Before you go to college, you will most likely go on a number of college tours to determine which university you want to apply to. However, a college tour can go one of two ways: you could make the most of it, or you could go along with the boring part of the tour and be fed up with the entire college process altogether. If you want to find the right college – a college that you can be excited about – the former is obviously in your best interest. Not only that, but there is a good chance that you are spending a lot of money traveling to some of these cities to visit colleges, so if you don’t make the most of it, you could be wasting precious time and money. Here is how to get the most out of college tours.
Ask a Lot of Questions
One of the first things you should know is that the more questions you ask, the more informed you will be about a certain college. The last thing you want is to go on a tour and not ask questions, because you may not learn everything there is to know about the college. The truth is that college brochures only offer a sliver of information about a particular school.
Check Out the Dorms
Of course, when you are visiting colleges, you want to check out the dorms. This is hugely important, because a campus may check out in every other arena, but if you don’t like the dorms, it may be a problem. Of course, there is the option of renting an apartment, but you still want to make sure the dorms are livable. You could also explore courses provided by UIC Online, or another online college program, to see if you want to slowly transition into on-campus living.
Spend Time on Your Own
Another way to get the most out of a college tour is to spend part of the tour on your own. You want to get step off the typical path and get lost. Some campuses are huge, so you can really cover a lot of ground. Moreover, you may want to walk off campus and visit the local town to get a feel for how life will be as a college student.
Meet Other Students
When you are walking about, you may want to meet other students, if you aren’t too shy. In fact, meeting other students will give you a great idea as to how other people are experiencing a certain college. If you have a particular field of interest, you may want to head to the part of the college that houses the department for that field of interest – meeting likeminded students can really reinforce your decision to apply to a certain college.
Audit a Class
On top of everything, you may want to sit down for a class session. Actually auditing a class will give you an idea as to the quality of the professors and the style of teaching. In the end, you may have a very specific classroom vision, so auditing may be the way to find a college that has the same vision.