And just like that, that’s a wrap on travel season! We admissions counselors have traversed the globe and enjoyed meeting y’all on the road. 

Back when I was a student tour guide—even when I was a high school student—I wondered what admissions counselors really do. Do they just read applications all year? Are they the end-all be-all experts of their institutions? Do they even have social lives?

Allow me to pull back the curtain and let you in on our lives during these weeks of travel.

We Want to Meet As Many of You As Possible!

Believe it or not, during travel season, we visit around four to six high schools per day. Last year, I went to 80 different high schools between Texas and Oklahoma! These visits allow us the chance to have face time with prospective applicants. We love these moments on the road, especially because we don’t offer interviews as part of the admissions process.

Sometimes our first visit is at 7:30 a.m. (I don’t miss high school schedules) and we work until the evening college fair, and then we rinse and repeat the very next day. We love talking to hundreds of students and meeting them IRL! But please don’t judge the (many) venti iced coffees we have while we’re chatting with you.

Sometimes, We Even Travel with Other Colleges and Universities!
Group travel photo.

Whether domestic or abroad, we’ll usually pair up with similar institutions and visit different cities together (it’s basically like we’re a rock band on tour). This allows you to be exposed all at once to a variety of schools—some you may not have even previously considered! And yes, we’re all actually friendly with each other. No school competition here!

We Like to be Tourists in Your Hometowns!
Counselors outside of NASA museum.

In our “downtime,” we like to see the local sights in your community. This helps us when we’re reading your applications—it gives us an idea of where you’re (literally) coming from and what hometown traditions and quirks may have made you into who you are.

But Did You Know We’re Already Reading Applications?

Shout out to our transfer applicants! We offer many programs to which current college students can apply for spring transfer. Our second-degree nursing application is due by mid-October, so we’re already knee-deep in the reading process while on the road. Don’t be surprised to see us at a local cafe, reviewing a few applications between visits!

We’re still plugging away at our transfer applications, but we have already begun reviewing your Early Decision I files. Wondering about the status of your application or materials? Make sure you check out this post from Jasmine for instructions on how to check your applicant portal.

Phoebe Kingsak is senior assistant director at Undergraduate Admissions. She is a proud alum of CAS (Journalism/Cinema Studies FTW) and is working on her second master’s—this time from NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. She enjoys hosting trivia, keeping Pokemon Go in business, and trying to make “Po-Mo” (portrait mode) a thing. She is a displaced Texan currently residing in Brooklyn with her dog, Betty.