<p>I'm a 17yr old rising Senior in High School interested in traveling myself to attend campus tours. This is an idea I've been contemplating for awhile, but I would like to get parents opinion on the CC community on this before I discuss with my own parents. I've looked into colleges I'm interested in and have received information about the dates for the tours of each college. I've planned for a weekend stay while visiting schools in the Chicago area (UIC, UChicago, DePaul, and Urbana-Champaign). I will be taking the Greyhound Bus from Minneapolis and will be staying at a youth hostel. I consider myself matured for my age, I am responsible, and can get around a city with no problems. I'm not a typical suburban kid, I can get around with public transportation and can find my way to destinations with little assistance. I feel that I can take on the responsibilities, but I'm not sure that my parents are going to fly with the idea. Pros and Cons?</p>
<p>If you are a rising senior I would say yes. I had both my boys do at least one college tour on their own: navigating the airport and getting to the college from the airport. But…S1 stayed with a friend and S2 stayed in the dorm with a current student. As a parent I’d probably want lots of information about the safety of the hostel.</p>
<p>Are your parents going to help foot the bill for college? If so, I assume they may want to come along to see what they may be paying for. </p>
<p>Assuming they do approve the idea, I assume you know that Urbana-Champaign is not in Chicago, it is quite a ways outside. Just be sure you have your transportation worked out.</p>
<p>Just curious about why you want to visit without your parents. Do you think they will not be interested in going? Are they opposed to you leaving the Twin Cities for college? Are you embarrassed by them? My kids definitely wanted me to come along, except on accepted students visits (D1 did by herself, but had been to the campus with me previously).</p>
<p>My advise is to NOT fight it if they don’t like the idea. You need their cooperation to pay and/or fill out FAFSA and other paperwork for college, so if I were you I would accept that they have a role in going on visits and looking at colleges with you.</p>
<p>My daughter traveled to visit colleges on her own at age 17 – she was flying from west to east coast and relying on public transportation and trains once she got to the other end. </p>
<p>As a parent, I don’t see much of a problem with Chicago, which has good public transit. </p>
<p>I would be concerned about the hostel – have you checked to make sure that they will allow a 17 year old to stay there? I think most hotels and hostels have a minimum age requirement of 18. For example, the hostel at <a href=“http://www.hichicago.org/[/url]”>http://www.hichicago.org/</a> says, “under 18 must be accompanied by adult”.</p>
<p>Do you or your parents have any friends in the Chicago area who could host you? My daughter stayed in the homes and dorm room of friends in the cities she visited.</p>
<p>While I think the idea of visiting them on your own is okay as long as you can do it safely, you should keep in mind that your parents might also want to visit the colleges since they likely have a high level of interest in ‘you’ and if they’re paying for any of it they may want to validate what all of you might be getting for the money. Keep this in mind and be willing to share that experience with them if they’re interested. If they’d just as soon you go check on them yourself and aren’t interested to see them themselves then just make sure you have a safe and reasonable plan to do it.</p>
<p>For the record - at your age I drove about a 1700 mile trip on my own when I checked on colleges for myself (but my parents didn’t pay for any of my college or support). I camped in a tent along the way and while I was there.</p>
<p>^^ My H did that at 17 (camping along the way) and one of my son’s drove cross country with friends and camped along the way (at 17 going on 18 before college). But OP…there are many parents that aren’t ready to “let go” in that manner, so do respect your parents if they are genuinely interested in visiting Chicago with you. There is much for parents to do in Chicago. I took off for Boston on my own at 19 for four months and I know it gave my mother gray hairs.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t normally be a big fan of this. And I’ve been to lots of college tours, but I okay’d my youngest to go off to a school I knew he’d really like when they were having a special weekend for seniors. I had never visited the school, but I had read a lot about it. By contrast, my son wasn’t so sure. So he went off on his own and within that first hour he was on campus, he texted me saying, “WU is awesome”. In fact, the first time I visited was on freshman orientation.</p>
<p>But I think this depends on the kid. For sure, It wouldn’t be right for my oldest.</p>
<p>Advice: try to organize not only a visit to the school, but an overnight. And, if you can do it, organize it around when the colleges have those special weekends.</p>
<p>If it’s only a matter of preference/adventure, instead of financial or some other compelling reason, I’d weigh-in that there are more pros to having a parent with you than cons. Not only will they probably want to see what they’re investing in, but they might also view the campus and school differently. This can add another perspective to the visit, to maximize the benefits you can get. You only have 2 eyes, after all. </p>
<p>Visits can also be lonely if you’re alone in a room of students with their parent or parents, or on a tour with everyone else’s parents asking questions. (Some of those questions are pretty embarassing, and I’m betting there are always a few kids who wish their parents stayed home.) </p>
<p>You can always let Mom or Dad wait in the student center, if they can’t keep up with a tour. I also didn’t go in when two of my kids scheduled meetings with Admissions Counselors, since those kids wanted to handle those meetings themselves. </p>
<p>Sometimes schools have events for prospective students that are specifically designed for kid + parents, such as by having different sessions at the same time. Kids go to one, and parents go to another, ensuring that different audiences are reached by the school.</p>
