A fear of commitment is in the air.

As the seniors begin their final year at NASH, they’re tasked with making one of the biggest decisions of their lives: where to pursue their college career. Choosing where to spend the next stage of life and pledging to pay tens or even hundreds of thousands for a school that’s only tangentially familiar is terrifying for many.

Therefore, some choose to visit colleges before or as they’re applying.

Though the pandemic forced most tours online last year, during this application season, plenty of NASH students are fanning out across the country to get a glimpse of their next four years.

“I was really impressed—the campus and facilities were beautiful, and the staff allowed me to look around inside anything that I wanted to see,” said NASH senior Ben Lindgren about North Carolina State, which he toured, among several other colleges, this summer. 

Visiting in person can provide a feel for where a school is situated. It’s one thing that a school’s location is listed as Chicago, for example—several colleges might be situated in different areas within a city. Many students find it valuable to walk around to get a feel for the campus and surrounding area. 

NASH senior Maeran Quirke visited a handful of schools in Washington, DC this summer.

“I’m a fan of Georgetown’s academics and their School of Foreign Service,” said Quirke, “but I was surprised to find that I loved American’s campus the most. I always expected to go to a very urban college, but American’s removed and residential campus feels very homey, while still providing me with access to a city.”

Prospective athletes are able to see the facilities in which they might practice in the future. NASH senior Sam Waldo hopes to continue her competitive running career during college.

“Seeing the facilities and where they were on campus definitely made an impact on what it is going to be like,” Waldo commented.

For some students, visiting schools during the summer before senior year is too much to handle while also taking standardized tests, keeping up with extracurricular activities, securing letters of recommendation, and writing essays. It’s common to tour campuses in the spring as well after applications have already been submitted and results roll in.

NASH senior Stephen Gwon intends to do his visits in the fall during application season.

“I plan on walking through the campuses, as well as restaurants and entertainment around the area,” said Gwon. “I hope to get to see more of the environment around the university other than just the university itself.  If there’s nowhere to go for fun times, that would stink.” 

Exploring a college campus in person allows students to explore the amenities in the area. Factors that might not previously have come to mind, like access to public transportation or dining options in the surrounding area, can become obvious when on campus.

However, some students, such as senior Victoria Ren, aren’t interested in visiting colleges before they apply.

“My rationale for not visiting any colleges is I can’t control whether or not I get accepted or denied, so I’m just gonna apply to all the colleges that I want to apply to and see what happens, and then make determinations based on in-person visiting,” Ren argued. “And as I was choosing my colleges, campus wasn’t a huge factor for me.”