After Notification Day, the second most exciting moment for many seniors is College Revisit Day, when students are invited to the school(s) they’ve been accepted to and are embraced with a well-deserved fanfare post application-stress! The question then surfaces: What should students be considering as they tour campuses through the lens of “Is this really the right school for me?” Here are four pro-tips to consider:
Many Schools Are Similar
Not to debunk the adage “no two things are alike,” in the case of colleges, they often are. I’ve toured countless campuses and while they each have their idiosyncrasies, they also have more in common than not. I just had a student hemming-and-hawing over which to attend: the big urban university or the small rural liberal arts school. At first glance, the schools were so different, but once the student and I did a pro/con list, we discovered similarities in academic programming and sports offerings that made the student a) remember why he’d applied to both in the first place and b) why either would suit his needs. Ultimately, he chose the university because he felt it would provide room to grow!
People Change
Most of my students do the bulk of their college touring spring junior year, exactly a year before they must choose their future alma mater. This year I had a student who was a committed business major when he applied to colleges pivot to international relations. When he revisited his top choices, he met with academic deans and even sat in on relevant classes to assess which schools offered the best curriculum for his new interest. He discovered that two of the schools he was admitted to boast excellent business and international relations programs – lucky him!
$ Matters
I consistently urge families who need more financial assistance than they were initially offered visit the aid office when they return to a campus. On Revisit Day, one of my students was awarded enough of a tuition bump to allow him to matriculate to his first-choice school, an Ivy League college.
#Vibe
Students routinely talk about the “feel” of a school. They can’t necessarily describe or define what that sensation is, but they know it when it’s present – and when it’s missing. One student just returned from her revisit to a school that was high on her coveted-colleges list only to discover that the “vibe” was off. I asked what she meant by this, as last spring, when she initially toured, the campus ticked all of her boxes. She said, “I don’t know. It doesn’t speak to me anymore.” This happens. A perfect-fit a year prior while touring becomes outgrown or uncomfortable when it’s time to commit.
Although it can be expensive and inconvenient, it’s important for students to spend time on the campuses of their top choices before depositing. The student, the school’s programming and the price-tag may have changed since junior spring or even senior fall.
APR