There’s no substitute for seeing a college campus firsthand. Viewbooks and websites can give you a lot of information and glossy photos, but meeting professors and students, seeing classrooms and residence halls, and eating the food–that’s what gives you a true feeling of a college.

When to go

A campus visit is informative any time, but it’s best to see the school while it’s in session and students are in classes. If you can only visit during the summer, on a weekend, or when the school is on a break, that’s okay–just be prepared to visualize what the school looks like when students and professors are in classrooms and residence halls. If possible, try to visit colleges when JMCHS is on vacation but colleges are in session.

Before you go

Plan ahead. Plan college trips on a geographical basis, and make the trips long enough to be worthwhile, but short enough so that individual visits are limited to maintain clear impressions. For example, a trip to New York State could include visits to the University of Rochester, Hobart/William Smith, Colgate, Hamilton, Union, and perhaps Vassar, Russell Sage, or Rensselaer. A group of these colleges represents a wide range of offerings, quality, and selectivity, and most are close to exits off the New York Thruway. Such a trip would allow you to hit Skidmore and Hartwick as well, and even Cornell and Ithaca on the way home. Study road maps and transportation schedules; allow extra time to find a college if you’re unfamiliar with the region or city in which it is located. Give yourself enough time to visit each campus and to travel to the next one (no more than two institutions in one day).

We recommend calling the admission office at least two weeks in advance of your visit, sometimes several weeks in advance if it’s a highly selective college or university. Here are some suggestions of things to do in that initial telephone contact:

• Request a school catalog and schedule an interview (if required or recommended) and campus tour.
• Request any special materials that may interest you: a copy of the campus newspaper, a list of internships off campus, information on housing, extracurricular activities, etc.
• If you don’t stay on campus, ask the admission office for recommendations about motels or hotels nearby.
• Consider asking the admissions office for the names of current undergraduates from Judge Memorial or from Salt Lake City. You can then try to meet with these students while you’re there and get the "inside scoop" on the college’s academic and social environment.
• If you have a talent a school might be interested in recruiting, say in music or athletics, consider meeting with the director of the program. Be aware of the strict NCAA regulations governing recruitment for athletics, however (www.ncaa.org).
• Consider scheduling one or more of the following with the admissions office: a class visit, eating in the dining hall, spending the night in a residence hall with a current student host, meeting with a professor in your area of interest, or attending a special event.

While you’re there

Talk to as many students as you can and don’t be bashful about asking questions. At the same time, take what students say with a grain of salt. Cynicism is popular on college campuses, and one or two individuals are usually not representative of an institution. This might even extend to undergraduate tour guides. But if you come away convinced that there’s a serious problem with student morale, it might be worth remembering. Here are some questions to ask students:

• What other colleges did you apply to? What made you decide to come here?
• How many hours a week do you study? Is that typical here? Where do you study?
• How often are things you learn in class discussed outside of class?
• Approximately how many students were in your freshman classes? Approximately how many are in your classes now?
• Do many students go home on weekends?
• Are faculty members accessible outside of class? When did you last meet individually with a professor? Do students know one or two professors well enough to ask them for a work or graduate school recommendation?
• How good is the faculty advising for selecting classes and fulfilling requirements?
• How easy is it to get the classes you want?
• Is there easy access to computers? Where are they located?
• How active is the college in helping students with career planning?
• What do students on campus rave about? What do students complain about most?
• What three things would you change about this college?
• What three things would you not change about this college?
• Where do students go to socialize?
• What is the surrounding town or city like?

What to look for on campus

As you visit a college, observe with a critical eye. But avoid making snap judgements about a school’s character before you’ve had time to digest and reflect on your first impressions. Sometimes perceptions can be negatively influenced by your initial anxiety and nervousness. While you talk with others and walk around, try to learn about the following:

Social Life: What do students do for fun? What is the status of women, people of color, or other relevant groups on campus? What percentage of students belongs to sororities or fraternities? Are religious programs available? Is the campus isolated or cosmopolitan? Do activities seem to be more formal or informal? What percentage of students lives off campus? Do students need to provide their own transportation to get off campus? If not, is public transportation available?

To answer these questions, listen to student conversations, pay attention to bulletin boards in the dining areas, and read through campus newspapers, in addition to asking current students.

Student Style: What is the school’s "typical" student profile? Are people overly obsessed with either grades or partying? As you look around, do you think you could feel comfortable in the community you see? To what degree are you willing to interact with people who are different from you politically, religiously, racially, economically, culturally, etc?

Faculty Style: Assuming you get a chance to sit in on a class or two, how do the faculty act in class? Do they seem to value teaching undergraduates or do they seem to prioritize graduate students and their own research? How much contact do the students you meet have with their professors? What is the faculty-student ratio in your intended major? You can get a sense of teaching philosophies by visiting the student bookstore and glancing at the different books required in the courses you think you might take.

Facilities: Look at the libraries, dormitories, classrooms, computer labs, chapels, cafeterias, athletic facilities, auditoriums, the student center, bookstores, and health and counseling facilities. Are there special interest dorms, such as an environmentally friendly dorm, or dorms for people in certain majors? New construction on any of these facilities can be an indication of commitment to the future, while a campus that is poorly equipped and maintained can be a tip-off to financial and/or administrative problems or a lack of concern about student welfare.

Research the main library’s special collections. What types of rare books or museum collections do they have available for student research? This question is important when thinking ahead to independent research projects you might undertake in your junior and senior years. Also, what time do the libraries and computer labs close? As for dining, will you find food you like in the dormitories or, if not, in the surrounding community?

The Campus: Do you like the overall campus setting? Think about the following contrasts: city vs. country, big city vs. small town, hot climate vs. cold, monoculturalism vs. multiculturalism, women-only vs. co-ed, distance from home. Posted signs advising against leaving valuables unattended or advising women against walking the campus unescorted can indicate that the school has a problem with or is concerned about crime. All colleges must publish a yearly crime on campus report. Ask the admission office how you can get a copy.

After the visit

Whether you’re visiting just one campus, or doing a marathon trip across the country, write down your impressions right after you see a college. See the attached "Campus Visit Notes" and make copies; it can get you started.

What if I can’t visit a campus?

• Read as much as you can about that school, in a variety of different resources.
• Visit the college’s website. You’ll be amazed at the depth of information there.
• Ask questions of the admissions officers when they visit JMCHS, or by phone or email.
• If a JMCHS graduate attends a college you’re interested in, you may be able to contact her or him. Ask Ms. Alamilla to find out if there’s a Judge alum at that college.
• Ask the college if they have current students who are willing to speak with prospective students via phone or email.
• For general impressions, visit a few colleges in your state. You could get a feel for a private, small liberal arts college by visiting Westminster, and a large public state university by visiting the University of Utah. These visits will help you get the feel of different types of institutions.

Attachments

• Campus Visit Worksheet (37.12 KB)