Back to Campus

I’ve been gradually returning to campuses as schools have relaxed their visit policies. After visiting a few local colleges, I am planning a NYC trip this week. Next, I’m off to North Carolina mid-March and still deciding which driving-distance colleges to visit in April.

After two years of virtual conferences, I can’t wait to attend IECA’s National Spring Conference in Philadelphia this May! I’m looking forward to meeting admissions reps (those I know and new) when I visit Philly-area colleges and learn much from my colleagues about how to best support our students in the classes of 2023, 2024, and 2025. (Yes, I’m doing all I can to get answers for you too, 2022 grads.) Then, in June, I’m back off to Denver for HECA’s Spring Conference and a whirlwind Rocky Mountain college tour of 6 colleges in two days! Five years ago, I visited several Colorado campuses. My hope is that these 2022 tours will be quite different, emphasizing systems put in place to care for our students more and amenities like climbing walls and swimming pools less.

Our 2020 high school graduates lost a spring semester, prom, graduation, and other predictable rituals of senior year. Graduates from every subsequent year have lost more face-to-face time with teachers and peers, so they will need greater academic and mental health support when they arrive on campus.

We always ask admissions reps if there are any new programs and majors (because those are exciting). Now that we are going back on tours, I will make sure to ask about student support on every college tour and infosession: it’s not enough to keep the usual student tutors and 9:00-5:00 counselors on staff. Our new college students must know they can rely on a system to address their academic and emotional needs while they achieve their goals. I’m confident that their coping skills will help them become incredibly high achievers.