The School Visit

One of the aspects of the admission process that I spend the most time answering questions about is the first school visit. When working with families, I often refer to this as the first or preliminary visit. The distinction as first/preliminary visit is important because in most instances a family will re-visit a school later in the admission process before finalizing their enrollment decision. 

Goals for the preliminary visit

In most cases the visit will occur at the start of the admission process and, other than completing an inquiry form, may be the first interaction you will have with anyone at the school. Given that, it's important to have measured expectations and understand what the goal of the visit should be from both the visiting family and school’s perspective. 

From both the perspective of the family and the school, the purpose of the first/primary visit is NOT to create certainty about whether or not this is the school where the student will attend. The goal of the primary visit is to help you decide if this is a school you want to apply to, not to decide if this is the school you will enroll at. For the school, their goal is to learn some information about the applicant and her/his family, that they will not learn written application materials that will be submitted later in the process and to encourage the student to complete the admission process in its entirety. 

If you do ultimately choose to apply to the school, and you are admitted, all schools provide accepted students the opportunity to revisit later in the spring. These “Revisit Days” or “Accepted Student Days,” as they are often referred to, occur in March and April and will include a comprehensive program consisting of class visits, panel discussions and clarifying conversations with coaches. If a family chooses to “revisit” a school after being admitted, the goal at that point will be to leave with enough information to make an enrollment decision. For schools, these revisit day programs are designed to enroll as many of the admitted students as possible (Schools refer to the number of the admitted students who choose to enroll as their “yield” and Revisit/Accepted Student Days are a critical component in a school achieving a high yield).  

What to expect on a primary visit

While there are some subtle differences between how individual schools manage the preliminary visit for a family, for the most part they will be relatively consistent at most secondary schools.  

Most school visits will begin with the family arriving on campus at checking in at the admission office. Following some brief introductions with members of the admission staff, the family will be sent off on a tour of the campus with a current student (some schools will tour the student and parents together; others will have separate tour guides for the student and parents). Normally, schools will make an effort to try and pair you with a tour guide who has something in common with the visiting student (ex. they share the same athletic interests, are from the same hometown, region or country, would be in or entered into the school in the same grade you are applying to). The campus tours typically last between 45 minutes and hour and in addition to providing you with information about the school, the reason schools have current students lead tours is to provide you with an opportunity to ask direct questions to a student about their experience. The tour will conclude with the tour guide returning you to the admission office where you will meet with the admission officer who will be conducting the interviews.Most schools will interview the applicant and parent separately. Normally, the admission officer will meet with the student first for 20 to 30 minutes and following that will meet separately with the parents/guardians. 

The School’s Perspective:

From the school’s perspective, the goal of the interview is two-fold. In addition to wanting to gain a better understanding of the applicant and their family which will factor into the decision making process, the visit/interview is also designed by schools to encourage you to complete the admission process and submit an application. From a family’s perspective the goal of the visit/interview should be to help you decide if this is one of the secondary schools you would like to apply to. 

Program Directors and Coaches:

Following your meeting with the admission officer, you will have a chance to meet with the coach of the program you are interested in. 

Please see my next post about Meeting with Coaches during your preliminary visit for more information.