K-12 Group Visits

At Clarkson, we welcome the opportunity to host your K-12 school or organization group visit and to give you a unique experience tailored to the needs of your students. Whether a local Girl Scout troop, an Upward Bound program, a science class or a guidance counselor led group, our staff is here to create a memorable visit for all of your participants. All of our K-12 group visits take place at our main campus in Potsdam, New York. Requests for visits to our Capital Region Campus in Schenectady, New York, can only be filled on a case-by-case basis.

A group visit can include:

  • sitting in on a first-year class
  • meeting with faculty members and staff from specific departments
  • setting up one-on-one admissions interviews for students
  • having a meal on campus
  • taking a full or condensed tour of campus, led by one or more of our student admissions ambassadors
  • participating in a hands-on activity with faculty, staff and students

We are open six days a week for you to schedule your K-12 group visit (Monday through Saturday), although we give preference to groups who request weekdays. Scheduled activities are all subject to faculty and staff availability during your visit, but we will do our best to accommodate your requests.

Schedule Your Group Visit

What to Expect

When planning your group visit to Clarkson, you have many activities and options to choose from. In most cases, our visiting groups are on a limited time schedule, so we will do our best to squeeze as much as we can into your day. Below is some helpful information to get you started in thinking about your options. 

Campus Tour

Our campus tours are typically 90 minutes in length and cover the majority of our buildings on the "Hill" campus in Potsdam, New York. We can easily condense the length of the tours and focus on the areas your group is interested in seeing. 

This includes:

  • residence halls
  • dining locations
  • the library
  • Career Center
  • indoor athletic facilities
  • Cheel Campus Center (including ice hockey area)
  • Student Center
  • academic buildings (classrooms and laboratories)
  • SPEED labs (Clean Snowmobile, Formula SAE, FIRST Robotics, Mini Baja and more). 
Meeting with Faculty & Staff

Many of our groups are looking to visit with specific academic departments or student support departments. If you have a specific group that you are hoping to spend some time with during your visit, please let us know. 

Examples of frequently requested department visits include:

  • The Clarkson School (early college entrance program)
  • HEOP (Higher Education Opportunity Program)
  • CUPO (Community of Underrepresented Professional Opportunities)
  • Shipley Center for Innovation
  • Career Center
  • AccessABILITY Services
  • Army/Air Force ROTC
Having a Meal on Campus

During your time at Clarkson, you may be on campus at a typical mealtime. If this is the case, our office may be able to provide you with complimentary meals for your group depending on the age group and your financial needs. The location will be determined by our staff (you are welcome to give us your preference) based on the time of day for your meal, size of your group, capacity of the dining facility and schedule of activities. 

You may dine at:

  • Ross-Brooks Dining Hall (our all-you-care-to-eat dining facility)
  • Student Center Servery (made to order culinary stations)
  • Cheel Campus Center (locally-sourced grill, Subway)
  • Catered meal (pizza buffet, sandwiches, etc.)
Sitting in on a Class

If you come on a weekday, we may be able to fit into your schedule time to observe one of our classes. Due to the small class sizes that we offer at Clarkson, it is challenging to arrange large groups to sit in on a class. If your group is smaller than about six students, we will do our best to accommodate your requests. 

Sample courses for visiting typically include:

  • Small Business 113: Entrepreneurship & Business Innovation (first-year business)
  • First-year Biology
  • First-year Chemistry
Setting up Admissions Interview

Bringing students to campus who are interested in applying or have already applied to Clarkson? If they haven't done an in-person admissions interview, doing so during your visit could be the perfect time. We will need the information on your specific students to make the arrangements and will need advance notice to ensure a counselor is available for the interview. 

Participating in a Hands-on Activity

Many of our faculty have developed fun, educational hands-on experiences and experiments that are perfect for a K-12 group. It is one of the most popular and unique options available to groups while visiting. 

Sample activities have included:

  • Business innovation and entrepreneurship team challenges
  • Robotics building and coding team lessons
  • Computer science and programming challenges
  • "Myth-busting" experiments
Admissions Overview

Especially for grades 9 and up, we strongly encourage your group to have an admissions overview with one of our counselors. All of our counselors are trained in both admissions and financial aid, so they can answer any questions your students may have about each process. The overview is a great way for the students to better understand going to college overall, what the processes are like and what to look for during their college search. 

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