Sat Test

In my last blog post I talked about different ways to visit colleges or universities that interest you. You can go to their websites and take virtual tours, click on links that tell you about the student population, how diverse it is, the history of the school, information about various departments and areas of study and even perhaps some tidbits about the town or city in which the college resides. There is a great deal of information to be gleaned by simply going to the school’s website.

So let’s say that you’ve taken the virtual tour, and you still want more. You want to go there, walk around the campus, visit the campus bookstore, its library and take a peek at on-campus housing. Virtual tours are wonderful things, but there is something to be said for physically walking around, taking in the atmosphere of the campus, looking at the school and talking to students who attend there.

It may be time for a road trip.

Most times parents will want to go with you if you’re going to look at colleges and in order to see how you feel about the school, its surroundings, campus, dorms and other aspects of your prospective school.

As I said before, it’s a great idea to check out the school’s website and glean all the information available there in order to get a feel for the school before actually committing to physically visiting.

Before you make a potentially expensive trip (depending on where the school is located and how far you’re going to have to travel) make sure that you’ve also checked out everything about the school beforehand. Look into the cost of tuition, their student financial aid package, do they have scholarships for something you’re qualified to receive, is the student body a group you feel you’d feel comfortable with and fit in. There are also considerations based on private versus public institutions of higher learning. Schools generally have codes of conduct rules that, should you be admitted, you will be required to live by. For example, some private religious universities ask you to commit to not smoking, drinking, taking drugs and maintaining a moral lifestyle. Public and therefore more liberal universities and colleges do not require these standards of their students, but they do have some rules of conduct.

If you’d like to learn more about touring college campuses, there is an amusing article written by a parent that has had the experience of taking their child to tour schools, only to find that their student was less than thrilled with the weather, the tour guide or the town the college resided in. You can read the article here.

Enjoy!

In my last couple of blog posts I talked about scholarships and grants and student loans. These are all important issues for a student getting ready to head out into the world for his or her first year of college, but there is also something equally important and in my opinion, much more exciting; touring the colleges you’re interested in attending!

Hopefully you’ve narrowed down the number of schools that you are committed to looking at to get your degree. You’ve done your homework and you’re going to look at your dad’s alma mater and a handful of other schools that you’re interested in. How do you go about looking at them in person?

Sure, you could just show up and walk through the campus, try to get a feel for the place and maybe even talk to some of the students that attend the college. However, if you’d like a more in-depth look at the university or college, than go to their website. Every college and university, technical school or community college has a website these days.

Remember that applying for admission to schools costs you money each and every time. If your resources are limited, you will definitely want to apply only to those schools that you are serious about attending.

For example, let’s say that I’ve chosen the University of Washington as one of the schools I’d like to visit so I can make up my mind about whether or not I want to apply.

I’ll go to the University of Washington’s official website. http://www.washington.edu/

If you look at that page, you will find that the sidebar to the right has ways you can visit the school. They give you a phone number to call for visitors’ information. In this era of technology, you don’t have to physically visit the campus at all if you don’t want to, or can’t fund visits to many schools. The UW offers you a virtual tour! Click on their virtual tour download and you are treated to a visual of the entire campus.

If you can visit, then you might be interested in the daily walking tours of the campus given by students attending the university. Getting to ask questions of a student who attends the university you are interested in is a valuable tool to help you in making your decision. It might be a good idea to have some questions written down ahead of time to ask the tour guide so you don’t forget anything.

The University of Washington also offers special guided tours for schools and organizations of 15 guests or more can be arranged as well. They also offer specialized tours from different departments, such as the fish hatchery, the Washington Park Arboretum and others.

I don’t want you to think that I’ve chosen the University of Washington as an example because it’s my alma mater, it’s not. I’m just using it as an example of the things you can discover on a university’s website that will give you a closer look at the school, its students, its educational opportunities and even its surrounding areas. All these things will aid you in making your decision about applying for admissions.

In my next blog I’ll talk about planning road trips to see different colleges and how you might be able to visit several places and not break the bank in doing so!