As many upperclassmen begin to seriously think about their future,  they may attend college visits to get a better idea of how different college campuses work . A variety of De Soto High School seniors provided helpful tips for others to take into consideration.

Senior Lily Rodriguez recommends is to look into tuition fees when researching a university

“When I looked at Emporia, it was super affordable and I could see based on other colleges I considered that it was the easiest to probably get out of student loan debt,” senior Lily Rodriguez said. 

Because everyone has different preferences, size can also be a major factor in deciding what college is the best fit.

“For me, it was personally better to look at something that was smaller, and I know some people do better in bigger classes,” Rodriguez said. “I look at the size of the classroom because everyone has different abilities and academic strengths and weaknesses.”

Along with size, senior Corrine Daise, has been on numerous visits and recommends touring a campus while classes are in session.

“I think it’s best to go when there are people on [campus], because then you can see how busy campus would feel when you would be there for school,” Daise said. “I went somewhere over the summer and it was hard to tell how busy it [the school] would be.”

Scheduling visits on a school day can open more opportunities than just visualizing the crowding on  the campus.

“You get to observe what classes are like and actually pop your head in [to active classes] as long as you aren’t disrupting,” Rodriguez said. “You can look in and see how the professors interacted with the students.”

Something else that could make or break a college decision is the quality of  non-academic maybe a different word the university offers to students.

“I look to see if the dorms are nice or not, because I want to be able to live somewhere cool,” Daise said. 

While visiting a campus, Daise also thinks it’s very important to take the time to look at the rec center, dining halls and other amenities to make sure they are applicable to your possible college experience.

College visits can be a lot of information at once. These few helpful hints to keep in mind can make the process less overwhelming.