<p>My son and I are heading to Carthage College tomorrow for our first college visit. The college is right on the shore of Lake Michigan in Kenosha, Wisconsin. This will be an open house type of event with a scheduled tour. Do any of you experienced parents have any advice for me? I am sure he will want to get in and out as quickly as possible so I need to come up with some ideas to keep him on campus a little longer to get a good feel for the place. For sure we will stop at the bookstore and get a tee shirt and check out the fitness center and athletic fields. I just wish he could get excited about the academic part of college!!!!!</p>
<p>Sorry no great nugget of wisdom here, though I will share one point. I found, regardless of time spent on college sponsored tours or on our own nosing around many schools, DS got a sense pretty straight away where he felt he DIDN’T feel comfortable more than where he did. And yes, of course, spend time and give each place a fair shake, but do respect that inner voice that tells them “here” or “not here”. The rest will follow. </p>
<p>Good luck! And if you are not from WI, may I be the first to welcome you here!</p>
<p>I always found it helpful to just sit outside the main hub of the campus during the lunchtime hours to see what kids look like coming and going during their normal day.It probably wouldn’t work during the summer months though.i like to wander around a campus also,not on a tour. I’m very much into seeing what the colleges physical plant looks like…as in repairs,grounds,garbage collection,etc. i also think something on a campus should always be under construction,under repair,etc. I’d be leery of a campus with none of that type of work going on.</p>
<p>I agree with 1tgmom - it’s some kind of chemistry a kid feels with a campus. They might get there, look around and say: “it’s not for me” and nothing changes it for them. </p>
<p>Also, if it’s a big group there and they break you into smaller tour groups, don’t go with the tour guide you think will have more in common with your son or whatever…go with the smaller group. You’ll have more of an opportunity to ask questions and get more personalized attention. That’s one thing we’ve learned on our trips. </p>
<p>And the tour guide will make or break a school for your son. It’s amazing how important the tour guide’s role is in making a kid love or hate a school.</p>
<p>IMHO/IME – when visiting colleges with a son, it’s always a good idea to hit a campus eatery and check out the food. Read up on the menus online before you go so that you don’t end up at, say, the vegan option if your son is a kill-your-own, meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. Most importantly, be prepared to fade out of the room and hook up by phone later in case he gets invited to a table with some current students.</p>
<p>Is he a risng senior or junior?</p>
<p>He will be a high school senior this fall.</p>
<p>Does he have any ideas in mind for majors? Depending on what he might be interested in, you might want to try to visit a bio/chem lab, or the library, or an arts center, or a computer lab, etc. If he doesn’t voice any particular interest then try to see all of the above.</p>
<p>If possible, eat lunch there or go find the place on campus where he can get an ice cream or something - just to be around students a bit more (if they’re not all out on break). </p>
<p>Head over to the dorms - something most are intersted in (or fearful of). try to get a dorm tour. If they’re not doing that then head over there anyway and see if you can get some random student to show you a dorm room. In addition to seeing the room it’ll allow some interaction with regular students.</p>
<p>Try to find some random students to casually talk with if you can to get more of a sense of the place from someone who’s not trying to do a sales job. This has its pitfalls depending on the student but it can be worthwhile. This might be able to be done at a restaurant or other places where you see students hanging around.</p>
<p>Try to get your S to do some talking with them instead of you doing all of it as sometimes happens where the parents do all the talking and the kid keeps their lips shut tight.</p>
<p>Check out the surrounding area unless you’re already very familiar with it. See what’s within walking distance, where he might go to a restaurant, movies, shopping, etc.</p>
<p>Don’t make it all too grueling for him or else he might not want to do many more college visits.</p>
<p>Not sure this will work as he’s already a senior, but when ds was a junior we played the low-expectations game: You’re not here to fill out an application, just to get an idea of whether this is the right size, prefer private vs. public, too much/too little Greek life, open quad or more wooded.</p>
<p>If he’s super-serious about Carthage already and you won’t have time for a second visit, then I’d make sure to get into the academic buildings, especially in an area of interest, see if there’s a prof or secretary or student around to answer questions. Meet with his adcom.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great tips and comments. They are very much appreciated.</p>
<p>Look at and read the bulletin boards. My S got a good sense of what was happening on campus by examining all those leaflets and posters on boards, either in the student center or dorms or classroom buildings. Read and examine the event calendars posted. Don’t just rely on the literature from admissions. And enjoy - what an exciting time it is!</p>
<p>Drive around the surrounding area a bit. See what the neighborhood’s like, and what sorts of stores, restaurants, etc. are nearby. I think it’s especially important to get a feel for the surrounding area if the college is one where upperclassmen tend to live off-campus.</p>
<p>If your kid can come up with one question to ask at the info session that will get him used to asking questions-- if you’re working late in the library and want a snack what are the options? Or what’s the most popular social event on campus? Or any question he can think of.
