College Tour Essentails

After recently going to look at a bunch of schools, I thought it would be a good idea to share what I wore and brought with me on the tours. I am the oldest, so going into the college process I only really know what to expect based on what I have heard from friends. Do I bring a bag on the tour? Should I take notes? Do you need to fill out forms when you get there? These were all very basic questions I had before going on my fist tour. For me reading about the college process on other blogs has been really helpful, so now that I have a little bit of it under my belt I thought I would share my two sense.

On all of my tours I wore jeans, a basic knit tee shirt, and my barbour jacket. There is no specified dress code for tours, some people were just in nike shorts and t-shirt and others were fairly dressed up. I recommend wearing something you would typically wear to school, unless you have an interviewed scheduled, in which you should wear something a bit dressier. Also, I highly recommend wearing a pair of comfortable shoes. You will be doing a ton of walking (I averaged 5+ miles a day, shoutout to the health app!) and having your feet be in a ton of pain is the last thing you will want. I wore my converse everyday and was perfectly comfortable! I threw my sunglasses in my bag at the last minute and was so glad that I had them with me as it was very sunny. You really can't see the campus or your tour guide if the sun is glaring in your face!

As for things I actually brought with me, I tried to keep it minimal. I did not bring a purse with me, however my mom did, so if the school handed out any papers I just put them in there. It was pretty warm the weekend I was touring, so a water bottle was 100% a must. At most schools before you go on the walking tour of the campus they have an informational session. Bring a notebook and pen with you to take notes on anything useful during this session about the school, their application process, or any additional questions. I initially wasn't going to bring a notebook, but I am so glad I did because if you take notes on your phone it will look like you are on your phone texting while someone is speaking to you.

People always told me that schools start to blur together after a bunch of visits and I didn't understand how until after I saw five different colleges in four days. Try to a take a bunch of pictures at each campus so you can go back and remember them all!  I primarily used my phone to take pictures during the tour as I didn't want to lug around my camera. However, I did walk around the campuses a little bit after the tours with my mom and took pictures with my real camera then. What do you bring on college tours?

xoxo,

Catherine

Preppy by the Sea