When I was in high school, my mom and I went on several college visits.  At every visit, she took copious notes and I didn’t take any.  I remember sitting in an information session at one school, and suddenly my mom turned to me and said, “Why am I doing this?  We’re here for you; you should be the one taking notes.”  I replied, “Well, you seem to be doing a pretty good job of it.”  And that was that.  She went back to taking notes, and I continued not to take any.

Now, when I visit schools as a college consultant, I take very detailed notes.  Of course, I’m not looking at colleges to potentially attend myself, but rather to learn about them and be able to share that knowledge with my students.  But there’s a happy medium between writing nothing and trying to write down everything you hear on a college visit, and all students should take some notes at every school they visit.

You might be thinking, “Why do I have to take notes on a college visit?  It’s not a class; I’m not going to be tested on the material later.”  True, but taking notes will help you remember what you learned about a school and what you liked and didn’t like about it, and that will aid you in making an informed decision about where to apply and eventually, which college to attend.  Additionally, if you have to write any “Why Us?” essays for the colleges you apply to, your notes will come in handy.

The more schools you visit, the more difficult it will become to remember what stood out to you on each campus and its pros and cons.  When you attend an information session and go on a tour, focus on taking notes about what’s important and relevant to you; for example, if you’re not interested in engineering, you don’t need to write anything about the engineering program.  Before your visit, think about what you most want to learn about the school, and then take notes about those things.

You don’t even need to bring pen and paper with you; you can take notes on your phone!  And, if you’re a visual learner, you can take some photos to help you remember what you saw.

In addition to taking notes during the visit, take some time to reflect on it afterwards, and write down your thoughts.  I ask my students to complete a college visit reflection form each time they go to a campus.  Its questions include the following:

  • What were your impressions of the campus’s appearance and facilities?   Is this a place where you’d want to spend four years?
  • What were your impressions of the academic opportunities?   Were there any unique opportunities that you want to remember?
  • What were your impressions of the sports/extracurricular activities?  Are there sports/activities that you’re excited about getting involved in?
  • What were your favorite things about this college?
  • What were your least favorite things?

Although many parents engage their children in post-visit discussions that include questions like those above, it’s still a good idea for students to write down their answers so they’ll have them to look back at.  On the visit itself, parents may want to take notes as well.  You may be more interested in tuition and financial aid, for example, and those are things your child is unlikely to pay close attention to and write down.  But don’t be like my mom and fall into the habit of taking notes FOR your student.  This should be their process, and they should be active participants in their college visits.

For more tips on college visits, see this blog post.