Ah, college. It's that next big step that is both exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. But I, as a college tour guide, would like to give you some tips when visiting schools to help cut back on some future worries for both students and their parents as they get ready for the next part of their lives. I'd like to keep this as a series as there are always new things that people should ask about, and I can't fit it all in one article.
Things to Ask While On a Tour
So, most colleges will give you a tour of the school when you visit. Here are some things that I as a student wish I had asked before I started going, and things I wish students and parents would ask about as these things tend to be far more important than you would think.
Life in the Dorms
1. How does laundry work at this school?
It's important to ask your tour guide about how laundry works at the school. It's an easy thing to look over especially if you were a kid like me who grew up with a washer and dryer in their home.
Some schools don't have machines for you to use, and will require you find a laundromat off campus to do your laundry. Some schools have machines in the dorms but they will cost quarters. Some schools like mine have machines in the dorms that are free for use to anyone living in the hall. Remember to ask your tour guide about how laundry works and where they are. Trust me, you don't think it's important now but it becomes important after your first few weeks in.
2. How does mail work at the school?
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Now here's a big one that students and parents alike often forget to ask about. Now while it may not seem important it really can be for multiple reasons. If you aren't driving to campus in a car, and need to bring loads of boxes or luggage, it can save you a lot of time to have it shipped to your school's mail room for you to pick up when you get there. Or if you're buying school books before the year starts (as you definitely should), you can have them sent to your school.
Most schools have a specific way they go about mail. Some schools do something similar to a P.O. box where letters are put in the box and packages you receive will be written up on a slip which you can take into the main mail room to sign for. It's important to know what the address on your mail box is, so that your parents can send you care packages or you know where to send the stuff you buy online.
3. What do the dorm bathrooms and showers look like?
Here's one that my students and parents alike always tend to look over. The dreaded showers and bathrooms. While it may seem like such an obvious thing many parents and students don't take the time to look at how showers and bathrooms are structured or even where they are located in proximity to dorm rooms.
The main reason why people should take a peek into one of these dorm bathrooms is to see exactly what showering for them is going to be like. Some schools offer shower cubicles with either curtains or doors. But many do communal showers with just a curtain between shower heads. Some don't have curtains at all. Know where you're going to be showering and whether or not you're going to be comfortable with that method.
4. What is the roommate/ room change process like?
This one is never asked by anybody I give a tour to. As much as I'd like to say that everyone is nice and friendly, I can't. I know from personal experience what it's like to pick a roommate who seemed to have a lot in common with me, only to move out a few weeks in because I couldn't handle living with her. Obviously not everyone is like that, plenty of my friends chose to have a random roommate, and they are really good friends and some are still planning on living with each other for the next school year. But if that's not the case for you, it's important to learn how the process will go if it happens to you.
At my school, the roommate/room change process is very simply and easy. It's a form that you fill out that requires only a few things; the signature of your current RA, your current roommate(s), your new roommate(s) if you'll be having any. My school even sends out a school wide email to students with a list of available rooms across campus. But not every school does this. It's important to see how the school does room changes or if it even does it at all.
