For some, the months leading up to college can be the most stressful. They may worry about getting accepted, finding a roommate or even picking a major. However, before all of that, one of the most grueling decisions one needs to make is which college to attend.

Some students have their dream school while others are undecided. In response to this, Antioch Community High School offers college visits where an admissions counselor from a college comes to Student Services. These counselors talk about why students should look into their college as a means of attaining a postsecondary education.

“When I do college visits at high schools, typically I talk about an overview of the university location, enrollment, city, academic programs, support, campus visit opportunities, application steps and tips as well as cost and scholarships,” admissions counselor at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Andrew Kopitzke said. “After I cover the basics, I open it up to student questions.  Some questions they have asked relate to housing, Greek life, athletics and intramural sports, parking, study abroad, club and organizations, class size, music and theatre, honors program, etc.”

Most students know exactly what they need to get into their dream school and how to do it. Students who are undecided have the opportunity to broaden their horizons and get all the information they can about many universities.

“I would say [attend] at least five [college visits] for junior and senior year,” counselor Darcy Peck said. “It is important to hear from different admissions counselors and get a feel for schools. I would suggest two big schools, two small schools and maybe one or two safety net schools which one would want to get more information on.”

Although these college visits can be helpful, they go unnoticed and overlooked by most students. These visits can proceed with one or two students at a time depending on the university. This is beneficial to the students who attend; they can get more information based on their interests. However, for students who don’t attend, they can miss deadlines or possibly even have second thoughts about attending afterwards as a result of them not getting a feel for the atmosphere of the college.

“I think a lot more people should go to the visits,” senior Jake Emer said. “They have really helped me get more information about my top choice colleges and my intended major.”

Attending these visits is quite easy. In order to sign up for a visit, one must log into Naviance through the district website, select “Colleges,” followed by “Upcoming College Visits” and then selecting which visit to attend. Either the day before or the day of the visit, a pass will be delivered to remind the student of the time and place.

“I’ve had students that I met at high school visits that are working in my office, that have stopped by my office and thanked me,” Kopitzke said. “[They] have graduated and gone on to bigger and better things and the list goes on and on. I’ve had first generation students that couldn’t afford other schools and they applied very late in the summer, and I’ve methodically helped them to get through all of the admissions process quickly to be able to attend in fall.”

The most important part of these visits is that they’re open to all students; everyone is encouraged to come to learn more about one of the most important decisions that a student can make during their four years in high school.