Remember that while the whole point of a college visit is to get a true feel of what it is like to be a student on campus, YOU ARE A GUEST OF THE SCHOOL. Just as the school is making an impression on you, you are making paw prints on the memory banks of every single person you come into contact with. Your enrollment counselor, your tour guide, the professor of a class you visit, the current students...make an impact that leaves them all hoping to see you again in the fall, not asking how soon will this character leave campus! Just because you see a student show up to class in his pajamas and snooze through the lecture does not mean you are at liberty to do the same on your visit. Dressing like an already enrolled student is not the kind of paw print you want to leave!
Remember—this is about assessing the fit between you and the college. You have spent the past few months, make that the past few YEARS, make that your entire life since kindergarten, making the best grades you can, participating in numerous leadership activities, lettering in your high school sports, all so you can have a perfectly polished and shining background on which to base your college applications. You should be very proud of what you've accomplished. However, you do not need to tell everyone you meet on campus how wonderful you are. The admissions office
may have already seen your application, maybe the professors have been told of your essay wins and your stellar test scores, but I assure you that the other current students really, REALLY, don't want to hear about the speech you gave to your hometown's Rotary Club in which you were given a standing ovation. This is not the time to brag, this is the time to find out if your strengths are a good fit for this environment. Do it, but do it in a non-grandiose fashion.So . . . everybody . . . I mean everybody . . . tells you what to do while you are on a campus visit. There are books written on the subject. But, you can make some humungous mistakes while you are on campus too. My friend, the Assistant Director of Admission at Birmingham Southern College,
Ashley Frohock, was willing to share some of her caveats for campus visitors:1. Don't show up late to your appointment. (But, don't show up too early either. Five minutes early is good, fifty minutes early is not.)
2. Don't show up without making an appointment. The best campus visits require planning.
3. Don't assume everyone on campus is like your tour guide. Talk to other students and faculty - in the dining hall, on the sidewalk, in the library - you'll learn more about a place when you hear from different perspectives.
Hmmm…food for thought—speaking of food
, I think I’ll paws, sneak through this door and go find a snack—more on this list next week!Woof,
Clyde
