School is out. What’s your plan? A little swimming? A summer fling? Lazy summer nights?
Skip it!
Use your summer to kick the tires at a few colleges. There’s no better time than summer to take a road trip to check out campuses you’ve only read about and seen in catalogs. It’s summer for college students too, so many of the campuses will be a bit deserted, but you’ll still be able to get a good “feel” for the campus, the dorms, the classrooms, libraries, some of the professors and the surrounding cities and towns.
During the school year, the admissions offices at every college offer student-led tours, weekend visits and course audits. Most of this stuff is not available after May 31 because the students who lead and facilitate the tours and overnight visits have gone home for the summer.
Don’t despair. Summer programs abound. Many colleges offer summer “preview” programs, or summer institutes and weekend workshops for high school students and other prospective undergrads. These programs are generally focused on particular segments of students–minority or female students, or students interested in engineering–and designed to introduce students in the community to which they might belong if they attend the college. They are also, of course, great recruiting tools: There is nothing more seductive than spending the night in a drafty old building named after a rich dead guy, eating nondescript food in a dining hall that reminds you of your elementary school (remember standing in line with your plastic tray, your applesauce and your half-pint carton of chocolate milk?), staying up and out all night with people you barely know but feel amazingly close to, wearing your PJ’s to class, falling asleep in the “stacks” of an architecturally-stunning old library, and finding yourself among the lucky few who scored a seat in the classroom of the best professor in your major.
I attended several of these summer programs during my sophomore, junior and senior years. They gave me an up-close and personal preview of life at the colleges I was considering applying to. I also met cool people who ultimately became my friends once when I enrolled in college. Needless to say, I highly recommend attending a few of them.
Excited? Good.
Now, the bad news: If you haven’t already applied, you may not be able to get into the program of your choice at this late date. And, most of the programs are not free. In fact, some of them are very expensive.
I know. I know. You think I got you all excited for nothing. But, that’s not so; there are still plenty of colleges still accepting applicants. While they may not be your top-choice schools, they can still offer you valuable insight into college life. They can show you what you don’t like, which is as important as knowing what you do like when choosing a college.
More good news: Many of the programs offer financial aid (Apply early to get the most consideration).
Here are a few:
Now, allow me to further redeem myself by telling you that not finding a summer program is not the end of the world, or the summer. You can build your own summer campus tour.
Here’s how:
- Make a list of the colleges you are thinking of applying to
- If you have more than 10, whittle it down (that’s way too many!)
- Rank the colleges based on how badly you want to attend them (1=”My Absolute First Choice”)
- Review your top 5, crossing out any schools that you cannot visit this summer (either because they are too far away and your car won’t make it or because you can’t afford a plane ticket). You don’t have to give up on these schools; we’re just narrowing this summer’s campus tour list.
- If all of your top 5 are too far away, choose others from your top 10.
- Try to visit 3-5 colleges this summer
- Complete the “Build-Your-Own Summer College Tour” Worksheet
- Grab your best friend or mom or dad and hit the road!
