Newswise — As the leaves change, temperatures cool down, and football teams take to the field, high school juniors and seniors will take to the road to visit colleges in hopes of finding the perfect school.
It is a process that admissions experts say should not be taken lightly by students or their parents and guardians.
"Research is showing that now more than ever we're seeing campus visits become a large part of the selection process for students," said Stephen Barnett, associate director of admissions and associate registrar at the University of Kentucky.
"Students and parents should not disregard the campus visit, because it is extremely telling of any university."
Often the process can seem a bit overwhelming for both parents and students, but there are specific tips that can help both groups through this popular rite of passage. Many of these tips center on what happens before the visit even takes place.
"Setting up a campus visit is just as important as the visit itself," said Brian Troyer, director of the University of Kentucky Visitor Center. "A lot of times people wait until the last minute, and they are really not prepared with the questions they should be asking. Also, go ahead and set up the campus visit as early you can, then you are able to not only see the campus on the tour, but a lot of times you will be able to set up appointments with a professor or an adviser."
Troyer also suggests trying to schedule visits on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, because there are usually fewer visitors on those days, so students will have a more personal experience on campus.
Another tip to consider before leaving for the actual visit is what type of shoe you will wear.
"One important thing that many people forget to bring is comfortable walking shoes," said Troyer. "You are probably going to be walking around a campus, no matter how big or small it is."
The other task students should complete beforehand involves thinking about what their ideal university would look, be, and feel like and then coming up with questions that will help them decide if the university will fit that description.
"Sometimes those current students will be able to tell you some inside secrets about the university, maybe some special aspects of being a student that others may not be aware of," Troyer said.
But students are not the only ones who need to do their homework before visiting a college or university.
"When parents are taking their students through the college selection process, they should come prepared with questions they want answered, said Laura Glover, director of recruitment at the University of Kentucky. "I think a lot of times, especially with parents who may not have gone to college, they just don't ask questions that they might need answered."
Once on campus, students and parents should not give in to the temptation to be passive and simply listen to the given information. Rather, experts say it is best to actively participate in a dialogue with admissions representatives and especially with the tour guides, who are most often current students.
"It is not until you have a real conversation with someone who is a current student at that university that you can really get to know what the pulse of the university really is," Troyer said.
Often finding that pulse and figuring out whether or not they would fit into that environment is the difference-maker as students decide where they will spend the next stage of their lives. For more information on the visit process at the University of Kentucky, go to: http://www.uky.edu/VisitorCenter/.
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