My eldest played basketball and during her freshman year she was invited to play in a tournament in SoCal, so we flew out with all three kids from CO and made a point of touring a big state school (UCSD), small privates (the 5Cs), big private (USC), and a medium sized religious affiliated private (Pepperdine) so they could see a good mix. Between the three of them with different and changing interests, visiting relatives, travel for their sports, specific serious tours and recruiting visits, we ended up touring 51 colleges over 7 years. It all just added up gradually over time. My favorite was going alone with my middle kid for her serious trip. We toured Wake Forest, North Carolina, Duke, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, U Chicago and finally Northwestern (my alma mater). Fantastic trip!