If you're a rising high school senior, chances are by now you at least have an idea of the colleges you're interested in. At this point you probably have a broad list of schools you're considering for any number of reasons. Chances are you may have even visited a campus or two during your junior year. If you haven't though, there's no better time to start than the summer before your senior year.
Visiting the colleges you are interested in is truly the best way to decide which ones are a right fit for you. Seeing the place where you could potentially be spending the next four years (five if your an architect) will really help when you decide where to apply and ultimately decide where to enroll. Looking back on my own college search, I know it was my summer visits to various colleges that really helped to narrow down my decision on where to apply.
Planning for your visit ahead of time is important to getting the most out of the experience. On a first visit to a campus set aside time to tour campus, attend an information session and interview with an admission counselor.
Here at Carnegie Mellon we offer
tours to prospective students four times a day. The hour long tour is led by current students. The tour is not only an opportunity to see the campus and the buildings that make it up, but also a chance to get your questions about student life answered by the experts - the students themselves. In addition to the hour long campus tour, we offer a residence hall tour once a day that goes through Stever House.
An
information session at Carnegie Mellon will give you a good overview of the university's history, programs and important information about the application process and financial aid. The information session is presented by an admission counselor and runs for about an hour with time for questions at the end.
An
interview with an admission counselor is one of the best ways to get one-on-one information about the admission process at Carnegie Mellon, the academic programs, financial aid and anything else you're wondering about. Interviews at Carnegie Mellon are really another opportunity for you and your family to ask questions. They last up to 45 minutes. During that time the counselor will ask you some questions. There won't be an tough questions, so no need to be nervous. The counselor really just wants to find out a little bit about why you're interested in Carnegie Mellon and what your interests are. It's a good idea to have some specific questions prepared to ask the counselor before your interview so you don't have to think of anything on the spot.
A tour, an information session and an interview are a good way to round out a visit to Carnegie Mellon. To really take advantage of any visit though you should spend some time exploring the area around campus as well. Just as much as Carnegie Mellon will be your home for four years, so will the city of Pittsburgh. So it is important to get at least some feel for the neighborhoods around Carnegie Mellon and some other parts of the city if you have the time.
