Excerpt from the Q & A:

What usually happens during a typical college representative visit?

“Usually at the beginning, the rep might tailor-make a little bit of the information she talks about to the students in the room. Then, she would do a short presentation about the school, probably some highlights and facts about the school, meaning size, location, philosophy and what type of student they might be looking for. Then it really does become a Q&A and she really encourages the students to ask questions that are specific because you always learn from each other anyway when there’s questions.”

Who would you recommend go?

“I would recommend really anybody: freshmen through seniors. But ideally, you definitely want to start your junior year if you haven’t taken advantage of those opportunities because that’s the time when you’re going to try to finalize your list that year.”

What kind of question should students ask at these visits?

“There’s a lot of different things I would tell them to ask. Number one is what kind of student they’re looking for and to me, the best rep is one who realizes (the school) is not going to be a good fit for every student. If you have a rep saying, ‘Oh you’re going to fit in great!’ without getting to know you, then that’s not a rep that’s worth (their) weight in gold. Every school has its own culture and there’s a certain type of student that’s going to excel and do better there.”