<p>Showmom - do be certain to check on each school you might want to visit as many colleges also close for the whole week of Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>@Apollo6: Boy do I hear you! I’m really trying to get dd to do ALL of the emailing/talking/etc. . . and it drives me crazy when she dismisses my advice out of hand. It makes it so much harder to NOT say “I told you so.” Her current issue is that 2 of the classes she wants are offered at the same time. There were many ways to possibly avoid this last spring (talk to the teacher doing the scheduling about the potential conflict before it arose, register for the more popular class, etc. . .) but I got a lot of pushback and “my advisor says I have to do it <em>this</em> way”. So be it. Of course, now she’s home sick and missing the add/drop period.</p>
<p>I’m hoping to take D to visit a couple of schools-- her safeties-- this October. Does that seem too soon? She’s a likely theater major so next year will be auditions, which means endless time away from school. And I’d like her to see the safeties in the best possible light (and weather) so she’ll feel more positive about them. But given the way kids change I wonder if I’m pushing the time frame too hard.</p>
<p>Lol, Gwen. DD did a west coast swing last summer, and this summer made shorter day trips to visit campuses around New England. If October is too early, then we really overdid it. ;)</p>
<p>I think you’re right about kids changing a lot during Junior and Senior year, but on our visits, we’ve met a lot of people doing the One Big Road Trip right before applying, and it looks like an exhausting blur to us.</p>
<p>Our strategy is to see as many different kinds of campuses and colleges on lots of manageable smaller trips, not really get too judgmental about what we like and don’t like, and then try to build on that next year when she’s more fully formed.</p>
<p>So I certainly don’t think October is too early to start visiting. And your approach to safeties I think is absolutely right on.</p>
<p>I agree with Angry Dad. College visits at this point are fact finding missions. When my S visited one of his safeties last fall, it became his first choice. D’s been visiting campuses for a few years now (tagging along with her brother) and she’s starting to figure out what she’s looking for in a school. Next spring, we’ll be going east and I’m looking forward to that! She’s interested in Penn State and Villanova right now.</p>
<p>We started this summer just stopping by potential colleges if we were nearby. Visited friends in Maine, did the tours at Bates and Bowdoin, etc. Our goal is to narrow it down to big vs small, urban vs rural, core curriculum vs few requirements by the spring of junior year. Then probably start to proactively visit potential choices in the spring. They get so busy in their junior and senior years that is gets hard to schedule visits. We don’t want to end up doing the grueling 10 colleges in 10 days tour just before heading back for senior year and starting to work on applications.</p>
<p>Gwen: Too early? Where did you get your helocopter pilot’s license? We have already visited over a dozen school because spring is going to be packed with priority EC, APs, SAT2s, etc. We now that we could not anticipate all the schools D12 would be interested in, but we visited some schools that were nearby as we travelled around and we took a couple of specfic trips over the summer. Get up on it!</p>
<p>1012: How did you like Bowdoin? We have a little interest, but will not be able to get up there.</p>
<p>Haha, glido…well said! Thanks everyone-- off we will go. BTW, my H went to Bowdoin and we were there for his reunion this summer-- it’s really the postcard perfect LAC, if you ask me-- beautiful, perfect location, great little college town, and supposed to have great academics, certainly did back in the day.</p>
<p>School starts Tuesday. My D is getting home from vacation with her Grandparents tomorrow, and has to take a timed SAT as soon as she gets home because the “fall” review session starts now. She did a summer intense sesson and it was very good. The course goes into the Fall with weekly timed tests, review of the test, and tutoring in the areas the student needs extra love (math…) She pretty good at getting her CR and Writing in the 700’s. She sometimes gets her math there, but she needs more consistency. </p>
<p>She is taking APUSH, AP Eng. Lit, AP Psych and AP Art History this year. I was so jealous when I saw the syllubus for AP Art History. What a great class, and it fulfills the “art” requirement for the Univ. of Calif. admissions. </p>
<p>We went to lots of colleges back East this summer. In a few weeks, I will take her up to Cal (my alma mater) and that other school in Palo Alto (bleh…but my husband says I have to be fair.) I’m going to have her sister give her the personalized tour of UCLA this year (that’s where my older D is.) I will also take her to see some of the Claremont colleges sometime this year.</p>
<p>I really think, based on experience with the first one, that seeing colleges before you appy is a very good thing…</p>
<p>@glido</p>
<p>Agree with Gwen. Bowdoin is a great LAC. Strong academics, NESCAC sports, undergaduate focus, great dorms, great food, nice college town and only a short distance to Portland. My D2 thought it was nice, but a little too much like the BS she attends. Probably will end up looking for bigger and/or less New England feeling, but that is specific to her preferences.</p>
<p>Chrisseyblu, Please share with us what you find during college tours in California. I envy you for visiting so many schools. I am trying to squeeze in two visits in an empty campus over the xmas break.</p>
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<p>That reminded me of one visit we made over the Christmas break to DH’s alma mater. The campus was DESERTED and I just knew that my kids would get the wrong impression! Fortunately, there’s a webcam on campus and were able to see what the same area looked like when school was in session.</p>
