ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, November 4, 1996               TAG: 9611060012
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1    EDITION: METRO 

WHAT TO LOOK FOR ON A VISIT

"Take the campus tour - but get away from the tour and look around for yourself," suggests Steven Lawrence, a senior at Christiansburg High School. "They won't show you everything."

Steven's mom, Brenda Lawrence, says Friday afternoons are not the best time to find college students on a campus. Leslie Shipp, associate director of admissions at Ferrum College, agrees. It's important to visit a campus when the student body is around, so you can get a better feel for things, she says. She suggests steering away from spring and fall breaks.

Spring and fall, incidentally, are the best times to make a campus visit. During the winter, "no one's outside," Shipp says. "And a walking tour in the freezing wind and rain is not best for a family visit."

It's important for prospective students to talk to current students - not just the administrators, Shipp says. "I think that's key." Students should try to speak with professors, too, she says.

Don't cram a bunch of schools into one day - eventually, they all blur together.

Do make sure you visit a school and don't just rely on the brochures, Shipp says. "Everything looks wonderful in the publications. You don't want a student to arrive and say this isn't what I thought it'd be."

Shipp suggests figuring out the three main characteristics you're looking for in a school so you have a basis for comparison. "If you have an outline like that, it will really help," she says.

Maps and directions to many schools are available on the Internet, and so is scholarship information. Elizabeth Weise Gellatly, assistant director of undergraduate admissions at Virginia Tech, warns parents and students not to pay for scholarship searches that promise to help you find money for college. Instead, she suggests reading "Winning Scholarships for College," by Marianne Ragins, and conducting a free Internet search through Fastweb, which can be found on Tech's financial aid home page at http://wwwfinaid.es.vt.edu. Students do not have to be applying to Tech to use the service.

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