Before visiting a college be sure to review carefully the information in the school brochure or Web site. Upon completion of your visit, write your responses to the following issues. Do this for each college visited and then compare your summaries for each.

College or University:_____________________________Location:____________________________


Date of Visit:_____________________Interviewer:_______________________________________


Student Body

(Impression of student body in terms of appearance, style, friendliness, degree of interest and enthusiasm, diversity of social, religious, and ethnic background.)


__________________________________________________________________________


__________________________________________________________________________

Academic Factors

(How serious about academics is the college and its students; how good are the facilities for academic pursuits; how varied is the curriculum; how strict or flexible are the requirements; how appropriate is the college for your interests?)


__________________________________________________________________________


__________________________________________________________________________

Campus Facilities and Social Life

(How complete and modern are the facilities, such as dorms, library, Internet system, student center, athletic complex; how active is the social life; how diverse is it; is it a suitcase or commuter campus?)


__________________________________________________________________________


__________________________________________________________________________

Overall Impressions

(What did you like least and most; what seemed different or special. What type of student do you feel would be happiest there? Are you the type?)


_________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________

Rating

(On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the top grade, rate the college on the basis of your interest in it.)


_________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________


Make multiple copies of this checklist so you can fill one out for every college you visit.


© Howard and Matthew Greene Making It Into a Top College (HarperCollins: 2009).
Reprinted from: pbs.org/tenstepstocollege/visit.pdf.