Finding the right college is complicated. You have to look at the programs, the majors and minors, the area around the school, housing and so much more, but when all that is said and done, the real challenge starts. You may only have one school that fits what you want, but what if you have two or three schools that can fulfill what you want, what do you base your decision off of then? I have come to that point myself. I really have little to work off of, and so I chose to do the only thing that I could think of: I decided to visit both of my top choices, Colorado State University in Fort Collins and Purdue, in Lafayette, Indiana.

Colorado State was my first visit of the two, which was recommended by a professor. My father and I decided to fly out after having organized multiple tours throughout the campus. I flew up Thursday afternoon after school let out. My father flew in from California and we met at the airport before driving up to Fort Collins. We drove up Thursday night, and stayed the night at a hotel.

The next morning our day of tours began. At 9:40 we met with the first group, the Honors College administration staff to look into what the benefits for being in the Honors College vs. regular college would be. This culminated in a small tour of the academic village (Honors area.) Then, I was off to the next meeting, this time with a professor whom we had contacted previously. This was done so that we could gain an insight to the program for which I was registered (Biomedical Engineering) and also to see how classes and research functioned. This led right up to the time where we were to meet with the head of the biomedical department and covered with him some intricacies of the 5 year program that Colorado State offers.

After a short lunch, we launched right back in, first a general tour of the university with a college student much like the “classic tour” and then, a personalized tour of the mechanical and biomedical engineering departments with a current engineering student. After all these tours and getting to see most of campus walking around, you gain a much greater insight into the university and the students that go there, also by making contact with professors, you get inside information about the university, and if you do go, you get a closer relationship with a professor which may come in handy at a later time.

Generally, visiting a campus gives a certain impression and one should always see that the tours are showing the best side of a campus, always ask questions, especially about the things that aren’t shown on the tour, but above all, visit, visit the campus, visit with professors and students, gain a feel for the university and set yourself a goal for how much you want to know about the university. Though it may be too late to apply to many colleges, visit the ones you have applied too, meet with the admissions staff, maybe they can help your case, maybe you can help yourself get in by sending a thank you card to the admissions staff, but always take the time to personally view the universities that you are considering so you can have a good idea about what you are going to be getting yourself into.