How do you organize a college visit?

Hi amigos de Latinos in College,
I'm a junior high school student in Houston and want to know do you go to visit a college? Do you have to ask for a special permit? Do you have to pay? What if it's a college far away? who will take you if your parents don't have money? Thank you for yourtime!

Hi Jessica,

These are great questions!

* If you do plan on using a school day to visit a college, then you will need to talk to your administration office to let them know about your plans.

* You do not have to pay to visit a college; however, if you plan on visiting a college that is out of your city, then you will need to cover your traveling costs (transportation, food, housing, etc.)

* If you or your parents do not have the funds to travel to other colleges, you should consider organizing a fundraiser. Maybe you can talk to some of your fellow classmates who are also interested in making college visits and begin raising money. You could even go to a teacher you all trust and see how they can guide you in this process. A popular fundraiser is a bake sale, but there are many other options that you can explore.

* There are “virtual tours” that you can take using the internet. Go to the university’s website and check under their “Admissions” section to see if they have any videos. You can also go to this website, which shows videos from different colleges: [www.youniversitytv.com].

Here is a link from Collegeboard.com that goes into more details on college visits:
[www.collegeboard.com]

Good luck!
-Jazmin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2009 11:50AM by Jazmin Cameron.

Those were all great ideas from Jazmin. Here are a couple other points to consider when making college visits:

Most colleges and universities have special visit days throughout the year. These days are often on weekends and are a very in-depth look at a school. Usually they have student and/or professor panels, a tour of campus (which often includes the dorms), and sometimes even a meal in the dining hall. Sometimes the visit days are tailored to certain groups as well (accepted students, students still considering, minority groups, etc.)

A few of your classmates or friends may be considering the same schools that you are considering. If your parents are unable to take you or if cost is a concern, perhaps a group of you can pool your resources and make the trip together. Your guidance counselor may be able to give you the names of some students who would be interested.

If you are definitely unable to visit a school, you may want to contact their recruitment/admissions office to see what your other options are. For example, many schools have student volunteers who you can correspond with via phone or email and they can answer your questions and give you a students perspective. Additionally, the school may be participating in a college fair near your home that you can attend.

I hope this information helps! Best of luck in your endeavors,
-Amber George

This is all great advice!

I would also like to add, Jessica, that you can look on the websites of colleges you are interested in and see if they have any programs targeted at Juniors, like a "Junior day," dedicated for Juniors in high school.

You can also look into to see if the colleges have fly-in visits. I'm not sure what the proper name of it would be but some colleges, once a year, use money put aside to fly in students that may not be able to visit otherwise.

Hope that helps,

Jesse Johnson

Another great way of visiting a campus and really seeing what it's like to be a student at that school is to contact the Latino/Hispanic student organizations. They can get a hold of Latino students that are willing to give you a tour of the campus.

When I was in college, I gave many tours to high school students that weren't able to attend the formal campus tours. It' was great because I was also able to talk to the parents whether it was in English or Spanish. There are a lot of Latino students in college that are willing to help out in any way!

That being said, if anybody is wants to tour Emory University's campus in Atlanta, please let me know!

Suerte!

Uriel Castañeda

What would you recommend is the best time for colelge visits? And also my mom wants to come with me but I think she'll get in the way. I'll haev to translate like everything for her adn it will be a little Distracting, if you get what I mean. I think a little help from you guys would be good.

Hi Juan Carlos,

A good time to start the college visit process is during your junior year, to ensure you have plenty of time to make decisions and apply. Note that many application deadlines are in January of your senior year so you definitely want to visit before then. You may want to check with the admissions offices of the schools you are interested in to see if they have special visit days coming up.

It's great that your mom wants to go with you to look at schools. You are lucky to have a supportive mom! I understand that the language barrier may be difficult, but there may be some ways to help the situation. Call the schools and ask if they have a Spanish-speaking representative that can meet with you. Or, perhaps they have a Spanish-speaking student who works as a representative (I did this in college) who can give you and your mom a tour of campus where she would be able to ask questions and you wouldn't have to translate.

Best of luck with your visits, and feel free to ask any other questions you may have.
-Amber George

to all of you who answered the question about organizing college visits, thank you!!!! I used your advice to go to a few schools the last couple of months and I just wanted to let you know it helped me decide my best choice. Israel.

I have ot agree with Israel. I did the same thing, used your advice to organize a few visits with my parents and chose the schools I will apply to next year! You guys make me feel like i can do anything. ;-) Thanks!