TCVJ EXTRAS
You (might) forget most of your campus tour by
tomorrow.
That's not a knock on your memory. It's just how memory works, but I want you to actually remember your visit in three months.
Use the free tools on this page before your visit and on the way back home!
The reason campus visits blur together
A researcher named Hermann Ebbinghaus mapped this out in the 1880s, and the finding has held up ever since: without deliberate act of review, most of what we learn goes away fast. A large share is gone within a day and by the end of the week, most of it is gone.
Hermann
Now picture a college tour. Ninety minutes of walking. A tour guide talking the whole time. An info session. A dining hall. Six buildings that sort of look alike. Then a drive, a hotel and another campus the next morning.
You probably won't remember the school with the good study spaces, but you're going to remember whether it was hot outside.
There are 2 ways to beat this:
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Write it down while you're on campus. Not tomorrow, not later. During the tour, or immediately after.
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Talk about it within a few hours. Saying something out loud is a form of review, and review is what moves a detail from "gone by Friday" to "still there in November."
Better questions than "Is there a Chick-Fil-A on campus?"
Your tour guide is trained to answer questions you have. The questions you should be asking (and are worth your time, energy and money) are the ones you can't find on the website.
Questions like what a normal day-in-the-life feels like, student resources when times get tough and how to find the best opportunities on campus.
I've broken these out by topic and what may interest you. Click each link to read its blog post:
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General questions to ask: All about culture and academics
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Questions about disability services and the writing center: Get the accommodations and academic support to help you succeed.
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Questions about mental health and career services: Understand health and wellness offerings, and post-grad opportunities.
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Questions about First-Gen student experience and advocacy: Belonging is important, and so is advocating for yourself.
Jot a few down in the notes section of your journal so you are ready! The free College Visit Prep Kit below has a starter set that goes deeper.
Thank you!
Before You Go...
(FREE Download!)
So often families visit first and figure out what they are looking for later. that's backward and why visits end with students still confused.
You can't tell whether a campus is a good fit until you've decided what "fit" means for you and that's a conversation to have before going on a campus tour.
This free College Visit Prep Kit download features two tools to help you get ready:
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My College Wish List
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A 20-minute exercise that turns "I don't know" into a list of things that matter to you which you can look for when you visit a campus.
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The Quick Reference Guide
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The vocabulary nobody explains first. Learn the different types of institutions, understand sticker price vs. net price vs. what you'll actually pay and questions to ask along the way!
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Once you know what you're looking for, the next question is whether a campus has it, and whether you'll still know the answer three months and five campuses later. That's the journal's job.
Get the free College Visit Prep Kit now! Delivered instantly. No spam — just the prep kit, plus the occasional useful thing about visits and deadlines.
What About After the Visit?
See the difference your program makes.
Post-visit car conversations is where your thoughts get locked in. Here are a few starter questions and there are no wrong answers.
Of course, parents can chime in, too, but the student should be the lead response.
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On a scale of 1 to 10, how much did you feel like you belonged there? What would move it up one point?
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Who did you see on that campus that you could picture yourself becoming?
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What is one thing you liked that you didn't expect to like?
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If this were the only school that accepted you, how would you feel?
These are reflective and insightful questions similar to what you will get from College Bound and Bold conversation cards. A deck of 50+ conversation topics that are all about teen self-discovery. Great for car rides, dinner table, ice breakers and more!
Going on a Group Visit?
If you are a TRIO or GEAR UP advisor, an independent educational consultant or a counselor taking dozens of students of a bus trip, the free College Visit Prep Kit is yours to print and use with your students. No permission needed.
There's also a co-branded and white-label version of the journal with your organization's logo and colors, and a full visit curriculum if you need something more structured then a worksheet.
