Students often have a hard time choosing a college, and a college day visit might just be what they need to help decide which college or university would work for their future. Juniors and seniors are allowed two school days each school year to visit a college campus of their choice without being counted absent.

Typically during a college day visit, students take a tour around of the campus with a tour guide, which could be either a student or faculty member depending on the campus. Senior Vanessa Buenavista visited the University of Texas (UT) for one of her two college days.

“[The] tour guide was a student there, so I got to ask her lots of question,” Buenavista said.

For students who have concerns or doubts about the school they plan on attending, a college day visit might help them make a better decision. For those who might have trouble even picking a school, Buenavista developed a plan for choosing  the colleges to visit.

“Looking at what I wanted to be, like I want to major in English, so I look at campuses that are good for that, and UT is like one of the best schools in Texas for English majors,” Buenavista said.

For those who have not visited a college yet because they have already decided which school they would like to attend, it is still a good idea to visit the school to see if their opinion might change. This was the case for senior Melinda Powers. Powers had decided early on that she would be attending Baylor University, but after visiting Baylor on her college day visit her decision changed.

“I’ve decided I’m not going to attend Baylor, not because it is a bad school, but because the campus didn’t seem like the right fit for me,” Powers said, “I’ve also visited the University of Texas in Austin, and that seemed to be a much better fit for me.”

College day visits also help those who might be nervous about taking their next big step in life by attending a college or university. For senior Jonathon McNabb visiting a few campuses over the summer, his feelings about college had changed.

“On my tours they welcomed you and made you feel like a part of the school there, so it actually made me feel a lot better about going to college and enrolling,” McNabb said.

Visiting a college might be the confidence boost some students need to get excited about going to a college as it did for Buenavista.

“It made me want to go more because you actually get to go see that ‘yea like I would totally fit in here, and I like this and I like that’,” Buenavista said. “The University of Texas has a beautiful campus, so it definitely makes you definitely want to go there more.”

Talking with family and friends about college is also a great way to figure out which college to visit or even attend. After talking with his parents, McNabb visited New Mexico Tech.

“I have family that lives out there and one of my dad’s best friends actually graduated from there, and he wanted me to check out the school, and I actually liked it a lot,” McNabb said.

College day visits help students often feel more confident about their choices when they are deciding schools, because it allows them to, “[get] to see all the different opportunities that the college has to offer,” Powers said. Visiting a campus in person is a different experience than reading about the school through a pamphlet and website. By visiting colleges in person, students get a better feeling in general towards school career.

“After being there in person and the tour guide gives you all this life advice and tips and stuff like that you feel like, ‘I can definitely come here, I can do it’,” Buenavista said.