My brother is a senior in high school currently making his rounds on college tours and of course, my mom knows all the good questions to ask. Going on college tours with me a couple of years ago, she had no idea what to ask because I’m the oldest child and was the first to go off to college, and she had never gone to a four-year university so she had no background whatsoever. Now that I have almost two years of college under my belt and am working as a tour guide, I’ve made a list of the most important questions to ask on tours, and here are my top four!
- What are things you do or do not recommend bringing into your residence hall or apartment?
On many college websites, there are lists of recommended things to bring along with a list of things not to bring. But there are a lot of things that are not listed or are listed but not necessarily needed. It’s best to talk to students that have lived in either one of these places because they have a personal insight into what did and did not work for them in their living space.
- Are there any scholarships offered?
Scholarships are so so important because you want to save as much money as you can when it comes to paying for college including tuition, housing and dining, textbooks and more. Sometimes high school counselors will discuss scholarships and where to find them but do not discuss them by specific colleges. During college visits or tours, there are usually opportunities to talk to department heads or advisors which would be the perfect time to ask about scholarships for specific majors or extracurricular activities. They range from very specific to very general; there are always some for everybody!
- What are you involved in on campus?
One thing I remember really liking about my college tours is when students told me about what they were involved in. Hearing someone talk about how they are involved in school made me want to do the same. It also gives students ideas of things they can join and they might feel more welcome knowing that there is someone familiar with that club-extracurricular activity. Hearing students talk about the things they know and like can make the school seems more like a welcoming community
- How is the food, really?
Food from the residence halls is not known to be five-star quality but it really is a big deciding factor in committing to a school. Making sure the dining hall has options such as gluten-free or vegan is very important because, if you’re paying for a meal plan, you want to be able to utilize it! College students are generalized as broke because there are loans to pay for which means there is not a lot of extra money to get groceries or eat out all the time. Getting an honest opinion of the food on campus or in the residence halls can be a big factor in a lot of other things such as where you live on campus and what kind of meal plan you get.
High school juniors, seniors, university transfers, or anyone else going on college tours, I greatly encourage you to ask these questions. You will get a much better insight and better information about the school that you might not get normally, which could greatly impact your college decision. Good luck to everyone looking at colleges, this next chapter of your life is going to be a great one!
Take care,
Olivia Pribyl <3