OP, take all these suggestions & prepare to roll with what works on the day. We have done many, many college visits with the collegekids, and the ability to be spontaneous & flexible is really useful!
One of the most surprising thing is how viscerally the kids sometimes respond to a place, and over the years I have learned to respect that response. I have yet to successfully talk a kid around, even when in theory the school should suit. As an example, for one of our lot College X seemed absolutely perfect. However, once we got there, barely 10-15 minutes into the tour it was crossed off the list entirely because she didn’t like the ‘feel’ of the place. So, we melted away off the tour (you will see that happen on most tours btw), and re-configured the schedule.
You can tell your son some of the “BINGO” type things to look for in the tours/info sessions: X number of volumes in the library / if there is an activity you are interested in that doesn’t already have a club there is SG money to start one / there is a superstition about x place / thing (walk across it & you won’t graduate, etc) / etc.
And you can make the sessions more interesting by getting him to plan questions to ask. Some examples:
For the tour guide:
- How helpful did you find your freshman year advisor?
- What do you wish you had asked on a campus tour when you were in my place?
- What’s a typical weekday like for you?
- What was the biggest difference for you between HS & college
For the info session:
- What are some common mistakes students make when applying?
- How many APs do successful applicants usually have?
And my favorite:
- About how many applications does each Admissions Officer read each year?