<p>Well, I can start with UC Santa Barbara…
This campus is not in Santa Barbara. Its a little off to the side, about 5 minutes outside of the town in a small town whose name escapes me at this time. The kids go to the small town for movies, shopping, etc., not necessarily Santa Barbara, which they have to bus to. The campus is RIGHT on the beach with a lagoon just off to the side of the student union. It is BIKE INSANE. Everyone has a bike. Bike paths are all over the campus and there are places to repair your bike, and fill your tires, etc.<br>
The campus was calm and mellow. It had a nice bell tower (being a Berkeley girl, I’m rather partial to campuses with Bell Towers.) I liked it much better than UCSD. It seemed to have more of a “center” if you know what I mean. My D loved it and is definitely applying. </p>
<p>UCSD - well, this is my hometown and neither of my kids is applying here despite often being there. UCSD always strikes me as a collection of buildings that kind of came together as a campus. It does not seem as coherent as, say, UCLA with its steps and uniform buildings, or Cal with Sather Gate and the Campanile. The area around the playhouse where the theatre program is located is very nice. I have spent a lot of time there because my D has worked there and attended classes there. The campus is really green (both from an environmental side and for real). The libraries are great. But I never really felt the buildings worked together. And no, it is not “right on the beach” but it is very close (unless, of course, you are speaking about the Scripps Institute, which is on the water.) The campus is in the middle of the UTC and La Jolla areas, so it is very safe. But public transportation is not that great. The city is going to fix that with the red trolley cars coming into the area soon. Kids will be able to take those into downtown from the campus and all the way to Tijuana, as well as Fashion Valley (the big mall area of S.D.) San Diego is an amazing place to live. Most people who come to UCSD for school never leave. </p>
<p>UCLA - A good part of the UCLA campus you have seen time and time again on numerous movies and television shows. The main part of the campus consists of these brick buildings that are older and very stately with big lawns and steps all around them. The new buildings around them try to keep the brick theme (i.e. the Business buildings), but as you move further from the main center of the campus, things get more modern. The theatre and arts schools are near a nice sculpture garden which is very peaceful. The dorms are all together on what is called “the hill” (no joke… kids are in very good shape from walking to campus up and down that thing every day.) The dorms I think are quite nice, though some are better than others. Westwood is right there, and yes, there are bums, but overall a cool place to shop. The other side is Bel Air (yes, the Bel Air.) Public transportation abounds.</p>
<p>I went to Berkeley. I will wait to report after I have gone back. Its been about 10 years since I have been on campus. I will also be going to UC Irvine soon.</p>
<p>Thank you! It’s very helpful. In my former life, I attended a conference held in UCSB. Spectacular beach on a bluff. Perfect spot to watch the sun go down.</p>
<p>lilmom, I am losing interest fast in a visit over the xmas break. Fly 8 hours to watch a webcam in an empty campus.</p>
<p>Chrissyblu: Thanks for the detailed report. That helps a lot. Too bad those schools are so hard to get into.</p>
<p>Iglooo - UCSB is a beautiful place! However, it is a college that prides itself in being a “party school”. FWIW, I wouldn’t hesitate to send my D there because I know she’s responsible and would make good choices. </p>
<p>Glido - depending on the major, UCSB or UCSD may not be difficult to get into.<br>
Both of my kids shared the same sentiments as chrissyblu regarding the traditional set up of UCSB vs. the more spread out set up of UCSD. S applied there as undeclared and was rejected. Two friends with similar stats got in as English majors.</p>
<p>I loved the campus of University of San Diego, very traditional and small but I’m not crazy about it’s location in the city but it is convenient. I lived in SD for almost 20 yrs before I even set foot on campus. </p>
<p>D would like to see Berkeley and I plan to take her there in the spring or fall. She’ll have a better idea of what she’s looking for in a school and also what her stats will look like at app time. She has friends who will be starting there this yr and wants to visit them. </p>
<p>She still thinks she wants to go OOS so we will wait until she’s really serious before making any visits to the east coast.</p>
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<p>I like 1012mom’s approach to college searches. It would be great to put all of that info on a spreadsheet for easy comparisons.</p>
<p>I have found that there is a benefit to visiting colleges along the way (over the course of a few years) - the kids are mindful of the different choices, even if they visit a college they don’t particularly like. I just tell them - the harder you working at managing your time and turning in good quality school work, the more choices you will have.</p>
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<p>Sound’s just like the convos at our house!! DS decided to forgo the Oct SAT and wait until Jan. because he didn’t feel ready. My contention is that he will never feel or be ready since he had all summer to prep and did the bare minimum for he SAT tutors. Now that he has tons of schoolwork, ECs and weekend activities, he will not have TIME to do more prep…it just isn’t going to happen. I console myself with the thought that he is bright enough and motivated enough (though lacking drive) to get in somewhere…even if it isn’t where he believes that he will. Better that he just do it his own way, own the process himself and hopefully, own the results of the process. He will create his own choices and options. Sigh (coming from a type A mom).</p>