Questions to ask on your college tour

General

☐ Why did you choose this school?

☐ Are you happy here?

☐ What do you think makes this school special?

☐ What other schools did you look at and what makes yours different/better?

☐ What’s your typical day like?

☐ How is school pride?

☐ What has surprised you most about going to school here?

☐ What do you think are your school's strengths?

☐ What do you think are your school’s weaknesses?

☐ What would you like to see improved or changed?

☐ Is your school on a semester, trimester, or quarter system, and what are the pros and cons?

☐ Does your school feel big or small to you?

☐ What do you wish you had known before coming here?

Academics

☐ What majors are popular?

☐ What departments have the strongest reputations?

☐ What’s been your favorite class and why?

☐ In general, how have you found the quality of your professors?

☐ Who’s been your favorite professor and why?

☐ How accessible are professors to meet outside of class really?

☐ Are most of your classes taught by professors or teaching assistants?

☐ Were you able to take most of your first-choice classes?

☐ How do you find the workload: manageable or overwhelming?

☐ How many students were in your largest class?

☐ How many classes do you generally take per term?

☐ How easy is it to switch majors within your school?

☐ Are there a lot of required general education (GE) courses, and have you found them to be valuable?

☐ Are there any especially popular classes or must-have professors?

☐ What are the study and exam periods like?

Admissions

☐ Do you think demonstrated interest plays a role in the admission process?

☐ How important do you think your admissions interview was?

☐ Was your interview conducted by an admission officer or by an alumni/student?

☐ Did you declare a major when you applied?

☐ What do you think are the most competitive majors to be admitted to?

☐ Do you have any advice or tips for getting in?

For first year students

☐ What do you wish you had known going into freshman year?

☐ How easy was it to get to know people and make friends?

☐ Describe what freshman housing is like?

☐ How are first-year roommates assigned?

☐ What was your freshman roommate(s) like?

☐ Were you homesick and if so how did you deal with it?

☐ What would you have done differently to improve your freshman year?

☐ What’s orientation like, and after orientation what’s the best way to meet people?

☐ What would be your best advice for first-year students?

☐ Are there resources to support the transition for freshman students?

Choosing classes

☐ How do you choose classes?

☐ Is it hard to get the classes you want, do they fill up quickly?

☐ How much freedom do first-year students have in choosing courses?

☐ Do you have to take a lot of required, general education (GE) courses?

☐ How much room is there to take classes outside your major?

☐ Do you have any advice for picking classes/professors?

Academic support and advisement

☐ What is academic advising like and is it easy to meet with your adviser?

☐ How helpful did you find your freshman year advisor?

☐ Overall, how satisfied are you with academic advising?

☐ Have you used tutoring services or the writing center and if so how were they?

☐ Do students organize study groups or online discussion forums?

Campus life

☐ In general, how would you describe the atmosphere on campus?

☐ How safe do you feel on campus?

☐ Is it easy to get around campus and what do most students do (walk, skateboard, bike, bus, car, etc.)?

☐ In general, do you find the campus attractive and well maintained?

☐ Are the facilities (classrooms, dorms, dining halls, etc.) clean and in good condition?

☐ What's your favorite spot on campus and why?

☐ What’s your favorite outdoor space on campus?

☐ Where are the best places to study on campus?

☐ What do you do when you're not in class?

☐ What’s campus generally like on the weekends and do students tend to stick around or go home?

☐ What are some big campus events, like homecoming or alumni weekend?

☐ What are some of the school's traditions?

☐ What are the “hot-button” issues currently on campus?

☐ Do most students have cars?

☐ How's the Wi-Fi around campus?

The area and community

☐ Do you like living here (this part of the country and city/town) and why?

☐ How often do you go off campus and what for?

☐ What’s the school’s relationship with the local community?

☐ Do you feel like it’s a safe area and what kind of safety measures are in place?

☐ Is it easy to get around without a car?

☐ What transportation options does the school provide?

☐ Do students work/volunteer in the community?

