"College Campus Trips, What a Great Idea"

“What a great idea,” people tell me when they hear about College Campus Trips.

Yet, the percentage of students who actually visit two or more colleges is very small. Some students are just convinced they know which college they want to attend with no plans on seeing others. Some students just want to get accepted and make a list of schools without knowing much about them. Others get no encouragement from parents or counselors to take this proactive step and wind up depending on word-of-mouth and the Internet to make this important decision. But a college tour is as important as any high school course and actually fun. Here’s why:

Too Personal & Expensive
If you are going to spend four years someplace it is going to be a lot more pleasant and productive if it feels right to you. The student body, the faculty, the physical environment, and the geographical location all weigh in on the decision you will make. It is surprising how often an on-campus tour leaves a positive or negative vibe with a person.

And oh yes college is expensive, big-time, unless, of course you receive a “full ride.” Most of you wouldn’t buy expensive clothes without trying them on to make sure it fits properly. The right college needs to “fit” for four years.

Do You Really Know What You Like?
I am not trying to be facetious but if you have not compared, do you really know what you like? Is it a public university over a private one or a large college over a small one? Does an urban campus seem better to you than a rural one? These decisions are very personal and you can’t possibly make up your mind without taking a tour and comparing for yourself.

Self-Confidence
Believe it or not, a college tour is a confidence booster for students whether they're sophomores, juniors or seniors. Why? Well, I’ve been on many tours and seen the transformation. I’ve seen the look of intimidation on the faces of otherwise brazen warriors as they take their first tour. And I’ve seen students after a 4th or 5th college tour. The “aha” look of realization knowing “Hey, these guys are competing for ME” is unmistakable. The experiences of college admissions and college life are no longer just stories that a sibling or a friend has shared. It is now something they’ve experienced themselves. I firmly believe that every high school student should visit a minimum of four colleges before senior year as part of the educational process, even if the student does not plan on going to college.

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

Preventing Risks with College Campus Trips

While attending the University of Maryland, College Park, one of the most important things I learned in one of my business classes was a word called “diversification.” The word was used mostly when we were studying the topic of investments. As finance majors, we learned that diversifying, or holding a variety of investment products with different levels of risk, would be safer and better than just owning just one risky or even risk-free stock.

You’ve probably heard of the expression, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” and realize that with just one drop, the person carrying the basket is unable to protect themselves from losing everything all at once. Therefore, having eggs placed in different baskets would probably be a safer bet. That’s exactly what diversifying is all about. Diversification allows people to have balanced investments to both protect them from major drops and to prepare them for bigger gains.

Consider your high school education as your first major investment. The more interest, time, and effort you put in now towards your college search process, the more prepared you’ll be to succeed in the right college of your choice.

When you consider to which colleges or universities you’d like to apply, you’d be smart to diversify your “college portfolio.” Let say you decide to apply to 7-10 schools in the next year or so. Here’s the best investment strategy:

(1) You should choose a couple of “reach” schools colleges or universities that have super high standards like Ivy League schools, for example, where there’s a good chance you may not be admitted.

(2) Then, select a few schools where there’s a good chance you’ll be accepted.

(3) And finally, just to be safe, pick a few “shoe-in” schools, colleges that you feel confident will definitely accept you.

Once your portfolio is diversified, you’ll be able to choose amongst a variety of schools with varying risk. By diversifying your college selection portfolio, you’ll be in the best position to limit your risk of not getting into any school all while facing the potential of being accepted by some difficult contenders.

Once you determine a reasonable of number of colleges of which to apply, you will realize that you’ll be spending many years of your life at that one school, on that one campus, and in that one town. Many students don’t realize until it’s too late that visiting the campuses will help prevent attending the wrong one. Wouldn’t it make sense to make the best investment when it comes to deciding where you’ll be living and learning by actually visiting the campus first? No one buys a car without taking it for a test drive first, so this year, you would be super smart to visit five or six schools you may consider attending after you graduate from high school.

Watching college campus virtual tours on YouTube is certainly easier than making the effort and taking the time to visit the schools. That doesn’t mean it’s the only option in making one of the biggest decisions of your life. You know there’s a huge difference between watching someone swim with dolphins and doing it yourself, so diversify! Instead of spending some of your free time on Facebook next month, you’d be smarter to invest just a couple of days of your week visiting the right (and possibly the wrong) schools.

If your parents have difficulty seeing the long-term value in taking a campus trip because of the economy, make it easy for them to recognize how much money they may be saving in the future. You can determine which schools are right and wrong for you now and prevent having to possibly transfer to another school your first year and even spend another year in college. Help them realize that by visiting schools before you apply that you’re actually protecting your family from a lot of financial risks.

You have the opportunity to experience what it’s like to actually be a college student at the potential school of your choice – without the schoolwork! No matter how the economy is doing, most colleges give away something of great value: a big, free sample of what it’s really like to live and learn in their world. Yes, the economy isn’t at its best right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of free orientations, free guided tours, and free meals in campus dining halls.

This year, for a relatively small investment of time and effort, experience those free samples of college life – live and in person – free-of-charge and completely risk-free. College Campus Trips, a company based in Fort Lauderdale, FL, offers a variety of tours throughout the year that will make your college tour experience easy, fun, and most importantly life changing. Visit their web site to see which 2009 trips you’d be interested in experiencing: CollegeCampusTrips.com

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Jared Meyer is a professional speaker and author. His first book was the college guidebook, University of Maryland: Off the Record. As a speaker, Jared was hired by Monster.com to speak to high school students about making the most of their college selection process and college experience. Based on his most recent book, Fear and Doubt, he teaches students how to use creativity to make better choices.