Visit Colleges Before or After Acceptance?

SlackerMomMD
Sun, 12 Apr 2015 13:01:19 +0000

We visited about half the schools on D’s list of 7 schools (and a few others where she didn’t apply) but there was no time nor money to fly across country just to visit colleges. She got accepted to all seven schools. She ended up visiting two out of the three she had not yet seen. The third school had been eliminated due to expense.

What I leaned was going at a time that’s NOT the accepted students event may work best for kids who don’t like large groups of people, including their potential classmates.

D had a much nicer experience when she scheduled an ordinary visit with a tour, sitting in a class and meeting with a professor as well as an overnight. She was the only one on her tour so she and the guide chatted and changed things up.

With large groups of people, multiple sessions, a “mixer”, D was overwhelmed by accepted students events. I don’t know if that is a major reason why she is leaning toward the school above. I wish I had realized this earlier and only set up individual visits.

So lesson learned: whatever you do, make sure it fits with your child’s personality and quirks.

Also, start visiting as soon as decisions come out. If the child hears in November, visit in December. Don’t wait. That was probably one of our big mistakes. Time just flew by during D’s senior year.