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Featuring Teresa Farmer, admissions counselor, Eureka College (Eureka, IL)

Q: Do you recommend an overnight stay at my top college choices, or is a daytime visit enough?

A: Every college features campus tours, information sessions, and meetings with professors and coaches as the specials on their daytime visit "menu," but there is something different about an overnight stay on a college campus. During a day visit, you will no doubt meet current students, see many friendly faces, and learn about the college and its admission process. If you choose to stay on campus overnight however, you will experience so much more!

Shadowing a current student for close to 24 hours is one of the best ways to complete the picture of a typical day at 'Your Future College.' Ask an admissions representative to pair you up with a student who has interests similar to yours; chances are, you'll have the benefit of hanging out for an evening with a host whose day is packed with activities. Spending time and learning more about him or her will help you get a feel for how life would be for you as a student at 'Your Future College.'

During an overnight stay, you'll have the opportunity to become acquainted with your host's friends and classmates, eat in the Cafeteria, study at the library, work out at the gym, and sleep in the residence hall, among many other things. Throughout the evening, you may notice new things you missed during a brief day visit. This will lead to questions -- ones you can ask your host and others who you befriend during your time there. What you will gain is a real student's perspective about life on that campus (something you may not get during any other type of visit).

While each institution hosts visits in its own way, there are several visit options at Eureka College. We have six structured Open Houses each school year, during which students and their families attend formal presentations by our deans, current students, and five academic divisions, followed by campus tours and lunch with faculty and students. We also conduct individual visits tailored to fit each student's specific needs. These include a campus tour, an information session with an admissions counselor, meetings with professors and coaches, classroom visits, and other activities.

While these Open Houses and individual visits are two excellent options, we believe there is special value in the overnight visit. We encourage prospective students to spend the day and night on our campus. As a small college, our students, faculty, and staff are very close knit and we enjoy welcoming visitors into our family.

Stop for a moment and take a look at a day in the life of Jessi, a typical college student... "I wake up at 8:30 a.m., make it to a quick breakfast with my friends, and then go to my 9 a.m. class. I have two classes in the morning and then head to lunch at 11:15 a.m. At noon, I work for an hour at the campus library, and then I'm off again for two afternoon classes.

"From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., I go back to my residence hall. I always have the best intentions of getting my homework done before my friends and I go to dinner and the busy evening begins, but I love to spend this time chatting with my roommate, watching our favorite sitcom, and relaxing.

"At dinner, we usually hang out at the cafeteria, and then we're off to meetings for various student organizations or study groups. This is my favorite time of the day! Depending on the day of the week, I may have meetings with my sorority, the Education Association, or Habitat for Humanity. I also have a nightly study group with fellow students from my biology class. I love these opportunities to get to know other students on my campus.

"Once my meetings are over, I head over to the library to finish my homework and then I go back to my dorm to relax with friends, watch a movie, or work out at the gym. I have to get to bed early tonight though -- have an 8 a.m. class tomorrow morning."

OK, maybe all college students aren't that busy, but then again, maybe they are! How will you ever know without spending an evening one-on-one with them?

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