@dyiu13 I love getting the inside scoop on your step-by-step analysis with your daughter. It sounds so logical, proactive, and supportive. Kudos to you both and congratulations!
The calendar is not working in our favor for visits after the March decisions come in. DSās spring break is March 21-25. From what I can tell, he will hear from two safeties and a reach school prior to March 15 but the remaining 6 schools will all tell him in late March, which will make it almost impossible to visit during spring break since he wonāt have heard from most school then. There are 3 schools he has not visited yet - we are planning a trip over Presidentās Day weekend to visit those. We visited these schools with DD during her search but DS was 10 at the time! One of them is a safety that we should hear from in Feb. The reach is a flight away and DS just went there in November plus his sister went there and he has visited several times. That leaves 5 schools that could potentially require another visit in April. The third weekend in April is DSās senior trip to Disney and the last weekend in April is the beginning of Passover. That leaves the first 3 weekends in April but the first weekend is April 1-3 so if the decisions are really close to March 31 I have no idea how we will swing a trip right away. So weāll need to be strategic, but writing this all out is giving me some ideas - one of which is to visit the safety he should hear from by March 1 and one other school that is two hours from the safety over spring break. Whew! I need a drink and a spreadsheet.
FAFSA first round is done! Iāll have to update with the actual tax info once our return is finished but it feels good to have the rest done. We will not qualify for anything more than the subsidized loan (which we hope he will not need) so I am glad the process was not too painful.
@fretfulmother That sounds bad. So does your Sās gfās experience @2manybooks I did a prospective students overnight in November and Iāll do the accepted students overnight at the same school in March- it was so awesome and the school Iām attending.
@readingclaygirl - yay! I hope you have a wonderful time in March. From everything you post, it sounds like a perfect match. 
W2exit did a visit this past fall at a school that was high on her list initially. The kids pretty much were honest with her and told her about the rampant drug use on campus, the different types, which groups do and donāt partake, and how it is an every-weekend-kind of thing.
She didnāt even want to meet with professors or administration after that. I actually contacted a CC parent to help me tell her what to do in terms of the rest of her visit.
Not for those reasons, but issues with some other things, she did not submit an application, and texted me on her way to the airport to return home to inform me that she had come to that conclusion.
@Cheeringsection Congrats to you for finishing FAFSA . So jealous. I need to stop procrastinating .
During spring break trip mentioned above for D14, she visited a LAC that was probably tied for 1st or 2nd place on her list (she had done a summer program there after freshman year and fell in love with it). She attended an admitted student event on a Sunday/Monday which included staying with a student in the dorms Sunday night. She got up Monday to get ready to attend a class (and was in the communal bathroom on the dorm floor) where she heard students grumbling to each other about how they didnāt want to go to class, they were tired from the weekend, etcā¦at that time she made a decision that she would never attend there stating āI want to go to school with students that want to go to class and are excited about learning!ā I personally felt that she encountered a normal āearly Monday morningā comment session in the bathroomā¦but she would have none of it. Cross that lovely LAC off the list due to 5 minutes worth of informal chatter in the bathroom!
@4kids2graduate Itās a good thing your daughterās not in earshot of my bathroom on a Monday morning. I love my job( probably more than any Iāve had) but Iād be lying if I said I never uttered "I donāt feel like going to work today " 
@readingclaygirl - Yeah, her experience was pretty special. She was mostly laughing about it - it did make her decision easier, though. Iām glad your prospective visit to your school was so much better! And @fretfulmother - my S wouldnāt do well parked with smokers, either. Heād actually probably just leave and check into a hotel or something. He didnāt want to do overnights at the schools he visited - he was in-season and usually goes to sleep by 10-10:30, so didnāt want that awkwardness, I think. Weāll see how things go for various admitted student options.
Iāve just checked the calendar - his spring break is March 25 - April 1 - probably right when the notifications are rolling in. Really no way to know how to plan for any of those things until we know where heās in.
FAFSA is for tomorrow, I think. Iām fighting a nasty sore throat and cough, and donāt think Iām up for it tonight.
@2manybooks - I hope you feel better!
DD is waiting one result from her EA at the end of this month and 8 other RD schools will announce in March. So our wait will be long. DDās spring break is Apr. 23 - Apr. 30. I hope we have enough time to figure out financial status after RD results come out and we plan to visit 2-3 schools during the time.
Weāre in it for the long haul: one school will notify later this month, then the rest (six) are March schools. Not much time for admitted student visits, Iām afraid! Nor, for that matter, much time to decide, really. I kind of hate having it drag on so long. I wish all of them notified at once, and in Januaryā¦
D is in at 8/10, has visited 8/10 (not same 8). Waiting will go on quite a while I think until late March. May visit last 2. 1 is planned, not sure whether weāll do the other (Temple) at all.
@carolinamom2boys will shoot me for writing another note while on vacation, but here goes.
A number of notes here that discuss admitted students days in April refer to conflicts with pre-existing weekend commitments. FWIW, a couple of S14ās ASDās were held on weekdays. Iām sure the schools already know their 2016 dates. So it might be worth checking now.
And as was suggested earlier, if Southwest is an option flights can be cancelled and the money can be used towards later/other flights.
@AsleepAtTheWheel It better be raining there.
@AsleepAtTheWheel You read my mind. I have spent the last 45 minutes looking up all the official visit days, and checking to see what the Southwest airfare is. Weāre near a hub so usually can get nonstops. Luckily weāll know all the results before our Spring Break (wow, early this year) but wonāt be able to wait until then to plan a California trip.
Thanks, @AsleepAtTheWheel - it hadnāt occurred to me that any would be on days other than weekends. Thatās really helpful! Iāll have to check that out. It sounds like the two schools that are closest to where we live are both pretty much off the list now. The one we know is still on it is across the country, but workable.
For better or for worse, I travel a ton for work and have a good stash of miles saved up. I can usually book flights within a week of travel, too, so hopefully having little time to plan may work out OK. Weāre close to SFO, so flights are plentiful. S has a bunch of Southwest miles too - I should check his account. Depending on where he gets in, I could see sending him separately anyway.
I am so envious of those if you whose kids have choices so early. My son has (will have) applied to a total of 12 schools. One, his safety, will give results in Feb. A second safety will give results in Feb if he is accepted into the honors college. The rest are in March. We get nothing before then. It is maddening.
Come sit with me on the āEleventh Hourā bench, @LKnomad. I have cookies.