College looms and you’ve talked with your high school’s college counselor and your parents about location (close to home or far away) and finances (How much are Mom and Dad kicking in? How much will you be responsible for?). Now you’re making plans to visit schools, where you’ll take the campus tours.
Don’t stop there, says Patty Montague, a college counselor at Marist School in Atlanta, herself a mom with three children who have gone through the college-selection process. To really get a feel for a college, try to do more than that — especially if it’s a large campus. Here are her tips:
If the campus tour is on a bus: “At a large state university, (visitors) might not realize how far apart classes are if they’ve been on a bus,” she says. She recommends getting out halfway through the tour and walking the distance to the other end of the campus. Asking the tour guide how much time there is between classes will also help gauge scheduling challenges.
Visit an academic department: “Set up an appointment to actually meet with a professor,” she says. Although her kids weren’t set on majors, she says, that “helped them know what the attitude was on campus. The kids got an idea, a feel for how helpful the faculty might possibly be if they were going to attend that campus.”
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Consider class size: What’s the largest class taught on campus? Where is it held? Montague took students to see a college where “they were told the class had 800 students in it. When they saw the actual auditorium it was in, they said ‘Oh my gosh, this is really big.’ Some students say, ‘This is great. I’d be fine with this.’ Having a feel for what that looks like is good.”
Also, find out how large upper-level classes are for specific majors. “A school told us (upper level classes) ‘aren’t that big, just 75 or 80.’ We thought that was still very large for this particular major. It was different from what we’d heard at some other places.”
Find the career center: “How many people work there? Do they help undergraduates find internships — and if they don’t, who does?” Though the career center is not generally on campus tours, she says, “I think they are now starting to mention it since career centers have become an important issue with students and families.”
Changing majors: You start in engineering and decide to switch to another field. What support is there for students changing majors, and how accommodating will the college be if you change your mind?
Covering the basics
Patty Montague advises prospective students to investigate these topics:
College info (size of campus, cost, setting — urban vs. rural, etc.) at the U.S Department of Education College Navigator website: nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator.
Learn about life beyond the classroom: Try to visit the dining hall, a campus sporting event, an arts performance.
Explore the transportation options for trips home.
Explore the community the first few blocks around campus for eating, shopping, etc.
— J.H.