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Jane's #1 Tip: Visiting a College Can Be Very Important

Visiting a college is an important part of the search and exploration process. Research by colleges shows that applicants who visit are more likely to enroll. Therefore, many colleges treat the visit as proxy for "likely to enroll" and as a positive factor in their admissions deliberations. Visiting is one of the elements of "demonstrated interest" that many colleges like to see.

For students, the process of visiting colleges allows for broad preferences to evolve as they learn about different programs, styles of instruction, levels of academic rigor, and the look of the students, facilities and the campus and as they react to the different environments. It gives applicants the language to interpret and understanding what different options can provide.

Visiting a particular college enables the student to learn about that school and to consider if that environment and community matches his or her criteria and is a place that he or she might like to later apply to. Information and impressions gleaned from the visit will help the applicant articulate a comprehensive and targeted answer to the "why I want to go to x college" essay prompt that can be a part of that school's application and will increase the likelihood of being admitted.

Information sessions are full of information about what a particular school values as an educational institution and in the college admissions process. They often provide that college’s definition of terms, a roadmap of sorts, and keys to their particular code for gaining admissions. Applicants and their parents should pay close attention and listen for the tips that a good information session can provide.

Jane’s #2 Tip: Don't Be a Stealth Applicant

Don't be a stealth applicant, meaning a student who does research online without making himself or herself known to the college. Colleges, particularly liberal arts colleges and those that are not larger public institutions, need to know that applicants are actively interested in learning more about them. They say that if the first time they hear about an applicant is with an application then they may conclude that he or she wasn’t very thoughtful about the process in general or about them in particular. Therefore, the student needs to make contact with a college as part of his or her search process.

At a minimum, students need to visit colleges' web sites and go to the admissions or visitor pages to find the prompts that allow them to sign in and sign on to receive information. That will put students on the colleges’ radar. It will demonstrate their preliminary interest in learning more about the colleges and will ensure that they are not stealth applicants.

Click here for Jane's Tips #3 and #4