When Should I Start Touring Colleges?

While there is no “right” time to start touring colleges, many students begin touring colleges during their junior year of high school. Of course, that’s not to say that you shouldn’t begin thinking about college until junior year of high school. A good rule of thumb is to do some preparation prior to touring a college. This preparation can include verifying that the school has your program of study (or programs of interest if you are undecided), researching the size of campus and how far away or close to home it is. Answering these types of questions can help you create a list of potential colleges and eliminate any that don’t align with what you’re looking for.

The types of tours colleges offer can vary, so it’s best to check with whichever college(s) you’re interested in visiting to see what they offer. At UW-Green Bay, we offer two visits on almost every weekday – one in the morning and one in the afternoon. In addition, we host several larger events for prospective and admitted students each semester as well as tours on select Saturday’s. Depending on where you are at in your college search process, that will determine which visit event is best for you. If you are just starting to explore colleges, a daily visit with an informational session and campus tour might be the best option. Whereas, if you have already applied and been accepted to UW-Green Bay, an Admitted Student Day event would be the most beneficial visit option for you. Visit events for all four UW-Green Bay campuses can be found on our website.

What if you live hours away from the college you’re interested in or the tour date and/or time options don’t work for you? Perhaps you are researching colleges and you’re trying to get an understanding of campus and where on-campus housing is in relation to the dining hall. Virtual experiences are a great option to explore campus from the comfort of your couch! These experiences allow you to get a feel for what campus life is like without having to physically be on campus. This can be especially helpful in the situations mentioned above when visiting campus may not be an option or you’re trying to narrow down your list of colleges. UW-Green Bay offers two virtual experiences, a guided virtual tour and an interactive virtual map so you can explore campus whenever and wherever you want.

One last suggestion for you. If you are on social media, a good way to get an understanding of a college campus is to follow them! Whether it’s on TikTok or Instagram, you’ll get to see areas of campus, current students and more. Some colleges even have special accounts where current students take over and post about what their life as a student is like for a whole week! We have an account designated for showing off a student’s perspective, and it’s called Life at UWGB (@lifeatuwgb on Instagram).

As always, we’re here to help you no matter where you are in the college search process. Whether that’s just beginning to explore possible career paths, narrowing down your top college choices or wondering which UW-Green Bay visit option is most beneficial for you, our admissions counselors can answer any questions you have. You can reach them by calling 920.465.2111 or emailing uwgb@uwgb.edu.