What to Expect When You're Expecting… to Visit a College Campus

By Sadie Carr
@YCsadiec

I have been on many college visits and I felt awkward and sick on all of them. I can even tell you that I peed about 12 times on one of them... It happens.
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At least now I’m an expert on college visits. So, here are some tips that I have created based off of my personal failures… I mean experiences, on how to survive a campus visit/prepare for a campus visit.

The Basics: What to wear

I realized after my first visit that college students are kind of bums! I wore a dress to a visit and I was surrounded by other people wearing leggings and sweats. I felt so out of place and all I wanted was to be comfortable and blend in. So, wear something that you are confident and comfortable in, yet something that represents who you are. College students aren’t going to look at you and be like “wow she looks lazyyy…” or “dang she’s a little overdressed…” So just stick with what YOU want to wear and how you want to represent yourself. As soon as you start college, people will know you for YOU and not what you wore on the college visit.


Bring at least one parent/guardian!

When I was ready to go on a college visit, I wanted to go alone. I wanted to meet people I would possibly be going to school with, without my mom by my side. I wanted to feel like an adult, but I realized that choosing a college is a big decision that our parents want to be a part of. They want to see the school that they could possibly be sending their child off to.

P.S. My mother swooped in and saved me multiple times while attempting to talk to adults. Thanks mom, you the real MVP.


It is going to be uncomfortable…

I mean for me, I was EXTREMELY uncomfortable because I drank a whole TRENTA Starbucks iced coffee on the way to my visit #rookiemistake. Basically, the coffee went straight through me and I had to pee like TWELVE times as we walked around the college! But, for normal people, college visits might be uncomfortable because if you think about it, you’re visiting someone else’s home where everyone is family. And, you’re not quite part of that family yet. The best thing to do during uncomfortable moments is to smile and look at life through their perspective. Ask yourself if this is the family you want to be a part of.


And finally, the best mindset to have going into a college visit, is to look at everything that is new and ask yourself if you can see yourself living there.

​When I went on visits, my perspective of ALL the schools was that they were so different than the life I was used to, so therefore I didn’t like them. But every college is going to be different than anything you’ve experienced. So, when you look at colleges, understand that it is a different lifestyle but ask yourself if that college reflects the lifestyle that you want to be a part of in the future.