728x90
my iParenting
From Our Sponsors
e-newsletters
Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters

new terms of use
new privacy policy
award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Home › Articles › Academics › Visiting Education

Visiting Education

Getting the Most from Your Campus Tours

By Sue Marquette Poremba

Pages:  1  2  3  4  

When the first college brochure comes in the mail, it's given its own special place on the counter for everyone in the family to see. Mom and Dad brag to friends: "Yes, the first college brochure arrived! Can you believe she's old enough to think about college?"

Soon enough, however, the mailbox will be slammed with an avalanche of college brochures. They'll come from well-known major universities and from obscure liberal arts colleges. Every brochure is sent with one goal in mind: to persuade your future college student to attend their school.

Carlene Klaas, director of undergraduate admission at DePaul University advises that students start thinking about their college search as early as their freshman year of high school. "The earlier you get started, the more information you will be able to gather, which will help a student to start thinking about what characteristics they are looking for in a university," she says.

Picking a college will be one of the most important decisions your teenager will make. Not only are there academics to consider, but future college students need to think about tuition costs and financial aid packages, room and board, student life, the location and size of the school and career goals, just to get the ball rolling. Most college-bound students will have picked a number of schools that pique their interest. From there, the students begin to whittle down their choices, and parents begin to wonder if it is worth their while to schedule the next family vacation in the vicinity of their high school student's favorite college campus.

Getting There
Well, maybe they shouldn't use the entire family vacation, but college and university admissions counselors agree that prospective students should plan to spend some time making college visits. "[Students] need to visit the campus and find out exactly what [the school is] all about," says David Baldwin, director of admissions at the University of Maine at Machias.

To get the most out of a college visit, prospective students and their parents should do their homework before stepping on campus. Nearly every college and university has a Web site that can be investigated in preparation for the visit. These sites have a lot of information, but this is what the prospective student will want to look for:

  • Visit the school's prospective student page. This is where you'll get answers to the most basic questions you might have about the school.
  • Visit the pages for the majors you are most interested in. Read the information for prospective students, but also investigate the pages meant for current students. Current student pages often include course information, deadlines, calendars, advising information and activities within the major. This gives a good feel for expectations and opportunities for students in that field of study.
  • Print out a copy of the campus map and acclimate yourself to the layout of the buildings. Make a note of parking areas and the specific buildings you'll be visiting. Even if you've visited the school before (or it is the prospective student's parents' alma mater), chances are the campus landscape has undergone changes.
Pages:  1  2  3  4  


Want to see more?