My sister is a junior in high school and has begun touring colleges. Since I am a freshman in college, I have learned a few things and had some notes I wanted to share with her and my readers about what I would do differently when looking at colleges.
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1) Location
When looking at colleges it is important to know where you want it to be, and often that means asking yourself what kind of environment you are used to or like.
I grew up in Columbus, Ohio which is a pretty big city. So I knew that when I was looking at colleges I wanted my campus to be in a city.
Columbia, South Carolina is the capital of the state yet much smaller than Columbus. I did not take the actual city size into account. I wish I would have because it does not have nearly as much to do as Columbus.
Don’t get me wrong, Columbia has fun things to do, it is just much smaller than I am used to. For example, the population of Columbus is 879,170 and the population in Columbia is 133,114 (both stats are from 2017).
2) Size of Campus
I was pretty good about knowing the size of campus that I wanted. At each school I applied to the undergraduate student population was about 25,000. I also compared the acres per campus because I wanted to have a more compact campus that was very walk-able. University of South Carolina is the perfect size for me because I can easily walk it, run into at least five people I know everyday, and yet have so many people I don’t know at all (which I like hehe).
3) Dorms & Off Campus living
When I was touring colleges, I was really focused about what the dorms look like. I think it is important to not live in a disgusting, outdated building that is far from campus freshman year, but what I didn’t think about too much was where I’d live the other three years in college.
When you are touring colleges, pay attention to where the upper classmen live and if there are several affordable options. Lucky for me, Columbia has tons of great off-campus living options.
4) Meal Plans & Food Options!
Oh man this is a big one. I gave almost no consideration to the meal plans because I assumed they would all be pretty standard. Turns out, the meal plan is the biggest problem I have with University of South Carolina. There are only two all-you-can-eat dining halls, and of those they only cook one new meal. So for example, the dining hall always has pizza, salad, and burgers and every day the add one more home cooked meal that changes.
That is not nearly enough variety for me. The student union is a very popular location because it has a food court of fast food places such as an asian food place, Chick Fil A, Panera, and pizza. Again, not many healthy options and a standard menu that gets old quickly.
Another thing to keep an eye out is for restaurants off campus. Where can you get a sandwhich? What about a fresh salad? Rice bowls? Italian food? I feel like many of the restaurants in Columbia are either steakhouses or barbecue. Maybe that’s just because I really miss my Bibbi Bop.
5) Surrounding Area
Is the surrounding area safe? Do you feel comfortable walking around?
How close is the nearest target or walmart? If you don’t have a car on campus, how will you get there?
What kind of entertainment is nearby? Movie Theater? Mall? Bowling? Is there anything close?
If you are a roadtrip person, are you close to the beach? Or the mountains? Or a bigger city?
Is the school a big commuter school? Is it mostly in-state people? Will everyone be going home on the weekends?
6) Sports
Are you a sports fanatic? Do you want a campus that’s entertainment surrounds athletics? Is the school you are looking at good at sports?
Growing up near Ohio State University, sports has been important and a source of activity for my community so I looked for something similar when chosing my college.
However, I personally don’t care about football so it didn’t matter to me if the football team was actually good or not haha.
7) Party School or Not
I am a big homebody and had no idea what I was getting into when I went to a school that was ranked for it’s partying. While every school has parties, some schools foster the environment more than others. Of course there is nothing against going out and having fun, I just don’t like the idea of doing it every night.
8) The Library & Student Union
What is the library like at the University? Do you feel like you could see yourself studying there? Does it have good resources?
Is the student union easily accessible? Could you see yourself studying here? Does the school host a lot of fun events?
9) How will you get to your college?
Will you be going to a University in the same city? Or state? Will you bring a car?
If you are going further out of state like me, will you drive or fly? How much is it to fly? Is it a direct flight? Think about these things!
10) The vibe
The energy that the university carries will not lie! What vibe did you get when you visited? Did you feel comfortable or awkward?
What were people wearing to class (were they dressed up, were they in pjs, or in athletic clothes?) Talk to a random student about your questions and their experience. Did the people you meet seem nice?
Did the campus present a warm and welcoming feeling? Could you see yourself as a part of this community?
I really hope these tips are helpful for all of you high schoolers who have no idea what you are looking for when touring colleges. Let me know any other things you look for when picking a school, I’d love to hear it.
If you like this post, check out my post about the freshman year experience at University of South Carolina here: https://sincerelymeghanann.com/the-carolina-first-year-experience/
Sincerely, Meghan Ann
