The Importance of College Visits

Today’s Thursday Thoughts were inspired by my recent tours in the NYC area, specifically my tour of Fordham University, which will be posted on August 13th. There are a myriad of ways to learn about a specific college including the school’s website, various social media accounts, Tik Tok, synchronous or asynchronous virtual tours hosted by the school; books like the Fiske Guide, College Match, College Finder; and websites like CampusTours, CollegeXpress, Niche, Campus Reel, YouTube, Unigo, etc.

However, I wholeheartedly believe that in order to truly get a feel for a campus and figure out if you could really see yourself attending the school, you need to actually visit the school in person. I’m using Fordham as an example here because it beautifully illustrates my point. It has nothing to do with if Fordham is a “good or bad” school or in a “good or bad” location. What’s good to one person will be bad to another and vice versa. There is also no empirical good or bad when it comes to choosing a college; it’s what is the right fit for the student (you might even call it a custom fit).

Back to my Fordham example. It is located in the middle of the Bronx. That meant nothing to me until I visited. Campus is directly next to an MTA train stop, which is super convenient. As soon as you walk out of the train station, there are lots of restaurants and stores, which is also super convenient. The area surrounding campus has a very hustle and bustle feel, which many students might love. Campus is gated and has manned security guards. Fordham sprawls over 93 acres and has so much beautiful green space; you really don’t hear the noise of the city when you’re on campus. Some students might find this the perfect mix of quiet and NYC. Others might find that it has too much green space. Still others might feel that it has too much NYC too close.

The best way to find out how you will feel on a campus is to actually visit that campus. I understand that it might be unrealistic to visit all campuses before you apply, and that’s completely fine. I do think that before you put a deposit down and decide to go to a school, you should visit it. It IS helpful to have toured (and attended an info session) for schools that require a supplemental “why us” essay and for those who track demonstrated interest. And for parents with more than one adult child, I’m sure you found that each child gravitated toward different types of campuses. As I was finishing this post, a student texted me that “campus is actually insane!” It certainly helped build this student’s enthusiasm for the school to actually be on campus.

To get the most complete feel for a campus, I like to tour when students are on campus, but if the only time you can get away is over summer or a school break, it will still be very valuable. Something else that can be helpful is to tour different types of schools that are near your house - big, small, public, private, etc. just to see what feels the best to your child.