Campus
Visits & Interviews
Preparing For Your Visit
Do research on each college and university you’re
planning to visit and the department offering your college major. Being
informed will give you and your parents greater insight for a better
evaluation of the college. In addition, being informed will prepare
you for the interview with a college admission officer and a professor
who teaches classes in your major. Doing research will allow you
to ask more “intelligent” questions and get more detailed
answers.
To conduct research on colleges you plan to visit:
- Read college brochures and the "Prospective Students" portion
of the college's website.
- Take the Virtual Campus Tour provided on the college’s website.
- Learn what is expected of attending college students and some of
the general statistics about the college (number of undergraduate students,
special rules the college expects students to know, kinds of available
on-campus student social activities, etc.).
- Research the department offering your college major. Go online
and see the core classes offered, what are the elective classes offered
in that major, and other information.
- Research the faculty in the department offering your major to see
the number of faculty in the department and their qualifications.
- Read the résumés or biographies of the faculty in your
major’s department to see if there is a professor that teaches
a specialty of interest to you. For example, if you’re
planning to major in biology, maybe bioengineering or genetics sounds
especially interesting. The professors that teach these subjects
or the department head are the best department faculty for you to conduct
an interview with. They should be able to tell you about the
depth of learning you’ll experience by taking these specialty
classes, if there are opportunities for undergraduate research, and
the possibility of earning summer internships. You should work
to impress this professor so they can become an advocate for you when
you apply for admission.
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