I am utterly clueless and will lurk here (not ready to get feet wet, waving/watching from shore)
We’ve got a bunch of college visits scheduled for 7D2’s Spring Break this month. Still very much in the “big vs. small, urban vs. suburban vs. rural, city vs. smaller town” phase of things right now. Such a different short list than her older sister had, even at this very preliminary stage.
So you all have sophomores? I am not on the ball. Is this akin to starting the process for boarding school in 6th grade? What are the advantages to starting the process this year? I am asking seriously. I would not even have thought to think about this yet. I don’t want to do a disservice to my kid but do they know what they want yet? Is their GPA a real GPA yet? For those of you who have older kids, does their opinion about what the want change drastically from sophomore year to senior year? Thanks in advance and I’m glad I found this class of 18 thread.
We are doing the same as SevenDad but with a junior (class 2017). That is the suggestion from his college counselor so don’t feel you are behind if you haven’t visited schools in 10th grade. Boarding school gives them some feel for parts of college.
I have a junior and we started visiting schools last summer… Will see a handful during spring break.
Let’s see… Right up until the start of junior year, ChoatieKid was hell bent on film school at USC. He’s now at a service academy. Yeah, some do change their minds.
GG on the other hand, is steadfast in her pursuit of music and languages - it really does depend on the kid. And, like many on these boards, she is anxiously awaiting decisions. She remembers March 10 fondly, “at least it was once and done.”
The best of luck to GG, @girlgeekmom. Fingers crossed for her. 
@freshlook: For 7D1, I don’t think that much changed between her soph and senior year of HS…at least with regard to what she wanted to study (science) and what sorts of schools she was targeting. In fact, I could argue that she was headed that way since…second grade? 
7D2 has different interests than her older sister…I’d say at least two (non-science) paths seem interesting to her at this point.
We looked at about 8-10 LACs spring and summer before Junior year - and dd ruled them all out (every tour was packed with prep school kids too, not sure why) Started over summer before senior year and was able to (just) see the 10 schools on her final list (all urban or in big towns with small average class size so you can have both) and then based on early acceptances & deferrals, dd added about 4-5 RD schools that we were unable to visit. The take away is everything changes! Our CC did highly encourage visiting as interest is tracked especially at LACS. Schools that don’t track interest were pretty up front about stating this on their websites.
We just got back from a trip to Boston. We did a drive-by (or walk-through) of several New England schools. I think we all found it edifying, although my husband, who stayed home, still doesn’t get why it could be important to see a place where you might live for four years. @chemmchimney , I would be interested to see your daughter’s final list. I don’t think small towns are going to work for my kids.
Thanks, @ChoatieMom – as the song goes, “the wayayting is the hardest part.”
The audition process is no picnic either 
@twinsmama happy to oblige. I will pm you
I’d love to see that list as well! DD thinks that she wants: urban, intellectual (vs. rah-rah), Northeast. I told her that she may need to widen her list a bit to include schools that have 2 out of 3 of those qualities.
@GMC2918 Will PM you too. Chimneykid wanted urban or accessible/to a sizeable town (which to us means upwards of 50,000), not focused on frats or parties, not too preppy, and small class sizes. Most of her list hits 2 out of 3 but some are in the south and midwest. She will be a liberal arts major but all of her schools are universities and not colleges. Most of her schools lean towards pre-professional.
As a proud Jumbo alum, I should also note that Tufts is getting it’s very own T-Stop on campus in 2020. Right now, it is a small walk or bus ride to the T. I used to regularly walk all the way to Harvard Square from Tufts, but I would never get into Tufts today! :-B
@freshlook Its a good idea to NOT get the kids obsessed with college before junior year. Let them enjoy high school without having to worry about college too much. We did go on a college tour late sophomore year with our oldest, because we were in the area. It was good to get a ‘lay of the land’ and a feeling about it. They do change A LOT between sophmore and junior year.
From a parent perspective, because of my CC obsession, I did a lot of research beginning end of sophomore year, but never told my kid that. If you have special situations (looking for merit or big sports scholarships or your kid has a specialized major in mind) the search is more difficult, so its good to get an idea of how the process works. Also, if you are chasing merit - prepping for the PSAT is KEY - because of National Merit Scholarship. This assumes your kid is a strong test taker, since BS kids have to meet the highest national cutoff. If your kid is not a strong test taker, then don’t worry about PSAT.
I just spent some time reading a portion of the Class of 2018 thread in the main Parents Forum. I got scared and came back home.
Junior is the most stressful year unfortunately. 
Brace the year of testing hell or go test optional. 
We are trying to “front load” 7D2’s testing schedule…starting with taking some practice tests and prep this summer.
Luckily, my kids seem to like standardized testing. I’m not concerned about that as much as about the heavier course load coming up and the financial realities.