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.