This summer my oldest daughter and I are hitting the road to visit college campuses throughout the south east. While we live in Charlotte, NC, we are considering schools both in and out of state. NC State’s strongly competitive engineering program has caught my daughter’s eye so we had to take a trip to our capital city for a visit. I’m sharing all my tips and tricks and a peek inside the tour to help you and your student navigate a college tour of your own. But don’t miss my general college tour tips here, too! You’ll park at the Coliseum Parking Deck, use the Cates Ave. entrance. If you’re starting from the south side of Charlotte, NC like we did, plan for about 3 hours in the car. However, if you want to see campus in person, take part in an information session with an admissions officer, and get a guided tour with a student guide, you’ll want to register for a campus visit before you go. Be sure to sign up with one of their open dates, you can find all the information you’ll need to register here. NC State’s campus is quite large. When we arrived in Raleigh, we parked on the street just outside our lunch restaurant and then after lunch moved our car to the designated visitor parking for the remainder of our visit. We were asked to park at 201 Jensen Dr. You’ll want to use the Cates Avenue entrance. It is a short walk from there to the Talley Student Union where your information session will be. Our day went as follows: You’ll be assigned an information session with an admissions officer who will present the basic information you need for applying to NC State. This is an excellent place to ask any general questions you have about the admissions process. The presentation lasted about 45 minutes. We managed to visit NC State on one of the very hottest days of summer in the Carolinas. We had to walk under blistering sunshine at 2pm at a very quick pace to keep up with our guide. The campus was not very hilly but there were a fair amount of stairs on our tour. Thankfully our guide paused in the lobbies of buildings so we could cool off in the air conditioning. I have very few photos besides the student union from campus that day because we struggled to keep up with our guide’s pace in the sweltering heat. Oh to be college-aged again. TOP TIP: Be sure to bring LOTS of water if you’re visiting in the summer. They will not provide you any but you can find refill stations for water bottles on campus. There is a spot on the website to request an accessibility-friendly tour when you register if that is a concern for your family. The walking tour lasted for about an hour and really only highlights a small section of campus. While much of the tunnel gets painted over and over again, the students were so proud of this it has kept its position on the wall for the longest time. When we paused at the Hill library in the Brickyard, he shared about the fun events that happen at this hub throughout the year. Most notably Ag Week where live cows and sheep are brought in for the students to experience. I took the opportunity to make each of our college tours an extra-special experience with my daughter so we always planned a quiet lunch before or after the tours to chat about each school. Before our visit, I reached out to NC State alum friends to ask for recommendations. Thanks to their input, we landed at the Player’s Retreat near campus. This nostalgic restaurant and bar opened in 1951 and the walls are filled with classic NC State athletic memorabilia. The menu has a mix of pub favorites including potato skins, mozzarella sticks, and chicken tenders along with traditional grilled items like burgers, chicken sandwiches, and hot dogs. You can also choose from delicious southern classics like baby back ribs and an NC BBQ plate. We strongly recommend the onion rings which were HUGE and utterly delicious. Be sure to ask them for more information if this is of interest to you! There’s an ice cream shop that serves it right in the Talley Student Union, so this is an excellent way to cool down after a hot tour of campus and have a quiet moment with your student to chat about the school. You’ll also want to drive past the Carter-Finley Stadium for a peek at the football arena. I’m saving all the campus pics in an album on my phone for easy grabbing when the time comes. NOTE: This was my daughter’s idea, not my own. If you think your child would feel way too much pressure with this, skip it! They don’t need any more stress placed on their shoulders. For us, there was just a simple feeling of excitement and potential and hope surrounding that pic. We know she’s an awesome kid who will land some place that is the right fit. Maybe that will be NC State, maybe not. This modern campus was incredibly impressive and a tad overwhelming, it is for sure something to be seen. If you’ve got the time, visit downtown Raleigh and choose a spot for dinner before heading home. NC State is lucky enough to have a small Target right near campus. We took a few minutes to hop inside to get a feel for the kinds of things she’d have easy access to for supply shopping. The store caters to the college clientele and has everything a student would need for the dorms or an apartment so conveniently located. The informational session and tour gave us the basics for what we needed to know to apply but the campus is so large I know we missed a lot of hidden gems. It is one of her very top picks for schools but is extremely competitive to gain admittance. If she gets a “yes,” we are definitely looking forward to taking a longer return visit to get more oriented to the area.
