Making College Visits Fun And Successful, Part 1

 Even though the groundhog saw his shadow spring will arrive and along with it come college visits...

Harbingers of spring, instantly recognizable, they appear yearly in groups on every college campus.  Their leader is a confident young adult with the amazing skill of walking backwards.  Ducks returning from lands to the south, you might ask?  Hardly, what you are witnessing is the start of the campus visit season.  As a college consultant who has visited close to a hundred campuses and moreover a parent who has participated in this rite of passage with my own three offspring, I will share some tips with you to help make campus visits productive and stress free.

Tips for Freshman/Sophomores There is absolutely no better way to decide whether a school is the right match than to set foot on its campus.  Begin visiting a few colleges as early as freshman/sophomore year of high school.  The purpose of these initial visits is to get a feel for the types of schools out there and assist in formulating needs and preferences.  Choose a few schools close to home of different sizes from a large state university to a smaller private liberal arts college.   Utilize family vacation time to informally visit colleges.