<p>My son is going to a summer BS program in July and I will be traveling with him to check him in there. He hasn't decided yet whether he wants to apply to BS next year or not. However, if he did decide to apply, I doubt very seriously that we would be able to travel to NE again in the fall because of the expense of travel, commitments at home, time away from school (his school has no "excused absences"), etc. If we did travel, it would be for one weekend to visit only one or two schools.</p>
<p>My question is, does it make any sense to visit some of the schools during the summer when the student body isn't there? I often hear students and parents say that the physical environment of a school (environment, buildings, surrounding town/city, proximity to major cities, etc.) is a factor in their decisions about which school to attend. It would be much simpler (not missing school, athletics, etc.) and cost effective for us to fly in a couple of days early in July and visit some of the campuses. However, I know that we wouldn't get a true sense of the "feel" of the campus without the year-round students there. Is there value to visiting a shell of a campus? The BS's we would visit all have summer programs going during that time, so they would be open.</p>
<p>I don’t really think that this is a great idea, you won’t get a real feel of the school without the students. Each school with just be a bunch of buildings.</p>
<p>But different from revisits, even the “formal” first visit is usually a tour on the campus and a talk with the interviewer, without much interaction with students and teachers. Of course you can see students around - if that’s the feel you are looking for, then yes it’s different with and and without students.</p>
<p>I think it does have value. There is less stress when you take a look during the summer and the admissions staff may have more time to informally chat. It may make you stand out when you are not just one in hundreds that come through in the fall.</p>
<p>We went to 10 different schools during Oct/Nov/Dec. At every school there were students milling around but at one school, we went when they were having one of their rivalry days and it was at another school. The school was almost empty. The whole vibe was not the same. It made the school seem colder and unwelcoming and left our son with the wrong impression. If you go in the summer, I would recommend to just do it as an initial test to reduce your list but for the schools you are really interested it, I think it is important to go when students are there.</p>
<p>I think it would be a good idea to at least see the campus and talk with some teachers or administrative staff- like catg said, it would also potentially help you stand out in a sea of boarding school applicants.</p>
<p>I don’t think it is a waste of time if you use it to narrow down your list. I do think a visit with everyone present is important in making the ultimate decision. We have been visiting college campuses with our son since 8th grade, just so he can get a feel for different areas and schools. He travels a lot for his sport, so we take advantage of visiting the local schools.</p>
<p>We did the same thing last summer. We saw five schools during the summer. Even without students you are able to get a sense for whether you like the facilities, the layout of the campus, the area surrounding the school and a feel for the staff. My d decided two schools she absolutely did not like and having students on campus was not going to change her mind. One school she was unsure about, and when we did a second round of visits in the fall she went back and still felt ambivalent about the school.</p>
<p>i visited 4 schools during the summer because we were nearby, and then we went back for our interviews. It was definitely worth it, actually visting there made me realize how special boarding school is. Haha honestly it made me want to go just that much more. :]</p>
<p>If it’s a matter of visiting in the summer or not visiting at all (and doing a phone interview), then definately g check them out. My son will also be doing a summer program that is near Mercersburg. I plan to take advantage of the proximity and see if we can arrange a visit. Scheduling the interviews will be challenging enough in the fall. If he gets a bad vibe from the campus (like he did with Deerfield), we won’t bother interviewing. Besides, my daughter really likes M’burg and she will more than likely apply the year after.</p>
<p>This is such great information. Thanks so much to everyone for your input. I agree with some that we may not be able to get a complete picture of a school’s energy and vibe when the students aren’t there. And we will definitely keep that in mind. But, since there is no way that we will be able to see all of the schools we are interested in exploring in the fall, I think we’ll go ahead and schedule some visits/interviews this summer. That way, if my son decides to apply again next year, we’ll at least have some sense of what the schools he’s interested in look and feel like. This year, we were totally flying blind and applied last-minute to the only two schools we knew about. Thanks to CC, we’re now much better informed. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all of your posts and PM’s.</p>
<p>Visiting schools is the summer is worthwhile, and a good first step, I think.
We faced the same issue with not wanting to have absences from school, for both prep school and college visits. If you are able to make more visits during the fall, one suggestion is to compare the posted 2009-2010 calendars for the schools you really want to visit the most with your child’s school schedule. You may find dates when your child’s school has a day off or three-day weekend and the prep schools are in session. Some prep schools hold classes on Columbus Day, for example, and some may start before the Labor Day weekend and have classes on Labor Day. Many public schools have teacher professional development days off in the fall that might work for prep school visits.
My experience was that the prep schools started making appointments for fall interview dates in late August—early planning might also help with snagging cheaper fares on airlines, if that’s how you will be traveling.</p>
<p>That is GREAT advice, Cammum. Thanks! I hadn’t even thought about the fact that we have a weird four day weekend in October that’s not connected to any other holiday. Good plan.</p>