College visits are offered for students at WJ to help them get an understanding of different colleges they might consider. One day, all students will be in the shoes of a senior, trying to find a future path. Most questions that come up during this process can be answered by going to the college and career center.

The college and career center is where one can get all the information they need about the next steps in their life. Gayle Evans, the college and career coordinator, hosts college visits almost every day.

“We offer college visits to juniors and seniors,” Evans said, “It’s good to come because the reps that come are the people that read the applications.”

Evans emails students about college information, possible scholarships, apprenticeships, and any information that could be useful for planning their next steps.

A college visit only takes up one period, but the college representatives will review most of the information a student needs to know about that college during the little time they have. The representatives hand out flyers, pamphlets, infographics and other sources of information for prospective students to look back at while making decisions.

Many students find these visits to be a helpful way to get a general idea of the college and campus life. The visits could also encourage a student to look further into that college and possibly go to the campus for an in-person visit.

“I try to give the kids a wide variety of schools so there is something for everyone,” Evans said.

To register for a college visit, a student can go to Naviance, then click colleges and finally, college visits. On the college visits page, one will see all the dates and times certain colleges will visit the school. Click register, follow the directions to make the registration into a pass, and wait for the day to come.

When registering for the visit, without knowledge about the college, one can click the name of the college and see more information, whether it be the tuition or acceptance rate. Naviance can provide extra knowledge for students before going to the college visit so they can gather questions to ask.

College visits have the potential to be a deciding factor when choosing to apply to a certain college or not. Overall, they are beneficial for students, especially the seniors and juniors who want to explore their options.