Insights from Senior Associate Director of Admissions Ben Douglass
Even with our increasingly digital world and the growing library of virtual offerings from boarding schools, campus visits remain a vital aspect of the boarding school search process. You’ll be choosing a school where you’ll spend your high school years, so making the extra effort to visit in person is an investment with powerful returns. Visiting school campuses not only enables you to meet key members of the community, it also allows you to witness each school’s community in action and to feel the atmosphere on campus.
As you move through the search process, here are some tips and suggestions to consider:
- Communicate with the schools’ admissions offices: booking your visit in advance allows admissions offices to give you the best experience possible and relaying your interests and hobbies allows us to customize your experience more;
- Research ahead of time: doing some preliminary research prior to your campus visit can go a long way to making your visit more effective. This will give you a sense of what the campus looks like, who you’ll meet, and what the school community values--all of which can help you take in the school community with a more discerning eye;
- Be yourself! Your boarding school search is all about finding the best boarding school for YOU. Being yourself not only allows the school to get to know you more authentically, it also makes it easier for you to see if the school fits you. Ultimately, you’ll be more relaxed (and more observant);
- Take some time to reflect and record: visiting school campuses can feel like a confusing whirlwind of green quads, classroom buildings, and athletic fields. It is important to take some quiet time after each visit to jot down notes, observations, and impressions. This way, you’ll be able to keep the visits and experiences separate in your mind when you’re finishing your application essays or trying to decide between acceptance offers.
Most campus visits will include an interview with an admissions representative, and that interview can be one of the most stressful parts of the process for students. Interviews are opportunities for admissions reps to get to know students and for students to learn more about the school community. Ask questions that will help you distinguish one school community from another, and always try to ask questions that either cannot be found with a simple review of the school’s website or that dig deeper into programs that you care most about.
The best interviews feel like easy conversations, so take a deep breath, relax, and just be yourself! You’ll do great!
