7.  SPEAK UP

Lara believes that “the number one tip is to ask questions.”  Of questions for admissions counselors, Lara adds, “Do your research beforehand.  If you do have the opportunity to ask a question, make sure it is one that requires nuance that you would not be able to find online.”  Also ask students – either your tour guides or those on campus – specific questions.  “Ask them where they are from, what they are pursuing at Penn academically, and what they are involved with on campus,” Valerie says, adding, “You can also get into the details of support, advising, food [and] community… do students tend to stay on campus and hang out or do students go home on the weekend?”

Open-ended inquiries, such as asking about current students’ positive, negative and even surprising experiences while on campus, gives prospective students’ unique insight into the undergraduate experience. Casual conversations will help you as you put together your application. “Ask why the tour guide chose [this school] because often times you would be surprised at the answer,” Lara says. “They went through the exact same process as you and you might find similarities.”

8.  WEAR WALKING SHOES

On-Campus Programs staff rattle off recommendations for independent exploration on campus and note the importance of going to classes, visiting a library, checking out nearby museums, people watching in the student union, and assessing safety on campus.  Lara reinforces the notion that exploration is always encouraged but also hopes to remind visitors to “be mindful that this is where students study and live.”  If you don’t know where to start, Liz adds, “Ask the admissions office for recommendations to get lunch or coffee.”

9.  VISIT THAT COFFEE SHOP ON THE CORNER

Exploration extends to the surrounding town or city; being a student of any university means being a citizen of the surrounding area. At Penn, we encourage visitors to walk through Penn Park into downtown Philadelphia where they can visit Rittenhouse Square or browse the shops on Walnut Street.  When exploring the surrounding area, note the ease of transportation between campus and destinations such as restaurants, supermarkets, department stores or airports.  As an example, Liz notes, “Our campus is a 16 minute ride by train to the airport.  [The train] leaves from your terminal and rides into the heart of the campus.”

10.  KEEP A PEN IN HAND

Taking notes and even photographs (please do not take photos during the information session or tour) will ultimately be helpful during the application process.  “Take notes of what you are feeling [and] what struck you,” Lara says, remarking, “Oftentimes your visit allows for fodder for your admissions essay in a year or two.”  Liz encourages you to record, “what made you feel at home.”

11.  RELAX AND ENJOY

Remember that visiting colleges can be exciting and fun.  You will be spending time with family, experiencing new landscapes, and putting the pieces together for a successful college career.  If the trip becomes stressful, Siobhan urges you “to pace yourself so that you have time to breathe, hydrate and grab a little nourishment along the way.”

12.  REMEMBER DEAN FURDA’S 5 I’S, 4C’S AND THE TOP 5 CHARACTERISTICS YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IN A COLLEGE

For high school students and families eager to visit college campuses we sat down with Penn’s On-Campus Programs staff, Lara Grieco, Valerie Marchand Welsh, Siobhan O’Neill and Liz Washo, to learn how to make the most of a college visit, while simultaneously navigating high visitor volume and high energy on campus.  The result?  Our top twelve tips for making the most of your campus visit.  A few of our pointers overlap so choose your favorites tips and make sure to remember them when you begin your road – or plane – trip.  Read the first six tips today and come back next week for Part II.

1.  DO YOUR RESEARCH

Research prior to each visit is crucial.  First, investigate the basics.  “Find out ahead of time where the admissions office is located.  Also find out if there is free parking or where the parking facilities are located. Know where you are going,” says Siobhan O’Neill.  You should also have a sense of what each university offers, and what draws you to it.   “People who have the best experiences really put the time and effort in ahead of time and [these] people walk away happy.  You shouldn’t rely solely on the admissions office to create the visit,” adds Liz Washo.  Taking the time to browse the website of each university before your visit is a must.

2.  CREATE A TRAVEL ITINERARY

Before setting out, decide when you will visit each University on your list.  Our office encourages students to schedule one campus visit per day.  The extra time on campus allows for unstructured experiences, like talking to current students or taking a self-guided walking tour, which can make your visit more memorable.  “It’s important to spend time outside of official opportunities,” Valerie Marchand Welsh notes.  Additionally, scheduling only one visit per day ensures that families stay present-focused and eliminates the anxiety associated with a tight schedule.  Ultimately, when it’s time to put your application together, spending extra time – and quality time – on campus will help you better envision your fit.   Ok, some campuses are close enough to visit two in one day, but the point is to not overschedule yourself.

