<p>Susan - you posted
"While visits are truly a major expense (believe me, I know, my current applicant must travel to 8 schools to audition in a three month period), I highly recommend it because there is no way I would want my daughter to pick a school out based on what she has read only. "</p>
<p>We’re busting the bank (at least a little) and taking school days to do this also this fall. Especially as some of the schools we visited in April looked like such a good fit on paper and we just wrong in person. Son enjoyed the Brown visit a lot, BTW. </p>
<p>Celebrian -
if you have friends or relatives near colleges of interest, you might be able to visit from their homes - save money that way. My son will be visiting Mac and Carleton next week - long drive, staying with cousins. We drove and stayed with an Aunt in Boston for most of the east coast visits.</p>
<p>Another tack is to look at types of schools close to home - you could visit Oberlin and Kenyon to get the feel of LAC’s, for example.</p>
<p>Unfortenately, all of my family lives in ohio except one uncle who hasn’t spoken with the family for 4 yrs. (he’s in california). Though I will be visiting Kenyon, to get the “LAC” feel</p>
<p>This is so discouraging. We started visiting colleges last summer before my D’s junior year and will be doing more visits over the coming months and in the spring - mostly we are just going to be in various places anyhow and so are using the opportunity to visit schools of possible interest. But, if TheDad hadn’t mentioned doing this with his daughter, it would never have occurred to me to do so — so, how are kids who are now seniors going to be able to fit in 10 or 15 visits to schools in the fall? Or kids who just can’t afford to go anywhere? Just seems like another way that kids from financially well-off families get a leg up in the admissions process.</p>
<p>Yep, chicago and Umich are the only 2 match/reach -ish schools i’ll probably visit during the school year, well i’m visiting northwestern, but only becuase my dad is obsessed with me going there, though i’m not interested at alll (I don’t like having to be admitted to a certain college rather than the entire university), so hopefully i’ll get to the east coast this summer, and unfortenately, the UC’s won’t have a visit from me unless i’m accepted and visit after (UCB, UCSD, USC)</p>
<p>Ohio Mom, because I think visiting schools is so important in terms of selection, we are doing it. And of course, in terms of my second child, there are all the auditions she must attend as well. But it is very difficult to afford. With the first child, all her schools were on the east coast (her choice, not that I am complainin’…we gave no restrictions in this regard but her choice does work for me, lol), and thus they were all in driving distance, no flights involved. Even still, there was the price of hotels and such. Sometimes we were able to stay with friends or relatives and did cut costs that way. But we saw each school she applied to before she applied, plus let her return to two first choices for an overnight in fall of senior year and then went back to three she was deciding between for the accepted student April Open Houses (which truly impacted her final decision and was well worth it). But with my second child, some schools DO involve flights and that is making it very costly and hard to afford. I just feel like this is one thing we really have to do. I agree with Carolyn that those who can afford it have that advantage in this area. I still think in terms of showing interest, there are free ways to do that. But again, our visits were not done to show interest but were for my own D’s needs to explore fully. And yes, it is way harder for those who want to see schools across the country and so forth. </p>
<p>I am glad your son liked Brown. My daughter is loving it beyond my wildest dreams and is very happy that she made this choice now that she is there. My only goal was to see her happy with her school and did not care which one she picked and it gives me great joy to hear her calls home filled with happy sharing of everything going on there for her. </p>
<p>For us, the visits were very worthwhile and money aside, I am glad we did them. Like I said, while quite difficult to afford them, when I look at the big picture of what sending a kid to college entails, this investment in the selection/visit process is kind of small in relation to the total cost of tuition, etc. The whole prospect right now with my younger child involves lessons or “coaching” in preparation for her auditions and I know every child going for these programs she is going for has that but it is a very costly venture and you do wonder how that must knock lots of kids out of contention for this pursuit. And when you think about it, a lot of the kids who are successful, have had parents supporting their efforts both financially and emotionally (and driving!!) and that alone is a leg up. Kids with lotsa extracurricular involvement had to have parents who supported those schedules and those lessons and all that jazz. It is clearly an advantage if you have parents providing opportunities and in some cases, money to do these pursuits. I want to emphasize that it is not all about the money though. I do not live in an affluent area but parents here do seem to drive their kids very far to be involved in enriching activities and so the support is not just financial by any means. And that same thought applies to the college visits. It is not just the money to do them. Like you said, if you stay with relatives or friends, it may just mean gas money. But what it really takes is parents who will put energy into helping to set up visits, take the time to go on them, and so forth. Not all kids have that level of support and guidance and facilitation. So, in a way ,it surely is not an equal playing field. </p>
<p>We are doing visits in November from S. Calif. D gets 2 days off for Veterans Day, then the whole week of Thanksgiving. I’ve convinced her to take 2 additional days off (she is on block schedule, so she will miss 1 class for each subject. We will be visiting 10 schools, interviews set up at 9. Like soozievt, this is just the first round. My D is also applying to musical theater programs, so we face auditions in Jan. and Feb. Expensive, yes. But when I think how much we’ve paid for dance, voice, and piano lessons over the years and how much college is going to cost it is a small price to pay. We’ve bunched things together as much as possible and I’m driving through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Got on “CheapTickets” and did the best I could. Motel 6 may see a lot of us. I hope it all pays off, but judging from everything I’ve heard, I am sure it will.</p>
