Colleges Come to Catholic

As upperclassmen prepare to make their college decisions, college representatives are stopping by Charlotte Catholic to help these students learn more about their choices. These visits provide students with a great opportunity to learn more about the application process, academics, and culture of each college.

At the beginning of the school year, college representatives schedule visits to high schools. A large number of them visit Charlotte Catholic, especially representatives from southern schools. At times, the guidance counselors can reach out to a school that has not scheduled a visit to ask for them to come.

Some of the country’s top universities, such as Yale and Columbia, have stopped by to visit. However, the most popular visits each year are the southern universities and colleges. Mrs. Parks, a guidance counselor, shared the data for the school’s most popular visits. This year, 160 students attended Clemson’s visit and 145 students attended South Carolina’s. Additionally, local schools such as App State and UNC Chapel Hill are very popular among the students every year.

Credit: Google

At these college visits, the representatives will go over information about their university and allow students to ask questions at the end. The representatives review the application process, size of school, and other basic information. Students usually ask questions about the school’s specific majors and academic programs. Mrs. Parks said, “The admission reps who come in will be the ones who will read their application.” These visits benefit students because they can form a relationship with their admissions counselors before submitting their applications.

Jack Freeman, a junior at Charlotte Catholic, went to his first college visits for Clemson and South Carolina. He said, “The experience was great and I got to learn a lot about the college. The guest speaker did an amazing job explaining the college and answering questions.” At the visit, he learned how the schools read applications, how the college organizes extracurricular clubs and activities, and how housing and living works. He believes that the visit expanded his knowledge about the colleges and gave him a greater understanding of each college’s environments.

Mrs. Parks encourages students to use these visits strategically and come with thoughtful questions.