Summer visits-where are you headed, any tips?

momocarly · May 21

We ended up doing a visit the week before college started and that was a great time. A lot of kids were back on campus so we got a good feel for the place, hs hadn't started yet, and there weren't many visitors. Ended up being the first of three visits to the school he ended up at. Just something to think about.

natty1988 · May 22

Another thing to keep in mind on tours (if I already posted this I apologize)..make sure to find out ahead of time where on campus you're supposed to go for the info session and tour and where you're supposed to park. You don't want to be late because you're wandering around lost. That said, allow extra time in case you do get lost or have trouble finding where you're supposed to go. Another reason to allow extra time is due to the fact that you may have park a ways away from where the tour starts. At one school we had to park in a structure that was a 10 min walk from the meeting point..
Just some stuff to keep in mind..

sflawyermom · May 22

Not much info yet on what she wants. She's a current Sophomore. Very artsy, theater-focused, but doesn't want to necessarily focus on theater in college, those are just sort of "her people". Also interested in science, writing and education. She hasn't given it all much thought yet, just not sure where to begin. Thinking of schools on the smaller side, definitely close to a big city, or schools with a liberal bent. We live in Nor Cal, possibly going to do spring break trip in New York next year, so thought we'd see some schools at the same time. She's sort of a stresser/anxious so trying not to put too much pressure on her one way or another.

chb088 · May 22

We had several good summer visits last summer...UPENN, UVA, Georgetown, and Villanova. This summer it’s probably just Va Tech. D20 is in a 6 week summer program so there’s not much time.

Rivet2000 · May 22

We'll be in close to Georgetown this summer. Any recommendations?

marrast · May 22

We made a habit, starting when our oldest was in the ninth grade, of visiting universities when on vacation: San Francisco (Cal Berkeley), NYC (Columbia), Los Angeles (UCLA), and so forth and so on. One summer we took an intensive school visit trip and saw nearby historical attractions when visiting colleges: UVA (Monticello), W&M (Williamsburg), Wake Forest (Old Salem), etc. I think this helped the children in discerning schools and also broke up the monotony of a visit intensive schedule for younger brother.

SilverGrass · June 20

How do you suggest to tour 5Cs? Many info sessions overlap and we don't have days to spend in So CA. We don't need to see all five, but even three doesn't seem to be possible in one day. How have you done; any suggestions?

Itisatruth · June 20

@SilverGrass Speaking as someone who lived in Claremont for 10 years: Choose 2 of the 5 to visit in one day. Before, in between, and after, walk around the other 3. The colleges are *really* different from each other. For most students, it should be clear which 2 are the best fit.

cypresspat · June 20

Apologies if I am repeating advice from others, but the most important thing we (eventually) figured out was what my s20 cares about learning/seeing. He went bonkers sitting and listening to general presentations of material which was on the college’s website. After hearing him mutter ‘I could have given that presentation’ after each of the first three schools, we stopped doing any of those and instead sought out opportunities for him to learn only about the dept. (or in a big university, the college) he is interested in. In his case, it is engineering. Once we figured that out, he’s been a much happier camper. As long as he can view the engineering facilities, through the tour or otherwise, and get a good understanding of any nuances of the curriculum and how the school approaches minors and undergraduate research and such, he’s good. The majority of our visits include walks through the halls of the department to check out the research posters and things like that. He’s weird.

So far, we have toured UCLA (fantastic job by our engineering tour guide), USC (general presentation only, superficial, should have done the engineering tour, but we were newbies then), UCSB (son not thrilled, however I was so taken by that campus I will be attending in the Fall of 2020 - I WISH), UCSD (very poorly executed presentation and tour), U of Miami (Ohio) (well done!), U if Michigan (okay, I get it. U of M is the best university in the world); U of Rochester (engineering presentation got my son’s wheels turning, big time; had to peel him out of the labs); and Cornell (just magnificent; no other word will do).

Next....OSU (this is what I am rooting for! Go Bucks!), Vanderbilt, Northwestern And Notre Dame.

Some of these schools are on his list, some are parent picks.

The Fall has a few more on deck, as his list his evolving as he learns more...but all of the potential ED picks are scheduled or done and will be vetted by Aug 1, when the Fall sport begins and the first app (safeties go first) can be prepped for the send button.

One thing which has not changed, at all, through all of the tours, is what he focuses on. He pays no attention to the look and feel of the campus; the other students could be from Mars for all he cares. Dorms - zippo concern. Student activities (no matter, he will find something he likes); urban/suburban/rural - who cares? Weather? It is only four years, I can take anything for four years. Okay, he cares about the hockey rink, but that’s pretty much it.

We thought that seeing such hugely different schools would make him think about quality of life issues. Nope. Not one bit.

homerdog · June 20

Wow. Lots of you guys visiting tons of reaches. We vowed not to do that and only visited matches and safeties (with the exception of one school - the one he got super lucky to get in since they had a 7% RD acceptance rate). I would not suggest visiting a bunch of reaches since they often look "better" to kids than schools that are matches or safeties for them and could easily result in the student having a hard time liking their safer schools. I mean, sure, Cornell is magnificent but will they get in?

cypresspat · June 20

@homerdog. Well, no one will be accepted to a college they don’t apply to. And we won’t let him apply anywhere he hasn’t visited.

And the OP’s question was about summer visit plans and tips. Not the development of a college application list strategy, unless I missed something.

homerdog · June 20

@cypresspat I guess but what are the chances of a student being happy at a school with lower admissions rates after visiting Cornell, Georgetown, etc? There's time to visit schools after acceptances and dare I say most families can't visit every school their kids apply to. Remember that these schools do not care if you visit and don't track demonstrated interest. If you can manage your S's expectations then more power to you!

SilverGrass · June 20

@Itisatruth Thank you for the recommendation! Wish we could visit the info session of the three. But will take your advice and do just that.

SilverGrass · June 20

@homerdog We're East Coast people, so once in CA, will take an advantage of the opportunity to visit. DD's list will most likely will be comprised of the NE colleges with a few she liked elsewhere. Just taking an opportunity to tour, compare and reflect. A long road ahead.

tkoparent · June 20

@SilverGrass Just to second the advice you received from @Itisatruth, We saw Pitzer and Pomona in a single day and did the tours and info sessions for both. I don't think we could have done three, but we did have time to walk around the evening before after we'd arrived in Claremont, as the campuses are quite close together. Maybe you could somehow split up to cover more territory?

Summer visits-where are you headed, any tips?

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