Campus
Visits & Interviews
Scheduling Your Campus Visits and Interviews
Campus visits and interviews with college representatives
are usually conducted on the same day to maximize efficient use of your
time. Regarding interviews, the ones at your favorite colleges
and universities should be scheduled last. This way by the time
you interview at your favorite college you will have experienced interviewing
several times and hopefully will have all the mistakes out of the way. You
will feel more confident and should do much better at your final interview. Therefore,
try to schedule your campus visit (and interview) for your favorite school
last.
Contact colleges and universities you are going to visit:
Schedule your campus visit 2-to-3 weeks in advance. Call the admissions
office to ask about a campus visit and to reserve a spot on a guided
campus tour (you can get the telephone number for the admissions office
from the college’s website). Ask if the campus will be in
session during your visit and if there are any special activities available
for visiting high school students. Have 2 or 3 possible dates in mind;
the sooner you call, the more likely you will get the date you want.
Schedule a guided campus tour. This needs to be done; seeing the
campus on your own without a guide may cause you to miss important locations
and information.
Schedule an interview with an admissions officer. The admissions
office will schedule the interview for you. Ask for the name of
the admission officer and write it down.
Schedule an interview with a professor in the department of your major. Ask
the admissions office for the telephone number of the department you
are planning to major in. Call the department and ask to speak
with the professor you would most like to interview with (find the best
professor to interview with by researching the college department’s
website - see next paragraph). Call that professor and see if he/she
is available to see you sometime on the day of your campus visit. If
not, see if you can interview with the department chairperson. If
you don’t have a planned major and will enter college with an “undecided” major,
it is not necessary to schedule an interview with a professor.
To find the best professor to interview with, go to the college’s
website, your major department’s home page, and research the department
faculty. Select a professor that teaches the subject you are most
interested in. For example, if you’re planning to major in
biology, see if there is a special emphasis in biology you can express
interest in (such as bioengineering, molecular biology, or genetics). The
department may offer an emphasis and/or extra courses in such specialty
subjects, see who teaches these classes.
Schedule to talk with anyone else you think will give you the best information
(students in your major, students belonging to interesting on-campus
clubs, a coach in your sport, etc.). |
