I don’t agree with this. The website will not have all the information, especially if it is not designed well. Of course it is a lot more than on campus recruiting, but it so happened to be very important for D1, therefore we paid attention to that. You need to figure out what’s important to your students and look for those things. My kids career center had special quiet rooms designed for students to conduct interviews via skype or phone. The career center organize a lot of on campus job fairs, resume/interview guidance. I was on campus for one of their technology start up forums. A lot of those events and services are not all listed/advertised on their career website. I also am not one to solely rely on what I read on school/company’s website.
twoinanddone- my son is definitely not a waffler, he picks what he likes and that’s it. So, I’m inclined to let him be done if he comes home next Monday with a giant smile on his face, feeling super sure of his choice. The school has set up a schedule for him that is perfect-he’s attending two classes he’s interested in, meeting with the professor whose blog he’s been reading for months, and having lunch with a kid from the club he absolutely wants to join. I think that unless something goes really wrong, he won’t be budged from this choice. So, we’ll see.
Thanks for all the input, everyone! It’s good to know that there are kids who are super happy with choices they made early on and also good to know that sometimes kids change their minds and then they’re happy too. That’s really the bottom line, right? Finding the school where they can be happy and thrive…
OP: I am wondering if there is a personality type difference between you and your DH. Do you generally like things planned and decided? Does he generally like options and flexibility?
@bopper-actually DH is the planner and decider, and I am the flexible options person. I think the difference is that I went on all the visits with our son and saw his face and his body language at every school. DH just got the verbal reports when we came home. There is absolutely no question about his first choice based on those visits, it’s not even close. I’m just hoping that his visit this Sunday/Monday confirms that it’s the right place for him. I worry a little that he’s built it up in his mind to some kind of college nirvana and it’s going to be disappointing. But we’ll see. If that happens, we’ll send him to his other choices for a visit. I’ve warned him that no place is perfect and he’s bound to find something not to like at any school so hopefully he’ll be realistic as he takes it all in.
My original thought was to have DS overnight at his top 2 or 3 admission choices but I’ve reversed my position. I’m concerned that the overnight gives only a ‘snapshot’ which could be pretty inaccurate depending on the experience. We’ve visited most of the schools he has applied to and will of course visit the ones he has not visited if admitted but I think he will rely more on contacting department heads to make his final decision. It would be easier if he had clear top choices but I think as long as you are in the place with the right program (and it’s important to ask lots of questions about this) then it is hard to predict the rest with an overnight or an admitted students day. So for ‘feel’ we are relying on initial visit, Fiske guide, college counselor recommendations (regarding fit), CC to make this portion of the decision.
Well, he came home with three new t-shirts and a pair of socks so he’s done. Everything he liked about it on the first visit was reinforced and he learned some new things that made him like it even more. Go Wooster Scots!
Congrats! My D’s approach was very similar to your son’s. She had a clear cut favorite last spring, and after her overnight there, asked to go to the campus bookstore to buy a sweatshirt (Go Denison Big Red!!)
You can visit multiple , they can love a school, and be sure, and it can still not work out. I remember still how shocked we all were when one young man who was dead set on his first choice school wanted out by the end of first term and refused to even stick it out for the year. He’d visited over years and knew it was his first choice, until he got there. Did an interim year at a local directional state school because he didn’t go back for the second term, and ended up at Emory for two years. Now a doctor,many years later. For him, it worked out, but caused a lot of stress for parents.
Congrats to the kids of ebmama and sschickens! Most students end up loving their schools and in the end will say they were at the best place for them.