Nothing helps students determine how a college “fits” better than personal experience, which is why college visits should be a top priority during the college admissions process—particularly if a college tracks demonstrated interest and a college visit is tracked as part of your admissions file. Additionally, the information you gather during college visits will help immeasurably when it comes time to write those important “Why This School?” supplemental essays. Before you hit the next quad, check out these Do’s and Don’ts—they’ll help you make the most of your time on campus.

Do:

• Start Early. Before the stress of college admissions ever begins to rear its ugly head, demystify some of the process with early, low-key campus visits. Pop by a school in your area, or weave a college visit into a family holiday. The further removed these schools are from places you may want to apply, the better! The idea with these early-in-high-school visits is just to acquaint yourself with different kinds of campuses and to give them a baseline of knowledge for future campus evaluations. Once you see that most schools have plenty of “bells and whistles” (think rock walls or juice bars) to tempt you, you can focus on the more important criteria when it counts.
• Make Connections. From signing in at the admissions office to asking questions of your tour guide, make a point of engaging with the college every way you can. If you have a chance to speak with a professor in a department of interest, be sure to make note of their name so you can contact them with a future question (or reference them in a supplement essay). Talk to students other than the enthusiastic tour guides about what they like (and don’t) about college. If you want to make sure to speak with a student from a particular department or major, you can ask the admissions office in advance to connect you.
• Personalize Your Tour. You should always participate in all of the official tour activities (usually an info session and campus tour, with a possible interview or chat with an admission officer), but most schools offer additional opportunities for campus exploration. Sign up to sit in on a class, attend a major/school-specific info session, spend a night in a dorm (particularly if the school is far from home), enjoy lunch in a dining hall, etc.. Plan on spending extra time on the campus to explore parts of the college that the tour guide skipped and to soak up the “vibe” of the school. Every college website includes information about how to sign up and participate in a tour—don’t hesitate to contact the admissions office to confirm that you’ll get to see a particular science lab or primary source library—they are more than happy to help you get the most out of your visit.

Don’t:

• Be Unprepared. You should do your homework before each and every school visit. Take a look at the school’s website, check out the activities offered, dig deeper into a departmental-specific page to see what professors and students are up to. This will help you come up with better questions (don’t be that guy asking how many students attend the school) so you get the most out of each visit.
• Let Your Parents Take Over. Yes, your parents will have questions (and opinions), but only one of you will actually be going to college and should, therefore, be taking the lead. Ask your parents before the tour what questions they have, or work out a system for them alerting you during the tour if questions arise. Ideally, parents should be seen and not heard on college tours—you will have plenty of time to discuss everything together later.
• Overschedule Yourself. You might be able to cram several college visits into one day, but it’s not ideal. Not only do all of the quads and dining halls start to become a big blur, but overpacking your day will leave you with too little time to make notes and digest the information you learned. Try not to schedule more than two campus visits per day. In addition to ensuring you don’t burn out from information overload, this will allow you time to explore the immediate surroundings. What can you walk to from campus? Do you like the town or city? Is the campus the right distance from the types of activities you might want to participate in? What public transportation options exist? Students may feel strongly about the type of location they say they want in a college, but many will change their minds after a college visit.