Admissions Strategy #3:

5 Things You Did Not Know to Ask During Your College Visit

You probably already know the basics of what to ask when you are visiting prospective colleges—majors offered, costs, how many students attend, etc. But there are a lot of questions you may have never thought to ask that can give you a better perspective of whether or not this college is really going to be a match: socially, academically and financially. Is this a place that you can grow, learn, and be happy and successful during your four years and beyond into your early career? So, bring this list of questions on your next visit—you may come back from that campus with a truer sense of what it would be like to be a student there and have a little more assurance that THIS school will be able to meet your goals.

1. What is the retention rate of college freshmen?

A key way of knowing if freshmen are happy with their college choice is whether or not they decide to come back for their sophomore year. How many students a college “retains” (i.e., comes back again for another year) is their retention rate. If a 95% percent of the students come back, that means they are happy with their college choice. You may want to consider the “retention rate” the “student happiness quotient.”

2. What percentage of students have internships during college? 

Gaining work experience in college is important—many students have internships. Ideally, most students will have some sort of internship experience, and career services offices on campuses should have this information. Some schools have internships built right into their programs as mandatory parts of their curriculum. If you have a strong desire to participate in an internship you might want to check out the programs at: Belmont College, Bentley College, Elon University, Northeastern University, to name a few.     

3. What is the employment rate of graduating seniors within a year of graduation?

Nowadays more families are considering the return on investment in a college education. College career services offices often track the employment rate of their graduates. A college with a good rate of the majority of students attaining employment after graduation is a good sign for your return on investment.

4. Where is the nearest grocery or convenience store?

You may be studying and have a craving for a particular type of snack – Trader Joe’s Soup Dumplings anyone? –  that you can only find at a grocery store or specialty store. Find out how close the nearest grocery store/pharmacy/bank/ is and if it is within walking distance or if the campus offers a shuttle service so you can pick up provisions for your midnight study sessions.

5. Ask a student: What is your least favorite thing about being a student here? 

Nearly everyone asks, “What is your favorite thing about being a student here?” but that is not the most telling question. In fact, it is the opposite. The question, “What is your least favorite thing about being a student here?” will give you much greater insight into campus life at that institution. If a student’s least favorite thing is that the food options could be better, that is a pretty good sign that they are happy with the institution academically and socially. If the student says the worst thing is the terrible professors, for example, then you know it might not be the college you will want to attend.

So, when making a list of questions for your campus visit, add these not-so-obvious questions to your typical list to narrow down the search for the best college for you.