3.  SET A PURPOSE

Note what is important for you to experience while on campus.  On your first visit, you might want to set aside time for the information session and student-led tour.  If you are visiting a second time, you might have other opportunities in mind.  Personal preferences can also inform purpose.  Siobhan says, “For different people, this can be different things.  For athletes, you might want to contact a coach while others might look for dance, music or art space [while on campus].”  If you are traveling with your family, you might want to set aside time to independently explore academic departments and student hubs of personal interest.

4.  BRING AN OPEN MIND

Your information session might be empty, or full; outside it might be warm or raining; you might visit during finals or perhaps during a spring festival.  Know that each circumstance presents a new opportunity.  If you find yourself among many other prospective students, take time to listen to their questions in the information session as it might answer your own questions about the college process.  Conversely, if fewer families are visiting, you have the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with admissions staff and tour guides.  On rainy days, when you might not see many students outdoors, Lara Grieco encourages visitors to explore indoor spaces.  For example, at Penn, she hopes that prospective students take this time to enjoy on-campus cafes and bookstores, view indoor athletic spaces and even visit campus and city museums.  Also note the academic calendar before your visit.  You might step into the student union if you visit during finals, which, Lara notes will be “alive with students bustling and cramming.”  If you visit during a spring festival or on alumni weekend, spend time on the lawn and take in the energy on campus.  Overall, be flexible and patient, stay hydrated in the warm weather and let Admissions staff know if they can assist in any way.

5.  ARRIVE EARLY TO READ THE PAPER (and learn about campus)

Arrive on time to read through campus publications and learn about timely university events and issues.  (You will also be able to find university publications online and might want to view them prior to your campus visit.)  Reading is not the only perk of arriving early.  Early arrival gives you a head start on learning about the university.  “At Penn, if you get here early enough you can chat with student ambassadors.  This can be an opportunity to get that one-on-one time with current students,” Liz Washo notes.  Liz also feels that being timely sets a positive tone for the day.  She says “Students get frustrated when they’re late and that adds to how they feel about the day.”

6.  INVESTIGATE YOUR ACADEMIC FIT

To learn more about the academic expectations and opportunities at each institution, you may choose to attend program specific information sessions or visit academic departments.  Penn, for example, offers additional information sessions for our four undergraduate schools, the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Nursing and the Wharton School.  As a note, if you hope to speak with a professor or academic advisor, our staff encourages you to contact the academic department by email prior to your visit.

First, since most students will enter college programs in the liberal arts and sciences, senior year (and junior year) is not the time to feel like a graduate student and narrowly specialize and it is not the time to avoid subject areas entirely. Look at the curricula of most liberal arts colleges and universities. There is intentional breadth of study in the first two years, so students need to be prepared to read (a lot); write (most college freshmen seminars focus on the lost art of writing); be literate in quantitative and scientific inquiry; understand cultural and historical context in the study of humanities and social sciences; and finally (like most people outside the United States) be proficient in a language beyond your native tongue. Courses in areas like music and the visual arts also develop skills in logical thinking, expression, cultural understanding, and (of course), creativity and innovation.

In order to connect the high school curriculum to college study, it is not the time to avoid subject areas, like math, science, and languages. (Conclusions should come to mind here as well considering skills that are needed in today’s society.)

Now, I am not suggesting that students should take 5 AP courses in their junior and senior years. All students aren’t going to take BC Calculus. But this doesn’t mean that you avoid taking math in the senior year.

A major disconnect I see between the secondary school curriculum and college curricula, particularly for students interested in STEM fields is course selection in the senior year. For students interested in going into engineering, the senior science course should be a second year of physics (AP Physics C; IB HL Physics). In speaking with engineering faculty and even biochemists in college science, they indicate that this selection (when available) is the best possible foundation for the level of rigor in the science and engineering curriculum. For these students, the clear math course to take is the next level of calculus (AP BC Calculus).

There is much to say here that I will cover at other times, but keep the breadth and go deep into the curriculum where you have strength. And when you aren’t sure, take physics!!

