Every fall, representatives from over 150 colleges and universities visit South to host 45-minute informational sessions about their school, College Counselor Kalene Heaton said. Juniors and seniors can sign up to go to these visits through the website SchoolLinks and see the fully updated list of schools that are attending, Heaton said.

The representatives offer an inside perspective as to what that school offers, which is especially helpful to students who cannot visit the campus in person, Heaton said. Juniors can use these visits to determine which schools they are interested in, while for seniors visits are more focused on the logistics of how to apply to the schools, Heaton said.

“This is a nice, convenient way for them to get a much better feel for the school to figure out if this is a school that makes sense for them,” Heaton said.

Some representatives give information on what their school is looking for in applications, Heaton said. Representatives often give guidance on the supplemental writing and answer particular questions about the overall application process, Heaton added.

“The representatives are typically the people who are reading those initial applications,” Heaton said.

Students attending visits must bring a pass signed by the teacher whose class they will miss, to the visits unless they are coming from an SRT or lunch, College Counselor John Klasen said. Most visiting colleges are from the Midwest or Big Ten schools, but there has been an influx of schools from the south because of increased interest from the students, Klasen added.

“The visits are an opportunity to hear more about the programs that the universities have to get a sense and a feel for those campuses,” Klasen said. “It is an information gathering for the students, and an opportunity for them to connect with the representatives.”

Senior Claire Kim attended multiple visits which provided information about the college’s social life for students and the different programs they offer, Kim said. The visits got Kim excited about applying to these colleges, she said.

“These visits guide not only seniors, but also juniors to understand what colleges they want to go to,” Kim said. “It gives them an idea of where they see themselves in the future.”