<p>Our son is in mid-junior year, and we’re starting to get serious about planning college visits for this summer. One thing we’re struggling with is whether it’s better to try to see as many schools as possible in a marathon tour or do several smaller, more leisurely trips.</p>
<p>In your view, is there a point of diminishing returns after a number of schools have been visited, where the kid starts to glaze over and the process loses its value? Obviously every teenager is going to be different in this regard, but I’d be curious to know what people’s experiences have been. One long trip might be more efficient and easier to schedule, but we wouldn’t want a good school to end up getting short shrift because we’ve already seen a dozen colleges in the past week and S just wants to go home.</p>
<p>Your concern is well founded–Trying to see more than a handful of schools on any one trip is likely to be a disaster. A few shorter, well-spaced trips will be received much better and will allow your teenager to absorb the information better. The information sessions and tours all begin to sound the same after a while.</p>
<p>Absolutely agree with bonanza. Trying to see more than one school a day and/or trying to do college visits for more than 5-6 days at a time is a real killer – very stressful for both student and parent. Not only do the info sessions and tours all start to sound alike – three weeks later, you can’t remember which school had the terrible food and which school had the out-of-date science labs! </p>
<p>Also, ask your son to jot down a few notes immediately after visiting a college, while his thoughts are still fresh in his mind. Nothing fancy: what he liked best, what he didn’t like, impression of the dorm rooms, etc. If he’s like my son, he won’t want to do this, but try to get him to do it anyway. He’ll see the value later on when his acceptances start to come in and he has to choose among schools he visited a year earlier. It’s also helpful to take a couple of photos to remind you about what you saw during each visit.</p>
<p>My son and I generally got an early start each day and did the morning tour and info session, then had lunch in one of the dining halls so we could observe the students. (We found that most students eager to talk and give their opinions about the school to a prospective student.) That left the afternoon to visit specific academic departments, talk to faculty, or see facilities of special interest. For schools where my son had a very favorable impression after all that (and some schools did drop off his list even before lunch!), then we tried to at least scout out the general area around the school to see what stores, restaurants, entertainment, etc. were available within walking distance before leaving.</p>
<p>Do several smaller, more leisurely trips. Trust me on this one. It’s an exhausting (albeit fun) process, and packing the visits in like sardines makes you feel like…a dead fish in a tin.</p>
<p>i did college touring in california last summer, and by the last tour (UCLA) i was so tired i didn’t pay attention as well as i did at the 5c’s, LMU, USC and pepperdine. now i wish i had because UCLA is one of my top choices. definitely don’t do a marathon!</p>
<p>What if you only have a limited amount of time? I’m looking to good to school in Cali, and might be going to LA for a few days and would like to check out UCLA, USC, LMU, Pepperdine and maybe try to squeeze in USD. I guess I’d have to do a marathon, or narrow my list down.</p>
<p>Defintely have your child do a pros/cons list after each school as well as a one- to two-sentence overall impression. I found it very telling when ds had a lot to say about a school.</p>
<p>Also, we did nearby campuses, even if ds had no interest in attending, just to get used to the process and learn about different kinds of schools – large public uni, tiny LAC, etc.</p>
<p>One school per day and no marathons if you can avoid it. Also agree with worried_mom about getting your S to write down his impressions at the end of each day. It will make writing those ‘why I want to go here’ essays much easier if he can remember some vivid details. (Of course, if he dislikes a place, he can forget the note-taking.) Often something he sees at one school will trigger a comparison with another school so he can start ranking them too along various dimensions.</p>
<p>My son and I took several 3-4 day trips. We would decide which direction we were going and he would select the schools he wanted to see. Usually we would drive the the furthest school and work our way back home. Usually we would go to the first school in the morning and if there was a second one in the same area we might take a tour there or just walk the campus to get a feel. Any longer than the 3-4 days and you can see both your child and your attention fading.</p>
<p>IMHO 3 or 4 might be the right number of schools to check out. I wouldn’t dream of seeing multiples in a single day. The things that make a school unique might not be appreciated if an hour and a half is spent there. My father and I flew out to check out the schools I was interested in as a high school student. The time with him was still some of the best that I can remember. I believe that if we had packed a lot more into the schedule, I wouldn’t have made as good of a choice and I wouldn’t look back at the experience with fondness.</p>
<p>I took both my kids on road trips where we toured 8 or so colleges, but never more than one per day. I recommend Professor Pathfinder’s map of US colleges and universities (available at Amazon and other booksellers) - it is great for helping plan a route and seeing what colleges are “on the way”.</p>