Every fall, dozens of seniors from the high school take days off of school to visit prospective colleges.

There are two kinds of college visits: group and personal. During a group visit, prospective students get a general tour of campus, a quick overview or academics, tuition and athletics.

Personal visits usually have a more personal tour with tours of dorm rooms, a meeting with an admissions counselor, a professor and sometimes a coach.

Personal visits also sometimes include lunch with a student or athletic team, and, if requested, an overnight visit will include staying on campus with a current student.

The college search really begins usually near the end of the junior year, as students begin to decide what they might want to major in.

Some students begin their search by looking into colleges that are known to have strong programs for their major.

For example, University of Iowa is known to have a strong medical program and Iowa State University is known for it’s engineering program.

Some students look at prospective colleges based on the sports teams.

Senior Kaylee Jeske began her college search this summer by visiting ISU, the University of Northern Iowa, Drake University, Cornell College, Mount Vernon College, University of Connecticut, the University of North Carolina and Simpson College.

"I went to some summer classes while I was on my visits," Jeske said. "I also visited with Simpson’s volleyball coach."

While she was on her visits, Jeske’s tours were given by actual students from the colleges.

"I got a lot of honesty of the academic side," commented Jeske.

Senior James Walston has also started his college search by visiting potential colleges. Over the past three years, Walston has visited ISU, UNI, the University of Florida, the University of Minnesota and Loras College.

While on these visits, he "took the basic tour of campus, talked to students and asked about what classes he’d have to take" for his major.

However, Walston disliked the "boring speakers" he had to listen to in "hot, stuffy classrooms."

College visits are for the purpose of answering any questions a potential student may have about a college. They answer questions from academics to athletics to campus life to the food at the cafeteria.

All someone has to do to schedule a visit is to go to the college’s website or call the admissions office.