Earl Matthews had visited half a dozen schools in his quest for the perfect college. One was too big. Another campus had a modern, cold feel that he didn’t like. Another wasn’t strong enough in the major he wanted. Finally, he narrowed his choice to two schools. In his mind, they were tied. He honestly couldn’t decide which one was his dream college. Both were small liberal arts colleges. Both had beautiful, tree-filled campuses. Both offered campus student life activities he enjoyed. And both offered him nearly identical financial aid packages.
Earl had already visited each school twice. At one, he had a private tour of the college followed by an admissions interview, and he and his mom ate at a local restaurant recommended by both the tour guide and the admissions counselor. At the other, he was part of a large group of students who met for an introductory session about the college, followed by a group tour and lunch in the college dining hall—unfortunately during the college’s spring break when campus was deserted. His second visits to the schools were connected to special events: an academic scholarship competition at one college and music and theater scholarship auditions at the other.
To break the tie and come to a decision, Earl visited each college once more, this time for an overnight visit. When he called to arrange his visits, admissions counselors at each college encouraged him to come for special events on campus. One offered to get him tickets to the theater department’s spring show, and the other suggested a date when students would be presenting their independent research projects. Earl refused. He wanted to experience an average day as a college student. He set up visits a week apart, in the middle of the week when most students were certain to be on campus.
For both visits, he arrived on his own in the late afternoon and met his student host at the admissions office. He hung out with the student and his friends in a dorm room and then ambled over to the dining hall for supper. When his host at one school had to drive a friend across town, Earl tagged along. At the other college, he joined in a friendly card game in the dorm lounge and later went out for a late-night pizza with a group of friends.
At both schools, after breakfast in the dining hall the next day, Earl attended a class. He also spent some time just hanging around, walking through the campus and imagining himself there as a student. Then he headed home.
Did the overnight visits help Earl make a decision? Absolutely. While he couldn’t pick out any one incident that clinched the deal, he discovered where he truly belonged. “Everyone was nice to me at the one school, but I felt like I was on the outside looking in,” he said. “At the other school, I felt like I could move right in and be at home.”
And four months later, that’s just what he did.