Wear comfortable shoes and when you get back in the car let your child be the one to tell you how they felt about the campus first, then give your feedback.Good Luck!</p>
<p>Agreed with cathymee. D1 actually turned down a school because when we visited the school, on their first sunny day after a long winter, there was no one on the quad playing frisbees or touch football. I was the one that pointed it out to our daughter. She also said she would never go to the school she is currently at until we visited it. She looked at the students entering their cafeteria and said, “I think I could hang out with some of those kids.”</p>
<p>One thing D1 used to do was to meet some professors. It gave her a sense of their dedication (how much they like teaching, their feeling of students). Two professors from different schools wrote to adcoms on her behalf after she met them. She is a ballet dancer, so she also took some classes.</p>
<p>When we toured the dorms, I paid attention to their attitude to alcohol. If I saw alcohol bottles in rooms, I’ll ask about the school’s policy. Most of the time they just assumed I was looking for zero tolerance. What I wanted to know is if it’s a police state where kids would get written up or be charged by the local police. I know there is drinking on every college campus. Last thing I wanted was to have my daughter be charged or fined because she’s had a few drinks. My personal view is schools that’s heavy handed about no tolerance for drinking or working with local police often have more problems than with schools that have more reasonable policies.</p>
<p>I found my son later didn’t remember too much from our first college visit…there was so much new and to absorb I think it just was overwhelming for him! </p>
<p>We actually went back and re-visited the first school we visited last fall yesterday…his impression was totally different than what his mind remembered from that first, initial visit.</p>
<p>I would just tell him that there are no expectations from this visit - it’s your first visit and you should just get the feel for the college “thing”.</p>
<p>lots of good advice, but its summer so many things may not apply.</p>
<p>I think the best info is from actual students. If you have a student tour guide, or even if you just stop a student in passing, ask them about the school. Students tend to give much more ‘real’ and ‘honest’ answers than the usual comments made during info sessions. You can ask them questions like how they handled the transition from high school to college, what do they think of their professors, what do they think of their fellow classmates, what kind of work load do they have, is there a lot going on on-campus on the weekends, that kind of thing. My son really wanted a spirited school, so he’d always ask about school spirit, do kids attend football games, and questions along those lines.</p>
<p>From my experience, if you just stop a student in passing, they will chat with you, and you will get some very candid information. I also like to eat in the campus center just to get a feel for the student body. Unfortunately, with a summer tour, there won’t be as much activity on-campus but there still will be some students.</p>
<p>I also like to check out the hallway bathrooms in the dorms to see how they are maintained.</p>
<p>I have toured many schools with my 2 kids. It got to a point where I felt I could do the info session, because they all start looking and sounding the same. That’s why talking to current students gives you a much better feel for the school.</p>
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We actually went back and re-visited the first school we visited last fall yesterday…his impression was totally different than what his mind remembered from that first, initial visit.
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A second look can be very useful, especially at the “first ever” college(s) visited. After the novelty of “OMG it’s COLLEGE!” has worn off and students have seen enough to know what’s pretty much the same everywhere (even if touted by tour-leading students as unique and special), they have a better basis for comparison… and the first colleges may look a little different at that point. geek_son visited one college first (spring break) and last (summer). His impressions of it were markedly different; it went from “first choice” to “maybe grad school” and he didn’t even apply (although it’s still at the top of his list for grad school). Very interesting. And interacting with students on and off the record was definitely a key factor in shaping his perspective.</p>
<p>“… what’s the most popular social event on campus?”</p>
<p>Great question. How about “What off-campus event is most popular with students?” [At one isolated campus the answer was “Visiting the local Federal Prison on Saturdays.” True story.]</p>
<p>kajon, how’d it go?</p>