<p>My perspective is somewhat tainted by the fact that we had wonderful college visit trips. Some of our college trips were taken as a family, but some of them were just the kid who was looking for a school and me. We had great one-on-one talks, a lot of fun, and it was a time that I treasured before my kids went off into the big-bad-world by themselves. </p>
<p>I’ll admit that I did sometimes see a kid by himself (more commonly a guy) as we went through college visits.</p>
<p>“I think this depends on the kid.”</p>
<p>OP - Based on the limited information at hand, I’d say you’re the right kind of kid. I was doing interstate biking/camping at fifteen, with my parents’ blessing. At eighteen I was doing more extensive travel, courtesy of Uncle Sam. I learned a lot from traveling alone. It does take the right attitude, and it’s REALLY important that your parents support your plans.</p>
<p>it is indeed an excellent idea and I strongly applaud you for it</p>
<p>Aerlan – It sounds like you’re fully capable of doing this on your own, and I applaud your independence. However, I also agree with prior posters that if your parents want to be involved with this, you should go with them. The parental perspective on these visits can be valuable, and they may be very interested in your thoughts about where you want to spend the next few years. Our children have enjoyed visiting colleges with us. The conversations on the way home are always interesting (we get to hear about what the others think) and entertaining (we laugh about guides going off-script, long-winded administrators, or the quirkiness of some students bodies).</p>
<p>I did all of my 10 college visits by myself last year (junior year). Travelled by plane, Megabus, and Amtrak. Most of my peers did the same, many of them taking road trips with friends (and no parents). At many of the schools, we would know a current student, who would let us sleep in their dorm and such, but hostels also work very well. It really allowed us to get a good feel of the school without having our parents affect our opinions. It was also nice to be able to ask some questions to your tour guide that you may not ask around your parents-- most of us wouldn’t feel comfortable asking about the nightlife as our parents listen, and I’m sure tour guides would alter their response based on who is listening. </p>
<p>After decisions were made this year and students had a short list of schools, parents accompanied them to admitted students visits of their top few schools, allowing them to “approve” the child’s choice. It worked out nicely too that by this time, students knew the net price of each option. For example, a parent might be negative about a student visiting a very expensive school prior to applying, but the perspective might change once that student receives a great financial aid package. </p>
<p>Doing this structure of college visits really aids the student in separating his choices from his parents. I’ve seen many cases where a family will visit a school, where the parent will fall in love, but the child will hate it. Then, the child may be forced to apply and even attend. By having the parents only come to visits of the student’s final top choices, this possibility is eliminated.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. So far I’ve gotten positive feedback which makes me confident that the trip might go well with my folks and the idea isn’t far fetched. Just hope they don’t say no to the trip and can be accommodating to other plans.</p>
<p>Excellent idea! Except for the youth hostel. I’d suggest either (1) arranging overnight visits in the dorms through the college admissions offices or (2) footing the bill to stay at the alumni house on campus (for those campuses that have one).</p>
<p>I visited schools by myself ages ago and our sons recently visited schools on their own.</p>
<p>Because of Facebook connections, our boys “knew” students everywhere they visited - something uncommon 32 (yikes) years ago.</p>
<p>Parents overestimate the value of accompanying students on campus visits. You will learn the most about the school and campus life by staying with a student on campus. You will also learn more about the school by attending classes than by going on the tour.</p>
<p>Look into taking the MegaBus vs Grayhound. You will save a LOT of money on the ticket. If your parents are ok with this, why not? Personally I wouldn’t want my child staying in a Youth Hostel alone in Chicago but it depends on what you are comfortable doing I guess.</p>
<p>Sure you COULD do it -but why would you want to do it? I would have been so upset if my kids shut me out of the experience of visiting schools. It was a great experience and together we were able to see the colleges and discuss them later. I think you are missing out on a right of passage here. Now if your parents are not interested in going they are really missing out.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s a regional thing, but of all the tours I’ve been on in the last few years (>25) in the Northeast, Midwest, and CA, I haven’t seen a single unaccompanied kid.</p>
<p>I believe you can do it. I might have let my son do it, but would have wanted eventually to see the school if he was really interested in it. I grew up in the Twin Cities and by middle school age was taking the city buses by myself all over to both downtowns, malls, etc. Have you been to Chicago, though? It is SO MUCH BIGGER. You will definitely need more street smarts than in Minneapolis. In fact, I was there with a group of adult (east coast) women recently and even we got successfully scammed by a friendly panhandler for bus tickets. Nothing dangerous but scam nonetheless. I do love Chicago, though. The lake is glorious. Any reason not to see Northwestern wheN you’re there?</p>
<p>Sop 14’s mom – my son went alone on tours to local universities. I don’t think it’s that unusual. Does anyone keep track of who is with which student? It would probably not be noticeable to the guide because the students don’t hold hands with the parents or anything. I would often hang back while my son went more up front closer to the guide.</p>
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<p>Well, kudos to the parents who can afford the expense and/or time off work to visit with their kids. I can’t, so the only way my son will be visiting schools outside our immediate area is if he does it on his own. The only tricky part, as far as I’m concerned, is arranging overnight stays . . . other than that, I’m quite confident in his ability to do it on his own!</p>