17yr Old Doing College Visits Alone?

Aerlan
Sun, 27 May 2012 02:09:41 +0000

Ideally, I would like to take two trips. Maybe two might be unnecessary but I would like to take at least one of those trips alone.

There are some things I will not say/do in front of my parents. Of course nothing like bad behavior but I probably won’t ask “how’s the party life” or “do people usually go out” in front of my folks, as they would take that statement the wrong way instead of it as answering my curiosity. My parents are immigrants from an African country and they are not the most educated of people (I had to once explain to them and show them that Illinois was not a city). Generally I’m more relaxed when I do things on my own, I have the independence to do what I would like during the tour, venture a little longer on the campus when I’m even when tired of walking, and ask questions that won’t make my parents skeptical of me being on my own hundreds of miles away from them. Generally I’m more relaxed when I’m own my own, add another person, esp. my parents and I get stressed out. If I go once alone before I apply to the schools, see how I like the environment, get first impressions, and not have it be so ‘serious’. Then when I’ve applied and those who have accepted me, I’ll feel more comfortable with my parents coming along. I can show them highlights of my previous tour that I enjoyed, what i didn’t like, and tell them how I functioned on being alone at first, and how I functioned with them being there.