As the school year comes to an end, students look forward to the summer ahead, and some look forward to college, beckoning on the far horizon. Summer is a great chance for students to get to know colleges better, visit them, tour them, and see if the vibes of a college match what they are looking for. Visiting a college’s website or talking to a representative, but nothing really compares to being there, and getting a real sense of the place.
Once students are free from high school, they can visit colleges as part of broader travel plans, and many colleges have special events to take advantage of this. Now, a college during the summer is different from college during the school year, especially for those states where winter is a major factor. In this article though, we’re going to help you make the most of this, by compiling college visit options for the summer of 2025 for top colleges. Let’s get started!
Visiting Top Colleges in Summer 2025
In the following table, we’ll link each college’s admissions events page, and give dates and notes for particular events we think students will benefit from taking part in. It’s impossible to do everything of course, but knowing what your options even are can help you plan accordingly.
| College | Summer Admissions Events 2025 |
| Boston College | Campus Visits; you must register in advance, no drop ins available. Weekdays throughout the summer. |
| Brown | Campus visits; you must register in advance, available weekdays throughout the summer |
| Caltech | Women in STEM: August 7-8, free program but with limited seats availableCaltech Up Close: October 11-14, free program, all welcome to apply, but aimed at students from underrepresented backgroundsCampus visits: Must register in advance, limited availability |
| Carnegie Mellon | Campus visits are available most days in the summer, including weekends. You must schedule in advanceDepartmental tours can be arranged with individual departments |
| Columbia | Campus visits are available daily for most of the summer; engineering tours are offered less frequently. Both must be registered for in advance |
| Cornell | Campus visits and information sessions may be scheduled through the same page. Information sessions are offered by college |
| Dartmouth | Campus visits are available throughout the summer; engineering information sessions are only offered on Mondays and FridaysDartmouth Bound July 20-23 or August 3-6; this is an outreach program meant to help underrepresented students visit Dartmouth’s campus |
| Duke | Campus visits are available most days in the summer except for Sundays, there are separate events for students interested in engineering; you must register for each separately |
| Georgetown | Campus visits combined with information sessions are available most days during the summer, save for Sundays. Note that space is limited, and you must register in advance |
| Harvard | Campus visits include an information session and a campus tour. These must be booked in advance; note that most tours are fully booked for June and July 2025 alreadyEngineering tours must be registered for separately |
| Johns Hopkins | Full events calendar of all upcoming and recurring admissions events, both in person and virtualExcel Youth Conference, June 14, open to Baltimore students and their families to tour Johns Hopkins |
| MIT | Campus visits are offered Monday-Friday through the summer. Registration is required. Some tours include an information session, and some are a tour alone |
| NYU | Campus visits are offered on weekdays throughout the summer, except Tuesdays. You must register in advance |
| Northwestern | Campus visits are offered on weekdays throughout the summer, and on select Saturdays. You must register in advanceSchool specific visits may be scheduled through the site for each school, with varying availabilityPurple preview pairs you with a current student, and allows you to tour campus and shadow classes |
| Notre Dame | Campus visits are available through the summer, though the schedule is variable, and must be registered for in advanceCollege overviews are information sessions specific to particular colleges, held either in person or virtually |
| Princeton | Campus visits and information sessions are available through the summer, with differing degrees of availability, and must be registered for in advanceHistoric tours are for those interested in the history of Princeton and its campus, but are not official admissions events |
| Rice | Campus visits are available on a limited basis during the summer. Other events, including classroom visits and school of study experiences are being rolled out in September |
| Stanford | Campus visits are offered daily through the summer, though you must register in advance. Other offerings include information sessions, academic specialty tours, and student forums, where prospective students get to speak with current students |
| UC Berkeley | Campus tours are offered throughout the summer, though you must register in advance |
| UCLA | Campus tours are offered through the summer, on Mondays through Saturdays. You must register for tours in advance |
| UChicago | Campus visits offer daily tours throughout the summer, except on Sundays, though you should register in advanceOpen Houses are offered on select days in the summer, and offer students a more in-depth view of life at UChicago. These must be registered for in advance |
| UNC Chapel Hill | Campus visits are available Monday-Friday for much of the summer, though availability is limited, and you must register in advance |
| University of Michigan | Campus visits are available daily for much of the summer, except on Sundays. You must register for tours in advance |
| UPenn | Campus visits are available Monday-Friday for much of the summer, you must register in advance |
| USC | Campus visits offer tours daily throughout the summer, including on weekends. Academic department presentations are available on a limited basis on weekdays. Note that each school maintains its own calendar for these presentations |
| Vanderbilt | Campus visits are available Monday-Thursday for much of the summer, and include a tour and information sessionBlair School of Music has its own visiting options, which must be scheduled separately |
| Washington University in St Louis | Campus visits are available Monday-Friday through the summer, with tours offered on a few select Saturdays as well.Academic Theme Days are single-day events put on by specific schools at WashU, to introduce students to that school specifically. Space is limited, and you must register in advance |
| Yale | Campus visits are available Monday-Friday throughout the summer, with a tour and information session. These must be registered for in advance. Science and Engineering tours must be registered for separately, and are offered Monday-Thursday for June and July |
The Logistics of Visiting Colleges
So now that we’ve gone over what kind of events colleges offer, let’s look at some of the logistics of doing so. The first, and most important thing, is that you must register for any event you want to attend in advance. If you just show up on campus, you may take part in a self-guided tour, but will not be able to hop on one of the official college tours.