<p>If a high school student looks at college as “getting your ticket punched”, he will never be able to express interest to an admissions committee. He can visit college campuses until he is an old man----and no college will interpret his visits as “interest”. There are more students with this view than any of us are willing to acknowledge. Many bright, high-scoring students have this view of college. Parents encourage this ticket-punching view in many not-too-subtle ways.</p>
<p>A student who has a genuine love of learning and a genuine interest in a particular college will be unable to contain his enthusiasm about that school and his interest in studying there. It cannot be faked. If he cannot visit the school (and even if he does visit the school), he will be writing enthusiastic letters and making contacts within that college. The college admissions people cannot help but to notice this type of student----the interest is mutual!</p>
<p>Yikes yikes yikes. I am frustrated by S’s refusal to do what has become “the norm” in college admissions. Yes, we have visited colleges and had interviews, but will not be able to go to all of the schools to which he will apply. He seems absolutely resistant about doing the other stuff. For instance, when the Classics chair at Brown emailed him, I thought, Wow! Golden opportunity to make contact. Has he emailed back? No. Has he sent those polite thank you’s after interviews? No. Is this a pattern? Yes. Am I being a complete nag to harp on this??? I actually cut and pasted Susan’s first longer post on this thread and emailed it to him. This kid is a very thoughtful soul in most every way, but I THINK he thinks “if they won’t take me based on my application et. al., I’ll know not to go there.” Is it time for me to let go?</p>
<p>Where’s Mini?! I think I would of said no thank you to that school. That immediately limits the applicant pool financially and geographically - so much for diversity!</p>
<p>I agree with you, Cangel. That seems a rather ridiculous way to handle admissions decisions to me. It’s almost a little difficult to believe, I’m curious what school it was.</p>
<p>Agree with you! I’d strike that school from my list as having no clue about the financial constraints on lower income families. I remember one poster (was it Candi?) agonizing about not having $200 to visit a college to which she had been admitted.</p>
<p>“She is a 13th generation birthright Quaker.”</p>
<p>Driver, I just want to let you know how much respect I have for Quakers. I didn’t kknow anything about Quakers 4 years ago. I attribute much of my son’s success and healthy mindset to the Quaker way of thinking…and so does he. I could go on and on…and it really brings tears to my eyes.</p>
<p>The “no-visit/no-accept” policy sounds too unlike most reputable colleges to be true. Try phoning and asking if a family with serious financial constraints can be accommodated in terms of the campus visit. </p>
<p>There might exist the possibility of an “off campus” interview by a representative or alumni in a nearby city.</p>
<p>Any college that actually has an ironclad “no-visit/no-accept” policy is likely to have many other policies that would preclude the financially challenged from attending. Some colleges have a “student aid society” that helps students cope with meager personal budgets—a good sign.</p>
<p>I would say that it is generally not easy to size up a college in terms of its real attitude towards students with a lot of need. A lot of reading between the lines is required.</p>
<p>Momsdream, Thanks for the kind words. Glad your son’s experience at a Friend’s school (I’m assuming) has been so fruitful. It’s funny, despite the relatively large number of active Quaker Meetings here in SE PA, a lot of folks still think of us as mythical creatures, like gnomes.</p>
<p>Cangel, et al., yes, that LACs policy does seem way too extreme. Perhaps the admissions officer was engaging in a little hyperbole to make a point? Unfortunate if it discouraged kids from applying. I know for a fact that some of my daughter’s classmates at Williams didn’t visit, but the one’s I’m thinking of were from Tennessee and the West. Perhaps there’s a distance beyond which actual visits don’t matter. Email contacts with specific departments and/or coaches should help demonstrate interest in those cases, along with regional interviews, as Morgantruce said.</p>
<p>Which leads me to Momofthree: I think not responding to a contact by a Brown department chair after an interview would be a big mistake, assuming your son is genuinely interested. Maybe a closer-to-home analogy would help him get it? If he called to invite someone to a party and that person didn’t even respond, he might get the message s/he didn’t want to talk to him? I don’t know if the thank you letters make any difference (daughter didn’t want to do them either), but an actual out-reach? That should be jumped on, I think.</p>
<p>We had a lecturer at our high school that noted that colleges keep all contacts in a data base. The more contacts, the greater the supposed interest level of the parents. Thus, to avoid the Tufts syndrome ( having college reject you because they think you are using them as a safety), make numerous contacts with them. Ask for literature. Show up at colege fairs and leave your name etc</p>
<p>I also think that there are cases where many students apply to schools simply becasue of the name and really don’t kow anything about the school. While it is great to be able to vist, spend the night and attend a class , the reality is many people cannot do this due to time and financial constraints. </p>
<p>However as Susan any many others have stated there are other ways to demonstrate interest. Do research about a department which you are interested in , contact professors . If they many speak at other schools or sometimes come as guest lecturers. I do beleive that there has to be a little ownership on the part of the student in this process because in the end everthing comes down to a question of worth and we always mange to find a way to do things which are important to us.</p>
<p>I find it amazing even as I read various post on the CC how prospective students will ask questions instead of doing some of the legwork for them selves. For some it may be a mattaer of being uninformed but for others, its just plain lazy</p>