Along the framework of the 5 I’s and 4 C’s, through their applications, these students made particularly strong connections between their Identity, Intellect, Ideas, Interests and Inspiration, with Penn’s Culture, Curriculum and Community…we await the Conclusions.

For applicants who were not sent a likely letter, there are still over 1,800 spots left in the class. Admissions Officers are heading into committee over the next few weeks and are excited to discuss their stories.

Eric J. Furda C’87
Dean of Admissions

Page 217. It’s an essay prompt that was a hallmark of Penn’s application for probably 20 years: “You have just written your 300-page autobiography. Please submit page 217.” Ben Franklin started his own autobiography at the age of 65 (he lived to 84). So let’s ask 18 year olds about their lives. How could I take it off the application?

Well, times do change and things should not stay the same because “that’s how it has always been.” And, there is an open ended essay on The Common Application, which can be a page out of your life or a creative, open prompt that a student can send to all their schools. And of course we have a supplement where we feel compelled to ask “Why our school?” so, do we need to ask applicants to write a third essay for Penn and will our admissions officers have time to read a third essay? I felt like we were asking too much of everyone and I let page 217 go.

Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I wasn’t. But either way, page 217 deserves to live on through a different medium. So here it is, an ode of sorts and also a forward-looking beginning. Maybe this one should be page 218?

As a 1987 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, I am coming up on my 25th reunion. I have worked in a university setting all of those years, 21 of those in admissions and 13 of them as a director or dean. All that means is I have been around for awhile, and have my opinions and some perspective.

But that is why some people may actually pay (don’t worry, the advice is free) attention to what I have to say; I have a platform. A platform that I deeply respect and don’t take for granted. You see, I believe and I instruct my staff that we are educators and counselors. People who have attended sessions that I conduct, whether general college search sessions or Penn specific programs, I have a responsibility to help students make sound decisions. And that is the most I can give since Penn is “highly selective”. Putting that bluntly, my name is on thousands of “I regret to inform you…” letters a year.

Up until now though, the audience has primarily been limited to a school auditorium, as a college seminar speaker or a Penn specific information session. There have been other outlets as well: Jacques Steinberg’s blog, The Choice; a Forbes interview here; and a Bloomberg interview there. But Page 217 is going to be (hopefully) two things: broader in content and more two-way, with questions from interested students, parents, counselors, and educators.

Page 217 is framed around the broader topics of the education landscape; the admissions landscape; student self-assessment; identifying what a student wants from their college experience; a lens to evaluate colleges; and a question rarely asked: what do I do now that I have been admitted?

When I find that I have something to say that is a bit more pressing, I will Tweet my ideas from @deanfurda.

But this page 217 will continue only if it remains true to my original purpose. I want to help students and families to enjoy the opportunity of the college admissions process and make informed, if not enlightened, decisions about this next page in their lives. If this rendition of page 217 is no longer relevant (meaning my ideas aren’t), then I will pull the plug on this one. Maybe I will be right. Maybe I won’t.

Eric J. Furda C’87
Dean of Admissions

1. Identity: How do you see yourself and how do others see you?
2. Intellect: How do you think and approach the acquisition of knowledge?
3. Ideas: What do you think and why?
4. Interests: What do you choose to do when you have the time and flexibility?
5. Inspiration: What really motivates you?

After looking within yourself, then consider the 5 most important characteristics that you want out of your college experience. Then assess colleges with these preferences in mind and through a framework I refer to as the 4 C’s.

1. Culture: What is the history and mission of the institution. How is the mission relevant today?
2. Curriculum: More than a listing of majors and programs, what is the design and aim of the courses you will take over 4 years?
3. Community: Who are the people, the physical spaces of campus and the relationship of the campus to the local environment?
4. Conclusions: What should I envision for myself at the end of my college experience? What are some of the outcomes I may expect?

Eric J. Furda C’87
Dean of Admissions

Make sure that in those college applications, or Common Application Supplement, that you focus on why that school is unique and why it’s on your list. Don’t treat them like your Early “Light” choice, communicate why and how that college resonates with you, and why they’re at the top of your list.

Eric J. Furda C’87
Dean of Admissions