Key takeaways
- College visits give you a more accurate picture of what living on campus and attending school will be like for the next four years.
- Before scheduling tours, narrow down your college list by determining what’s most important to you in a school.
- Selecting a college spreadsheet template helps you compare each school on these points and more.
Flickr user Rowan University Publications
As you wrap up your junior year and head into senior year of high school, college is likely on your mind. While there are debates on when is the best time to visit college campuses, it is something you’re going to have to plan to do over the next year – if you haven’t started already. But with so much going on, how can you possibly keep track? College visit worksheets are a great way to get a handle on the schools you want to visit, why you’re visiting them, and your experiences. Here are some ways you can make the most of these worksheets or create your own college spreadsheet template.
Where do you want to go to college?
With thousands of colleges and universities in the United States, you need to narrow down your options to a handful. Thankfully, you’re not expected to investigate every single one of these schools.
Instead, you’ll want to think about what you want out of the college experience, such as school size, desired major, goals after graduation, location, clubs, and more. Then, you’ll want to research institutions that match all of most of what you’re looking for. One easy way to do this is through our College Match.
College Match invites you to input information about yourself, including goals, achievements, grades, and interests – then returns with a list of schools that match your preferences. You can view your acceptance chances, potential financial aid offers, and more.
You can also find colleges by talking to trusted mentors and visiting college fairs.
Once you have a list of schools you’re interested in, you can start planning campus visits.
How to create a college spreadsheet template
Before you visit the colleges on your list, follow these steps to make the most of each tour and find the right schools for you.
Choose a format
Decide whether you’d like to design your own college spreadsheet template or use a premade one – such as College Raptor’s, which you can download here. You can even edit it to suit your preferences.
Here are a few different formats to consider if you’re making your own from scratch:
- Spreadsheet: Microsoft Excel, LibreOffice, and Google Sheets allows you to list all colleges either in one column on a single page or you can add tabs for each individual college.
- Individual pages: Use a document tool to create individual worksheets for every college that interests you. If you prefer a physical resource, you can even print these out to put in a binder. Individual pages are more work but give you more space to work with.
- Chart: A printed chart can be simple, with space for questions, pros, and cons.
- A mix: Of course, you’re not restricted to any single format! You can use a mix of formats, such as a spreadsheet for all colleges that catch your eye and individual pages for schools you’re sure you’re applying to.
If you’re not sure which format would work best for you, continue reading to learn what your template should include.
Select comparison points
Your college visit worksheet needs space for you to compare and contrast your different schools, such as individual columns. Some comparison points you might want to include are:
- Distance from home
- Size of the school
- Campus facilities
- Major program
- Statistics (student-to-faculty ratio, grad rate, etc)
- Acceptance rate
- Extracurriculars
Plan what you want to do during your visit
An official campus tour is a fantastic way to get introduced to a college but they don’t always show you everything you want to see – and they might not cover all of your questions. Your template should have space for your plans, questions you want to ask, things you want to see, and anything else important to you.
Take notes during your tours
No matter your chosen format, you’ll want to take notes during your tours. If you’re using individual pages, you can add information directly to the sheet. If you went with a spreadsheet, you might need to take notes elsewhere and then add it to the appropriate column.
Think about how the overall visit went, what impressed you, and what disappointed you.
If you found a school just isn’t for you after a trip to its campus, cross it off the list!
Compare the results
Once you’ve visited all or most of the colleges that interest you, you’ll want to compare them on the factors most important to you. You may even want to score them on various points on a scale of 1-10. Hopefully, you should have some clear winners and be left with a mix of safety, match, and reach schools to apply to.
Finding the right school for you
College visits are great for helping you determine whether a college is right for you. They help you gain a sense of the atmosphere and environment. You’re going to be spending four years there, so getting as much information at this point in the game will help you save time, money, and headaches.
Before you create these worksheets, you need to narrow down the playing field. College Match can help you do just that. Discover the schools that match you here – for free!
