<p>I'm going on a huge trip with my dad up north (i'm from GA) to look at SEVEN colleges. Here's our itinerary:
Sat Oct 13 - Ithaca College
Mon Oct 15 - SUNY Albany
Tue Oct 16 - Rutgers
Wed Oct 17 - Temple
Thur Oct 18 - Juniata
Fri Oct 19 - SUNY Binghamton
Sat Oct 20 - U Pittsburgh</p>
<p>So do you have any tips or suggestions on what to do?</p>
<p>Thanks in advanced!</p>
<p>I just came back from visiting GWU and Maryland, so here's a few things I picked up
1. DONT GO WITH YOUR FAMILY! I promise you that you will not be seeing the real school! When I saw people visiting the school with their families they were treated so much differently, not as real college students. I fpossibe don't go with family!
2. Try if possible to sleep in real dorms. I crashed on some people's couches while I visited and it really let me see what dorm life was like atthese schools.
3. Take the campus tours, but filter outall the BS the tour guides are telling you. They tend to stretch things a little bit.
4. Party! Experiencing a school's social life is essential. You don't have o go crazy though.
5. Have fun! It is an amazing experience!
Hope I helped you a little! If you need anything PM me.</p>
<p>I really doubt my father would let me do ANY of that. haha</p>
<p>Binghamton is about an hour from Ithaca. Why would you plan such a circuitous route? Have you definitely ruled out Syracuse University?</p>
<p>For Ithaca college, just a little FYI for you - I went on a tour there 2 weeks ago and there was some pretty significant road construction in the area so it made finding the school very difficult (adding on to the fact that it's located on top of a hill). I was scheduled to go on a tour of the school of Communications, then an overall tour of the campus immediately following but I was only able to go on the campus one due to the road confusion (I got lost for an hour :-P). So yeah, just be aware of the road situation. To get to the college you had to follow a puzzle of orange detour signs, and eventually you would get there. I would also try calling the admissions office in advance to see if there is any more obstructions/road work making finding Ithaca that much harder...</p>
<p>Binghamton only offered a tour that date. It took a LONG time to schedule this because some colleges only offered tours certain days.</p>
<p>I haven't really looked at Syracuse.</p>
<p>If you're doing seven schools in a week, take really good notes. Make sure you find some time at the end of the day to write down your impressions, as well as your dad's. Otherwise they'll all blend together by the end of the third day.</p>
<p>Make sure you get some time to wander the campus by yourself and (if you're so inclined) talk to random students. Think of some good questions to ask - things like "Was there anything you didn't expect when you first came here?", or "What do students talk about with their friends?", or "What would you say if you had to persuade me not to come here?"</p>
<p>It's hard when you're visiting so many schools in such a short amount of time, but try to find a couple things that make each school interesting or unique before you set foot on campus, and come up with a few questions that are specific to that college.</p>
<p>I don't think I'd try to do that many in a week. Spread it out a bit. They're all going to blend together, and a day at each might not be enough to get a real feel for it.</p>
<p>I agree, you should try to stay overnight in a dorm. Maybe your dad can still go with you, but for part of the visit, he should go off on his own and you should too. He can talk to the parent services office while you talk to students about what it's really like. They're certainly not going to tell you with your dad there!</p>
<p>Well we've already made the plans and can't change them.. I am traveling a long distance to get up north (from GA) so we did it this way so we wouldn't have to go back several times. </p>
<p>I'm SOOO incredibly shy (even around my friends) that it will be really hard for me to go up to random college students.</p>
<p>re driving back to Bing -- it makes no sense to return that far for an "official" tour. As long as you have access to a campus map, you can tour whatever buildings you feel are important to see by yourself. Student Union, Dining Hall, Library, typical classroom building, science class/lab building, gym -- I think these would all be open to you. Most colleges have online course catalogs - you might be able to scope out a class you would like to sit in on, showing up 5 minutes early to ask professor's permission. If you contact their admissions office and explain that you will be in the area on a certain date, but would have to drive many hours to return on their "official tour" date, they will probably be able meet you at least halfway. </p>
<p>It helps to be outgoing - able to walk up to a likely-looking student and ask them for advice/info. </p>
<p>The amount of driving you are proposing to do is already huge -- adding in the return trip to the Bing area would have made me crazy (I did NYC area --> Ithaca --> Rochester --> Pittsburgh --> Philadelphia --> NYC area in 5 days, and didn't want to get back in a car for a week after that.)</p>
<p>Well, it's already set. My dad was a bit frustrated, but in the end he said it was fine. We were doing this for me and he was happy to do so. </p>
<p>I'm DEFINITELY not outgoing. Which will pose a problem. =/</p>
<p>It's good to be going with your parents--but try to spend a little time on your own.</p>
<p>When we took my two older sons on their college tours, we'd go with them to the info session and on the formal campus tour and then we would split off from him and let him go explore on his own while we did the same--he would go to dining halls or cafes or coffee shops or even the lounges in the libraries to get more of the real picture. We did the same and we would compare impressions later. </p>
<p>As hard as it might be, try to understand that your parents are not the enemy. They want you to be in a "happy place" that fits both your academic and professional and social aspirations. So do listen to their impressions with an open mind, and ask them questions just like they will be asking you--keep an open dialogue going.</p>
<p>Don't go wildly out of your way for a school-sponsored tour. After a few they really blur together. So much of what is on the tour can be gotten from a website or talking to students. What about spending half of your first Saturday at Ithaca and half at Binghamton, then revisiting whichever interests you more on Sunday?</p>
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