Hi all–my son goes to a school where he has a busy schedule and no periods off (including lunch–I know it sounds crazy; they eat lunch in class). He is a junior so we are new to the college search. Turns out that colleges do visit but they are each only there during one period (different periods for each, and not after or before school–during a class period). Occasionally these visits will occur during one of his two music ensemble classes, Spanish or gym. But other times, they will be during academic classes. I am wondering how useful these sessions could be since they only last one period. If it is just about picking up the brochures and so like stopping by during a college fair, it really doesn’t seem worth missing class. We will be visiting schools over the course of the year and summer. Does anyone have any idea about these sessions are like?
thanks
They are only useful if they are viable and of interest. At my kid’s school, these presentations are full of kids getting out of class.
I wouldn’t encourage him to go to the college visits until he is a senior, unless there is one school he has his heart set on now. Usually a pretty high up admissions assistant (regional reps) comes and spends an hour talking about the school. They take names and note interest – go on tours with your son this spring and early/late summer while schools are still in session. Once your son has his list, then he should try to attend the visits. At my son’s school the Seniors are allowed to miss class to attend the visits, but Juniors can only go if they have a free.
thank you very much. This makes a lot of sense. I wish the school would give this kind of sensible advice!
I don’t think my son every went to one of these. He found the names of the local reps and emailed them and met with them one on one or did phone calls with them. Some of the schools he liked did road shows in our town. Those were far better.
I think your visits during the year and summer will be much more valuable. At every visit this summer - the summer between junior and senior year - we were able to meet with admissions reps privately and ask questions. If you do enough of that during the summer, you won’t need to miss class for the in-school presentations.
If there is a school he is sincerely interested in, he should go if he can and find a way to introduce himself to the rep. My D established a relationship with the recruiter/admissions advisor that came to her school, who was also the one reading the applications from this zone. She knows going to this meeting and following up made a big difference. After this and some emails between them, she was invited to an interview off site with a couple big wigs and was accepted to the school very early in the cycle with a sweet package. They can be a waste of time, but they can also be fruitful, depending on how you play it, and how you fit the school.
My son went to a few as a Jr, I think it helps with the self exploration of what they like/dislike.
My kids never went to any of these. Visits to schools were helpful though.
When our D was in high school and we did our college visits, we made an effort to meet and chat with the Dean of Admissions or Director of Admissions to learn about how their admissions decisions were made. At her top choice college, we found that the regional admissions representative played a key role in presenting and advocating for applicants from her region at the college’s admissions panel evaluating applicants.
The regional admission representative for our D’s top choice college (which she’s currently attending) didn’t have the opportunity to visit our D’s high school, but she made an appointment and we took our D to meet the regional admissions representative in the evening at a Starbucks in the lobby of the hotel where she was staying. It was well worth the effort.
While it’s OK to visit colleges earlier than a high school student’s senior year, we found it’s much more relevant as as senior. We visited our D’s top three college choices (which we had to fly to) during the her high school’s Fall break during her senior year. As a small incentive, several colleges waived the application fee for visiting high school seniors attending their formal programs for aspiring applicants.
My kids would miss an academic class only if the school was pretty high on their list. It sounded like a more intimate information session that was geared to that HS. If I remember correctly at our HS these in school visits were only open to seniors. As noted above usually the regional admissions rep comes so it can be helpful to meet him/her. I don’t think either kid missed more than a couple of core class periods. And for my D who was focused on LACs it was one more way to demonstrate interest in the school.
As an aside, there was one school my D was very interested in but the meeting in the HS conflicted with an exam in the AP so she emailed the rep to apologize for not attending the session and they were able to arrange a time after school for him to interview her.
My kids went to a handful of these, it’s one way to demonstrate interest. My older son visited four CA colleges during spring break junior year and declared all colleges were the same, he didn’t need to see another dorm room, and he only cared about the CS programs, the info he cared about was on line. Come senior year spring - it turned out he actually was okay with visiting the colleges he got into (and wouldn’t you know it not a single college where we had done a visit!) By senior year he knew he was looking for a nerdy vibe and real intensity in the program - he still didn’t care about dorm rooms. Younger son visited colleges during school breaks - February, Spring and Labor Day weekend (no classes but a lot of schools were in session.) At the time he thought visits were useful - now he says he thinks they give you a distorted view of the colleges. But he’s a bloom where planted guy .
I’ll be a little contrarian here and say that I don’t think missing a couple of classes is a big deal for a good student, as long as it’s excused and the work can be made up. I’d let the kid make the judgment.
Our school gives three excused college visit days junior and senior years. We were able to pair one of those with a school holiday this week to knock out the final two schools. He also took one toward the end of the year last year.
Missing class for the college rep visits to the high school can be a reasonable decision. Many smaller schools do look at demonstrated interest (check the school’s Common Data Set to see if they do care), and there are not many easier ways to show interest than to go to the 30 minute meeting at your high school when they visit. For example, my kid met the rep for one school of interest when they came to his high school, then interviewed with that same rep on campus. When that rep was reading my kid’s application, they emailed my kid on the weekend to comment about his essay. Relationships can make an impact at small schools, and these visits seem like low cost ways to start things.
Of course, if it is a massive school, with an auditorium full of high schoolers watching a power point containing information available on the website, there may not be much point in missing class for that.
We just went to a college fair (at night) and then did a road trip during fall break and spring break to see colleges. You don’t have to go to all the info sessions. With My other daughter we were living abroad and all we did was a spring break road trip…no Admitted students days or anything. Worked out fine.
We are pulling D out for two quick visits. We tried to time them around 3 day weekends but it seems most of those competed with parents events at schools and thus housing was hard to find. One in Oct and one in Nov both thurs-fri plus weekend. We did a week over Feb break junior year and a quick trip this summer to see 2 schools that are close by. We are making a point to visit women’s colleges to get a feel for that environment and the safety schools (because you have to love your safety). We have been to some information sessions but the visits that were most helpful were not big events, A tour and a class visit and maybe a chat with the admissions person seem to be the best for us. Although Oberlin was an exception.
Our school allows for three total in one year. Fall open houses are usually in the weekend and holiday weekends and allow for not missing school.
None of the colleges visiting my kid’s school are colleges he wants to go to so we don’t have to make that decision. But if they were I would have him miss class for a favorite.
Son did not go to a single in-his-high-school session junior year, because he figured it was more important to attend his classes and do well in them. Instead, he visited colleges during vacations.
This year, his senior year, it is different. He already knows, from his visits to colleges during school breaks, to which colleges he is applying. If the admissions officer is coming to his school, he is attending the session, in order to demonstrate his strong interest. It is close to the time the admissions officer will read his application, and he wants to be remembered.
One rep came during a period when S had to work with a group on a project. He did not attend the session, but he sent the admissions officer an email stating why he would not be attending and how he had enjoyed his visit to the college last spring and is excited to apply. The admissions officer wrote a nice email in reply.