Stand out to get discovered.
At some point in high school, many students consider visiting colleges to help find their future college. At Student Profile Pro, a student branding agency, we know campus visits can be an overwhelming experience. To help you feel comfortable on campus, we’d like to share some tips on things you can do to make your visits worthwhile and highlight them on your student digital profile.
- Plan your visit early so you can book an official campus tour. Campus guides are well-trained in the art of answering questions and backwards-walking, so take an official tour if you can.
- Suggest a marginally embarrassing question for your family to ask before the tour, so they won’t remember to ask the extremely embarrassing questions they thought up all by themselves.
- Consider visiting over your spring or fall break, so you get to see the campus during the school year when things are in full swing, rather than during winter break, when many campuses are only occupied by snow and/or ghosts.
- Get a sense of what’s happening on campus by browsing bulletin boards, exploring on-campus events, and interviewing a friendly campus squirrel.
- Do the dining halls have unlimited pizza? Can you put Lucky Charms in the waffle batter? Are there sporks available? How’s the cereal selection? Eat a meal at a dining hall to find out!
- Listen to student conversations at a coffee shop on campus. You’re likely to learn a ton about that school’s student body. Bonus points for ordering a specialty drink that convinces the café you’re a local.
- Visit a campus library and tuck a note into an obscure book, message-in-a-bottle style, for someone to find later. If you end up picking that school, it’ll be a nice surprise for you. Or a friend. Or a robotic student from the future!
- Once your tour is over, spend some time rushing across the quad, imagining you’re booking it to make it to your next class on time. Even if you’re the timeliest of individuals, it can’t hurt to practice a little for the real thing.
- Take photos. Not only do they serve as reminders of the tour, but you can use them to build connections with people you met by posting them on your student social media profile and tagging them. These pictures serve as tangible proof of your meeting, and if you end up choosing the school, you already have some friends. And may be, also discoverable by the college admissions committee. Build your student digital profile, your network and fun experiences–win, win, win!
- At the end of the day or week, take a moment to reflect on your visit through a blog or post. Write down some observations on the things that still stand out after time has passed—things you liked and didn’t like, and questions that remain.
Giving yourself some time to process and reflect helps draw out the features of the school that are important to you, and putting these reflections into writing helps keep different schools from blending together. Future you will be grateful! Writing and engaging with the individuals you met and the school’s community in general may leave a favourable digital amplification that may be useful in the future as you apply to the school.
We hope you enjoy the opportunity to explore different schools. Remember to approach each visit with an open mind—you never know when you might find your match.
Don’t forget to share your visits and experiences on social media under your real name. They help form mutual connections and emphasize your unique learnings in each visit. If you’re unsure of how to begin building your student social media profile, Student Profile Pro’s team of student profile and branding, are the right choice to start building your digital profile, regardless of where you are in your academic journey.
Make These Campus Visits Count
College campus visits are a powerful way to test the vibes, explore your interests, and prepare for the future. They help you clarify your path, match your personality, and may even introduce you to new information you didn’t know about the school and environment.
If you’re looking to showcase your experience and your thoughts effectively, consider working with a professional team. Student Profile Pro is the world’s leading agency in student profiling and branding. They specialize in helping high school students highlight their unique journey, making them discoverable to colleges and programs that are the right fit. Stand out. Get discovered. Start now with Student Profile Pro.
Your story. Their spotlight.
