Stepping on a new campus is supposed to be exciting. Exciting because this is a first step to independence. Exciting because you’re finally in control. Exciting because this is going to be really, really fun.
Oftentimes these moments are bogged down by the heavy expectations we set for ourselves. Further anchor that with societal pressures, parental “guidance” and the constant reminder of over-achieving classmates, and you have a breakdown in the making.
The New York Times published an article in the travel section on Thursday titled “5 Ways to Make College Tours Fun Instead of Grueling,” outlining tips on how to enliven the experience that many high school upperclassmen dread.
Beyond providing snippets of advice like, “Get off campus to really experience the area!” the article provided very little insight into the pressure that students feel when deciding their “academic future.” One expert did hint at the pressure that goes along with visits, perhaps even slightly encouraging it.
Custom College Visits founder Janice Caine encouraged starting as young as you’d like, by turning to see how much your child can handle: “You don’t necessarily want to pressure them, but I think it’s a good time if you have a school that is local to go see them and get an idea of what it’s like to be on a college campus and what kinds of questions people are asking.”
College visits are truly reflective of the college admissions process as a whole. Here at Boston University, we tallied 65,000 visitors to campus in 2011, according to the Times. Last year, that number skyrocketed to 80,000. After undergoing a major renovation in 2014, the Alan and Sherry Leventhal Center now greets prospective students with panoramic windows overlooking the Charles River — it’s one of BU’s prime pieces of real estate.
The fact of the matter, however, is that liking or not liking a school could come down to the weather that day. If it’s raining, chances are you don’t care for that school as highly as that spring afternoon you spent touring another school.
The amount of time and money that is focused each year on helping young students make the best possible decision for their future is limitless. A visit should be just that — informative and casual. It is not an interview. It is not an application. Yet they are treated as such, with forms filled out that sometimes directly correlate with an application to said university.
This policy in particular hurts the applicants who do not have the resources to visit a school before application, or even before acceptance of admission. Correlating visits with applications, and allowing these to count toward a potential student’s chance of acceptance, only further disadvantages the disadvantaged.
Admissions counselors, teachers and parents always remind students that the process is “so subjective” and “incredibly random” and anything, really, that will calm us down. But for a system that is supposed to be merit based, applicants feel the need to present the best possible version of themselves. This includes college visits, despite the sacrifice.
Enrolling in a higher education institution has just gotten more difficult as time has gone on. There are no longer many alternatives to higher education, as proven with the shock Malia Obama garnered with her gap year announcement, making the stakes that much higher.
A college visit should be exciting. Leave the stress behind when you step on campus. Laugh at the guide’s cheesy jokes and just look forward to what is ahead, because no matter what it is, it’s going to be really, really fun.