Student body

☐ In general, how would you describe the students here?

☐ Before coming here, did you have a preconceived notion of what the students here would be like? And if so, has that turned out to be true or false?

☐ Does it feel like a large percentage of the students come from the same geographic area?

☐ Does it feel like a large percentage of the students come from the same socioeconomic background?

☐ Do you feel like there is a lot of diversity here?

☐ In your opinion, what personal qualities do you need to succeed here?

☐ In your opinion, what sort of students might not be happy here?

☐ Have you found that most students are friendly and welcoming?

☐ Are there a lot of legacy students here?

☐ Does it seem like there are a lot of international students? What countries do they come from?

☐ How did you meet your friends?

☐ What do students do for fun?

☐ Do you feel there’s a lot of school spirit and pride here?

Housing

☐ What are the different on-campus housing options (singles, suites, apartments, etc.)?

☐ What are the reputations of the different dorms?

☐ Was your resident advisor (RA) accessible and helpful to you?

☐ Is there special-interest housing (major, interests, backgrounds, sober living, etc.)?

☐ Do most students live on campus all four years or move off-campus?

☐ What are some popular off-campus housing options?

☐ In general, how expensive is off-campus housing?

Food

☐ How’s the dining hall food (quality/variety)?

☐ Are the dining halls open early/late?

☐ Are there a lot of places to eat on campus and where is your favorite?

☐ What are the off-campus food options and what are some of your favorites?

☐ Do most students have meal plans?

☐ Do the dining halls serve food for special dietary requirements?

☐ Are there grocery stores nearby?

☐ Do the dorms have common kitchens?

Social life

☐ What's the social scene like?

☐ How pervasive are drugs and alcohol?

☐ Where do students go out off-campus?

☐ Do you have a lot of contact with students from other local schools?

☐ What do students do if they’re not into “partying”?

☐ What do students under 21 do for fun?

☐ Where do students generally go for spring break?

Greek life

☐ Are there fraternities and sororities at your school?

☐ How would you describe the presence of Greek life? Do a lot of students belong to fraternities or sororities?

☐ Does Greek life dominate the social scene?

☐ What is the rush/initiation process like?

☐ Is participating in Greek life expensive?

☐ Beyond social Greek organizations, are their other types (academic, service, professional, etc.)?

☐ Where do students generally go for spring break?

Clubs and activities

☐ What clubs and organizations are you involved in?

☐ Which clubs and organizations are popular?

☐ When you first came to the school, how did you get involved?

☐ Is there an involvement fair to learn about and join different clubs and organizations?

☐ What are some of the career-oriented clubs and organizations that you know of?

☐ What are some of the service-oriented clubs and organizations that you know of?

☐ What options are there for club and intramural sports?

Mental and physical health

☐ What advice do you have for maintaining your mental and physical health while at school?

☐ What health and mental wellness services are available on campus?

☐ How accessible and helpful are health services?

☐ In general, do the students seem happy and healthy here?

☐ What recreational fitness facilities are there and how are they?

Jobs, internships and careers

☐ Have you used the career services center and was it helpful?

☐ Do many students work on or off-campus? How easy is it to find a part-time job?

☐ Are internships and co-op programs available? If so, how do you find them?

☐ Are there employer recruiting events on campus?

☐ How easy is it to find summer jobs and other kinds of work through your school?

☐ Are there research opportunities with faculty available?

☐ What’s your impression of the alumni network?

Finances

☐ Do you receive financial aid, and if so how was the application process?

☐ About how much money do you spend beyond room and board and tuition/fees each month?

☐ Do you have any advice or tips for finances and budgeting?

NCAA athletics

☐ Are sports popular at this school, and if so which ones?

☐ What are the sporting events like here?

☐ What has been your experience as a student athlete?

☐ As a student athlete, how do you balance sports and school?

Study abroad

☐ Did you study abroad? And if so, how was your experience?

☐ Is it popular to study abroad?

☐ What advice do you have about studying abroad?