What to Look for on a Campus Visit

As your high school child begins looking at colleges, learn to effectively evaluate a college campus during a visit.

What to Look for on a Campus Visit

What's the typical class size for freshmen? For upperclassmen?
Asking about student:teacher ratio won't really give you the information that you want because it will vary from year to year. Ask about how large the specific freshmen classes are to get the best idea of what your child will experience. At large universities, many 101 level courses have lecture sections of 100 students or more and small discussion groups where students become better known to those who will grade them. At larger schools, many of the discussion groups are taught by teaching assistants. If the school makes use of graduate or undergraduate students as teaching assistants, find out in what capacity and how often they serve. All schools say their professors are accessible to the students. See if this means just scheduled office hours or home phone numbers and coffee get-togethers.