your itinerary all set, e-mail or phone admissions offices, state that you will be “in town” on such-and-such a date, and ask about two things: a campus tour and an information session. If reservations are required, make them. Politely get the name of the person on the phone in case there are questions later on. Important: ask if the college requires or suggests an on-campus interview. It is unlikely that you will get an interview, but you definitely want to have one if it’s offered. To maximize the efficiency of your trip, try to make two campus visits per day. This means making your first appointment as early as you can and your second appointment as late in the day as you can. Do not feel funny asking at College A how to get to College B - even fierce rivals (Williams and Amherst, Cal and Stanford, Colby and Bates, Trinity and Wesleyan) will be as helpful as possible in pointing you in the right direction.
Arrive early for all your visits. When you get to the admissions office, check in with the receptionist. Important: sign in officially whenever possible. Admissions offices keep track of who has and has not visited their campuses; there will probably be a place on the application you will eventually complete asking if and when you have visited. Who do you think will get the nod, the student who took the time to visit or the student who did not?
On your campus tours you will be led around by a friendly, gregarious student. He or she will be walking backward throughout the tour. Try not to make jokes about walking backward - the tour guide will have heard every funny comment you can possibly come up with. When the guide asks “if there are any questions,” do him or her a favor and ask some! As you can tell from the title to this piece, you will probably hear the phrase “stuff like that” a lot. I know I have, or I wouldn’t be mentioning it. Don’t hold this against the guide; “stuff like that” is a pretty common filler. However, if the guide does think to say something more intelligent (“things of that nature,” for instance) perhaps you could make a mental note that this particular college encourages its citizens to speak proper English.
Depending on the competitiveness of the college you are visiting, the information session will seem somewhere between a bustop wait and a casting call for “American Idol.” An admissions officer will describe the college and what its overall philosophy is. He or she will then describe the admissions process by providing all kinds of interesting statistics. Regardless of the type of institution, this year’s freshman class will be “the best ever.” Do not get hung up on how easy or hard it is to get into the college; instead, try to imagine what it would be like there as a student. Ask questions about being there, not about “getting in.”
The more competitive a college is, the more likely you are to hear a prospective applicant (always a boy) ask, “Excuse me, what is your average SAT score?” The admissions officer will give the number and, with the exception of the boy who asked the question, everyone’s shoulders will slump and everyone will sigh dejectedly. Please note: the little twerp who asks this question has already done well on his SAT-I and merely wants to get a thrill feeling superior to everyone else. The hell with him.
Take as much literature as you can with you when you leave. Important: get the full name and title of the person who ran the information session. Write him or her a thank you note (hand-written, not typed) as soon as you can. It might be a good idea to do the same for the tour guide. You never know, but he or she might forward a thoughtful question from you to someone with “accept/deny” authority on the admissions staff.
Take pictures, visit the campus bookstore, eat at the dining halls or at local restaurants. IMAGINE YOURSELF ON CAMPUS. After all, it might be your home for four years!