By: Cadyn Gill

Deciding where to go to college is an incredibly important decision and should be embraced, not discouraged. Just as every student is different, every college campus has its pros and cons. A major part of the ever-spinning cog that is the college selection process involves touring campuses and deciding if it is a good fit. The problem is that Lake Highlands High School only gives seniors two days for an ENTIRE YEAR! That’s right, you heard that correctly, two days for the entire school year. How are we going to be 100 percent confident in our choice if we are unable to tour campuses due to the fear of the potential attendance repercussions? 

The average prospective student in America applies to six colleges. Let’s assume one person gets into half of those six. That means they would have three potential campuses to visit but only have two days to accomplish that. For students like myself that primarily or even exclusively applied to out-of-state universities, the problem at hand is further exacerbated. Not only does traveling to out-of-state colleges take way more time but it is also expensive. Not everyone can afford the most convenient flight times due to high prices in the airline industry. Being unable to get on the first available flight back home can force students to miss extra time from school. 

“Well just go during school breaks.” Wow! I wish it was that simple but unfortunately it’s not. Not only would that force us to use our incredibly valuable vacation time on visiting schools but it also isn’t even as reliable as one would think it would be. Just like high schools close for national holidays, colleges do as well. Who wants to tour an empty campus that’s closed and offers no immersive activities to prospective students? 

Giving us more than two days would be the easy and simple solution but unfortunately, it’s not that plausible. Luckily, I have come up with a solution that sadly won’t help my class of 2023, but it will help future senior classes. Converting those two excused visit days into a widespread senior class college visit period would solve a majority of these issues. It’s pretty simple; a date will be decided prior to the beginning of the new school year and it will be a Thursday and Friday where all seniors will be excused to visit as many colleges as they can from that Wednesday evening all the way to the following Sunday evening. The teachers would be able to plan their lessons accordingly so that seniors don’t miss valuable lecture time. Additionally, seniors would get the opportunity to visit lively campuses in the flesh and not come back to an overwhelming load of homework. 

Finding your future home for the next four years should not be restricted or willingly made difficult by school administration. Instead, we can make the entire process much more efficient by implementing a senior visit period that provides an opportunity for all students to go and visit as many campuses as they can in a realistic time period.