For high school seniors, the arrival of college acceptance letters brings relief and excitement. But if students aren’t sure where they want to enroll, it can also bring stress. Attending admitted students days might help prospective students make up their mind, experts say.
Many colleges hold one or more of these events in the spring to give teens and their families another chance to experience the campus and ask any remaining questions they have about academics, student services and other topics.
[Discover three reasons families should attend admitted students days.]
“The college search process can be a blur,” said Kim Harvey, director of admissions at SUNY–Geneseo, via email. Admitted students days give prospective students a chance to focus on specifics so they can make an informed college decision, she said.
During admitted students days, families can often take a campus tour, eat lunch in a dining hall and meet with representatives from academic departments. Students may also get to sit in on a class.
At each of Geneseo’s six Accepted Knight’s Day events this spring, prospective students and their parents eat breakfast with current students as well as faculty and staff members, Harvey says. This allows families to get answers to questions about the school in a small-group setting, she says.
To help prospective students maximize their time on campus, U.S. News asked college officials to share some useful questions to ask during a college’s admitted students day.
1. What is your school’s freshman retention rate? “I think it’s really important for students and families to ask the places they’re considering, ‘How successful have other students been at that place?'” says David Kuskowski, director of undergraduate admissions at Clemson University in South Carolina.
One measure of success is retention rate, he says. An institution’s freshman retention rate indicates how many students return to campus for their sophomore year.
Another success-related measure to ask about is a school’s graduation rate, Kuskowski says. This metric matters because prospective students and their families want to know how likely it is that their investment in college is going to pay off, he says.
2. Who teaches undergraduate classes? It’s easier for undergrads to get more personalized attention from faculty at some institutions than others.
At colleges or universities with large student bodies, graduate students who serve as teaching assistants, or TAs, may teach some courses, Harvey said. “You never see the professor,” she added.
[Explore the best schools that focus on undergraduate teaching.]
3. How does your college help prepare students for careers or graduate school? To dig a little deeper, prospective students can ask if and when a college integrates career development into a student’s education, said Susan Brennan, associate vice president of university career services at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, via email.
For instance, at Bentley, almost all first-year students take an introductory seminar on career development that touches on writing a resume, developing an elevator pitch and other topics. This course is part of a four-year plan to help students build job-search skills, according to the school’s website.
[Read how colleges are taking steps to prepare students for careers.]
4. What is the job placement rate for graduates? Getting a sense of how graduates perform in different industries can help prospective students determine if a college will best serve them, experts say.
Students who are interested in eventually applying to graduate school can ask how a college’s recent grads have fared in that process.
A college’s career services office as well as individual academic departments are good places to turn for information on student outcomes, Kuskowski says.
5. What has your experience as a student been like at this school? Prospective students should look for an opportunity to ask current undergrads who are not college tour guides about their time on campus, Leigh Weisenburger, dean of admission and financial aid at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, said via email.
“Ask about a favorite class, clubs, events, what they do in the surrounding area,” she said, “anything that will give you a glimpse into the day-to-day experience at the school.”
6. Is this the best fit for me? This isn’t necessarily a question to pose to a current student or faculty member, but it’s an important one for prospective students to consider as they take in a college’s atmosphere, says Thomas Redman, vice president of admission and financial aid at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts.
This question will be answered as students walk and talk and observe during their visit to campus, he says.
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6 Questions to Ask at College Admitted Students Days originally appeared on usnews.com
