What exactly should someone pack for an action-packed college road trip?

Answer: Plenty of snacks (for the inevitable munchies), a CD mix tape (that you will ultimately forget), and an extra shirt (just in case one gets stained during the car ride). But the most important thing to bring along on any college road trip is an open mind. There are plenty of college options out there for rising college freshmen, and you have to be open to all of them.

The college road trip has become something of a right-of-passage for students who are serious about the next step after high school. Over the course of Labor Day weekend back in early September, a friend and I visited a grand total of seven schools.

The objective was packing as much campus time as we could, and to narrow down our application lists.

The colleges we visited were as follows: Elon University, University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), Duke University, Furman University, Wofford College, Converse College, and Clemson University. That’s a lot of schools to pack in on one weekend.

And, yes, when we got back we were sleep-deprived and exhausted.

Visiting a campus may seem like a trivial act. After all, seeing the spiffy new residence halls and a musty old administration building can give a seemingly superficial view of things.

But in life – and in college choices – first impressions do matter. An example of this would my evolving attitude toward Elon University in Elon, NC.  When I first visited Elon in the fall of my junior year, I fell head over heels in love with the school, its programs, and its atmosphere. My second visit during the road trip let me delve further into the finer points of applying.

From visiting Elon, I learned that there is a Chick-fil-A on campus (on campus. what. what.), gorgeous architecture and an eco-bus that will take students to Target 24/7, 7 days a week. While restaurants on campus and what buildings look like are minor details to the college experience, traveling to Elon helped me realize that Elon is the place for me. The atmosphere is right. A school can look perfect on paper, but if the atmosphere doesn’t work, it’s not the place for you.

During my sophomore year, I traveled to Orlando, where my grandparents live, and looked at Stetson University. It’s a beautiful school, with a beautiful campus, but it wasn’t the place for me. The atmosphere wasn’t right.  The true value of college visits: understanding the atmosphere.

During her junior year, my friend was only able to visit one college. Thanks to our

ambitious road trip, she was able to add schools to her application list, and remove the ones where she’s lost all interest.

Mr. Austin Lyke, North Atlanta High School’s college counselor, advises students to visit a school’s campus when applying. “It is extremely important. Definitely go visit before you commit to a school,” he said.

When touring the campus, make sure you ask questions. Tours are usually student led. That’s to say: the ones who really know a campus are the ones taking you around. Mr. Lyke suggests asking about activities that are on-campus to get a better feel for life outside of class. “It’s going to be your home for four years, so you do well to ask as many questions that you can.”

So, pack the right things and take your own college road trip. You just might learn a few things. I learned North Carolina that is farther away than I thought, and that bathroom breaks are important. I also learned that the next four years of my life are going to be some of the best ones yet.