Now, self guided tours can be a good way to explore campus, and we do advise taking some time to look around after an official tour. That said, having a tour guide allows you to ask questions and gain deeper insight into what life is like on campus. Tour guides are almost universally students. They won’t be able to answer admissions questions really, but they will be able to talk about what living in dorms is like, or the workload from courses, or what the social scene is like. These are hard to glean from a website, but make up a major part of your college experience.
The tours aren’t the longest, but are usually around an hour of walking, so make sure you wear comfortable shoes and to dress for the weather. This is easier in the summer; for tours in colder times of the year, you will want to wear layers, as you will go into buildings and overheat, then step outside and freeze. You should also check for rain; tours will continue even if it is raining, and you are expected to have your own umbrella.
A college visit is often an all-day affair. Taking a tour and attending an information session is generally two hours, but we recommend spending time elsewhere on campus as well. If you have registered for multiple admissions events in the same day, then that will also take up some time. You can also try eating in one of the school’s dining halls; most colleges allow anyone to do so, charging at the door like any restaurant. Again, food is not the most important aspect of a college, but you will be eating a lot of it, so you may as well sample it ahead of time.
Should You Visit Colleges This Summer?
In general, yes. Most students do have very busy summer schedules of course; projects to work on, camps to attend, internships to pursue; all manner of things call for your attention and time, not to mention the serious work of relaxing on vacation. That said, as you look ahead to applying to colleges, we have found that nothing helps you understand whether or not a school is right for you like actually going there and seeing it.
We recommend doing this for your top-choice school, but it can also be very helpful for deciding whether or not certain kinds of schools are right for you. If you visit a large state school near you and have a strong reaction, positive or negative, then that should color your college list, and whether or not you apply to schools of the same type. Some students love the environment at a large college; others hate it. Both are equally valid responses, but it is hard to know which you will have until you go and experience it for yourself. The same is true of small liberal arts colleges, or schools in urban areas or college towns.
By visiting a few archetypal schools, you can greatly expand or reduce your college list, by learning more about what you really want from your own time in college. You can learn a lot about a school through virtual visits or their website, but nothing really captures the feeling of being on campus except actually being there.
Finally, colleges will track who attends and tours their school. This is part of how they determine how interested students are in them, through a system called demonstrated interest. We discuss this in depth in an article here, but in short, most colleges are more likely to admit a student if that student has shown concrete interest in attending the school.
This is also part of the reason why school-run tours are better than self guided ones. Signing up for a school-run tour explicitly allows a college to note that you have visited; they generally do not track students who take part in self-guided tours. This is generally only important for your top choice schools. It won’t turn a rejection into a yes, but can be a little bit of an extra boost, and with how competitive college admissions has become, every little bit helps.
Final Thoughts
Colleges are increasingly trying to sell themselves to students, and tours and other admissions events are one of the ways they do this. The perspective you gain on a college will be through this lens; nobody signs up to be a tour guide at a school if they hate it, but it is still a very useful experience, and the students we work with who tour colleges universally find the experience beneficial.
For a more in depth look at how to make the most of your college visit, see our article here. While college visits are only one small part of the broader picture of applying to colleges, we have found them to be quite an important one. If you are looking for advice on your own college visits, or want help with any other aspect of the college admissions process, then Ivy Scholars is here for you. Schedule a free consultation today to learn how we can make your life easier; we have a long experience guiding students through every aspect of college admissions, and are always happy to hear from you.
